Trouble In The Horizon Court?

[sultan_sfo]

Get to know the "system" and you will find it quite convenient and efficient. The system makes it easy to go for seconds and for "additional" items -- so one can can get hot (or cold) food without it sitting on your plate. Remember, like on all buffets, one starts with a new plate each tiime you go back. I am one of the few that always finds excellent items at the buffet -- because on my first trip I do a sampling (like Sabatinis!) and then go get more of whatever I liked. /Sultan

 

I don't like all this bickering i'm going on my 1st Princess cruise in dec and i'm going to enjoy the HC no matter how it's laid out or what kind of food they have, i'm sure i'll fine something to eat and i'll just be happy to be on a cruise, i also don't care how the coffee is as long as it will wake me up in the morning lol :D :D :D

 

Dean

[MetalManCPA]

All I can say about buffet food is........it's buffet food, NOT fine dining.

 

You run the risk of cold food by the time you sit, food that might have been out too long at the station, improper refilling of food by staff by keeping the old stuff at the bottom of the tray and dumping new stuff on top, etc etc. I love buffets. Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and other casions - been to most of those buffets. I eat at local buffets too. Some are good, some are not so good, but beyond the two extremes of finding an exceptional buffet (been to a few) or downright poor buffet (been to a few), most I've been too are in the same relative range.

[sunviking82]

Having sailed on RCL, Celebrity, Princess and Disney, we prefer the Horizon Court' set up. Yes on day one it can be crowded, but so are the others. Made to order omelets or "fake egg" dishes are available, the fruit and pastries are fresh ( and the best I have encountered ) and the eggs vary from day to day and if you don't have the kind you like, the will make it for you on the spot. Also I love the little pancakes.

 

Lunch is always nice with a hot dish, craving station and nice salads. You always can have lunch (pizza, burgers, etc) on deck too or in the dinning room for either meal.

 

I prefer the Princess layout and see nothing wrong with the quality. Go to a land based resort and you will see similar with their morning buffets for abou $20 per person. :p

[Stevesan]

Not really . I sailed with all 3 lines and this is simply NOT TRUE.

 

 

And here I thought food quality was subjective. Silly old me!:confused:

 

Regarding the comments about NCL buffet food, our first cruise was on NCL and the food was truly abominable (there I go being subjective again:eek: ). A few others report just the opposite and I totally believe them. Food quality does depend on culinary skills. Some ships have talented, dedicated chefs and cooks, some don't.

 

I kinda liked the HC stations once I learned the layout.

 

Except for salad and desserts, Holland America has serial buffet lines. They somewhat alleviated the long lineup problem by creating stations within the line, and using ropes to set off the sections. That works pretty well. Best of all is the FREE ice cream station which is open most of the day and evening.

[mr green]

If you want problems in a buffet, try going through one whe a 'Red Alert' is on. EVERYTHING is handed to you, yes even salt and pepper. This happened to us on the Statendam, the only people who seemed happy were the Russian Custom Officials. They also delayed the ships sailing for several hours, the thought of many of the cruisers was, that the delay gave them an extra buffet dinner! john

[Sandytoes]

Nearly 230 people aboard Royal Caribbean cruise ship have fallen ill with a gastrointestinal illness, most often spread through contaminated food and water, during a weeklong Caribbean voyage.

 

Thank goodness this didn't happen to anyone aboard the Crown....eating in the Horizion Court, no problems with stomach and intestinal illnesses.

That's good news....

[Nliedel]

My personal opnion is that anyone going to the rest room and not washing their hands needs to go off a specially built plank. I have NO tolerance for it.

[mdmomof7]

Red alert? I assume it's the term used when there is a suspected outbreak?

[sultan_sfo]

Brown Alert?

 

Red alert? I assume it's the term used when there is a suspected outbreak?

[negc]

If the "buffet" was that bad,why is it always "crowded"???

 

Just another thing that makes you say,Hmmm........

LOL

For the same reason that those who complain how bad the food is, also complain that the portions are too small.:D

[panddcruiser]

I think you are all right.The food is really terrible. Don't eat it. I am bringing my 19 year old son and DH they say more for us!!!

 

It is true the same people that complain about the food say there isn't enough. I wonder what these people eat at home? :D

[Merion_Mom]

For the same reason that those who complain how bad the food is, also complain that the portions are too small.:D

Bill, this sentence borders on the brilliant.

 

No, I want to amend that.

 

Your sentence has passed into the Pantheon Of Classic Cruising Comments.

[Sandytoes]

.....If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted sugar cookie shaped like tropical fish, stand there and don't budge. Oh-ya! As long as you like....Then, take as many as you can. Why not, they're like a beautiful pair of shoes. You can't leave them behind. So pile them as high as you can on your silver platter. Now it's time to sit down at the table closest to the buffet because you deserve to be there. How easy it will be to go back to stack your silver platter....Isn't life One Big Buffet...All for the taking....

[Tatka]

Tatka - :)

 

You've been on several cruise lines. Have you posted the similarities and differences on the board? If so, I'll do a search to see. We almost went on HAL Zuiderdam for our first cruise last year. I met some cruisers from that ship in the airport on the way home. They loved their cruise too!

 

And this is totally OT, forgive me, but my dd is right now in the Ukraine and yesterday did a river cruise on the Dneiper River. Don't know where on the Black Sea you cruised, but she also just finished a camp near Balaklava and Sevastopol on the Black Sea. Small world. :)

 

I posted before... Don't have much time now... but I can say that Princess is probably one of the best... It combines Celebrity service and almost food (although I found buffets to be more interesting than on Celebrity) with limetless entertainment options. I love it.

 

HAL> Well from what I understand Zuiderdam isn't genuine HAL product and while we liked our cruise overall, service was the worst ... Carnival beats them in service easily. Ship was interesting and I liked that it carries under 2K passengers. IMHO Princess (CB) wins hands down in everything.

 

In Black sea we cruised Odessa, Yalta, Batumi, Suhumi and more... I was 14 at that time. I grew up in Ukraine (well at that time it was USSR) and moved here at 24.

 

I hope your daughter have a great vacation.:)

[Tatka]

And here I thought food quality was subjective. Silly old me!:confused:

.

 

Food quality is subjective but how can anyone say that there is no omlete station? Is it also subjetive? :confused:

[negc]

Bill, this sentence borders on the brilliant.

 

No, I want to amend that.

 

Your sentence has passed into the Pantheon Of Classic Cruising Comments.

 

Wish I could claim authorship, Carol, but it is an old joke that I thought was appropriate for recycling.:D As Milton Berle or Henny Youngman, or some other comic of the period was known to say "I've got a million of them":)

[Flipper133]

Someone on these boards has advised that the Sterling Dining Room has been name changed to the Savoy and that a section of the Horizon Court has been converted into a Specialty StaekHouse called Sterling - with a cover charge.

 

Can anyone who has seen this let us know where it is exactly (Deck plans on Princess and other sites still do not show changes) and what sort of impact it has on the already crowded times.:confused:

 

Like many others I choose to use HC quite frequently and try to avoid peak times - nevertheless collecting your food and then finding a table can sometimes be quite a challenge. I suspect that with even less room available, these challenges will be even greater.

 

cheers

[mii]

Someone on these boards has advised that the Sterling Dining Room has been name changed to the Savoy and that a section of the Horizon Court has been converted into a Specialty StaekHouse called Sterling - with a cover charge.

 

Can anyone who has seen this let us know where it is exactly (Deck plans on Princess and other sites still do not show changes) and what sort of impact it has on the already crowded times.:confused:

 

Like many others I choose to use HC quite frequently and try to avoid peak times - nevertheless collecting your food and then finding a table can sometimes be quite a challenge. I suspect that with even less room available, these challenges will be even greater.

 

cheers

 

Flipper I just got my new Alaska book and in the deck plans for the Diamond/Sapphire it shows the Sterling is way in back of the Horizon Ct. on the starboard side on the Lido deck. It is opened from 6:30 to 11:00 p.m. The Outrigger Bar is back there also and it is right next to it.

 

Marilyn

[negc]

Someone on these boards has advised that the Sterling Dining Room has been name changed to the Savoy and that a section of the Horizon Court has been converted into a Specialty StaekHouse called Sterling - with a cover charge.

 

Can anyone who has seen this let us know where it is exactly (Deck plans on Princess and other sites still do not show changes) and what sort of impact it has on the already crowded times.:confused:

 

Like many others I choose to use HC quite frequently and try to avoid peak times - nevertheless collecting your food and then finding a table can sometimes be quite a challenge. I suspect that with even less room available, these challenges will be even greater.

 

cheers

 

I don't know if it was a change of names, but when we were on the Sapphire Princess in March, one of the alternative dining rooms was the Savoy and in the evening, the aft section of the Horizon court was closed off from the buffet area and was spruced up to become the Sterling Steak House (extra charge). We didn't notice that many guests having dinner in the HC so the reduced amount of seating is probably not a problem at night. During breakfast and lunch hours, it was just another seating area for the HC. I was under the impression that this was how things had been since the ship first set sail, but I could be mistaken.

Service and food were good but the ambience, even with all they did to disguise its connection to the HC, was somewhat lacking. It certainly didn't have the style of Sabatini's, or of Chops on RCI ships.

[Lynda90]

Marilyn is absolutely correct. I was on the Sapphire a few months ago and that's the way it was. The Savoy is what was the Sterling. The Sterling now charges a $15 cover charge.

[GoodAsGold]

Oh gawwwwd, I didn't think anything could be worse then NCL Star buffet. GAG!!! And, I can usually eat anything served at the Lido deck 'cafeterias'. Not on the NCL Star! Yuck!

 

As far as the food goes, it is a "buffet". I thought the Horizon Court was pretty good compared to the NCL Dawn buffet:eek: !! !!!