What Kind Of Food in The Buffets

[stevebeme]

Ok maybe a silly question but what kind of food can you expect if you plan on eating at the buffets? Can't seem to find a sample menu.

[Toyz711]

Dinner

Carved meats..they change, different ones during the week.

Pasta station...made-to-order, with other premade ones available

some Internations dishes, some Indian dishes, (curried Chicken for 1)

Veal croquettes and other similar dishes

veggies

sometimes they had the sandwich stations going (made-to-order)

chilled fruit soups

salads bar, fresh fruit, assort other cold salads

usually a fish dish

Pizza

ice cream stations

dessert crepes station (next to the pasta station)

different cakes/dessert in the center display

Lunch

Sandwich bar (made-to-order and pre-made)

pizza

various salads

chilled soups

various meats/veggies

fresh fruit

desserts

Breakfast

omelet stations or made-to-order eggs

scrambled eggs *on the line

hash browns or cubed potatos

oatmeal

cream of wheat

cereal

toast...bagels, english muffins or simple toast

eggs benedict (sometimes salmon benedict)

fresh fruit

 

that's just what we remember in 5 mins

[Planer's Edge]

Ok maybe a silly question but what kind of food can you expect if you plan on eating at the buffets? Can't seem to find a sample menu.

 

If you were to listen to some people around here it is really crappy stuff. But, our resident Sunshine Cruiser (Cathi) just listed a very good idea of what is available on most all of the NCL ships.

 

PE

[CanadianTwosome]

If you've ever been to a buffet style restaurant, or to buffets on other cruises or in resorts and hotels, they're all pretty similar. There's only so much you can prepare in advance to sit in heat tables or cool trays. We ate a lot of breakfasts and lunches at the buffet on the Dream, and were never disappointed, because I was expecting a buffet... and I got one!! :)

 

Cathi's list is pretty inclusive, it should give you a good idea.

[isabellmybell]

We went on NCL last year, and most of the food was pretty yucky. My friends who just got back from the 7 day cruise in the carribean said the food was the worse he's ever had on a cruise. He didn't ask me about what cruise lines are better for some than others. Sadly NCL is among the worse!

[greywillow]

It depends on the ship. Newer NCL ships have their buffets spread among many "food stations" and offer an enormous selection of foods and, contrary to the negative opinion above (there's at least one who appears in every thread here), it's very good. Older NCL ships have much smaller buffets and the selection isn't nearly as good, plus they are laid out in one long buffet line making it more difficult to get what you want quickly while moving immediately on to your next choice. If you're cruising Dawn, Jewel, Jade, Pearl, or Gem the buffet choices will be just fine.

[Retired not Expired]

If you were to listen to some people around here it is really crappy stuff. But' date=' our resident Sunshine Cruiser (Cathi) just listed a very good idea of what is available on most all of the NCL ships.

 

PE[/quote']

What PE says here is true. Don’t worry if someone says it’s the best they’ve ever tasted or someone pops in from another board to say how bad NCL food is. Either one of them may have great taste or taste for crap. Only you can say if you like it or not. It is typical buffet food found in most buffets and the list given is what you will find.

[WinnieinWA]

We went on NCL last year, and most of the food was pretty yucky. My friends who just got back from the 7 day cruise in the carribean said the food was the worse he's ever had on a cruise. He didn't ask me about what cruise lines are better for some than others. Sadly NCL is among the worse!

 

I got off NCL Dawn 5 days ago and I couldn't disagree more. We ate breakfast 6 days and dinner 5 nights in the Venetian each morning/evening and the variety and quality was delicious.

 

 

We ate at the Buffet on debarkation day and I was amazed at the quantity and quality of all the different foods presented. It was a wonderful buffet.

 

I just cannot believe anyone in your party did not find food they liked with such a huge menu.

 

What did you and they eat that was so terrible? I'd really like to know the particulars because I think I could pick apart every one of your complaints if you'd just be specific.

 

Winnie <-----> foodie extroidinaire

[CanadianTwosome]

I think something people don't ever mention when they talk about their opinions of the buffet food is whether they frequent buffets on land. I don't. We occasionally go to a Sunday Brunch buffet, or an asian buffet, but they're pretty few and far between and when we do it is for one reason only - it's easy. If we want 'better quality' food (and this is subjective), we go to a sit down restaurant where what we choose will be cooked to order. Buffets are buffets are buffets. :)

 

Winnie has brought up another good point. People will state that all the food is horrible (on any given line), but don't usually say what they ordered or why it was so horrible (which could give an indication of whether their opinion may or may not be similar to yours - I guarantee that my sister and I would, almost all the time, have vastly different opinions of the exact same dish). On our upcoming cruise, since we're taking our daughter out of school, in order to help her get a little education out of the trip, we'll be sitting down as a family every night and working on a journal. I'll be using the journal to create my review, of course. Because of all the food threads, one of the things I intend to do is actually list what we ordered and what we thought of the individual meals. I may even take pictures - but I'm not going to promise that because it's a vacation, and I just might not feel like it!! Hopefully I'll be able to shed a little light on what is available and what people may or may not like about some individual dishes. :) Since I'm not typically a buffet eater, though, I also may not have much to report about that... but we'll see!

[stevebeme]

Thanks everyone for the prompt replies. The food sounds ok to me. I drive a truck and live out of a cooler and nuke my food 5 or 6 days a week so this sounds pretty good.

[janiceah]

Alot of times my complaint about buffets is the price. If you go out for Mother's day, Easter, etc. alot of these places have been charging $25.00-29.95 pp and realistically you can only eat so much. I agree though that usually a buffet is a buffet and at least this will be all paid for!! I thought the list of foods sounded pretty decent actually and maybe a nice change here and there from the regular dining rooms. I for one can't wait to try it in February.

[coffeebean]

Dinner

Carved meats..they change, different ones during the week.

Pasta station...made-to-order, with other premade ones available

some Internations dishes, some Indian dishes, (curried Chicken for 1)

Veal croquettes and other similar dishes

veggies

sometimes they had the sandwich stations going (made-to-order)

chilled fruit soups

salads bar, fresh fruit, assort other cold salads

usually a fish dish

Pizza

ice cream stations

dessert crepes station (next to the pasta station)

different cakes/dessert in the center display

Lunch

Sandwich bar (made-to-order and pre-made)

pizza

various salads

chilled soups

various meats/veggies

fresh fruit

desserts

Breakfast

omelet stations or made-to-order eggs

scrambled eggs *on the line

hash browns or cubed potatos

oatmeal

cream of wheat

cereal

toast...bagels, english muffins or simple toast

eggs benedict (sometimes salmon benedict)

fresh fruit

 

that's just what we remember in 5 mins

 

My favorite breakfast item is the freshly made (in front of you) waffles with whipped cream and strawberries to go on top. The batter for the waffles is the very best I have ever tasted. Can't wait to get back on an NCL ship just for the waffles!!!

[coffeebean]

We went on NCL last year, and most of the food was pretty yucky. My friends who just got back from the 7 day cruise in the carribean said the food was the worse he's ever had on a cruise. He didn't ask me about what cruise lines are better for some than others. Sadly NCL is among the worse!

 

IMHO, I whole heartedly disagree with your friends. I have experienced buffets on 21 different cruises on six different mass market cruise lines. By far, NCL has the very best, IMHO, buffet on the high seas on their newest ships, Pearl and Gem. The buffet is called "Action Stations". Most of the stations prepare the food in front of you, to order. No heated trays for this buffet. It is spectacular!!!

[Sparkylok6]

and don't forget to mention those wonderful pretzel "rolls" and "sticks". I wanted to smuggle those home with me. Yummmmmmmy!!!!

 

I also loved the salad station. I found the Caesar Salad to be awesome. I ordered it by itself and also with Grilled Chicken.

 

Ok, enough from me - I am starting to drool and I still have over 4 1/2 months to my next trip on the Dawn.

 

Happy New Year to everyone.

[Serial Mom]

The buffett on the Spirit had lots of variety and the menus did change. I'm not a buffett fan for many reasons, so we didn't visit the Spirit buffett more than a few times. But I did check out was being served at least once a day. I found it to be what I expected and avoided the foods that didn't appeal to me and stuck to those that I expected to like. Had a lovely late lunch/quick snack one afternoon of crisp salad with fresh bread and brie...........very nice.

 

My husband, being a true early bird, enjoyed getting up early and having a light breakfast at the buffett. I was somewhat ready to go by the time he was back and he would always bring me a hot, fresh coffee. Then off to Windows for a relaxing start to our day.

[Toyz711]

i knew i forgot some stuff..i get stuck at the dessert crepes and lost my place:D . we make a promise to each other on every trip...to try new food and to take stairs, no elevators. but i couldn't help it...i kept going back to the crepes station.

the secret is to not follow the line, it's not set up that way. go around and see where the stations are and what they offer. then get your plate and hit the stations. every meal, someone would look at my plate and say "where was that". i would take my crepe over to the ice cream station, 1/2 the line would leave to get their crepe.

[grantyandgrandma]

The Food On Ncl Ships Is Comparable To Ric S Grill Down Town Or Remember The Pepper Mill In Nor Kam With The Good Buffet. A Big Step Up From Mr. Mikes. Any Way You Will Enjoy Cruisesing Beats Freezing A-- Off Like We Are Right Now Lol

[Down-Unders]

We went on NCL last year, and most of the food was pretty yucky. My friends who just got back from the 7 day cruise in the carribean said the food was the worse he's ever had on a cruise. He didn't ask me about what cruise lines are better for some than others. Sadly NCL is among the worse!

 

Nothing wrong with NCL food, just some of the people that eat it! :) :)

[salty dingo]

I have always thought the buffet food was pretty good also. You can get a meal as quickly as you can get through the line. Good variety of choices. Not gourmet, but who expects gourmet?

[ohioNCLcruiser]

I have the 7 day menu from the Pride of America's buffet posted on my blog. This is a good example of what you can expect.

 

http://web.mac.com/cruisingjames

[Lowie]

i know that on the disney boards, people RAVE about the buffet restaurants there, and to me, none of them were better then the buffet on the Jewel.

 

i also thought that the jewel's buffet was 100x better then the carnival triumph's. although i liked the dining rooms better on carnival.

 

maybe it was the station set up, or that the buffet was indoors and cooler.

 

try the pretzel bread sandwich with prosciutto, pickles and tomato. you won't regret it!

 

we also had excellent service at the jewel's buffet. plates were cleared very quickly and tables cleaned right away.

 

hopefully we'll have the same experience when we sail on the sun in april.

[greywillow]

I have the 7 day menu from the Pride of America's buffet posted on my blog. This is a good example of what you can expect.

 

http://web.mac.com/cruisingjames

Thanks, ohio.

 

Anyone who can read that list of hot main courses and say "they served the same food every day" needs serious help.