food in buffet on formal night?

[PescadoAmarillo]

Our experience with the Horizon Court for dinner is that the offerings vary greatly from ship to ship. We've always had excellent luck on the Diamond and Sapphire (on month long cruises, it is almost inevitable that one wants to skip the dining room at least a couple of nights), but on the Sun Princess, the buffet offerings were slim at best. On the Sea Princess they were quite good in the evenings, and we haven't tried the buffet on the Grand Class ships in the evening. But I don't think you can always count on the same choices of food (or the same quality) as the dining room if you choose to eat dinner in the buffet.

 

Still, it is great to have a casual alternative on formal nights, especially on longer cruises and with the luggage restrictions being what they are.

[cruzingmissy]

I wrestled with this a bit too. Instead of a suit why not just a sports jacket to wear with a pair of pants that can be worn other nights as well? I wore nice black pants with a dressy top and it was fine. I also did something this past cruise (just back from Alaska) that I never did before, I did laundry on the ship. It was very convenient and the machines were great. Just take a roll of quarters. It cost $1 to wash and $1 to dry. You can take less clothes that way and have room for some formal attire. I would not trade dinner in the dining room for dinner at the buffet. You will not be turned away if you are presentable, but may feel out of place. Just my opinion. Whatever you decide, enjoy every minute!

[cruisePRN]

I plan on dressing country club casual for formal nights and esting in the dining room. With the luggage restrictions I will only take one suitcase each for Dh and myself. he cannot get a suit and his shoes in one case and stay within the weight limits. I don't care for the buffet for dinner so I will be in the dining room, sorry if this bothers anyone.

[sultan_sfo]

And dont forget to take a thick skin with you -- does not weigh much. Enjoy!

 

I plan on dressing country club casual for formal nights and esting in the dining room. With the luggage restrictions I will only take one suitcase each for Dh and myself. he cannot get a suit and his shoes in one case and stay within the weight limits. I don't care for the buffet for dinner so I will be in the dining room, sorry if this bothers anyone.

[vmom]

I wrestled with this a bit too. Instead of a suit why not just a sports jacket to wear with a pair of pants that can be worn other nights as well? I wore nice black pants with a dressy top and it was fine. I also did something this past cruise (just back from Alaska) that I never did before, I did laundry on the ship. It was very convenient and the machines were great. Just take a roll of quarters. It cost $1 to wash and $1 to dry. You can take less clothes that way and have room for some formal attire. I would not trade dinner in the dining room for dinner at the buffet. You will not be turned away if you are presentable, but may feel out of place. Just my opinion. Whatever you decide, enjoy every minute!

 

A sports coat that can be worn on the plane and not packed might be a good compromise. I just wish men's shoes didn't take up so much room! Even one pair takes up a whole lot of space and if you add 2 pair in a suitcase (men's size 12)...there's not much room left for extras.

 

 

As far as doing laundry on the ship...thought of that, but frankly can't find enough time to do all the fun stuff on board, that I don't really want to spend 2 hours of my limited cruise time doing laundry unless I'm in a real bind.

[vmom]

And dont forget to take a thick skin with you -- does not weigh much. Enjoy!

 

 

:rolleyes: hmmm :D:D:D excellent suggestion

 

I know this has been mentioned before, but I think more cruisers are going to be asking themselves these same questions as more limits on luggage are put into place

 

Dining room vs buffet

 

Suit vs sports coat vs long sleeve shirt and tie

 

A month ago I would never have questioned bringing a full suit with of course proper shoes for DH and of course formal wear for myself...but I think we will be reading more and more about people trying to figure out ways to dress up without all the extra gear.

 

For any one who remembers the show "Home Improvement"....remember Tim's suit in a bag episode ( he has a suit that folds up into a teeny bag which he wore to Jill's class reunion). :D If someone could actually make that work it would make some money.

[vmom]

Glad to hear from everyone that food in the buffet is good except we might not get lobster.

 

Thanks everyone for the feedback and suggestions!

[cruisePRN]

And dont forget to take a thick skin with you -- does not weigh much. Enjoy!

 

Will do :D I'd rather be eating lobster then anything at the buffet anyday :p

[julia]

VMom:

 

We chose to forego the second formal night on our Caribbean cruise and did our own UBD from the buffet.... see my recap on page four of my CB review http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=614318

 

It was a great evening and you will dine very nicely!

[rdsqrl]

VMom:

 

We chose to forego the second formal night on our Caribbean cruise and did our own UBD from the buffet.... see my recap on page four of my CB review http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=614318

 

It was a great evening and you will dine very nicely!

Well, sure, but the OP didn't want to spend $50 on checking a second bag; I doubt if she's going to want to spend $100 for a dinner. . .

I don't see what the big deal is about $50 for a second bag -- it costs more than that to fill up your gas tank. I mean, really, let's all get some perspective here.

[cruisePRN]

Well, sure, but the OP didn't want to spend $50 on checking a second bag; I doubt if she's going to want to spend $100 for a dinner. . .

 

I don't see what the big deal is about $50 for a second bag -- it costs more than that to fill up your gas tank. I mean, really, let's all get some perspective here.

 

Let's see some perspective here....... Per person

$25 first bag

$50 second bag

$8 daily fuel surcharge

$2 soda or water on plane

$10 daily gratuity

$2 porter embarkation

$2 porter debarkation