?(No) Trays in Lido

[cruz chic]

With a tray people tend to overload their dishes and not eat everything. Lots of food gets tossed away.

For the life of me I can't understand why people do this. I always take what I think I can eat and no more. Unless it tastes gross I'll be eating it. I remember one time when I was in Vegas I saw this guy with a plate just loaded to the hilt with fruit. There was no way anyone could ever eat all that. Sure enough half was left. I can only imagine people that do that must have grown up in a house where there was plentry of money and wasting food was not an issue.

 

I also wonder how the crew that is able to eat in the Lido will like the not having trays. When I was on the Statendam in Nov. I could not believe how some of the staff loaded their tray. I couldn't eat what some of them had on their tray in a week.

[RevNeal]

Oh my GOD.

And to imagine that I missed all of this while I was busy doing other things!

 

Ugh!

 

That photo with the hairy back (with the "3" mowed into it) is worth printing and taping to the refrigerator door; it'll ruin my appetite every time I go to see if more food has "materialized." :D

[mamaofami]

I have a friend who always sails on HAL and she just called me last night after taking an NCL cruise out of New York. She didn't like it at all and was upset about no trays in the buffet restaurant. She said it was very hard to deal with and was amazed when I told her HAL is also doing away with the trays.

As an asside, she said the food was awful on NCL, even in the specialty restaurant.

Greg, it's never a good idea to stay away from here for too long. You never know what you'll miss.

[sapper1]

If I saw that in the Lido it wouldn't matter if there were trays or not because my appetite would have vanished.

[cruz chic]

You know, it's not really necessary to participate in a thread one views as pointless.:rolleyes:

 

We probably won't miss the trays, but I sympathize with those who will need assistance. Some have pointed out that help can be scarce in the Lido as needed, particularly during busy times.

 

I still don't see what a front door person couldn't hand out trays to those who really need them.

Very well said. There are so many threads on here that I think...oh please....who cares.....but I don't go in there and post to them and say they are pointless or who cares. Please people....move on to the next and stop making these comments.

[Barocl]

We just returned from the Tran Atlantic Noordam cruise. There were tray in the Lido at all times. Take care.

[pipedreams62]

[mrsltg]

The trays were no available on the Westerdam a couple of weeks ago. For this able bodied 33 year old it was no problem. I did see and hear a child drop a plate he was carrying. He looked terrified and everyone kind of stood around staring at him, crew members included. It was strange. Finally a crew member approached and cleaned up the mess. Oh well, he was a kid and these things happen. The only problem I had was with the made to order pasta. The bowl was HOT and there was no where to put the thing as I walked back to my table.

[Old As Dirt Mom]

This is Geriatric Nurse's cue; where are you Geriatric Nurse:)? We need you to come on and remind us all again, in no uncertain terms, that it's May 1st when all the trays disappear!

 

I have my tray butler standing by!

 

http://rochambeau.*****.com/my_weblog/images/2007/08/11/hp_scands_781121421240.jpg

[bostonwhaler]

We were on a cruise on the Westerdam, and voila no trays in the Lido.

 

I thought they were out and took an empty tray that had been used for coffee cups and was fine. But that was one breakfast.

 

My wife likes them for 1) fruit 2) smoked salmon 3) an omelette and 4) 2 glasses of water. She is not obese and does not pile her tray.

 

We were told it was an experiment beginning on Vista ships, and .....hopefully continuing fleetwide.

 

It stock market analysts reports of CCL, they say the company has a sharp knife when it comes to expenses. Unfortiunately where do you draw the line, the room steward on Westerdam in 2007 told us he had 11 rooms, the steward on this cruise said they now work in a team of 2 and do 30 rooms. That is 4 more rooms or 36% more work.

 

By eliminating trays (likely planned last July when oil was $140) you eliminate 2 jobs for Indonesian staff, and the associated air fares.

 

It would be interesting to know how much food they are saving by the elimination of trays.

[CowPrincess]

It would be interesting to know how much food they are saving by the elimination of trays.

 

DH & I were discussing that last night. We figure that food costs will go up, not down, as a result of "no trays". Yeah, once thru the buffet, and not grabbing all that is needed will likely be enough for MOST pax -- next meal they'll be loading up that plate so they don't have to go back to the buffet for a 2nd trip for one meal. I suspect there will be a LOT of food taken that isn't eaten. More than there is now.

[pipedreams62]

This is Geriatric Nurse's cue; where are you Geriatric Nurse:)? We need you to come on and remind us all again, in no uncertain terms, that it's May 1st when all the trays disappear!

 

I have my tray butler standing by!

 

http://rochambeau.*****.com/my_weblog/images/2007/08/11/hp_scands_781121421240.jpg

 

 

[JimVrhovac]

Ruth and I have a very good relationship when on the ships. She says jump and I say YES DEAR How High.

 

Since the new os the removal of the trays I asked Ruth (on one of her frequent trips to the mall or two) too pick up a cafateria type trey to take on the ship.

 

She came back with:

1 - Wicker trey @ 39.95

1 - Plastic Trey @ 29.95

1 - Metal Aluminum Trey @ 59.95

1 - Ceramic Trey @ (She took the price tag off of this one and would not tell me how much it cost).

 

I am going to pack the wicker and the plastic trey as I make frequent trips to the Lido at Ruth's request (demand) to get assorted items such as bread pudding, ice cream, coffee, tea, salads, specific sandwiches, etc.

 

We stay in a suite and the Neptune is 10 feet away but she insists (demands) that I get these items from the Lido Cafateria.

 

I INTEND TO HAVE A LITTLE FUN ON THE VEENDAM CRUISE WITH THE NEW TREYS....

 

When I am in the Lido and someone asks me where I got the trey from? I will answer "THE CABIN STEWART GAVE IT TO US. DIDN'T YOU GET ONE IN YOUR ROOM? WHY NOT? YOU NEED TO ASK YOUR CABIN STEWART FOR ONE AND TELL HIM THAT THEY ARE GIVING THEM TO ALL THE SUITE PASSANGERS AND YOU WANT ONE TOO."

 

This ought to give this crew enough aggrevation that them may go below decks and dig up the treys tht they have stocked there.......

 

LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO TAKE IS SERIOUS AS YOU ARE NOT GOING TO COME OUT OF IT ALIVE ANYWAY- Ananymous Philosopher

 

Jim (without Ruth)

[Spinner2]

Just off the Zaandam, where no staff person seemed to know anything about possible tray elimination in May and where I saw considerable help available to all in the Lido and around the pool. We don't eat in the Lido all that often, but I drop in early in the mornings to pick up a couple of glasses of fresh-squeezed orange juice to take back to the cabin and I often saw stewards collecting food for individuals who weren't even accompanying the steward. They were taking the trays to people who were already seated; the incidences that I saw were small children and persons with obvious mobility problems.

 

When we ate there on port days I noticed the same helpful service and the coffee/tea trolley was around all the time, going up and down the aisles.

 

I also saw an individual who chose to carry his own plate (without a tray) burn his thumb when it drifted too close to the hot food. In the process he dropped the plate. Don't know if that anecdote proves anything.

 

At our Meet/Greet we had a large staff attendance and all stated that the last thing HAL would do during this difficult time is to eliminate anything for cost-reduction purposes; they need to make the best possible impression right now. And I didn't notice anything missing except that I didn't see any little notepads in the Explorations Cafe--the little pads that used to be around for note-taking. And you could have a bookmark for the taking but they didn't put them into the borrowed books automatically.

 

We couldn't think of anything, other than those trivial items, that we'd seen on recent cruises that wasn't in place here as well.

[JDinWA]

Since the new os the removal of the trays I asked Ruth (on one of her frequent trips to the mall or two) too pick up a cafateria type trey to take on the ship.

 

She came back with:

1 - Wicker trey @ 39.95

1 - Plastic Trey @ 29.95

1 - Metal Aluminum Trey @ 59.95

1 - Ceramic Trey @ (She took the price tag off of this one and would not tell me how much it cost).

 

Oh, Jim, Ruth should have checked out Big Lots! When I read on these boards about the trays going away, I stopped in and they have their summer stock out. I picked up two cafeteria trays, a very pale blue with a vaguely hawaiian-ish flower pattern in white...$6 each.

[GeriatricNurse]

We just returned from the Tran Atlantic Noordam cruise. There were tray in the Lido at all times. Take care.

 

 

Have no fear! Trays will be eliminated in the Lido, fleet-wide, effective May 1st., 2009!

[GeriatricNurse]

The trays were no available on the Westerdam a couple of weeks ago. For this able bodied 33 year old it was no problem. I did see and hear a child drop a plate he was carrying. He looked terrified and everyone kind of stood around staring at him, crew members included. It was strange. Finally a crew member approached and cleaned up the mess. Oh well, he was a kid and these things happen. The only problem I had was with the made to order pasta. The bowl was HOT and there was no where to put the thing as I walked back to my table.

 

 

 

This incident will happen many more times, and not only involving children, once the trays are eliminated, fleet-wide, effective, May 1st., 2009!

[GeriatricNurse]

This is Geriatric Nurse's cue; where are you Geriatric Nurse:)? We need you to come on and remind us all again, in no uncertain terms, that it's May 1st when all the trays disappear!

 

I have my tray butler standing by!

 

http://rochambeau.*****.com/my_weblog/images/2007/08/11/hp_scands_781121421240.jpg

 

 

 

Correct! And I will be packing my own tray(s) for my next HAL cruise (after May 1st.)!

[GeriatricNurse]

We were on a cruise on the Westerdam, and voila no trays in the Lido.

 

I thought they were out and took an empty tray that had been used for coffee cups and was fine. But that was one breakfast.

 

My wife likes them for 1) fruit 2) smoked salmon 3) an omelette and 4) 2 glasses of water. She is not obese and does not pile her tray.

 

We were told it was an experiment beginning on Vista ships, and .....hopefully continuing fleetwide.

 

It stock market analysts reports of CCL, they say the company has a sharp knife when it comes to expenses. Unfortiunately where do you draw the line, the room steward on Westerdam in 2007 told us he had 11 rooms, the steward on this cruise said they now work in a team of 2 and do 30 rooms. That is 4 more rooms or 36% more work.

 

By eliminating trays (likely planned last July when oil was $140) you eliminate 2 jobs for Indonesian staff, and the associated air fares.

 

It would be interesting to know how much food they are saving by the elimination of trays.

 

 

Or wasted from what will be all the spillage resulting from persons, including children, who attempt to carry too much from the Lido buffet line at one time to their table(s)!

[GeriatricNurse]

DH & I were discussing that last night. We figure that food costs will go up, not down, as a result of "no trays". Yeah, once thru the buffet, and not grabbing all that is needed will likely be enough for MOST pax -- next meal they'll be loading up that plate so they don't have to go back to the buffet for a 2nd trip for one meal. I suspect there will be a LOT of food taken that isn't eaten. More than there is now.

 

 

And potentially loosing their table in the process!

[GeriatricNurse]

Just off the Zaandam, where no staff person seemed to know anything about possible tray elimination in May and where I saw considerable help available to all in the Lido and around the pool. We don't eat in the Lido all that often, but I drop in early in the mornings to pick up a couple of glasses of fresh-squeezed orange juice to take back to the cabin and I often saw stewards collecting food for individuals who weren't even accompanying the steward. They were taking the trays to people who were already seated; the incidences that I saw were small children and persons with obvious mobility problems.

 

When we ate there on port days I noticed the same helpful service and the coffee/tea trolley was around all the time, going up and down the aisles.

 

I also saw an individual who chose to carry his own plate (without a tray) burn his thumb when it drifted too close to the hot food. In the process he dropped the plate. Don't know if that anecdote proves anything.

 

At our Meet/Greet we had a large staff attendance and all stated that the last thing HAL would do during this difficult time is to eliminate anything for cost-reduction purposes; they need to make the best possible impression right now. And I didn't notice anything missing except that I didn't see any little notepads in the Explorations Cafe--the little pads that used to be around for note-taking. And you could have a bookmark for the taking but they didn't put them into the borrowed books automatically.

 

We couldn't think of anything, other than those trivial items, that we'd seen on recent cruises that wasn't in place here as well.

 

 

And this will probably happen a lot, (without any trays)!

[pipedreams62]

[usha]

Yawn...

We were "trayless:rolleyes:" on Westerdam for 14 breakfasts & 13 lunches, and didn't see anyone drop their plate or spill their food. We also didn't witness any big passenger uprising about the lack of trays.

Something tells me we're all going to survive this "crisis".:D

[jtl513]

Unfortiunately where do you draw the line, the room steward on Westerdam in 2007 told us he had 11 rooms, the steward on this cruise said they now work in a team of 2 and do 30 rooms. That is 4 more rooms or 36% more work.

11 was an unusual number. Before the change most had 14 or 15 (at least on the non-suite decks), and I don't believe there was any increase or reduction of room stewards when they went to the team arrangement.

[twinkletoes4445]

 

Funny!!!! :)