Poor reviews of Sky Buffet???

[michigan tim]

DW & I took the Dawn to Bermuda in '08 and thought the buffet was very good, we took the Pearl to western Carib in spring '09 and thought the buffet was even better (the best I've had at sea by a substantial margin, rivaled the MDRs). We're taking the Sky in a few weeks on a 3 day and noted mostly negative to very negative reviews of the buffet. What is the consensus? Is this due to the ship being older and not being fully equipped for Freestyle? Or is it more a problem with the main food guy's lack of attention to quality? Or are the reviewers, hopefully, just nuts?

[ZoneHPH]

DW & I took the Dawn to Bermuda in '08 and thought the buffet was very good, we took the Pearl to western Carib in spring '09 and thought the buffet was even better (the best I've had at sea by a substantial margin, rivaled the MDRs). We're taking the Sky in a few weeks on a 3 day and noted mostly negative to very negative reviews of the buffet. What is the consensus? Is this due to the ship being older and not being fully equipped for Freestyle? Or is it more a problem with the main food guy's lack of attention to quality? Or are the reviewers, hopefully, just nuts?

 

DW and i just took a B2B on the Sky (Aug 3 to Aug 10). While we mainly ate at the MDRs for most of our meals. The times we did eat at the buffet, i felt it was quite diverse.

 

i don't think being an older ship has anything to do with it. it is all up to each individual's taste. perhaps certain features like action stations aren't as plentiful, but you still get a wide array of food choices.

 

i personally feel those that can't find anything to eat at a buffet often are limited in their personal taste for food. (i.e. unadventurous, used to only what they eat at home...etc).

[coka]

I just got off the four dayer yesterday. I ate there all 4 breakfasts, 2 lunches, 4 afternoon snacks, and 4 dinners. Never made it to an alternative restaurant and only went to the main dining room twice for lunch. No complaints from me! I even made sure I was first in line when it opened one afternoon.

 

coka

[RhondaC]

We were disappointed with the buffet on the Sky, both times we were there last year. Now, maybe it's changed since then. But, after both cruises, DH and I jokingly referred to it as the "Fast Food of Cruising".

 

But, you get what you pay for. At the time, the Sky was a couple hundred dollars less than the Majesty. We couldn't complain too much.

 

We're going on her again at the end of September, so obviously it wasn't too bad. :)

[Texas Teejay]

We just got off the Sky yesterday from our 4 night Bahama cruise. OMG it was our first cruise and I am HOOKED now! *sigh*

 

I don't know if I am just used to the buffets in Vegas or what the problem was, but the buffet for ME was just so-so. Imho. It had a GREAT salad bar with wonderful greens, toppings, veggies, fruits, breads and sandwich fixin's (Texas talk) and they always had fresh-off-the-grill burgers and hot dogs.....but that's where it "ended" for me. The hot food selections to me were not that great and the dessert selections all seemed to contain gelatin. (They all wiggled when carried to table, LOL)

 

We enjoyed the convenience of the buffet, and the ice cream selection was great, but overall we preferred the main dining rooms instead. We did not go to any specialty restaurants because we had Penthouse AB 0264 and could go to Cagney's for breakfast and lunch. The dining room menus changed daily so we felt no need to pay extra $ for food. Bottom line, I would rate the buffet 3 out of 5 stars.

[RhondaC]

the dessert selections all seemed to contain gelatin. (They all wiggled when carried to table, LOL)

 

 

YES!!! Every dessert was "gelatinous"!! LOL

[ZoneHPH]

I don't know if I am just used to the buffets in Vegas

 

NOW you're talkin' BUFFET! who has the best seafood buffet these days? haven't been to Vegas in a while. last time i knew it was at the Rio.

 

but geez...pick one...ANY ONE in vegas! heck even the Fiesta has a great one!

 

 

and you gave it 3 of 5 rating. hey if i had a Penthouse i'd dine just as you did!

[Texas Teejay]

LOL Zone....my fave buffet is at Paris LV on Saturday or Sunday the crab legs are to die for! My all-time fave is the Sterling Sunday Brunch, but we only splurged ONE time as it is quite pricey...however...you get what you pay for.....all you can eat lobster tails! Okay, now I'm ready to go back! Ha. Must recover from cruise over-eatin' first! :D

[ZoneHPH]

LOL Zone....my fave buffet is at Paris LV on Saturday or Sunday the crab legs are to die for! My all-time fave is the Sterling Sunday Brunch, but we only splurged ONE time as it is quite pricey...however...you get what you pay for.....all you can eat lobster tails! Okay, now I'm ready to go back! Ha. Must recover from cruise over-eatin' first! :D

 

oh that sounds great! but c'mon...all you can eat lobster tails? are they maine lobster? or just the regular run-of-the-mill warm water lobster?

 

yeah yeah...i'm a lobster snob. :D

[jjb415]

In January of this year, I found the buffet on the Norwegian Sky to be as good or better than those on other NCL ships in terms of variety & quality. I did find that the buffet area was VERY crowded at peak times - more so than most ships.

[asylum575]

It's a buffet. I really don't expect to be knocked out. I've found most buffets to be bland. If I want a meal cooked to my specs, I'll go to the dining room. The buffet on the Jewel was fine, MDR and specialties were much better as expected. I'll let you know about the Sky in a week or so.

[Texas Teejay]

http://www.ballyslasvegas.com/casinos/ballys-las-vegas/restaurants-dining/sterling-brunch-detail.html

 

Lobster tails...(unlimited) fresh drawn butter, champagne, filet mignon, here's the link. It is @ $70pp but sooooooooooooo worth it. I am a newbie to this forum and don't want to hijack this thread, so if you have any more questions feel free to p/m me! I'm a Vegas regular who is now a cruise fanatic!:p

[jrs101]

I found the buffet odd, in it's simplicity. Maybe it's the fact that we've been overindulged in the past. The breakfast / lunch were all super simple and the dinner was simple, but they would add more basics. So for dinner, at the salad section you will find shrimp cocktail, fancy cheeses and the pasta bar. While at lunch you will get a couple basic hot items and a basic salad bar and some cold items. I did like that they would throw in an East Indian dish. The desserts were the most notably 'diminished' with cut up and whole fresh fruit and very simple sweets like pudding and jello, bread pudding, cobbler, cookies and pound cake. No fancy and decadent pastries or sweets.

 

In reality it is quite simple, no frills, nothing to complain about, but nothing to rave about either. You won't starve. Hehe, but then again when I work out what I paid per day / person for the cruise I'm surprised there was that much.

 

Why? Well, who knows, maybe because the 3 day and 4 day all have full day stops each day?

[Venus4NU]

I just got off the Sky on Friday. I did not care for the buffet. Previously sailed Carnival, The Pearl and The Jewel. Loved the buffet on The Pearl and Jewel. I did not like the way the sky was set up. Always long lines. I just did not like it. Tried breakfast and lunch there. Finally, after long lines and never a seat I went to the main dining room for breakfast. I am hooked. Same things, much calmer, great table with great views. I won't do the buffet for breakfast again. Going on the Pearl soon and looking forward to lunches at the buffet but will stick to dining room for breakfast and diner.

[rickechambers1@aol.com]

 

But, you get what you pay for. :)

 

Aren't these cruises ridiculously inexpensive to begin with? Indeed, you get what you pay for. I don't think it's the ship or the chef.

[ZoneHPH]

Aren't these cruises ridiculously inexpensive to begin with? Indeed, you get what you pay for. I don't think it's the ship or the chef.

 

oh c'mon now...the food isn't THAT cheap! :D

[RhondaC]

Aren't these cruises ridiculously inexpensive to begin with? Indeed, you get what you pay for. I don't think it's the ship or the chef.

 

I completely agree. When paying so little for the whole cruise, we don't expect gourmet food. We weren't "wowed" by the food, nor did we ever go hungry.

 

We've really gotten to the point that the main focus of our cruise isn't the food anyway (like it was on our first few cruises!). ;) We just love getting away from everything, and being out in the ocean, and visiting the islands. :)

[ruffs]

I still havn't figured out how we are paying so little but still get so many dining options - buffet, MDR, Blue Lagoon, room service, subsidized dining at the specialty restaurants, poolside grill. For what we are paying for our MR cruise in Oct I couldn't eat out every day for a week let alone pay for a hotel somewhere. If the food is as good as so many say we'll be forced to keep cruising!

[calenita]

How is the breakfast? On the Jewel we LOVED the buffet breakfast. Eggs Benedict! Dining room was way too slow. What are the other options for breakfast and lunch on the sky? I know there is pizza in the Italian restaurant for lunch and I think we will try that or the burgers by the pool. As far as the evenings I don't think we would go to the buffet.

[asylum575]

Ahhh, Eggs Benedict. I remember them from our April Jewel cruise.

 

Hopefully Sky will have it also. I'll let you know next week, we're going this weekend.

[ZoneHPH]

Ahhh, Eggs Benedict. I remember them from our April Jewel cruise.

 

Hopefully Sky will have it also. I'll let you know next week, we're going this weekend.

 

dunno about the buffet...but definitely MDR has eggs benedict (classic)....and they have a salmon benedict...mmmmmmmmmm.

[just_us]

We cruised the Sky in June and I do have to say that the first day, the breakfast buffet was FAB! Then the days after, it seemed almost reheated or something.

 

The lunches seemed the same every day too. Definitely opt for the free lunch in il adagio your first day (departing) to break up the monotony.

 

I agree about the gelatinous (?sp) desserts. Frickin GROSS...gimme a real dessert. Something REALLY bad for me. :cool:

 

Even the cookies were getting not so exciting after day three.

[armyb]

We like the MDR for breakfast and dinner, but the lunch buffet is pretty good. Be sure to try the french fries as they were an unexpected delight. The ceasar salad is great too, and they make it as you wait.

[rickechambers1@aol.com]

NOW you're talkin' BUFFET! who has the best seafood buffet these days? haven't been to Vegas in a while. last time i knew it was at the Rio.

 

but geez...pick one...ANY ONE in vegas! heck even the Fiesta has a great one!

 

 

and you gave it 3 of 5 rating. hey if i had a Penthouse i'd dine just as you did!

 

After moving to Las Vegas a year ago, I've been on a mission to try all the buffets. In my opinion, the best mainstream is Rio...they just have everything you can think of. But THE best is, as stated, The Sterling at Bally's. Unlimited Perrier Jouet champagne! How can you go wrong!? Last tip for Las Vegas, the Sunday brunch on the top of the Stratosphere is pretty cool...the restaurant revolves 1 time in 90 minutes the views are amazing. Normally it costs $14 to go to the observation deck on top, but if your going to the restaurant, it's included. I had the lobster sandwich for $28 and it was pretty good...again with unlimited champagne. :) Going to the new M Resort I think tonight for dinner...supposed to be very good quality; even heard they have self-serve beer and wine on tap at their buffet included in price.

 

I guess you can see the difference even with the Las Vegas comparisons, go to Bally's on Sunday and have unlimited lobster, cavier, fresh shucked oysters, etc...and pay $75; you're not going to get this at the Sahara for your $6.99...guaranteed.