Has anyone else never done this?

25 + cruises and we have never had our dinner at the buffet on any cruise line.

A few reasons for this:

DW - "I'm on vacation and I want to be served"

Me - A) I have no self control and eat way too much

B) Not a big fan of buffets, land based or ship based (lunch we have tried).

So, any others that have not eaten dinner at the buffet?

Ken

25 + cruises and we have never had our dinner at the buffet on any cruise line.

 

A few reasons for this:

 

DW - "I'm on vacation and I want to be served"

 

Me - A) I have no self control and eat way too much

B) Not a big fan of buffets, land based or ship based (lunch we have tried).

 

So, any others that have not eaten dinner at the buffet?

 

Ken

At least once a cruise, either because we are just tired and don't want to wait/"dress up" or we got so caught up in something we missed our dinner time.

That's one of many reasons why we love Blu.

Same as you, we like to be served and love to get dressed up but can an see the attraction as food is good and if you didn't want to do a formal night it is a great option

Never for dinner. We did have room service for dinner one night close to the end of a three week vacation when we were exhausted. Otherwise we always go to the MDR or a Specialty Restaurant.

I haven't either. I keep saying I want to try it some time but have not as of yet.

We wouldn't even consider having dinner in the buffet. My overarching principle is that in general, buffets offer vast quantities of mediocre food, and I avoid them as much as possible.

On top of that, I REALLY dislike wandering around with my plate looking for a place to sit, balancing food, drink, and silverware; eating in shifts to save the table, so one person sits alone while the other goes off in search of more food, then switching places--ugh!! Nothing is less appealing or appetizing to me.

And on top of THAT, dinner in the MDR is one of the highlights of cruising for us. We always ask for a large table and really enjoy the social aspects of gathering each evening. The food is of secondary importance; while it may not be gourmet cuisine, we never leave hungry.

So to answer your question, yes we have never ever eaten dinner in the buffet, and I have been cruising since 1982.

A better statement for me .... I've never missed dinner in the MDR.

I remember on our first few cruises .... we'd eat in the MDR .... AND .... run by the buffet just in case there was something good there too!

lol.

our bodies can't do that anymore.

I enjoy the experience of the MDR. I've also never eaten in a specialty restaurant.

I have had dreams (nightmares!) about forgetting to go tot he MDR ... and in my dream, we've hit day 3 or 4 without having visited the MDR. It's odd dream material and I can't explain it.

We wouldn't even consider having dinner in the buffet. My overarching principle is that in general, buffets offer vast quantities of mediocre food, and I avoid them as much as possible.

 

Exactly. I couldn't come up with the words to describe this; glad you did:)

Not on Celebrity.

We did eat in the buffet for a couple of evenings on the QM2 when I had a stinking cold, was struggling to breathe through a blocked nose and and couldn't face the MDR. We just used it to refuel and then I went back to bed.

It was absolutely soulless and depressing and I can't imagine wanting to go there if I had been feeling well.

We have had dinner in the buffet area twice when we were not particularly hungry. I was surprised by how many were there. Another time in 2009, I think, we had the sit down service that used to be offered in the buffet by waiters in training. You paid $2pp for the service. I wish they still offered that.

Not on Celebrity.

 

We did eat in the buffet for a couple of evenings on the QM2 when I had a stinking cold, was struggling to breathe through a blocked nose and and couldn't face the MDR. We just used it to refuel and then I went back to bed.

 

It was absolutely soulless and depressing and I can't imagine wanting to go there if I had been feeling well.

Isn't it excellent that this option is available when one is not feeling well. ;)

Thankfully, we have never had to use the buffet for dinner. Hopefully, we will not ever have to. :eek::)

On our first two Celebrity cruises, you could eat in a sectioned off area of the buffet. They used tablecloths and had wait staff, and you could either order off a menu (same as MDR I believe), or you could help yourself to the buffet. It was a nice alternative for nights where you wanted to be on your own schedule or wanted to dress down. Too bad they don't do that anymore!

When it's Panama Canal crossing day I will not be going to the dining room. I may do a quick buffet or have the wife bring food to me. Once in a lifetime sites mean more to me than a trip to the Cracker Barrel.

CaptDave

!0-ish cruises and never eaten dinner at the buffet - we've always used the MDR or Specialty Restaurants.

Very much a case of individual preference though - personally I'm just not a fan of buffets, at sea or on land.

------- or have the wife bring food to me.

CaptDave

Not if I was your wife!:eek::eek::eek:

LOL -- once we learned to avoid the buffet, DH and I found that the dreaded cruise-weight-gain issue pretty much went away. ;) We very rarely go in there, except to grab some coffee, yogurt and fruit for breakfast. Occasionally, after a long day of shore excursions, we will pop in there for an early dinner. We try to have something that we would not get in the MDR -- like sushi and/or stir-fry. :cool:

We decided to eat at the buffet one evening whilst on our Infinity Norway cruise last year. We had been ashore for the day and had lunch very late when we returned to the ship, so we really did not feel like the MDR.

Whilst we thought the buffet was fine for lunch, we really did not enjoy our dinner there.

The food choices were very limited.

There was no kind of roast meat available.

There was stir fry available but we really didn't think it was great.

There was beef curry which was very good, but I took the last small portion and when I returned to ask if there was any more available I was told that it is all finished.

There were also very few other (adult) guests eating there. There was a LARGE group of teens who were hanging out there. They weren't doing anything wrong but they were quite loud (as teens can be) and it wasn't really a relaxing dinner which we had hoped for.

The only other people eating there were crew (officers).

We wished we had gone to Bistro on Five and would do so in future if we don't feel like the MDR.

Not if I was your wife!:eek::eek::eek:

Being the "wife" - sure I will bring him food. The same way DH would bring me food if I asked (nicely of course). It's not a one way street ;)

There is the saying "happy wife, happy life" - being a couple of "equals" I would also say "Happy hubby, happy life" - may not rhyme but its the thought that counts.

Not on Celebrity.

 

We did eat in the buffet for a couple of evenings on the QM2 when I had a stinking cold, was struggling to breathe through a blocked nose and and couldn't face the MDR. We just used it to refuel and then I went back to bed.

Speaking of health and cleanliness in the buffet...that is folks touching the tongs, serving themselves and dropping the tongs into the food...and so on....I less than thrilled to hear that you went to the buffet with a stinking cold.

I think I'll just stick with Blu/MDR...thanks for reinforcing my dislike of buffets.

We've only had dinner at the buffet twice and both times were after long busy days in port where we had a big lunch. Once we were too late for the MDR dinner and once we were just too tired and didn't feel like going to the MDR. Both were very enjoyable. We've also taken a look at the buffet offerings a few other times just out of curiosity and while I wouldn't want to eat there every night I'd have no problem eating there occasionally if we didn't want to head to the MDR.

In between the pasta bar, salad bar, sushi and Asian/Indian food station, and the grill with a selection of meat dishes there are plenty of nice options.

But we're almost always on cruises with a lot of cruise friends so dinner in the MDR or a specialty restaurant is a big social event for us and one we seldom want to miss. Even when we're not very hungry we'll still join our friends in the MDR and just have a salad or something light for dinner.

Mostly we eat dinner in the MDR, can't say "never" in the buffet. But, we only hit the buffet for dinner if one or the other of us has extenuating circumstances - not feeling well, really exhausted, or something like that. I arrived back on Century from a chilly, rainy excursion with a full-blown head cold. Miso soup hit the spot that evening.

Actually, we did try eating dinner one night at the buffet on the Summit and enjoyed it. We went late, probably at 8:30 or 9:00, so it was very quiet. We carried in a nice glass of red wine, compliments of the beverage package, and sat the wine at our table. Then we went to the grilling area (the area where they serve pancakes in the AM.) We enjoyed cooked to order lamb chops and steak with delicious mint jelly and chimichurri sauces and a baked potato with all the fixins'. We travel in Aqua class and enjoy meals at Blu but it was nice to have something simple like a steak and baked potato as well. Anyhow, we were exhausted that evening and it provided a nice alternative to Blu dining.

I always have "first dinner" in the buffet. ;)

In the form of sushi - or sometimes from the nice selection of Indian or Asian dishes (the butter chicken is excellent).

Then "second dinner" is MDR.

Sometimes a "third dinner may be required later that night - but rarely.

Sorry to all the buffet fans but like others have said in this post, "I'm on vacation and want to be served" :). Being a restaurant manager for over 40 years and having taken 46 cruises I can honestly say that I've eaten at any buffet about 10 times. NEVER for dinner. Usually the first day I'll walk into the buffet's, look around to check out the offerings and how the area is layed out (that's the operations mgr. in me) and look at my fellow shipmates and the feeding frenzy :eek: and just shake my head and leave. IMHO just don't want to deal with the pushing and shoving and rude people, face it they do exist, GET OUT OF MY WAY FREE FOOD, AS MUCH AS I WANT...:rolleyes:

I'm not a fan of buffets and have never eaten dinner in the buffet on the ship. Don't go to buffets on land either if I can avoid it.

If we're too tired to go to dinner we would have dinner on our balcony.

Mary Lou