food in Buffet for HAL

Like to ask what you all thought of the buffets in HAl

thinking of a cruise on the ms Volendam for Alaska

done cruises with Carnival and NCL. Just like to ask thoughts? on buffet. better or worst, and food options overall on ship

I am not a big buffet fan in general. Never eat at one for dinner

However, we were on The Oosterdam in alaska in july. Had most breakfasts and most lunched at the buffet. I found the variety and quality very good. Lines were not long or slow.- it never felt congested. Breakfast was typical options. Lunch a mix of salads, sandwiches ( both pre-made and made to order) as well aa pasta, asian and pizza and dinner type entrees.

No complaints from me.

I never miss the times when they have schnitzel in the Lido for lunch. It's one of my favorites.

I tend toward the pasta and stir fries on other days. Or I go for the taco bar.

I found on my last cruise the fresh cheese selection was lacking, but that could have been the location.

For breakfast, I love the bran muffins, which I know is a strange thing to rave about, but the bran muffins on HAL are some of the best I have ever had. My usual breakfast is a fruit yogurt, a couple of bran muffins, and a couple of glasses of guava juice.

On our recent Eurodam cruises, with the dining room closed nearly every day for lunch, we had to eat in the Lido -- it was okay.

We are not fans of HAL's pizza -- rarely even have a pizza at home.

There is also the Dive-In for lunch -- hambugers and hot dogs -- not fans of this either.

Breakfast you have the choice of the Lido or room service.

Lunch you have the choice of Pinnacle (fee $10 per person -- open some days), Lido which has salads, pasta, Asian food, sandwiches (premade or tell the person what you want made), room service, Dive-In, Slice (pizza).

Is there a deli? 24 hour pizza?

Love the Lido for breakfast with my favorite choices of about 10 different types of eggs benedict or just an excellent poached egg, omelets made to order, fresh-squeezed orange juice, fresh fruit, several types of milk and other juices, yogurt parfaits, mueslix, plus so many other options. People say the fresh made pancakes are very good. Do like the mix and match ability option of the buffet. Often do the Lido for lunch as like the Asian section and being able to get a salad of my choosing and something simple like a piece of chicken and a few vegetables. btw, the 'no sugar added' desserts are quite good. Not a fan of dinner in the Lido as like the MDR. HAL's pizza is not good though. KK gave you other options on board so you have a decent choice of where to eat.

Have not done Carnival but have found the food on HAL to be much better than NCL with more variety and just better quality. Food is so subjective, would be interested in your opinion when you return so please let us know.

It depends on the meal. We have always thought that HAL does a great job with their breakfast buffets (we have long been a fan of their Eggs Benedict station). But, for us, the lunch buffets are nothing special and the cut-backs in spending on food is too obvious. The lunch time salad bar is sparse when compared to many other cruise lines, cheese offerings are sparse (and nothing special) and there is a day to day sameness that we find boring. We do enjoy the sandwich station and being able to have a sandwich made to our specifications, but some have now reported that it can be difficult to impossible to now get custom made sandwiches (this seems to change with the tide). HAL has really improved their burger grill (called Dive In) and this is an option every day.

As to dinner, in over 3 years on various cruise ships we have never, ever, had dinner at a Lido Buffet. But friends do say that its an OK option with many of the same items available in the MDR...and the ability to have some things made to order. A Vegan friend told us he would always have excellent Pad Thai (made to his specifications) in the Lido at dinner.

Hank

We generally find that three buffet stations can give us a good indication of the buffet on any ship.

The first is the cheese offerings. If there is only medium cheddar and some in identified white cheese we know that the food quality will be poor. Same with the fruit offerings. Salad bar is also a dead give away for us. If all three are poor we often won't bother with any of it. Especially if it is crowded with line ups everywhere.

We generally find that three buffet stations can give us a good indication of the buffet on any ship.

 

The first is the cheese offerings. If there is only medium cheddar and some in identified white cheese we know that the food quality will be poor. Same with the fruit offerings. Salad bar is also a dead give away for us. If all three are poor we often won't bother with any of it. Especially if it is crowded with line ups everywhere.

Like :)

I wonder what constitutes a bad salad bar. I had salad most days that I ate at the lido and I can't remember wanting for anything. The lettuce was fresh, there was many things to top it with and a large selection of dressings. They didn't have potato or pasta salad but that's not really salad in my mind.

I usually eat in the Lido and I do not look underfed! I like the Lido a lot.

I eat in the Lido every morning, most lunches, and infrequently for dinner.

Breakfast is marvelous, with just about everything you could want available. Most foods are cooked to order, including French Toast and pancakes. Everything is nice and hot.

Lunches have fewer selections than I would like, but there are Italian and Asian stations, as well as hot foods. On my last cruise the salads were put together for us, and the sandwiches were all "grab & go"---nothing to order.

The burgers at Dive-In are excellent, made to order, and can have the ingredients YOU ask for. You are not limited to the combinations offered. The French fries with cheese sauce are delicious, and also come with other toppings (or bare). Frizzled onions are to die for.

Dinner is good, and hot. Many of the selections in the dining room can be had there, as well as other choices you can't get in the dining room. The atmosphere is one of "eating", as opposed to "dining", but some nights it's a perfect alternative.

We have cruised HAL many times. The food is what I would call "high end commercial". Since they have to prepare so much food for so many people, you would not get Michelin quality. Also, they tend to make foods on the non-spicy side. When traveling with my daughter-in-law who is Indonesian, she requested Sriracha for her meals. I also understand Sambal Oelek is available.

Some family members (myself included) are also intolerant of some foods; gluten is only one of the problems. I found that the Lido for breakfast and lunch was perfect since each item can be made to your needs. They are exceptionally accommodating.

We nearly always eat in the MDR and found the food very good for the most part. We also eat in the Pinnacle Grill from time to time. Now that they always have grilled chicken and steak every night, I can easily request a nice dinner that meets my needs and is tasty!

Just ask.

Like to ask what you all thought of the buffets in HAl

thinking of a cruise on the ms Volendam for Alaska

done cruises with Carnival and NCL. Just like to ask thoughts? on buffet. better or worst, and food options overall on ship

I cannot compare to any other cruise line, but can between 5 of the HAL ships:)

All of them have the best food when I am on them. Foods are hot when they are supposed to be and cold ...... I've never had a bad dish on any of the 5 HAL ships I've cruised on:)

Joanie

Is there a deli? 24 hour pizza?

There is a sandwich station with a variety of options but no 24-hour pizza place. There is 24-hour room service available and they may have pizza.

I cannot compare to any other cruise line, but can between 5 of the HAL ships:)

 

All of them have the best food when I am on them. Foods are hot when they are supposed to be and cold ...... I've never had a bad dish on any of the 5 HAL ships I've cruised on:)

 

Joanie

Your first sentence says it all. Apparently you have no basis of comparison with other lines...which is an issue we see with cheerleaders from every cruise line. Consider a person who has spent their life driving an old VW Beetle. They think its the best car on earth because they have never experienced any other car.

We often have met folks (and this is not about you) who trash other cruise lines. And our question is always, when was the last time you cruised on that line..and which ship. The answer will often be either "I have never been on that line but just know from other people" or "Twenty-five years ago I cruised on that line and it was awful." Enough said.

So when we think about HAL we think in terms of HAL when compared to the other lines upon which we have cruised. Up until about 3 years ago, HAL fared very well. Lately...well lately we have cancelled our only booked HAL and continue to cruise on other lines. But we are not anti-HAL and would be back on the line tomorrow if they were to start making some good management decisions involving cut-backs, deferred maintenance, and the antiquated smoking policy.

Hank

We used to eat breakfast in the MDR every now and then, but now mainly eat in the lido. 1st, I'm a huge fan of the freshly squeezed OJ...and find such an awesome selection of choices that it's never boring. Eggs Benedict, waffles, french toast, a poached egg, scrambled, or even over easy. Whatever you like. Lunch usually in the lido, too, on sea days.. Or

On our Med cruise, we dined often in the Lido for dinner because of the exhausting itinerary. But usually dine in the MDR...when in the Caribbean or Bermuda.

Your first sentence says it all. Apparently you have no basis of comparison with other lines...which is an issue we see with cheerleaders from every cruise line. Consider a person who has spent their life driving an old VW Beetle. They think its the best car on earth because they have never experienced any other car.

 

We often have met folks (and this is not about you) who trash other cruise lines. And our question is always, when was the last time you cruised on that line..and which ship. The answer will often be either "I have never been on that line but just know from other people" or "Twenty-five years ago I cruised on that line and it was awful." Enough said.

 

So when we think about HAL we think in terms of HAL when compared to the other lines upon which we have cruised. Up until about 3 years ago, HAL fared very well. Lately...well lately we have cancelled our only booked HAL and continue to cruise on other lines. But we are not anti-HAL and would be back on the line tomorrow if they were to start making some good management decisions involving cut-backs, deferred maintenance, and the antiquated smoking policy.

 

Hank

I'm a person that has cruised on Hal, celebrity, princess and carnival. The buffet used to be good on princess but Hal is much better. The very worst was celebrity and it wasn't 20 years ago. Even carnival was better than celebrity. I would say that I have a pretty good basis for comparison.

One thing I don't do is go over to the celebrity board and tell them everything on the line is crap and they don't know any difference because they are cheerleaders. That is disrespectful.

It is very difficult to say. We had an RCI Med cruise in Oct of last year that was perfect. Buffet and MDR were both first rate. Everything was top notch..

Four months later, this past March, we decided to try another RCI cruise -Australia/NZ . The exact opposite that has us questioning whether we would do RCI again. Judging by the buffet we would never have know we were on a ship of the same line, save for the Windjammer sign.

Our Feb Sun Princess Fiji cruise three weeks prior to the RCI cruise had the best buffet food and MDR food that we have experienced on any ship over the past 10 years. Much better than our last Princess cruise on the Star.

I very much doubt that HAL is any more consistent than RCI or any other line. Perhaps less so. But we are not looking at it through the clouds of fuzzy emotion or rose colored glasses. For us it is a straight forward buy decision...which option we think will deliver the best value based upon our preferences and reduce our risk as much as possible of having an unacceptable cabin experience.

One thing I don't do is go over to the celebrity board and tell them everything on the line is crap and they don't know any difference because they are cheerleaders. That is disrespectful.

Yeah, I've never understood the need to tear down a cruise line although some seem to really enjoy doing so.

I'm a person that has cruised on Hal, celebrity, princess and carnival. The buffet used to be good on princess but Hal is much better. The very worst was celebrity and it wasn't 20 years ago. Even carnival was better than celebrity. I would say that I have a pretty good basis for comparison.

 

One thing I don't do is go over to the celebrity board and tell them everything on the line is crap and they don't know any difference because they are cheerleaders. That is disrespectful.

Lets see, the name of this site is Cruise "Critic" but you think that being a critic and telling the truth is disrespectful? And to quote your own words, "I cannot compare to any other cruise line, but can between 5 of the HAL ships." But we do apologize for believing your own post.

Hank

I'm a person that has cruised on Hal, celebrity, princess and carnival. The buffet used to be good on princess but Hal is much better. The very worst was celebrity and it wasn't 20 years ago. Even carnival was better than celebrity. I would say that I have a pretty good basis for comparison.

 

One thing I don't do is go over to the celebrity board and tell them everything on the line is crap and they don't know any difference because they are cheerleaders. That is disrespectful.

Having only sailed HAL I can only think that I imagine that I might possibly think this is the post of the year. ;)

Lets see, the name of this site is Cruise "Critic" but you think that being a critic and telling the truth is disrespectful?

 

Hank

So you'd see nothing wrong with me going over to the celebrity board and telling them the celebrity product is crap. When I took my last celebrity cruise I made a post regarding keeping your balcony door open and how I think it's wrong. Some people had a cow. If I went over there and told them celebrity was crap I likely wouldn't make it out alive:eek:.

We just completed 35 days on the Noordam in the South Pacific. It was an amazing experience -- truly a fantastic cruise. That said, we found the Lido to be satisfactory, but not exciting. There have been some cutbacks and they were noticeable. We did like some new portion control methods that have been put in place, because it made mealtime seem more civilized and less wasteful.

That's about all I'll say on that, as food tastes are very individual. Bottom line: Great cruise, even though the cheeses aren't what they used to be.