Trayless McNoTray

[okgirl]

Maybe you're just putting too much food on your plate if all of your food is mixing together. Our stomachs are the size of a closed fist, about 8 ounces. There is more than enough room to plate out a meal and leave room in between. In case you haven't heard of it, it's called portion control.

 

Actually an average size adult stomach is about the size of a medium purple eggplant and about the same shape and holds closer to 2-3 cups of food if a person isn't drinking liquids during their meal which causes the stomach to empty faster.

 

I don't like the big plate idea because my hands are very sensitive to heat and if the plates are in the warming rack they are too hot for me to handle, and if they aren't prewarmed then the luke warm food from the buffet cools too quickly.

 

I also prefer that my salad be on a separate plate or bowl from my main dish items. I don't want warm gravy in my cold salad, and I don't want a cold salad eaten off of a warm plate.

 

Also, I have tremors in my hands and find it much easier to transport items on a tray than in my hands.

 

I guess I'll be snagging me a room service tray.

[jtdlmc]

Maybe you're just putting too much food on your plate if all of your food is mixing together. Our stomachs are the size of a closed fist, about 8 ounces. There is more than enough room to plate out a meal and leave room in between. In case you haven't heard of it, it's called portion control.

 

LOL - you can't even fit a McDonald's kids meal on a regular sized plate along with a salad and dessert. I'm sure your entire meal is the size of your fist - lmao. BTW, my BMI says my portions are perfect, I don't think someone my size could live off of 8 ounces of food per meal - maybe don't make assumptions about folks you've never seen ;)

[H82seaUgo]

Maybe you're just putting too much food on your plate if all of your food is mixing together. Our stomachs are the size of a closed fist, about 8 ounces.

 

you're confusing your stomach with your heart.

[Sargent_Schultz]

Trays are not forbidden - bring your own. Available in many snazzy colors. Non-existent problem solved.

 

 

 

 

 

[jhale]

Yet they still deliver room service on trays. We had room service one night, the next morning DW didn't want to get out of bed, so I grabbed the room service tray, went up to the lido and brought back breakfast to the room. I felt like an outlaw going thru the buffet with my ill-gotten tray!:)

 

Usually when I cruise with my mother we'll switch off getting breakfast each morning. Not a ton of food, but a plate for each of us for sure. I'll make sure to keep my room service tray for this if they're not available on the Triumph in a few weeks ;)

[davy jones]

They had trays on the Miracle a few weeks ago.

[Tbay-eh]

I think it is a bit of all stated - my take is less WASTE (waist). Like another poster said - if you filled that platter so the food was all run together like in a "trough" then there is way too much food on it. I have grabbed a cup for my soup so no big bowl and it was more than enough. I for one don't mind the trips back for extras - a little exercise and you meet new people each time. Even when they had trays I always got and ate my soup - then got and ate my salad - then got an ate my main entree - then got and ate my dessert (if I had room). I found I didn't eat nearly as much when I had time between each course. But then our family meals run about an hour - most of it is spent chatting about our day

[CourtneyLovesCruising]

Actually an average size adult stomach is about the size of a medium purple eggplant and about the same shape and holds closer to 2-3 cups of food if a person isn't drinking liquids during their meal which causes the stomach to empty faster.

 

I don't like the big plate idea because my hands are very sensitive to heat and if the plates are in the warming rack they are too hot for me to handle, and if they aren't prewarmed then the luke warm food from the buffet cools too quickly.

 

I also prefer that my salad be on a separate plate or bowl from my main dish items. I don't want warm gravy in my cold salad, and I don't want a cold salad eaten off of a warm plate.

 

Also, I have tremors in my hands and find it much easier to transport items on a tray than in my hands.

 

I guess I'll be snagging me a room service tray.

 

I am quoting material from Brigham and Women's Hospital Weight Management program, in Boston MA. Our stomachs are designed to handle 8oz of nutrition at a time. Most of America don't even realize (or care) how much they overeat!!

 

Our bodies don't operate as well eating 24 ounces of food in one sitting, especially if we are stretching out our stomachs with liquid combined with a meal.

 

To each their own, I have tremors in my hand too and I do better with a plate, arms tight at my side, elbows in.

[Clearwater]

Maybe you're just putting too much food on your plate if all of your food is mixing together. Our stomachs are the size of a closed fist, about 8 ounces. There is more than enough room to plate out a meal and leave room in between. In case you haven't heard of it, it's called portion control.

 

And maybe, just maybe, you are a snarky person. Why do you have to assume a person is putting too much on their plate.

 

I am taking my grandmother who is 88 and it may be her last cruise with us this Sunday. I worry about her walking with a large plate, a glass, silverware, etc...

 

It's much easier for her to control it on a tray.

 

What about someone who has a disability, etc..

 

Maybe think of every demographic and not just yourself when you get snarky about portion control and whether they have heard of it.

 

Grrrr, why do people have to be so nasty.

[The_Geek]

My grandmother was on our last cruise with us. The Staff is always willing to help the elderly and disabled back to the table with their food.

[CourtneyLovesCruising]

And maybe, just maybe, you are a snarky person. Why do you have to assume a person is putting too much on their plate.

 

I am taking my grandmother who is 88 and it may be her last cruise with us this Sunday. I worry about her walking with a large plate, a glass, silverware, etc...

 

It's much easier for her to control it on a tray.

 

What about someone who has a disability, etc..

 

Maybe think of every demographic and not just yourself when you get snarky about portion control and whether they have heard of it.

 

Grrrr, why do people have to be so nasty.

 

Maybe because this response deserved a response in matching language?

Originally Posted by jtdlmc

Maybe you don't mind eating every thing mixed together like in an trough, but not me Oh yeah, I also eat with a knife, fork and spoon not my hands in case you've never heard of that either.

[Clearwater]

My grandmother was on our last cruise with us. The Staff is always willing to help the elderly and disabled back to the table with their food.

 

Most of the time we have experienced that but last time it was so packed at times, she was on her own.

 

My post was more towards the snarky part of Miss Doll's lovely comments.

 

I just think people have to think outside the box and of others once in awhile. It would do the world a bit of good.

 

But thanks for writing in regards to your experience with your grandmother. This will be the third cruise I have taken her on. It just helped me in my 30's cruise thru the eyes of others. (if that makes sense :)

[richstowe]

Yeah, I don't like my food mixed together! My salad is on a salad plate or bowl, my entree and sides are on a dinner plate, my dessert is on a dessert plate and my drink is in a glass. Maybe you don't mind eating every thing mixed together like in an trough, but not me :p Oh yeah, I also eat with a knife, fork and spoon not my hands in case you've never heard of that either.

Funny! You wouldn't think you'd be commented on for taking multiple plates but....

 

 

I'm sure that mega plates won't be a problem but I like grazing and going up to the buffet multiple times, not filling up a full plate each time.

Now it's going to look even sillier.:confused: Oh well.

 

Do they still have small dessert plates?

[jtdlmc]

I don't know what their reasoning could possibly be, have heard it is so people don't stock up on as much food but don't quite believe that one as I think if people have to go up more than once, they will end up with more food than if they only went once. It certainly is a very PITA situation! I like to get all my food at once - drink, salad, entree, dessert, instead of leaving the table and standing in line once again in the middle of my meal - don't think I can carry a drink and 3 plates or the poor dining staff would have alot more clean ups to do. I read an idea on another board - order room service and keep the tray, then take the tray with you to the buffet. But then again, they will probably have the room service delivery person drop off the food and take the tray back!

 

Three plates of food, really?

 

jtdlmc - Yeah, I don't like my food mixed together! My salad is on a salad plate or bowl, my entree and sides are on a dinner plate, my dessert is on a dessert plate and my drink is in a glass. Maybe you don't mind eating every thing mixed together like in an trough, but not me Oh yeah, I also eat with a knife, fork and spoon not my hands in case you've never heard of that either.

 

Maybe because this response deserved a response in matching language?

Originally Posted by jtdlmc

Maybe you don't mind eating every thing mixed together like in an trough, but not me Oh yeah, I also eat with a knife, fork and spoon not my hands in case you've never heard of that either.

 

LOL too funny - just for your enjoyment :D, I quoted the whole story - and you left off the first half of my quote that you did quote, maybe you should've read the whole thread before responding without knowing what the remark was in response to.

[geckog]

None of the buffet restaurants on land that I have been to in the last couple of years have had trays.

 

Having worked for a company that managed a hotel buffet, the biggest complaint we got was that the food was not hot by the time they got to their seats. We discovered that this was because everyone would spend 10 minutes walking around filling multiple plates before finding a seat. Then, after eating salad first, the hot food they got 20 minutes before was cold. Wonder why. We got rid of trays. No more complaints about cold food. Simple as that.

[okgirl]

I am quoting material from Brigham and Women's Hospital Weight Management program, in Boston MA. Our stomachs are designed to handle 8oz of nutrition at a time. Most of America don't even realize (or care) how much they overeat!!

 

Our bodies don't operate as well eating 24 ounces of food in one sitting, especially if we are stretching out our stomachs with liquid combined with a meal.

 

To each their own, I have tremors in my hand too and I do better with a plate, arms tight at my side, elbows in.

 

My reference to size was based on my visual inspection of the stomach both during surgeries (I'm a nurse) and during disection of many cadavers when in nursing school. And these are normal sized people.

 

However, to lend a more official perspective to the argument this is what wikipedia has to say about the size:

 

In adult humans, the stomach has a relaxed, near empty volume of about 45 ml. Because it is a distensible organ, it normally expands to hold about one litre of food,[4] but can hold as much as two to three litres. The stomach of a newborn human baby will only be able to retain about 30 ml.

Getting information regarding how much we should be eating from a weight management program is like asking a fox if the latch on the hen house is strong enough.

 

But back to the topic at hand. I have never been on a ship that didn't have trays. I do suspect that this is another effort to trim expense, but I also think it might backfire.

 

I don't want to have to go back and stand in line multiple times because I can't get everything on a single large plate. This will make the lines even worse. I hate line cutters. It's almost impossible for me to carry a cup of coffee or glass of water without spilling it because of my tremors.

 

 

[richstowe]

None of the buffet restaurants on land that I have been to in the last couple of years have had trays.

 

Having worked for a company that managed a hotel buffet, the biggest complaint we got was that the food was not hot by the time they got to their seats. We discovered that this was because everyone would spend 10 minutes walking around filling multiple plates before finding a seat. Then, after eating salad first, the hot food they got 20 minutes before was cold. Wonder why. We got rid of trays. No more complaints about cold food. Simple as that.

Makes sense. What about dessert plates?

[geckog]

Makes sense. What about dessert plates?

We had regular plates at each station, like most of the restaurants I have been to lately. We didn't do the giant platters, and I haven't seen them yet. I would think separate dessert plates should be in order. Last time I was on Conquest, the desserts were already plated.

[ItsAllAboutTheSass]

Take a platter, put your food on it. Take another platter and put it on top or the other as if it was a 2 part type thing. You then have a flat surface to put your drink(s) on.

[cruise_girl2002]

when i was on the imagination in june or july they still had the trays at the lido restaurant. when i sailed on rcl freedom of the seas they didnt and didnt care for it. i dont mind getting up and standing in line again, would just rather have a tray

[TerCruiser]

My mother has MS and has a hard time holding things like that. Especially a plate, silverware & a drink. Why do away with trays? Sure less to wash, but in the long run if you have someone elderly, disabled or young children is really harder to wash a tray than to wash the carpet where that person/child just spilled their entire plate? Be sensible. Possibly offer the trays to families with small children or the elderly or disabled.

 

BTW - who cares how big your stomach is? Everyone eats different amounts and are satisfied with different amounts. Why does this have anythnig to do with trays? Be Nice!

[realtrip]

They still had the small dessert plates on the Magic. As well as smallish bowls.

You could put a bowl and a small plate on the big plate. It would fit fine. Maybe that will help some people? I did that for dessert (plate for anything chocolate and bowl for fruit).

[spideyfam]

No trays on the Legend last month. I didn't like it at first, but I got used to it. We did have to make two trips to get desserts or salads.

 

I did find the drink stations flowed a little better. No trays clogging up the area while people were pouring drinks.

[ratherbcrzn75]

{Yeah, I don't like my food mixed together! My salad is on a salad plate or bowl, my entree and sides are on a dinner plate, my dessert is on a dessert plate and my drink is in a glass. Maybe you don't mind eating every thing mixed together like in an trough, but not me :p Oh yeah, I also eat with a knife, fork and spoon not my hands in case you've never heard of that either. }

@jtdlmc --I totally got what you meant by that because I am the same way. I annoy my family at buffets (I'm not a fan anyway) because I absolutely hate for my food to touch and have to get a separate one for each course too. Who wants savory food touching their sweet food or vice versa?! Yuck:eek::eek:

[Sargent_Schultz]

A nospill drink holder - perfect for when carrying a plate or the ship is rocking

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8d-yOJ5cDtA?hd=0