Food tray Question on the Solstice

[pattyj 1204]

I just read a review of the Solstice's Australian cruise. The poster spent much of the review relaying his/her experiences in the Buffet. It mostly revolved around the fact that there were no trays to hold your choices for breakfast. Silverware and milk cartons in pocket?? Can this really be true and is this a problem for everyone??? Thanks for the answers.

[rbuenger]

I just read a review of the Solstice's Australian cruise. The poster spent much of the review relaying his/her experiences in the Buffet. It mostly revolved around the fact that there were no trays to hold your choices for breakfast. Silverware and milk cartons in pocket?? Can this really be true and is this a problem for everyone??? Thanks for the answers.

It is true that they do not have Trays at the Buffet on the S Class Ships (Not sure about M Class). I did not find it an issue to just take stuff back to our table, but I can see how trays would be helpful....

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

We just sailed on Eclipse, Solstice's sister ship. Yes, there are no trays in the buffet. What I learned to do rapidly was grab a plate and the silverware, which is wrapped in a dark blue cloth napkin. I could hold both in the same hand. Then I'd use the free hand to spoon my food choices onto the plate.

 

I'd hurry to the table where Hubby waited. Then I'd go fill up our coffee cups. Return to the table with those.. Then I'd go fill up our ice water and return to the table with that. Then Hubby would go get his food.

 

We'd make several trips back to the buffet for soup or salad or something we had fogotten such as butter, taking turns so we could keep our table.

 

I remember the old days of cruising when waiters came around with carts and offered coffee, water and other drinks. Those days appear to be gone. In the buffet, you do it all yourself--without trays.

 

Still, I will tell you the food selections were very good with a wide variety of cuisine. I am a vegetarian and it was a paradise for me.

[flapr]

It is true that they do not have Trays at the Buffet on the S Class Ships (Not sure about M Class). I did not find it an issue to just take stuff back to our table, but I can see how trays would be helpful....

 

Eclipse (S Class) did not have trays in December, Infinity (M Class) did in February, and I did carry silverware in my pockets in Eclipse. The lack of trays causes a bit of an inconvenience, but no enough to ruin your cruise . . .

[uktog]

No trays - we were on the cruise before - and like all our previous trips on Solstice class ships it gives no issues, in fact we prefer it. We will get items course by course so the food is hot, we only get the amounts we want at the time and best of all, it feels a lot less like the school canteen and much more like a pleasant café experience

[Lsimon]

The S class ships (Solstice, Equinox, Eclipse, Silhouette and Reflection) do not have trays in the buffet area. They have different sized plates, including some pretty large ones.

 

We've never found this to be an issue and have no problems with it. From casual observation it also appears that other people get along just fine without the trays.

 

The layout of the buffet is great and while it appears a bit chaotic with all the different small serving stations the overall flow is much much better than the M class ships which were originally designed with the older concept of only a couple different buffet lines in mind. The queues and length of a wait, if any, at the serving stations is much better than on other ships. But because of the buffet layout there really wouldn't be any place to set a full tray down at the serving locations and it is much easier to hold a plate, even a large one, than a full size tray with only one hand.

 

Overall, I much prefer they buffet layout and organization, including a lack of trays, to what I've found on other ships.

 

Bottom line answer to your question of "Is this a problem for everyone?"

Not at all! In fact I find it hard to believe that is a problem for anyone but I guess you can't please all of the people all of the time.

[kitty9]

I'm a disabled, full time scooter user, and I've never had a problem not having trays. So if I can use a plate, fill it with food, and drive my scooter to the table, then I think no one should have a problem. Actually, before I was confined to the scooter, I used a cane and still had no problem with not having a tray.

[NLH Arizona]

I actually like not having trays. I simply get my silverware and drink, set them at the table. Go back and get my salad, eat it, and then go back from my entree, eat it, and then if I want dessert, just go back for it. This (1) makes sure that I don't load up a couple of plates and put them on the tray and not eat all of it, wasting a lot of food and (2) I get some exercise going back and forth LOL and (3) my entree does not sit there and get cold while I'm eating my salad. I also like no having trays, because when trays were available at buffetts, people would load them up so much that food would fall all over the place....now people have to be a little more responsible.

 

I'd bet that if there is a person who can't carry their own plate, one of the crew would be more than happy to help them.

[buzzybuzzbuzz]

I remember the old days of cruising when waiters came around with carts and offered coffee, water and other drinks. Those days appear to be gone. In the buffet, you do it all yourself--without trays.

 

On Solstice last year there were staff offering Teas and Coffees from a cart, not sue about water?

[Onessa]

It would be nice if the line could develop and publicize a "hey I'm not done yet" signal, for in the buffet.

 

If you need to pop up and get something you forgot mid meal, very often you come back to a fully bussed table. At the very least you end up needing to take new silverware and napkin for every course and many beverage go to waste! Even if you manage to tell one waiter, sometimes another will swoop in.

 

If the line would say -- if you are not done but need to leave the table, if your napkin is on the chair seat we will not bus, if it is on the table we will assume you are done and bus -- life would be easier. (Or whatever better signal they come up with :D)

 

Then the need to get "everything" or to have one person "stand guard" while someone else goes for beverages would not be necessary and lack of trays would be less of an issue.

[pattyj 1204]

Thanks for the answers, I can see where it is a good idea to not have trays. I've never sailed on an S class ship, so was surprised to read that in the review. Maybe I'll make a card up with a saying " Coming back soon" and use it for our table. LOL With 3 of us eating together it shouldn't be a problem. Thanks again.

[Beachdude]

The only problem I could see is I sometimes like to take a tray of food back to the room to eat breakfast on the balcony. However, we are trying a suite (sweet!) for the first time on our Cruise in a couple weeks, so I will use room service.

 

Burt