Carnival's Buffet areas on ships

[kmdivy215]

Ok I know this may sound strange but my question is....Are the buffet restaurants set up all the same on all of the Carnival ships? Last Sept. We went on our first Carnival cruise out of Baltimore, the Pride. Of course we had an awesome time but the one thing we did not enjoy was the buffet area. I understand the concept of having different stations, but they seemed so far apart. We would find ourselves walking around and around just to find what we wanted and then it would not be any where near each other. Example, if I wanted eggs they would be at one place and then if I wanted pancakes they would be the complete opposite area! It was frustrating to us. This was not our first cruise, Have been on Disney and Royal and much preferred those buffet areas. So we would like to try Carnival again, but maybe another ship and I just wanted to see how they others are. If anyone has pics of some of the other ships I would love to see that too.

[TeresaJ]

Weird. The set up on Legend (sister ship of Pride) was not like that. The hot breakfast items are together.

 

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[Mysticks1]

The ships that I have been on have not been set up that way. It was all together. I have been researching the Dream for our cruise next month. Here is a video that I had found. It first shows the pasta station upstairs but it then shows video of the buffet area. It might help you to see how others are set up.

[bar1068]

Huh...doesn't sounds like the Carnival Pride I've been on...

[k2excursion]

I was on a sister ship of the Pride, the Miracle. It was set up just as you described. Maybe not the exact situation with the exact items that you described, but I totally get what you're saying. I was also frustrated by the stations. I wouldn't know where all to go to get everything I wanted, and it felt like I had waited through 4 lines before I had my lunch plate (and I don't eat that much). This seems to be only on the 4 Spirit class ships, my least favorite class. All other Carnival ships seem to not be this way. They keep almost everything in the same line on the buffet. One line, and you get all that you want. No jumping around to several lines to get all you want. Except that one of the buffet sections would have the desserts on a separate island, but I was okay with that one.

Edited April 2, 2014 by k2excursion

[Davey Wavey]

I think you are referring to how the made to order items are a separate station from the rest of the buffet. This is a vast improvement from when the grill was at the end of the buffet line. People waiting for omelets would make the entire buffet line back up and it made for lots of arguments when people would cut in the line just to get to the buffet part. The buffet has a complete set of hot items. You can get those cafeteria eggs and pancakes from the buffet. It's only if you want made to order eggs and omelets that are at a different station. And the fruit, cereal, and milk are across from the buffet or in the center of the 2 buffet lines so that the buffet line is just for people wanting the buffet.

[Caribbeanqueen03]

Next time do the dining room breakfast. Awesome meals.

 

 

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[lostdart1]

I will walk around the buffet to scope it out before I get in any line.........just seems logical to me.

[JLee1973]

I've been on the Miracle which is a sister ship the the Pride. I didn't find it confusing. If you wanted made to order eggs you had to go to the infertile station but everything else that was hot was in one place.

 

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[Ehpride]

I didn't think the Legend buffet was confusing at all and I thought it cut down on lines. Yes, the made to order omelets are in a different area, but that's a good thing to keep desperate imo.

 

 

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[Silverspringcruiser]

Am I remembering wrong, or are the Conquest class buffets not much bigger than the Spirit class, despite there being over 800 more passengers? I was annoyed by how crowded it was on the Glory, but I don't remember feeling the same way about the Miracle.

[John Reid]

OP,

 

As you mentioned, you were used to buffet set-ups on two other lines. I've been on Pride twice. I'm not saying if it is more or less convenient than the seven other ships I have sailed, but it is definitely more "all over the place" than those other ships.

 

I can't compare it to other Carnival ships; Pride is the only one I have sailed.

[sjcruiser]

The first couple of days, its best to walk around each section to see whats on the menu. On ships that have several stations, one may have oatmeal, and the other grits. If I get in line, and don't see the item I want, I usually ask one of the cooks, is it on the menu today, and if they say yes, they usually have been kind enough to walk over and get it.

[k2excursion]

Am I remembering wrong, or are the Conquest class buffets not much bigger than the Spirit class, despite there being over 800 more passengers? I was annoyed by how crowded it was on the Glory, but I don't remember feeling the same way about the Miracle.

 

I don't think they are very much bigger. The biggest benefit of Spirit class ships is that they have the best public space to guest ratio of all Carnival ships, so it will feel the least crowded & usually have short lines. So you are remembering correctly.

 

What some people seem to be missing on this thread is that with the different stations on Spirit class ships, it might work great for people who want only salad or only meat or only "whatever". They can scope out what station has what, and only wait in that one line for the only thing they want. However, there are many many people who are going to want something from every one of those stations, so they MUST get in every single line to get their entire lunch. This was more of an annoying thing for me with lunch & not so much breakfast. I usually waited in 3 or 4 lines to get all I wanted for lunch. (And in case someone is still confused, I did get something from each station to make up my small lunch plate.) Each line was fairly short, but overall, it took longer than on the more crowded ships I've been on, since they didn't have the separate stations.

 

Plus, in regards to the omelets, the Miracle is the only ship I've been on that did NOT have a separate line for omelets. Despite all the segregation at lunch, if all I wanted for breakfast was an omelet, it didn't matter. They forced me to get in the buffet line & wait through the whole thing before I could get to the omelet maker, still with an empty plate. Since I don't take a little of everything for breakfast, I don't identify with the OP in that regard, but since that was my experience with the lunch, I do understand what they are saying.

 

These are my experiences from 3 years ago. Things could have changed. Plus, it should be repeated that for some people, these stations are wonderful. They greatly prefer it, as they usually only want one thing & not an entire meal.

Edited April 3, 2014 by k2excursion

[keith75]

That sucks. Every ship I ever done had bacon, ham, sausage, eggs, grits, potatoes, pancakes/french toast fresh fruits, cheese, milk and cereal lined up right next to each other. ...now I'm hungry!

[RWolver672]

Am I remembering wrong, or are the Conquest class buffets not much bigger than the Spirit class, despite there being over 800 more passengers? I was annoyed by how crowded it was on the Glory, but I don't remember feeling the same way about the Miracle.

 

Were you aware that on the Conquest Class ships, there are two buffets. One is behind the other and most people don't realize that there is another one behind the first one. We always go back there for breakfast as hardly anyone is ever back there whereas the first one is packed.