Best All You Can Eat Cruise Buffets

[sail7seas]

In order to try and cut down the spread of Noro like viruses, HAL has what they term Code Orange for the first two days of every cruise. That means nothing is self-serve in Lido including beverages, salads, sandwiches...... everything.

 

Some say much Noro is carried onto the ships from guests traveling on planes and in hotels just prior to boarding. Keeping them from touching shared serving pieces etc may cut down the spread.

 

I have read that recently HAL has ceased having this Code Orange but have not confirmed that is absolutely true.

 

If they stopped it, they must have found there was less benefit than they expected.

[tedcruise]

What is Code Orange? If avoiding it makes a cruise ship buffet better, I definitely want to do it!

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1761709http://

[slidergirl]

My experience is that the very best of Rome's hotels don't have buffets. :) When we stopped at the Hassler, they would never even display such a breakfast :eek:. :D :D

 

 

Sail7seas: sorry, but the Rome Cavalieri IS one of Rome's best hotels. The in-house restaurant is the only Michelin 3 star restaurant in Rome (La Pergola). Even Forbes, who rates hotels world-wide, thinks the Cavalieri is in the top group when they wrote about the Hassler: "With the exception of the suburban Cavalieri Hilton and the St. Regis Grand, nearer the train station (?), all the city’s top hotels are nearby, with the Westin Excelsior literally next door and the De Russie a few blocks away, so you are not going to find luxury lodging with a better location with (no hotels at the Coliseum!)." The Hassler is a tad too stodgy for my taste, as is the St. Regis. I've stayed at 3 of the 5 hotels in that statement, thanks to my employers.

The breakfast room at the Cavalieri is quite nice, not like a cafeteria. Traveling throughout Europe, I've stayed at many a nice hotel that had a breakfast room serving buffet-style.

[sail7seas]

Sail7seas: sorry, but the Rome Cavalieri IS one of Rome's best hotels. The in-house restaurant is the only Michelin 3 star restaurant in Rome (La Pergola). Even Forbes, who rates hotels world-wide, thinks the Cavalieri is in the top group when they wrote about the Hassler: "With the exception of the suburban Cavalieri Hilton and the St. Regis Grand, nearer the train station (?), all the city’s top hotels are nearby, with the Westin Excelsior literally next door and the De Russie a few blocks away, so you are not going to find luxury lodging with a better location with (no hotels at the Coliseum!)." The Hassler is a tad too stodgy for my taste, as is the St. Regis. I've stayed at 3 of the 5 hotels in that statement, thanks to my employers.

The breakfast room at the Cavalieri is quite nice, not like a cafeteria. Traveling throughout Europe, I've stayed at many a nice hotel that had a breakfast room serving buffet-style.

 

 

We dined at Cavalieri. Terrific. :)

Excelsior on Via Veneto never appealed to us. We passed by it many times especially when going to Harry's Bar. :D The best buffet-style breakfast we had in Europe was at D'Angleterre in Copenhagen. Lovely hotel with incredible history and service. (You may not have noticed I wrote 'hotelS' when referencing The Hassler... as in plural. ) I was rather wowed with frescos painted on the walls in our bathroom. I was afraid to take a bubble bath for fear I'd splash water. :D

I like those old world luxury hotels which still provide formal, 'correct' service. I also enjoy more lay back when in Caribbean or U.S. domestic resorts but I'm a Four Seasons, St. Regis, The Ritz type girl for cities.... actually they're pretty nice for resorts, as well. :)

 

Sadly we had no one to pay the bills for us. Had to settle our accounts for ourselves. :(

 

We had wonderful buffet breakfast in Amsterdam but I cannot remember at what hotel we stayed that trip.

 

I repeat I was surprised my enjoyment of NCL's lunch buffet. It was served on perfunctory dishes and no design to their dining area but the food itself was hot and cold as appropriate, tasty, very big variety. Tables were cleared promptly so others could be seated quickly and there were ample beverage stations.

 

 

Edited October 14, 2015 by sail7seas

[slidergirl]

We dined at Cavalieri. Terrific. :)

Excelsior on Via Veneto never appealed to us. We passed by it many times especially when going to Harry's Bar. :D The best buffet-style breakfast we had in Europe was at D'Angleterre in Copenhagen. Lovely hotel with incredible history and service. (You may not have noticed I wrote 'hotelS' when referencing The Hassler... as in plural. ) I was rather wowed with frescos painted on the walls in our bathroom. I was afraid to take a bubble bath for fear I'd splash water. :D

I like those old world luxury hotels which still provide formal, 'correct' service. I also enjoy more lay back when in Caribbean or U.S. domestic resorts but I'm a Four Seasons, St. Regis, The Ritz type girl for cities.... actually they're pretty nice for resorts, as well. :)

 

Sadly we had no one to pay the bills for us. Had to settle our accounts for ourselves. :(

 

We had wonderful buffet breakfast in Amsterdam but I cannot remember at what hotel we stayed that trip.

 

I repeat I was surprised my enjoyment of NCL's lunch buffet. It was served on perfunctory dishes and no design to their dining area but the food itself was hot and cold as appropriate, tasty, very big variety. Tables were cleared promptly so others could be seated quickly and there were ample beverage stations.

 

 

 

Fair enough. My last stay in Rome was at the Excelsior. I didn't like it much, but hey, for $89/night as an employee, it worked ;) I liked the Cavalieri much more, even with the necessity of taking their shuttle or a taxi everywhere. The St. Regis was just not my style, and their Maryterranean (every St. Regis in the world has their own riff on the classic Bloody Mary - started at the SR New York) was rather bland. I'll say that, even in my old age, I'm still a W kind of girl - I've never been enamored to Four Seasons, Ritz Carltons and the like. In the hotel business, I've had the great opportunity to try quite a few of them.

Back to business:

The buffet on HAL was the one that has (or had) the Indonesian items as choices, right? I can't remember if it was HAL or NCL. I LOVED them. Any asian-influenced vegetarian noodle dish is right up my alley.

[sail7seas]

HAL's lunch buffet has fresh stir fry everyday. You can select from a nice choice of ingredients for your favorite stir fry. I totally agree about any stir fry noodle dish being a great meal. :) I'm a big veggie eater.

 

Edited October 15, 2015 by sail7seas

[SuiteTraveler]

I'll tell you all a "secret" the BEST cruise ship buffet I've ever seen was on Uniworld SS. Antoinette. It was unbeatable for quality and having different and unique things everyday. The food was all very, very upscale, more like eating at a privately owned luxury restaurant than a buffet and far better than anything I've had on a larger cruise line! Even though the buffet is obviously smaller, the quality was much, much higher. The buffet was open for breakfast and lunch with dinner being table service only.

 

And...the food actually matched the areas where we were cruising - which was WONDERFUL!

Edited October 15, 2015 by SuiteTraveler

[Cruzaholic41]

Sail7seas: sorry, but the Rome Cavalieri IS one of Rome's best hotels. The in-house restaurant is the only Michelin 3 star restaurant in Rome (La Pergola). Even Forbes, who rates hotels world-wide, thinks the Cavalieri is in the top group when they wrote about the Hassler: "With the exception of the suburban Cavalieri Hilton and the St. Regis Grand, nearer the train station (?), all the city’s top hotels are nearby, with the Westin Excelsior literally next door and the De Russie a few blocks away, so you are not going to find luxury lodging with a better location with (no hotels at the Coliseum!)." The Hassler is a tad too stodgy for my taste, as is the St. Regis. I've stayed at 3 of the 5 hotels in that statement, thanks to my employers.

The breakfast room at the Cavalieri is quite nice, not like a cafeteria. Traveling throughout Europe, I've stayed at many a nice hotel that had a breakfast room serving buffet-style.

 

Agreed! Cavalieri is my favorite Rome hotel. It's a taxi ride to get there, but the view from those city view rooms is breathtaking.

 

Funny, in regards to this thread, one of the things that stands out for me with that hotel is the excellent breakfast buffet.