A question for those that disdain buffets

[beachbum53]

There have been numerous threads posted on here, and I would imagine on the other cruise lines' boards as well, about eating at the buffet in comparison to the MDR. A number of people turn up their noses at eating at the buffet, and cite several reasons. What I'd like to know is, when the ship stops at a private island, such as Half Moon Cay, where do those that don't eat at a buffet go for lunch? :confused:

[cruzeluver]

Well in that situation of course you are stuck in terms of what you can get on the island. But if you stay on the sip you could still get Guy's, Blue Iguana etc (assuming your ship has those).

 

We are not at all buffet fans but will utilize it if we have an early excursion and need to eat "on the fly". It gets the job done, but that is all.

[sun~]

Number one buffet hater here.

 

I don't like them because I stopped eating in a cafeteria in high school.

 

Noisy, crowded, people picking at things, cold food etc.

 

I have been to Half Moon Cay many times.

 

I HATE that buffet the most of all. Dirty, flies on the food, terrible food blech.

 

Since I don't go back to the ship for lunch I get the same thing every time. One nasty, but hot hamburger. The flies don't land on the hot grill.

 

I have tucked some snack type things in my little cooler bag and brought it with me to the beach.

 

I was at HMC in January, I don't think I have seen so many flies in my entire life! The fruit and salads were fly buffets.

[NCTribeFan]

Odd. I've been to HMC about 6 times and have never really noticed the flies. But if they were there, they obviously didn't kill me.

 

I happen to really like the jerk chicken they serve there.

 

But, normally, I do not eat at the buffet. For breakfast, I have a made-to-order omelette or, if available, a breakfast burrito.

 

For lunch, it's a burger, or burrito, or Fish & Chips, or deli sandwich, or hot dog or pasta bar.

 

I've never gone hungry yet, even on the ships without all the specialty dining options! But, yes, when a buffet is the only option, I've managed to eat and neither died from any foodborne disease nor starved from lack of food options.

 

It isn't my preferred meal, but it won't ruin my cruise to eat at a buffet once.

[Trumpster]

As was said before if your stuck your stuck. sometimes you just have to make do with whatever you can.

 

We would likely go back to the ship, if we even got off at the private island.

 

Don't cruise for beaches, I got those here.

[crusinpsychRN]

Don't they have hamburgers at HMC?

[Tapi]

As mentioned on a previous thread, I avoid the buffets as much as possible simply because I've had food poisoning after eating there two times. Trust me, that will change someone's opinion about buffets very quickly!

 

The times we've been to private islands, we just don't eat ashore. We eat breakfast on the ship and then go ashore. We are off the ship for maybe 4 hours and then return to enjoy lunch and a quiet afternoon aboard a semi empty ship. Really not that hard.

[ShakyBeef]

I HATE buffets and avoid them when possible, because of all the disgusting things that I have seen people do at buffets (and in the restroom just before the buffet), and because I and members of my family have gotten sick from buffets before. As I said on the other current buffet thread, some people act like pigs and I refuse to eat at their communal trough.

 

Unfortunately, I have non-diabetic hypoglycemia, and so I must eat every few hours, or risk passing out. So, when there's no choice, like on my first trip to HMC, after our Horseback riding excursion, I ate from the buffet. I got a hamburger, handed to me from the cook, and took nothing that was in the self-serve bins.

 

On my second trip to HMC, one of our friends had booked the Private Oasis for our group. So we had our own private lunch there.:)

 

This next trip to HMC, I have booked the Private Oasis. So, private lunch again.:)

 

Basically, if it is necessary for me to eat, and I have no choice for food other than a buffet, I will do my best to choose food that is less likely to have been pawed by nasty people. I will risk food poisoning, if I have to, in order to avoid seizures, passing out, and possibly coma. But it's a tough call.:p

[It's a Ship!!!]

I prefer the MDR over the buffet, but I don't have anything against buffets at all. I will happily go through the buffet at HMC when I'm there, but if there is an option to have a sit down multi course meal for the same price, I will take that any day. If I'm too late to get to the MDR for breakfast on a port day I will eat at the buffet and enjoy it.

[helensobol]

I don't have a choice. with a food allergy you cannot eat at the buffet because people are not careful with mixing foods.

 

So MDR is usually my only choice.

[summersigh]

Well in that situation of course you are stuck in terms of what you can get on the island. But if you stay on the sip you could still get Guy's, Blue Iguana etc (assuming your ship has those).

 

We are not at all buffet fans but will utilize it if we have an early excursion and need to eat "on the fly". It gets the job done, but that is all.

 

In island ports we normally eat a late breakfast, go ashore for an umbrella drink or 2 :) then return to the ship for late lunch. DH likes a salad from the salad bar topped with a piece of fish from the buffet or a grilled sandwich from the deli with a salad from the salad bar. We slipped in Guy's Burgers a couple of other days.

 

We normally don't eat platefuls of hot "dinner type" food for lunch as it makes us too sleepy :D

[cb at sea]

Those of us how don't like buffets will make do. IF you eat a late breakfast, and have a snack on the ship later, you can avoid it!

I would prefer served dining...but if needed, I'll eat off a buffet...not my 1st choice tho!

[tigresslea]

Number one buffet hater here.

 

I don't like them because I stopped eating in a cafeteria in high school.

 

Noisy, crowded, people picking at things, cold food etc.

 

I have been to Half Moon Cay many times.

 

I HATE that buffet the most of all. Dirty, flies on the food, terrible food blech.

 

Since I don't go back to the ship for lunch I get the same thing every time. One nasty, but hot hamburger. The flies don't land on the hot grill.

 

I have tucked some snack type things in my little cooler bag and brought it with me to the beach.

 

I was at HMC in January, I don't think I have seen so many flies in my entire life! The fruit and salads were fly buffets.

 

I don't have the same aversion to buffets but I have to agree with you about the flies. When we were in HMC, I saw 2 of the biggest flies I ever saw making babies right there in front of us. :o

[riffatsea]

I think it is interesting that folks on here separate the different Lido stations like the deli,pizza,etc, from being part of "the buffet". To me they are all just different stations at the buffet with separate lines for each of them.

We eat dinner in the MDR and sometimes the sea day brunch but we eat breakfast and lunch usually on the Lido which to me is "the buffet"deck.

[ShakyBeef]

I think it is interesting that folks on here separate the different Lido stations like the deli,pizza,etc, from being part of "the buffet". To me they are all just different stations at the buffet with separate lines for each of them.

We eat dinner in the MDR and sometimes the sea day brunch but we eat breakfast and lunch usually on the Lido which to me is "the buffet"deck.

 

I won't speak for others, but if I were to make distinctions between the food stations such as the Deli, Pizza Counter, Omelette Station (at Breakfast), etc. and "the Buffet", I would be doing so in reference to the fact that the former food stations are not self-serve, and the latter is. These non-self-serve stations are the only parts of the entire buffet area from which I will eat food. No non-hand-washing fellow passengers have touched that food.;)

 

Definition of buffet:

 

buf·fet1

bəˈfā/

noun

noun: buffet; plural noun: buffets

1.

a meal consisting of several dishes from which guests serve themselves.

"a cold buffet lunch"

synonyms:smorgasbord, self-serve meal, serve-yourself meal, spread "a sumptuous buffet"

 

 

 

So, technically, those that make the distinction are correct.;)

[Frank12]

Number one buffet hater here.

 

I don't like them because I stopped eating in a cafeteria in high school.

 

Noisy, crowded, people picking at things, cold food etc.

 

I have been to Half Moon Cay many times.

 

I HATE that buffet the most of all. Dirty, flies on the food, terrible food blech.

 

Since I don't go back to the ship for lunch I get the same thing every time. One nasty, but hot hamburger. The flies don't land on the hot grill.

 

I have tucked some snack type things in my little cooler bag and brought it with me to the beach.

 

I was at HMC in January, I don't think I have seen so many flies in my entire life! The fruit and salads were fly buffets.

 

Totally agree about the HMC buffet!

[tigresslea]

I think it is interesting that folks on here separate the different Lido stations like the deli,pizza,etc, from being part of "the buffet". To me they are all just different stations at the buffet with separate lines for each of them.

We eat dinner in the MDR and sometimes the sea day brunch but we eat breakfast and lunch usually on the Lido which to me is "the buffet"deck.

 

Hmm, that's interesting. I also don't consider the deli, pizza, etc. to be part of the buffet since they are separate and food is custom made for you. However, if going by what ShakyBeef said, would the carving station then not be considered part of the buffet?

 

Also, they have their own names, even Carnival doesn't consider them part of the buffet. Pizza Pirate, Guy's Burgers, Blue Iguana, etc.

[Purvis1231]

I have enjoyed the buffet at Half Moon Cay and on the ship many times. Buffets are no more unhygienic than any other type food service. At least with a buffet you can see what is happening to the food. Who knows what happens back in the kitchen and when the waiter brings you the food? But know matter where you eat a pray is always in order before you eat.

[LaCal]

I have enjoyed the buffet at Half Moon Cay and on the ship many times. Buffets are no more unhygienic than any other type food service. At least with a buffet you can see what is happening to the food. Who knows what happens back in the kitchen and when the waiter brings you the food? But know matter where you eat a pray is always in order before you eat.

 

You know in the dining room there's some waiters that used the bathroom and didn't wash their hands, bound to happen for sure.....so there's still germs on those plates and food coming outta the kitchen. But people feel better eating there because they don't think that happens... 😂😂😂

 

I like the buffet, dining room, all food areas......I wash my hands every single time I use the restroom....oh wait there was prob that one drunk time or two 😱😱......Haven't gotten food poisoning, noro virus etc on over 15 cruises so far. Knock on Wood

[l2c4fun]

I don't find myself getting that hungry when out in the sun so I'm normally ok. If I get hungry I will eat one of the prepackaged snacks I bring along or a box of cereal I grabbed off the breakfast buffet line :eek:

[Keith1010]

Just limit yourself when ashore or just go with the flow.

 

Keith

[Je Souhaite]

There have been numerous threads posted on here, and I would imagine on the other cruise lines' boards as well, about eating at the buffet in comparison to the MDR. A number of people turn up their noses at eating at the buffet, and cite several reasons. What I'd like to know is, when the ship stops at a private island, such as Half Moon Cay, where do those that don't eat at a buffet go for lunch? :confused:

 

My only disdain for a buffet is they tend to serve up the scraps in some venues. Or mass produced. Or overly dried out.

 

But given a choice between being served and serving myself, I usually choose the latter, time permitting. And on a cruise, there's LOTS of time.

 

But I also like an on the go burger once in a while.

[ShakyBeef]

The statement, "Buffets are no more unhygienic than any other type food service" is incorrect. If it were only about the professional food handlers' treatment of the food and serving ware, it might be true. It's not about what happens in the kitchen, or whether or not the server has washed his hands. Yes, that's a risk anywhere and everywhere, and so starts all food service on an even base level of hygiene. Now, take that food and put it out in the pig trough - err, I mean buffet. And the contamination risks spike exponentially...

 

A preteen strolls by the self-serve toppings counter of the Lido Deli , plunges her hand deep into the pickle juice-filled bin and pulls out a dripping pickle, shoving it into her mouth as she goes on her merry way.

 

A man grazes from the fruit salad - using his hand to move the fruit he doesn't want out of the way of the pieces that he does. He licks his sticky fingers and moves on to the pick up the serving tongs of the next food item.

 

A woman carry a baby on her hip (while baby's feet in dirty shoes are dangling over the buffet serving utensils) and a plate in her other hand pauses in her food self service, making that "Do I smell a poopy diaper?" face that all parents know. She rests her plate on the buffet, lifts baby's bottom up to her nose for a sniff, doesn't seem to be able to gather enough information from said sniff and commences shoving her hand into the baby's diaper. She seems satisfied with the intel thus gathered and resumes serving herself (with that same diaper-checking hand) from the rest of the buffet.

 

An unattended child picks up a chicken drumstick, licks it, seemingly decides he doesn't like it, and puts it back in the bin.

 

A woman drops the salad tongs and sneezes hugely, directly into her hands, then, smears her hands down the sides of her shirt and picks the salad tongs back up.

 

All of these are incidents I have personally witnessed at buffets. I could go on and on and on - I've seen much more. But anyone with any intelligence and at least a preschool level of understanding about how illness spreads will have gotten the point by now.

 

In addition to all of the behaviours above and more, factor in people like the one on this thread:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2320554

 

...that proudly, and even indignantly proclaims that she does not wash her hands after using a public restroom... and well, the 'food hygiene level' of the buffet food vs. the served-from-the-kitchen food becomes far from equal.;)

 

Posters on message boards can go on making snarky comments about germaphobes and people "feeling better" about eating non-buffet food because they don't think anything nasty can happen to their food in the kitchen all they like. Ignorant comments like that miss the point entirely and won't change the facts. But I guess it makes them "feel better" to laugh at others.:rolleyes:

[DebJ14]

I don't have a choice. with a food allergy you cannot eat at the buffet because people are not careful with mixing foods.

 

So MDR is usually my only choice.

 

Yes, same for me. I have seen too many people put the serving spoons back in the wrong dish, thus contaminating it. With multiple food allergies I have to be super careful or I will end up sick in bed for days. On the private island I usually just bring some protein bars with me rather than risk eating the food. I can't do the hamburger because 1. I am celiac so no bun and 2. I am highly allergic to beef (so no hotdogs ever on a cruise).

[Trumpster]

Way to much wasted food at a buffet.

 

People pack too much food and often don't eat it all.

 

Waste!

 

And kids and adults touching the food, forget the tongs, the food and put it back.

 

There is reason they need a bacon police. :cool: