Bliss in no-self service mode 1/31

[Heronymous]

Not sure if it's  due to the page in the middle of the night to bring a medical team and stretcher to a room on deck 14, or something else but the ship appears to be on mitigation mode for illnesses. The self service stations in the observation deck were manned by staff dishing out food, guests weren't allowed to serve themselves. Can't speak for the buffet, but when a family member asked why they were told there was a "virus reported on the ship".

 

 

 

[BirdTravels]

It was reported on another thread that the Captain of the Escape announced that this is was implemented fleet wide today

[Vyhanek]

Or maybe just being overly cautious and making appearances to take every precaution due to that ship quarantined with the Coronavirus.    

 

You know...."We're ahead of this virus, look how sanitary we are, don't worry people".

[JamieLogical]

Reports from at least two other ships are that it is a new fleet-wide precaution on NCL ships.

[Turtles06]

Limited self-service in the buffet is pretty much SOP on HAL, which I liked. Definitely more sanitary. 

[shof515]

31 minutes ago, Vyhanek said:

Or maybe just being overly cautious and making appearances to take every precaution due to that ship quarantined with the Coronavirus.    

 

You know...."We're ahead of this virus, look how sanitary we are, don't worry people".

 

from what i read on other sites , this is most likely the common cause

Edited January 31, 2020 by shof515

[peg013]

No self service also started on the Gem today but there are still salt and pepper shakers on the table so precautionary rather than an active virus on the ship. 

[Heronymous]

I must have missed that one, theres a quarantined ship? I was in a cab in Barbados with a woman who was talking to another woman about being exposed to something (I think she was a nurse) and mentioned someone told her they had to tell the CDC, she didn't seem to care other than getting on the ship for her vacation. I'm hoping she wasn't from our ship.. some people...

 

Good to know it's out of precaution and not an active incident onboard. I'm in the spa now, we're not even allowed to get our own towels or robes, but yes salt and pepper shakers were everywhere at breakfast.

 

[Heronymous]

27 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

Limited self-service in the buffet is pretty much SOP on HAL, which I liked. Definitely more sanitary. 

Agreed, I saw a man the other day at the buffet get sauce on his hands from his plate, lick all of his fingers, then grab a serving spoon to get more food.. disgusting..

[Mike_DeA]

1 hour ago, Turtles06 said:

Limited self-service in the buffet is pretty much SOP on HAL, which I liked. Definitely more sanitary. 

 

Aren't many of the passengers on HAL super seniors? I would think they need the assistance more than most cruisers on other lines.

[Turtles06]

2 minutes ago, Mike_DeA said:

 

Aren't many of the passengers on HAL super seniors? I would think they need the assistance more than most cruisers on other lines.

 

That’s a stereotype.  I’m not one, nor is my wife, nor would I have described the demographic on board that way. 

[ncl757]

Yesterday everything on the Joy disappeared off the tables (Salt, pepper, ketchup, mustard), and menus all became paper, no cover.  Crew has been wiping down surfaces like crazy.  Key cards get sanitized every time a crew member touches it.  Today, everything was no-self service, from the buffet and observation food items, even drinks... Some people of course are ignoring the ropes and doing it themselves.

[Kirchoff91]

55 minutes ago, Heronymous said:

Agreed, I saw a man the other day at the buffet get sauce on his hands from his plate, lick all of his fingers, then grab a serving spoon to get more food.. disgusting..

 

That is disgusting, on my last cruise watched a kid eat something didn't like it and put it back in where he got it from. I can't blame the kid as he was young but just disgusting to say the least. 

[Kirchoff91]

1 minute ago, ncl757 said:

Yesterday everything on the Joy disappeared off the tables (Salt, pepper, ketchup, mustard), and menus all became paper, no cover.  Crew has been wiping down surfaces like crazy.  Key cards get sanitized every time a crew member touches it.  Today, everything was no-self service, from the buffet and observation food items, even drinks... Some people of course are ignoring the ropes and doing it themselves.

 

Do you expect anything else? People think they are entitled 

[Joshgrobanfan]

Also a page around dinner time yesterday for a medical emergency and some one vomited on Deck 7 forward today.  Just be extra cautious if you are on any cruise right now.

[Tutontow]

On 1/31/2020 at 11:45 AM, Heronymous said:

Agreed, I saw a man the other day at the buffet get sauce on his hands from his plate, lick all of his fingers, then grab a serving spoon to get more food.. disgusting..

YUCK

[Oceansaway17]

i have seen a few people here and there wear rubber gloves in the buffet.

 

What I do is take a paper towel or I use a napkin that I am not using for the meal.

 

but it is people coughing that get me.  I get smiles from people when I sneeze or cough down my shirt under the collar.

[Peachypooh]

One time I patiently waited in line to get my food at one of those stations where they

cook it for you (I think it was the pasta station on Jade). Anyway as I happily walked away

after waiting for aprox 10 min, I kid you not some woman coming towards me bumped into me,

looked down like she didn't know what happened  and then coughed/sneezed

within 6 inches right into my food.  I sadly had to dump it and wait in line a second time.

What are people thinking???

Edited February 1, 2020 by Peachypooh

[IrieBajan54]

53 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

i have seen a few people here and there wear rubber gloves in the buffet.

 

What I do is take a paper towel or I use a napkin that I am not using for the meal.

 

but it is people coughing that get me.  I get smiles from people when I sneeze or cough down my shirt under the collar.

,

Good for you doing that to prevent transmission. I see so many people that cough in their hands or use a soiled handkerchief. Yuck.

[IrieBajan54]

On 1/31/2020 at 10:45 AM, Heronymous said:

Agreed, I saw a man the other day at the buffet get sauce on his hands from his plate, lick all of his fingers, then grab a serving spoon to get more food.. disgusting..

.

I've seen this many times. Some people can be very nasty. One I recall was on the Gem at the Great Outdoors in the morning. This big guy about 50 yrs old went to the display of breakfast sausage and started eating with his fingers. He had no plate so he was just sampling.

[ellenw]

On 1/31/2020 at 11:45 AM, Heronymous said:

Agreed, I saw a man the other day at the buffet get sauce on his hands from his plate, lick all of his fingers, then grab a serving spoon to get more food.. disgusting..

Request new serving utensils after seeing this type of thing. I don't get people that use their fingers to start eating from their plates while still in the line. Are you really that hungry that you can't wait? 

[cwaters32]

On Gem right now went to the buffet this morning it was very slow and by the time I got through all the different lines to get my breakfast and sat down half my food was cold. This is completely ridiculous.  

[tumblew467]

14 hours ago, cwaters32 said:

On Gem right now went to the buffet this morning it was very slow and by the time I got through all the different lines to get my breakfast and sat down half my food was cold. This is completely ridiculous.  

Maybe instead of going to Buffet go to one of the restaurants--its probably quicker and your food will be warmer when you get it.

[pinklucky61]

On 1/31/2020 at 10:45 AM, Heronymous said:

Agreed, I saw a man the other day at the buffet get sauce on his hands from his plate, lick all of his fingers, then grab a serving spoon to get more food.. disgusting..

people like him are reason i don't like buffets, but it actually started the 1st time i heard sneeze-guard.

[liene]

2 hours ago, tumblew467 said:

Maybe instead of going to Buffet go to one of the restaurants--its probably quicker and your food will be warmer when you get it.

That is not really a solution for everybody. We are traveling with our 2 and 4 year olds. Buffet was basically the only place we planned to eat with them, as they are impatient little humans. Restaurant can be an occasional option, but it is absolutely not a way to go for us for 3 meals a day. That would be a disaster. Now, when at a buffet, we usually get plates for our boys first, then go sit them down and I stay with them while my husband goes gets a plate for himself. Once he is back, I go get my food and then we can finally all eat together. By that time, the boys have eaten most of their food, and have run out of milk, bread, fruit... whatever that might be, and one of us has to go back to the buffet to replenish the supply. Now, if there is no self service anymore, and we need to stand in a line for every time we need something, every meal will take us hours! And what happens in the mornings, when most of the people try to get breakfast before heading ashore? I imagine it is a complete chaos! I am honestly dreading this as our NCL Getaway cruise is coming up in 5 days. No self-service might work on some smaller ships, but there is just NO WAY they can make this efficient with 4000+ people on-board. And if this is meant to ''prevent viruses'', that is not going to work - with the amount of people sharing all these cramped public spaces together, the virus will spread if there is one (people cough, sneeze, touch doorknobs, chairs, elevator buttons, use bathrooms, pools, gym...). Restricting the buffet is merely for show, in my opinion, to make people think they are ''safe'' but in the end it will be more of a frustration and inconvenience than anything.