Get rid of the buffets already!...

[pris993]

3 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Funny you mention Princess since we still have a 28 day cruise booked on that line for this coming October (questionable if this cruise will happen).   We share your enjoyment of the Fish and Chips (Pub) lunch and wonder if that will be continued post COVID-19.  The Crown Grill is OK but we have never felt the desire to go more then once or twice on a cruise.   We are also Seniors but have still not lost the cruise/travel bug or our spirit of adventure.  We have talked to others in our age group who tell us they are bored with cruising and/or travel.  But I think it is partially because DW and I still "do our own thing" and avoid structured group tours/excursions that our interest in travel is a great as ever.  I suspect we will continue to do a lot of travel (and hopefully cruising) as long as our health and fitness permit.

 

Hank

As long as you can go and enjoy it more power to you.

 

 My DH and I have enjoyed a lot of travel over the years.  DH being close to 90,  has slowed down a bit and I personally find flying a big challenge... so am happy to cruises to Mexico for the most part.   I hope Princess continues the Pub lunch but we will have to see how they reconfigure offerings.   When we have booked the Crown Grill for a number of nights in the past, they basically allowed us to use same table every night and to come when we wanted within an hour time frame.  We usually book a booth near front and found it very quiet and enjoyable.  Since we love the Sea Bass dish especially, we often have it several times, they do a nice prawn dish as well... Veal Chop, Pork Chop and Lamb very good,  and  of course steaks.   What they have done in the past, may be entirely different in the future.

 

In all the cruises I can count on one hand the number of organized tours we have gone on.   My DH is from France, speaks many languages so we have always managed fairly well on our own.   So like you exploring on our own was always enjoyable.  

[clo]

3 hours ago, ldubs said:

 Sadly, for me it has gone downhill to the point it has lost any allure for a visit.  

Whereas I love it as much as ever. A couple of years ago we were there for a few days and stayed at the Marina Motel on Lombard where you have your very own garage for your car! In four days we only moved the car once. The rest of the time we took buses. So great.

[wowzz]

3 hours ago, Hlitner said:

We share your enjoyment of the Fish and Chips (Pub) lunch

As a Brit, can I just say how awful the Fish and Chip lunch is. The basic problem is that the kitchen do not use beef dripping for frying. Hence you get an insipid taste to the whole meal. 

Sorry, I'll let you get back to  your discussion now!

[sail7seas]

As to the buffets on cruise ships and specifically HAL ships?  Keep the buffets?

 

Yes, or no?

 

For breakfast, lunch  And dinner?  

 

 

Or ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sail7seas]

How about HAL's late night buffet?  If we ever   went to  it, I have no memory of having done so

[jsn55]

7 hours ago, pris993 said:

Like you we have many cruises, well over 60 have lost count on 9 different lines... more recently Princess, HAL, Cunard, Celebrity.... while I don't camp out in the Lido all day, I do go up their and have coffee sometimes usually during off hours...if it was busy I would most likely leave because then too noisy for me.

 

I take a difference approach though then you, I don't expect anyone else to move to enable me to enjoy my cruise experience.  If something is not working for me, I figure out to enjoy what I want in a different way.   I rarely have eaten at the Lido when busy.  I either go during slow times or get what I want and take it back to my cabin or another location where I can comfortably enjoy myself.    For me if something is not working for me,  it works better to change what I am doing vs expect the cruise to something that suits me.  For example, sometimes when in the past 10 years, forget how long ago, we decided we no longer enjoyed meals in the MDR.  First time, we were on a Celebrity ship in the Mediterranean... on 11 day cruise after 5 nights in the MDR, we decided the MDR was too crowded, noisy, could hardly read menu due to lighting... food was so, so.... we decided to skip it.  For the remainder of the cruise we did a late lunch at the buffet and room service and never missed the MDR at all.  From that point on, we started limiting how often we went to the MDR, now we don't go at all.  So many more options on board, then we are free to go to any show because we are not trying to deal with MDR time.  It is a very freeing approach. 

THIS is the key to a happy life anywhere, any time.  On a cruise ship especially ... if you don't like what's going on, there are 17 other choices.  Make the choice that works for you.  Why waste your time and money on something you only find fault with?

[pris993]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

As a Brit, can I just say how awful the Fish and Chip lunch is. The basic problem is that the kitchen do not use beef dripping for frying. Hence you get an insipid taste to the whole meal. 

Sorry, I'll let you get back to  your discussion now!

LOL, I would not expect a BRIT to enjoy the fish and chips,  by the way I was on the Queen Victoria and the Queen MARY 2, Cunard Line a few years back, their Fish and Chips taste the same as Princess.    I guess they all use the product.   Happy Cruising. 

[sail7seas]

They  are both cruise companies under the  Carnival Corporate umbrella.

 

 

 

 

 

[ldubs]

7 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

I have a cousin who I grew up with in NY who moved to Simi Valley about 45 years ago and is still there.When we were in Calif in 1999 and 2002 we were here to visit her and family and then toured the state. 

I assume your son went to Buffalo for a particular specialization .

 

I know Simi Valley well.  I did a lot of business there over the years.  Our son went to Luther College in Des Moines for his undergrad degree then received a good offer from U of Buffalo.

[pacruise804]

14 hours ago, wowzz said:

As a Brit, can I just say how awful the Fish and Chip lunch is. The basic problem is that the kitchen do not use beef dripping for frying. Hence you get an insipid taste to the whole meal. 

Sorry, I'll let you get back to  your discussion now!

Not a Brit, but I was also disappointed in the Fish and Chip lunch.  Too many chips/fries (that were 'meh' flavor/doneness), and I make a much better Scotch egg at home.  

[lenquixote66]

15 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

I know Simi Valley well.  I did a lot of business there over the years.  Our son went to Luther College in Des Moines for his undergrad degree then received a good offer from U of Buffalo.

I never heard of Luther College so I googled it and saw that it is a Lutheran college.

My cousins daughter who lives in Simi Valley graduated from California Lutheran in Thousand Oaks.

Can I ask what your son got his degree in from Buffalo that he would desire to pursue a course of study in a city that has a tremendous amount of snow .

One of my daughters went to Albany for her undergraduate .

[Noodles84]

20 hours ago, wowzz said:

As a Brit, can I just say how awful the Fish and Chip lunch is. The basic problem is that the kitchen do not use beef dripping for frying. Hence you get an insipid taste to the whole meal. 

Sorry, I'll let you get back to  your discussion now!

As a former Brit, I agree with you on the taste and crispness.  However, with so many people worried about their cholesterol count, I can see why they are using a healthier alternative to beef fat. Nicole

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, Noodles84 said:

As a former Brit, I agree with you on the taste and crispness.  However, with so many people worried about their cholesterol count, I can see why they are using a healthier alternative to beef fat. Nicole

Yes, I can see the reason behind it. But, a proper fish supper, once a month,  won't kill you. 

[Noodles84]

3 hours ago, wowzz said:

Yes, I can see the reason behind it. But, a proper fish supper, once a month,  won't kill you. 

And what a way to go, ha,ha. Nicole

[ldubs]

On 6/8/2020 at 11:25 AM, lenquixote66 said:

I never heard of Luther College so I googled it and saw that it is a Lutheran college.

My cousins daughter who lives in Simi Valley graduated from California Lutheran in Thousand Oaks.

Can I ask what your son got his degree in from Buffalo that he would desire to pursue a course of study in a city that has a tremendous amount of snow .

One of my daughters went to Albany for her undergraduate .

 

Sure, he received his doctoral degree in Anthropology from Buffalo.  For a few years he was like Indiana Jones in both Turkey and Romania, as well as a little high tech work in the UK.  The reason he went to Buffalo was because they treated him well financially.  

[lenquixote66]

10 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

Sure, he received his doctoral degree in Anthropology from Buffalo.  For a few years he was like Indiana Jones in both Turkey and Romania, as well as a little high tech work in the UK.  The reason he went to Buffalo was because they treated him well financially.  

I only knew one person from my youth who majored in Antropology.We got together years later at a school reunion.He was teaching in the UK although at the time we referred to it as England.

[ldubs]

27 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

I only knew one person from my youth who majored in Antropology.We got together years later at a school reunion.He was teaching in the UK although at the time we referred to it as England.

 

UK vs England vs Great Britain.  I probably use the terms incorrectly.   

[wowzz]

2 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

UK vs England vs Great Britain.  I probably use the terms incorrectly.   

Big, big difference! You don't want to upset the Welsh, Scots or Northern Irish, let alone the English. (And Yorkshire have always been independent! )

[ldubs]

8 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Big, big difference! You don't want to upset the Welsh, Scots or Northern Irish, let alone the English. (And Yorkshire have always been independent! )

 

No doubt and no offense intended if I used the wrong term.   My son worked outside of Belfast.   

[wowzz]

2 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

No doubt and no offense intended if I used the wrong term.   My son worked outside of Belfast.   

I'm sure you meant no offence. The problem is that the UK encompasses seperate nations. If you are ever here in the winter,  try and watch a  homes nation rugby match on TV and see the passion. Experiencing England vs Wales with a crowd of 82, 000 is something else!

[ldubs]

1 minute ago, wowzz said:

I'm sure you meant no offence. The problem is that the UK encompasses seperate nations. If you are ever here in the winter,  try and watch a  homes nation rugby match on TV and see the passion. Experiencing England vs Wales with a crowd of 82, 000 is something else!

 

Haha,  I've watched some rugby club play at our local college.  Now that is a contact sport for sure.  I hope all those guys have good dental insurance.  

 

 

[wowzz]

4 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

Haha,  I've watched some rugby club play at our local college.  Now that is a contact sport for sure.  I hope all those guys have good dental insurance.  

 

 

No helmets, no body armour, full on contact!  And no "dancing around" just because you caught the ball! 

And no time outs either! Seems to me that American footballers never have to play for more than 30 seconds at a time. 

Anyway, Americans like it, but no one else in the world does!

 

[lenquixote66]

1 hour ago, ldubs said:

 

UK vs England vs Great Britain.  I probably use the terms incorrectly.   

My daughter who went to college in Albany had the opportunity to spend her junior year at a college in England ,that is what it was called at the time.

[GUT2407]

4 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

My daughter who went to college in Albany had the opportunity to spend her junior year at a college in England ,that is what it was called at the time.

Ahhhhhh but she was probably in England, not Wales, Scotland or Ireland (Either part). A bit like saying you went to Texas even if you were in Calafornia (nearest example I can think of) no one would be offended if you said you went to the USA, when you were in California or if you said k when in England, but if you said you were in Texas while in California I imagine they would just as if you say England while in Wales.

 

i hope that makes sense anyway.

[GUT2407]

Here’s a link might help explain it

 

https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/The-UK-Great-Britain-Whats-the-Difference/