Buffets are gone at Royal (temporarily?)

[Quo Vadis?]

https://www.travelpulse.com/news/cruise/royal-caribbean-to-eliminate-buffets-on-post-coronavirus-cruises.html

Edited May 16, 2020 by Argo.

[Fouremco]

A travelpulse article based on a CC article (https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/5354/) leading to a thread started on Wednesday on the RCI board: 

 

[Lady Arwen]

Hopefully, Celebrity will also implement the same procedures.  Buffets are not necessary and can be the source of numerous infectious diseases.  Kudos, to RCL.

[bigbenboys]

What I'm hoping is that Celebrity will open Blu, Luminae and specialty restaurants for lunch every day.  

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Just now, bigbenboys said:

What I'm hoping is that Celebrity will open Blu, Luminae and specialty restaurants for lunch every day.  

But no fee on the specialty ones if those are the only options for non-Aqua or Suite people.

[bigbenboys]

1 minute ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

But no fee on the specialty ones if those are the only options for non-Aqua or Suite people.

I read the article yesterday, Seemed like Royal was going to change the buffet into sit down restaurant. I cant see Celebrity giving specialty restaurant food for free. Might be the standard MDR food. That might go for Blu. Blu does not have lunch menus at all. Blu and Luminae were carved out of the MDR on the M Class ships. Luminae was carved out of the MDR on the S Class ships. Luminae does have lunch menus. In Luminae you have been able to order off the MDR menu for lunch and dinner (excludes Edge Class as Luminae is to far from the MDR). 

[CHEZMARYLOU]

They could also open the MDR every day so no one would have a fee regardless of cabin category.

[Schlepporello]

11 minutes ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

They could also open the MDR every day so no one would have a fee regardless of cabin category.

Does Royal not do that already? I know that Holland America does, or at least used to. I'm assuming all cruise lines do this.

 

[39august]

No. RCI MDR is  open for lunch only on sea days, as is Celebrity. Port days you have to eat elsewhere. 

[CHEZMARYLOU]

There are limited lunch options on port days. Once sailing resumes I'm thinking a lot of people will want to stay on board, especially in the Caribbean so the MDR for lunch would be a good addition, unless they do something with the buffet to limit passenger contact and self serve.

[davekathy]

55 minutes ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

unless they do something with the buffet to limit passenger contact and self serve.

IMO the cruise lines will. The buffet service will be a cafeteria style. A sever will plate your selection(s). Go back as many times as you want. 

Edited May 16, 2020 by davekathy

[marieps]

27 minutes ago, davekathy said:

IMO the cruise lines will. The buffet service will be a cafeteria style. A sever will plate your selection(s). Go back as many times as you want. 

Welcome to Oceania.

[yorky]

38 minutes ago, davekathy said:

IMO the cruise lines will. The buffet service will be a cafeteria style. A sever will plate your selection(s). Go back as many times as you want. 

Exactly, I don’t see it being a huge issue, you wait slightly longer but other than that fine. We generally have room service for breakfast anyway and rarely eat lunch in there. We are either on an island or sitting round the pool with a burger. Of all the changes they need to make I don’t see this being the most difficult. Is  Dump not going to have a vaccine sorted in a few months anyway ? 

Edited May 16, 2020 by yorky

[Quo Vadis?]

Oh the good old days:

 

Tables set up at a $5 charge in the evening.

[sfaaa]

1 hour ago, davekathy said:

 The buffet service will be a cafeteria style. A sever will plate your selection(s). Go back as many times as you want. 

I can live with this post COVID-19. 

[IMSYDNEYAUS]

P&O Australia successfully introduced 'The Pantry' on their ships five years ago.  It basically follows the concept of land based food courts however gives you the choice to speak with your server if you want more or less of something or another item added therefore allowing for your personal preferences, quantities etc.  Australian ingenuity now being taken up by the rest of the industry.

[Fouremco]

17 minutes ago, IMSYDNEYAUS said:

P&O Australia successfully introduced 'The Pantry' on their ships five years ago.  It basically follows the concept of land based food courts however gives you the choice to speak with your server if you want more or less of something or another item added therefore allowing for your personal preferences, quantities etc.  Australian ingenuity now being taken up by the rest of the industry.

They simply copied HAL, who have been doing this for years. 

[IMSYDNEYAUS]

HAL certainly has the separate food stations however tongs are still presented to you at each station and you can reach under the glass and serve yourself.  Each food station in The Pantry is completely behind glass, only the servers touch the tongs and prepare your food plate.

[Fouremco]

2 minutes ago, IMSYDNEYAUS said:

HAL certainly has the separate food stations however tongs are still presented to you at each station and you can reach under the glass and serve yourself.  Each food station in The Pantry is completely behind glass, only the servers touch the tongs and prepare your food plate.

Not in my experience, but YMMV.

[luckyinpa]

this seems like false safety to me. are they gonna limit how many people are in an elevator or touch buttons or door handles in and out of bathrooms. monitor you on shore? its all or nothing on a ship. i cannot even imagine how they are gonna wipe down seats after every spaced out theater show or restaurant meal. things take long enough now with most meals.

 

plus all this is meaningless and no one will go on a cruise unless they are guaranteed no 14 day sitting on the ship after the trip. 

[cgolf1]

Flame if you want but this could be a deal breaker for me. I like the buffets because you can try small amounts of new foods and not waste a lot if you don't like it. Why not just have staff serve like when they have a Noro outbreak?

 

I guess I will just order more food and eat a bit of each and I guess have a lot of waste:( For me trying new foods is a fun part of cruising.

[luckyinpa]

one other thing that needs to be addressed world wide is liability. im no scientist but i dont even know how you would prove you got sick from someone on a ship/restaurant/office etc and be able to recover damages. but i guess some people worry about this and getting tied up in lawsuits so there has to be something done about this. 

[luckyinpa]

found this interesting device. just strap it on to everyone 🙂

 

https://www.fox5vegas.com/news/las-vegas-company-invents-table-game-technology-to-keep-players-germ-free/article_30b0372a-95aa-11ea-81ee-4fcd07da411c.html

[ipeeinthepool]

7 hours ago, luckyinpa said:

found this interesting device. just strap it on to everyone 🙂

 

https://www.fox5vegas.com/news/las-vegas-company-invents-table-game-technology-to-keep-players-germ-free/article_30b0372a-95aa-11ea-81ee-4fcd07da411c.html

 

And I thought that sucking sound was all of my money going down the drain.😉

[yorky]

8 hours ago, luckyinpa said:

this seems like false safety to me. are they gonna limit how many people are in an elevator or touch buttons or door handles in and out of bathrooms. monitor you on shore? its all or nothing on a ship. i cannot even imagine how they are gonna wipe down seats after every spaced out theater show or restaurant meal. things take long enough now with most meals.

 

plus all this is meaningless and no one will go on a cruise unless they are guaranteed no 14 day sitting on the ship after the trip. 

I’m pretty sure plenty will.