Post-Pandemic Buffet - What's Up With Oceanview Cafe?

[LWeiler77]

Hey everyone!  I wanted to find out what's going on with the Oceanview Cafe on Celebrity.  Do they still have a buffet, and if so, how is it served?  Another place where my husband and I frequently vacation is Las Vegas, and so far, their buffets are not coming back in any form any time soon, at least not at the MGM resorts.  And with all the new changes in restaurants and food on board the new and revolutionized ships, will there still be an Oceanview Cafe as we know it?  And, of course, the bigger question - how likely are you to eat at the buffet in a post-pandemic world...? 

 

I looked at the Celebrity website, and while they have the Oceanview Cafe listed as a restaurant outlet, there is no real specific information on service. And if it's still a buffet-style buffet (yeah, I know that's redundant), I'm not sure how likely I am to eat there, even with the vaccine and health protocols in place, which is sad, because I'm usually a fan.  

 

Anyone have any further insights?  Or wish to share their thoughts about buffet-ing? 🙂 

[WestLakeGirl]

Nobody knows, since there are no Celebrity ships sailing now.

 

 

[LGW59]

23 minutes ago, LWeiler77 said:

Hey everyone!  I wanted to find out what's going on with the Oceanview Cafe on Celebrity.  Do they still have a buffet, and if so, how is it served?  Another place where my husband and I frequently vacation is Las Vegas, and so far, their buffets are not coming back in any form any time soon, at least not at the MGM resorts.  And with all the new changes in restaurants and food on board the new and revolutionized ships, will there still be an Oceanview Cafe as we know it?  And, of course, the bigger question - how likely are you to eat at the buffet in a post-pandemic world...? 

 

I looked at the Celebrity website, and while they have the Oceanview Cafe listed as a restaurant outlet, there is no real specific information on service. And if it's still a buffet-style buffet (yeah, I know that's redundant), I'm not sure how likely I am to eat there, even with the vaccine and health protocols in place, which is sad, because I'm usually a fan.  

 

Anyone have any further insights?  Or wish to share their thoughts about buffet-ing? 🙂 

Since no ships have sailed since March 2020, who knows what buffet will be like when they resume.  Personally, I NEVER eat at the buffet, any buffet ever.  Though on a ship I do go, sit at a table with some java and just watch, because it had provided some entertainment value.  I do not believe that will happen any longer, buffets will most likely now be served by crew staff.  I still wont eat there, but going to be fun to go see the response to the new procedures.

[LJJQ]

If you sailed on Celebrity immediately after the Norovirus the Oceanview Cafe was open! It was different since before entering crew had hand sanitizer ! When you entered the cafe you were restricted from handling the food! Crew members put the food on your plates. Very sanitary!

Today the Edge and her sister ships have sinks at entrance to the cafe alllowing you to wash your hands! Crew were still there with sanitizer.

We sailed on the Edge on March 1,2020 👍

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

I suspect at buffets, crew will serve passengers as they have done on HAL for quite awhile.

[C-Dragons]

This topic was addressed by X months ago.

X staff will serve passengers in the buffet. You tell them what you want at each station and they will put it on a plate for you. Passengers will be not allowed to self-serve.

[BigAl94]

2 hours ago, LGW59 said:

Personally, I NEVER eat at the buffet, any buffet ever.  Though on a ship I do go, sit at a table with some java and just watch, because it had provided some entertainment value. 

I still wont eat there, but going to be fun to go see the response to the new procedures.

Please go somewhere else for your entertainment. Hard enough to get a seat in there frequently without people who never eat there taking up seats to be "entertained". Mind blowing selfishness.

[davekathy]

2 hours ago, C-Dragons said:

This topic was addressed by X months ago.

X staff will serve passengers in the buffet. You tell them what you want at each station and they will put it on a plate for you. Passengers will be not allowed to self-serve.

As it should be and long overdue. 

Edited May 2, 2021 by davekathy

[Oville]

39 minutes ago, BigAl94 said:

Please go somewhere else for your entertainment. Hard enough to get a seat in there frequently without people who never eat there taking up seats to be "entertained". Mind blowing selfishness.

Yup

[Oville]

2 hours ago, C-Dragons said:

This topic was addressed by X months ago.

X staff will serve passengers in the buffet. You tell them what you want at each station and they will put it on a plate for you. Passengers will be not allowed to self-serve.

Thanks for reminding us all.  We don’t eat at the buffet often other than a late breakfast rarely, but glad X will no longer let us serve ourselves, long overdo.

[Denny01]

What C-Dragon says. We attended a Zoom discussion run by our local TA who had a Celebrity Rep speak and they stated the Oceanview will be open and staff will serve all items. 

 

see, I needed to post the same thing C-Drag did so you’d know it’s correct!!

den 

[Miaminice]

5 hours ago, WestLakeGirl said:

Nobody knows, since there are no Celebrity ships sailing now.

 

 

Except for the people who actually read Celebrity’s information 😉

 

Buffet still there but no self service. Guests tell staff what they want and staff puts the food on plates. Very similar to how HAL do it and how it was done on Celebrity etc. when they had Noro problems on board.
 

The cruise lines already sailing also do it that way.

[Ashland]

We enjoy the Oceanview Cafe and the RCI Windjammer and will be happy to eat there again.

[ipeeinthepool]

10 hours ago, C-Dragons said:

This topic was addressed by X months ago.

X staff will serve passengers in the buffet. You tell them what you want at each station and they will put it on a plate for you. Passengers will be not allowed to self-serve.

 

This is about the only positive thing that has resulted from Covid.  I hope these changes are permanent.  

[C-Dragons]

8 hours ago, Denny01 said:

What C-Dragon says. We attended a Zoom discussion run by our local TA who had a Celebrity Rep speak and they stated the Oceanview will be open and staff will serve all items. 

 

see, I needed to post the same thing C-Drag did so you’d know it’s correct!!

den 

Thanks, Den. Is that  my new moniker?

C-Drag 😁

Edited May 2, 2021 by C-Dragons

[Denny01]

23 minutes ago, C-Dragons said:

Thanks, Den. Is that  my new moniker?

C-Drag 😁

Oooops!

[Pinboy]

10 hours ago, BigAl94 said:

Mind blowing selfishness.

Really ???  So he/she is sitting there having a cup of coffee, watching people ,and having a " chuckle ".

No " Big Deal "-- We all do it.

" Mind blowing selfishness " would apply more to the way people behave in the " Slugfest on 14 " , reserving lounges at the pool for 3 hrs and never using them , etc.

 

[RedneckBob]

For the OP. Buffets in Las Vegas are beginning to reopen. Clark County was scheduled to allow buffets at all hotels starting 5/1/21.

[LWeiler77]

8 hours ago, RedneckBob said:

For the OP. Buffets in Las Vegas are beginning to reopen. Clark County was scheduled to allow buffets at all hotels starting 5/1/21.

Good to know, thank you!  I hadn't heard that, and MGM properties still aren't showing it as an option, so we'll see what happens when we go there to vacation this summer...*chuckle*

[LWeiler77]

11 hours ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

This is about the only positive thing that has resulted from Covid.  I hope these changes are permanent.  

Actually, I agree with this in so many ways, and hope that other buffets take note too. 

[LGW59]

20 hours ago, BigAl94 said:

Please go somewhere else for your entertainment. Hard enough to get a seat in there frequently without people who never eat there taking up seats to be "entertained". Mind blowing selfishness.

That is like saying if one does not drink they should not sit at the bar and enjoy a soda.  But you can still at my table while I enjoy my coffee at the former buffet

Edited May 3, 2021 by LGW59

[jg51]

12 hours ago, ipeeinthepool said:

22 hours ago, C-Dragons said:

This topic was addressed by X months ago.

X staff will serve passengers in the buffet. You tell them what you want at each station and they will put it on a plate for you. Passengers will be not allowed to self-serve.

This is about the only positive thing that has resulted from Covid.  I hope these changes are permanent.  

We cannot agree with this point of view, after having gone through certain (land-based) buffet-related experiences, ever since May of 2020 -- in other words, a full twelve months.  We have been dining, without mishap (and without vaccination until recently) at three U.S. buffet restaurants.  Here's what we mean ...

 

Since the initial outbreak of the virus, we have been tested, every eight weeks, in conjunction with donations of blood -- always negative (both for virus and for anti-bodies).

 

In the U.S., there is a corporation that has had about five hundred buffet restaurants, some in many different states, for many years.  Here has been their gradual historic progression, over the last fourteen months:

 

~~ Completely closed, due to the initial panic, in March and April, 2020.

 

~~ Some locations re-opened (with very limited menus) in May, 2020, but only with employees "waiting tables" and bringing food from the buffet line to the tables.  Guests wore masks except while eating.  Employees wore masks at all times.  No locations were reported to have closed, and there were no virus outbreaks reported among guests or employees.  [We dined at least once each month during this period.]

 

~~ As more and more locations re-opened in the Autumn, guests were then permitted to walk through the buffet lines (wearing masks and maintaining strict physical distancing).  Self-service was not permitted.  Instead, employees (wearing masks) did the serving of food onto plates (stacked behind them), in accord with guests' requests.  There were still no reported virus-related closings of locations or outbreaks among guests or employees.  [We dined an average of once every two weeks during this period.]

 

~~ In the winter of 2020 (December or January) -- with almost all locations re-opened -- guests were still wearing masks and still maintaining distancing (behind ropes) ... but now self-service WAS permitted.  Again, no closings nor outbreaks reported.  [We dined an average of once every two weeks during this period.  We were vaccinated (twice) in March, 2021.]

 

~~ Today (May 2, 2021), we dined in a new one of the chain's buffet restaurants (a location we had not previously visited).  Guests and employees still wore masks, but no ropes were used, and no distancing was enforced.  Self-service continued -- and the food was fantastic!  We will keep going back to this location in the future.

 

People of all ages -- including those much too young to have been vaccinated yet -- have been dining in these restaurants.  Naturally, there was NO checking to see if anyone had been vaccinated.  There was also NO requirement that guests wash or disinfect their hands before dining, handling service spoons, etc..

 

Therefore, based on a full year's experiences with three buffets (including five or six months with self-service), we believe that it would be completely safe for cruise ships to allow self-service in the buffet restaurants -- ESPECIALLY if everyone onboard (guests and crew) have been certified as having been vaccinated -- but even if not!

 

We do not WANT to have our food brought to our O'view Cafe table by a crew member.  Nor do we want the crew to overload (or "underload") our plates, if we are allowed to walk through buffet lines.  We DO want to put, on our plates, exactly how much (or how little) we will actually eat.

 

We are respectfully reporting all of the above as Celebrity Elite Plus members, who have been at sea for hundreds of days since 2008.  We have enjoyed ALL forms of eating aboard ships -- buffets, poolside grills, MDRs, SRs.  In advance, we thank you for your kindness in reading (and responding gently to) our comments.

.

Edited May 3, 2021 by jg51

[Seany527]

23 hours ago, LGW59 said:

Personally, I NEVER eat at the buffet, any buffet ever.  Though on a ship I do go, sit at a table with some java and just watch, because it had provided some entertainment value.

I’ll be going on my first X sailing next month and I’ve been wondering how their ships and the passengers would differ from my previous cruises. Are the Celebrity passengers really pretentious like this?

[Denny01]

On the cruises I’ve been on, you are asked not to use the buffet seating during high use dining times for a social event, or to just sit and relax. We play cards and board games with those we meet on cruises or friends with us and we use the Buffet seatings at low use times. But I’ll agree that yes, you can sit and do whatever you wish any old time, but it is considered good manners not to take up dining areas during high use times, and we can all tell when that is with people scrambling around looking for open tables, cant we.

 

This reminds me of the complaints on threads abut El Bacio and how those of us not sitting actively drinking/eating goodies shouldn’t take up tables. Well, I solve that issue with those that think everyone should get up when they enter and give them the tables by having a coffee sitting in front of me and sipping away for how ever long we take to play our games or sit and relax.

 

I do get a bit of a chuckle over the gentlemen (usually only us men) who doze off in the very comfortable large seats next to the windows……for those that think we need to immediately vacate for them, go over and give the guy a push and tell him to go sleep in his cabin! Yeah, give that a go! 

 

And yes, I’m a people-watcher. Love it. But of course I’m Never judgmental or make any comments. Just ask my wife, but don’t if you see me say something to her and she gives me the cold stare and rolls her eyes.

 

Den

[ipeeinthepool]

8 minutes ago, jg51 said:

We cannot agree with this point of view, after having gone through certain (land-based) buffet-related experiences, ever since May of 2020 -- in other words, a full twelve months.  We have been dining, without mishap (and without vaccination until recently) at three U.S. buffet restaurants.  Here's what we mean ...

 

Since the initial outbreak of the virus, we have been tested, every eight weeks, in conjunction with donations of blood -- always negative.

 

In the U.S., there is a corporation that has had about five hundred buffet restaurants, some in many different states, for many years.  Here has been their gradual historic progression, over the last fourteen months:

 

~~ Completely closed, due to the initial panic, in March and April, 2020.

 

~~ Some locations re-opened (with very limited menus) in May, 2020, but only with employees "waiting tables" and bringing food from the buffet line to the tables.  Guests wore masks except while eating.  Employees wore masks at all times.  No locations were reported to have closed, and there were no virus outbreaks reported among guests or employees.  [We dined at least once each month during this period.]

 

~~ As more and more locations re-opened in the Autumn, guests were then permitted to walk through the buffet lines (wearing masks and maintaining strict physical distancing).  Self-service was not permitted.  Instead, employees (wearing masks) did the serving of food onto plates (stacked behind them), in accord with guests' requests.  There were still no reported virus-related closings of locations or outbreaks among guests or employees.  [We dined an average of once every two weeks during this period.]

 

~~ In the winter of 2020 (December or January) -- with almost all locations re-opened -- guests were still wearing masks and still maintaining distancing (behind ropes) ... but now self-service WAS permitted.  Again, no closings nor outbreaks reported.  [We dined an average of once every two weeks during this period.  We were vaccinated (twice) in March, 2021.]

 

~~ Today (May 2, 2021), we dined in a new one of the chain's buffet restaurants (a location we had not previously visited).  Guests and employees still wore masks, but no ropes were used, and no distancing was enforced.  Self-service continued -- and the food was fantastic!  We will keep going back to this location in the future.

 

People of all ages -- including those much too young to have been vaccinated yet -- have been dining in these restaurants.  Naturally, there was NO checking to see if anyone had been vaccinated.  There was also NO requirement that guests wash or disinfect their hands before dining, handling service spoons, etc..

 

Therefore, based on a full year's experiences with three buffets (including five or six months with self-service), we believe that it would be completely safe for cruise ships to allow self-service in the buffet restaurants -- ESPECIALLY if everyone onboard (guests and crew) have been certified as having been vaccinated -- but even if not!

 

We do not WANT to have our food brought to our O'view Cafe table by a crew member.  Nor do we want the crew to overload (or "underload") our plates, if we are allowed to walk through buffet lines.  We DO want to put, on our plates, exactly how much (or how little) we will actually eat.

 

We are respectfully reporting all of the above as Celebrity Elite Plus members, who have been at sea for hundreds of days since 2008.  We have enjoyed ALL forms of eating aboard ships -- buffets, poolside grills, MDRs, SRs.  In advance, we thank you for your kindness in reading (and responding gently to) our comments.

.

The desire to keep the eliminate the self-service buffet has nothing to do with Covid.  It's because there is a small percentage of cruisers that are slobs without any manners.  People that serve themselves with their hands, taste food and put it back, etc.  I would be much happier if they permanently had the crew serve the food.  

 

I am reporting this as an Elite member soon to be Elite Plus.  Don't worry about being gentle, give me your best shot.