How is the World Cafe operating now?

[CILCIANRQTS]

3 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Not this station is not available on all ships.  Orion was the first ship that we have sailed that has it.  I know Sky does not have it and I believe neither do Star or Sea. 

Jupiter has it also.

[Cienfuegos]

5 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

No fixed station on the Sun either. They set up portable cooking stations/BBQ's on many nights out on Aquavit Terrace.

That's been my experience on Sun and Sky. Same temporary set up on the pool deck for other events. More tables and seating available in the pool area

[rizello]

7 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Not this station is not available on all ships.  Orion was the first ship that we have sailed that has it.  I know Sky does not have it and I believe neither do Star or Sea. 

I didn't see it on the Venus either.  We got our food in the World Cafe and they brought it to us while we were seated on the Aquavit Terrace.  I imagine we got that level of service because there were fewer than 200 passengers on my cruise.

[CCWineLover]

3 hours ago, rizello said:

I didn't see it on the Venus either.  We got our food in the World Cafe and they brought it to us while we were seated on the Aquavit Terrace.  I imagine we got that level of service because there were fewer than 200 passengers on my cruise.

No doubt!  We had 377 on our Bermuda cruise and no one brought meals to the table at the WC or outside either unless you were handicapped (or perhaps pleased mightily). 

The service was quite good at the WC however, almost to the point of them always being there asking if there was anything else needed, like wine, beer, water, napkins, and such!

[esther e]

Slightly off topic, but if you're a solo cruiser do you have to dine alone or will you be seated with others at a larger table?  

[Squawkman]

30 minutes ago, esther e said:

Slightly off topic, but if you're a solo cruiser do you have to dine alone or will you be seated with others at a larger table?  

When you make a reservation for any of the restaurants, specify you want to sit with other people. In the World Cafe, just find an empty seat and ask if you can join. This is how it worked pre-covid, so I’m not sure how this works at the moment.

[esther e]

Thank you.  I made my reservations online and it only let me choose a table for 2.  But I suppose I can change that in person.  

[CCWineLover]

5 hours ago, Squawkman said:

When you make a reservation for any of the restaurants, specify you want to sit with other people. In the World Cafe, just find an empty seat and ask if you can join. This is how it worked pre-covid, so I’m not sure how this works at the moment.

It will depend on the conditions.  On our Bermuda cruise, you could sit with others in specialty restaurants if you gave them names and room #'s ahead of time.  At the World Cafe, they did allow people to sit together, if they all knew each other going in.  i.e. no last minute dropping into a table.

 

We did see a couple try to do this, and the seated people said no 🙂  they did not feel comfortable.

Most of the tables for 4 at WC to my recollection were seated only for 2 (2 settings, placemats, etc).  We came in with friends (given their names and room #'s) and so they just added 2 placesettings.

[esther e]

Thanks.....I think.

[Richard2]

Some have mentioned that food was brought to their tables, others have said that it did not work that way. I would expect that pandemic procedures would at least eliminate all self-service utensils at all stations. Is that correct?

[JM0115]

13 minutes ago, Richard2 said:

Some have mentioned that food was brought to their tables, others have said that it did not work that way. I would expect that pandemic procedures would at least eliminate all self-service utensils at all stations. Is that correct?

It is hard to know which changes were done due to the Covid procedures and which ones are due to low passenger capacity. The actual serving of the food by the staff is a covid procedure which eliminates the passengers from serving themselves and eliminates all serving utensils. (I think it actually is better all around and that they keep this as a permanent feature as I felt it is better hygienically anyway).   The bringing to the table might have been due to having extra staff vs number of passengers so they had staff available to do this or it could be to eliminate crowding at the counter for social distancing. I don't know which one or both. Also, some of the plates are very hot and I think the staff did not want us to burn our hands! In any case the staff (crew) are amazing!