Why so many Burger Kings and KFCs in the Carribean and so few McDonalds?

[clo]

4 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Very true.  For us, one of the delights of travel is to sample food all around the world.  DW and I fall into that category of folks who live to eat:).  Even when we have overnighted on ships, around the world, we note that many cruisers only eat onboard.  

We are absolutely the same re food. We've done a number of escorted land tours. When we leave the coach with the group for lunch, if they go to the right we go to the left. And then up a side street and maybe another. I google restaurants before we go and stay away from sites like Yelp except to get addresses. I miss being at home and cooking. 

[ldubs]

On 1/26/2024 at 2:26 PM, K32682 said:

 

One explanation might not be the food but the toilets. Those who eat at McDs when overseas will sometimes defend their choice by saying they are often the only places with accessible and acceptable washroom facilities. I've never found a huge challenge answering the call of nature when traveling but will acknowledge having occasionally visited some quite gruesome toilets along the way. 

 

Yes.  Access to toilets, and wifi too.  

[clo]

2 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

Yes.  Access to toilets, and wifi too.  

Yeah, squatting over holes in the ground, I've accepted. But no wifi???????? LOL.

[ldubs]

1 minute ago, clo said:

Yeah, squatting over holes in the ground, I've accepted. But no wifi???????? LOL.

 

Some need to make contact.  McD is the place to go.  

 

Of all the countries I've been to (53 in total), the most common fast food seems to be KFC.  I haven't actually counted.  It just seems they are everywhere.  

[clo]

3 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

Some need to make contact.  McD is the place to go.  

 

Of all the countries I've been to (53 in total), the most common fast food seems to be KFC.  I haven't actually counted.  It just seems they are everywhere.  

We've traveled the last few years on Oceania and their wifi has been fine for us. I can't remember any time we've actually NEEDED to make contact.

 

I really need to count the number of countries I"VE been to. (My husband traveled intl a lot for business.) But I've hit six continents. Just checked: I've been to Antarctica but they have no restaurants including fast food 🙂

[ilikeanswers]

9 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

Some need to make contact.  McD is the place to go.  

 

Of all the countries I've been to (53 in total), the most common fast food seems to be KFC.  I haven't actually counted.  It just seems they are everywhere.  

 

Not really surprising as chicken is the second most eaten meat globally. 

[ilikeanswers]

8 minutes ago, clo said:

We've traveled the last few years on Oceania and their wifi has been fine for us. I can't remember any time we've actually NEEDED to make contact.

 

Some people need to check in on family, sometimes even work will butt into your holiday. Once I had an issue that didn't resolve before I left for my trip so I was really grateful for the WiFi so I could still send the relevant emails

 

8 minutes ago, clo said:

I really need to count the number of countries I"VE been to. (My husband traveled intl a lot for business.) But I've hit six continents. Just checked: I've been to Antarctica but they have no restaurants including fast food 

🙂

 

There are apps you can use where you input your countries and cities and it calculates all your travel statistics. I find them fun plus it is a great excuse to reminisce over trips😊. 

Edited January 28 by ilikeanswers

[clo]

2 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

Some people need to check in on family,

Oh, I hear ya, and totally understand. We're long retired and have no family that needs any attention. One of our daughters and her family go "off the grid" at least a couple of times a year 🙂

And, hey, thank for that app info. That could be fun.

[Aquahound]

40 minutes ago, clo said:

Scream bloody murder!!!!!!!!!! In my favorite food city in the world I would never, ever eat fast food in Barcelona. Talk about "to each their own.' LOL.

 

I think you missed the point of my post.  😉

Edited January 28 by Aquahound

[clo]

4 minutes ago, Aquahound said:

 

I think you missed the point of my post.  😉

Nope. I'd grab street food if pressed for time. It's my fave food place - including my own home 🙂

 

[Aquahound]

Just now, clo said:

Nope. I'd grab street food if pressed for time. It's my fave food place - including my own home 🙂

 

 

Great for you, but that still wasn't my point.  

Edited January 28 by Aquahound

[clo]

Just now, Aquahound said:

 

Great for you, but that still wasn't my point.  

I reread it but clearly missed it. Sincerely, what? xoc

[Aquahound]

Just now, clo said:

I reread it but clearly missed it. Sincerely, what? xoc

 

The point was......it was ONE solitary meal during what was almost a 3-week trip eating almost exclusively local meals, and I happened to like it.  If you can't accept that, just move the heck on.  Good heavens. 🙄

[ldubs]

31 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

Not really surprising as chicken is the second most eaten meat globally. 

 

What is the first?  Pork?  

[ilikeanswers]

12 minutes ago, ldubs said:

What is the first?  Pork?  

 

Yep probably due to all the ways it can be cured😄

[ilikeanswers]

21 minutes ago, Aquahound said:

The point was......it was ONE solitary meal during what was almost a 3-week trip eating almost exclusively local meals, and I happened to like it.  If you can't accept that, just move the heck on.  Good heavens. 

 

I once ended up having McDonalds in France. It was our first time in France and we underestimated what close everything after lunch hours meant so the only place left opened was McDonalds. Have to say the French McDonalds was the tastiest McDonalds I had especially the cheese in the burger. It felt like an up market McDonalds😂. 

[CruiserBruce]

18 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

Yep probably due to all the ways it can be cured😄

Ah, probably not, as pork is forbidden by many parts of the Muslim,  Jewish and small parts of the Christian world. Beef would probably be the better guess. 

[ilikeanswers]

10 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Ah, probably not, as pork is forbidden by many parts of the Muslim,  Jewish and small parts of the Christian world. Beef would probably be the better guess. 

 

No it is definitely pork according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation. Pork is 36% while beef is 24%. If you think about it Muslims only make up a quarter of the world population while Jews less than 1% that includes those who aren't particularly observant so take away those and it will be even less non pork eaters. As for pork adverse Christians that minority is so tiny it won't make a dent next to populous countries like China, Philippines or Mexico where pork is hugely popular😂. 

Edited January 28 by ilikeanswers

[clo]

42 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Ah, probably not, as pork is forbidden by many parts of the Muslim,  Jewish and small parts of the Christian world. Beef would probably be the better guess. 

And likely the most environmentally incorrect. They usually have one calf and in a typical ranch the amount of water that's required to provide them with hay is huge. 

[ilikeanswers]

30 minutes ago, clo said:

And likely the most environmentally incorrect. They usually have one calf and in a typical ranch the amount of water that's required to provide them with hay is huge. 

 

Not to get too off topic but large scale pig farming has its own environmental issues with waste run off destroying waterways. 

[ldubs]

23 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

Not to get too off topic but large scale pig farming has its own environmental issues with waste run off destroying waterways. 

 

Waterways vs bacon.  I'll have to think about it.   🙂

[Hlitner]

Some of the posts have me shaking my head in confusion and wonder.  I get that places like McDonalds are an option for rest rooms or even a coke.  I even enjoy our US fast food places...when we are in the USA.  But the idea of having lunch in McDonalds on the Champs Elysees or anywhere in the world (outside of the USA) is something I do not understand.  Food/wine are a part of travel and various cultures.  Why folks would go to France, Hong Kong, Singapore, Prague, and eat at McDonalds or KFC is beyond my own understanding.  

 

We have done many overnight cruise stops in Lisbon (for whatever reason this is pretty common) and never considered eating lunch or dinner on our ship.  This is true even when we are on a luxury ship with excellent cuisine.  My goodness, we are in Lisbon which is a city with many fine restaurants and lots of delicious fresh seafood (not frozen like on cruise ships).  And consider that in Lisbon one could go to dinner shows with Fado!  Some will say they do not like Fado (or have no clue what it is) but consider that you have traveled a long way to Lisbon so why not sample a unique kind of music and wonderful local cuisine?  And passing up a chance to enjoy lunch or dinner or dinner anywhere in France, Italy, Spain, etc just makes little sense.  In these countries (and many others) their cuisine is an important part of local culture.  Why bother to travel if you want to simply take home with you....such as going to McDonalds.

 

Hank

[ldubs]

2 hours ago, clo said:

We've traveled the last few years on Oceania and their wifi has been fine for us. I can't remember any time we've actually NEEDED to make contact.

 

I really need to count the number of countries I"VE been to. (My husband traveled intl a lot for business.) But I've hit six continents. Just checked: I've been to Antarctica but they have no restaurants including fast food 🙂

 

I didn't NEED to count countries, but thought it might be fun.       

[ldubs]

7 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Some of the posts have me shaking my head in confusion and wonder.  I get that places like McDonalds are an option for rest rooms or even a coke.  I even enjoy our US fast food places...when we are in the USA.  But the idea of having lunch in McDonalds on the Champs Elysees or anywhere in the world (outside of the USA) is something I do not understand.  Food/wine are a part of travel and various cultures.  Why folks would go to France, Hong Kong, Singapore, Prague, and eat at McDonalds or KFC is beyond my own understanding.  

 

We have done many overnight cruise stops in Lisbon (for whatever reason this is pretty common) and never considered eating lunch or dinner on our ship.  This is true even when we are on a luxury ship with excellent cuisine.  My goodness, we are in Lisbon which is a city with many fine restaurants and lots of delicious fresh seafood (not frozen like on cruise ships).  And consider that in Lisbon one could go to dinner shows with Fado!  Some will say they do not like Fado (or have no clue what it is) but consider that you have traveled a long way to Lisbon so why not sample a unique kind of music and wonderful local cuisine?  And passing up a chance to enjoy lunch or dinner or dinner anywhere in France, Italy, Spain, etc just makes little sense.  In these countries (and many others) their cuisine is an important part of local culture.  Why bother to travel if you want to simply take home with you....such as going to McDonalds.

 

Hank

 

I think there could be a lot of reasons.  Maybe some people are not that into food/wine.  Maybe they are on a budget.  Maybe those places are just more comfortable to them.  

 

Whatever the reason, I don't think they need to be judged as somehow inferior travelers.     

 

 

 

 

[Hlitner]

12 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

I think there could be a lot of reasons.  Maybe some people are not that into food/wine.  Maybe they are on a budget.  Maybe those places are just more comfortable to them.  

 

Whatever the reason, I don't think they need to be judged as somehow inferior travelers.     

 

 

 

 

For the record, you are the only person using the word "inferior."