Very limited options in Buffet line on NCL Sky

[dhanakorn]

I’m currently on board NCL Sky. I prefer to grab some food from Buffet rather than spending time in MDR. Buffet line on NCL is generally very good with many options to choose from. I was very shocked with very limited options in the buffet line on Sky. 
 

During breakfast there’s no yogurt and no fresh banana. There’s no banana compote (I love it on top of french toast). Very limited cold cuts. I don’t see any hot milk or muesli either. The “egg benedict” is a scoop of scrambled egg on top of muffin. Indian food which is quite popular on NCL ships is only available for lunch is the outdoor area. I’ve talked to the buffet line manager about this limited option. His reply is due to the small size of the buffet room on Sky. I’m so disappointed with the food on this cruise. 
 

I like the small-size ships but it comes at the cost of lower standard compared to other NCL newer mega ships. 

[kitkat343]

They ran out of bananas on the Getaway too, which was a little strange since the fruit they had is usually more expensive than bananas.  I was once on a RC cruise in which all of the skim milk went bad (we keep some in our room fridge for our child and woke up one morning and all the containers in our fridge had spoiled, and the milk had solidified).  There was no skim milk containers anywhere on the ship from that point on, so I assume something happened to their supply.   Maybe all the bananas went bad on our ship and yours too.

 Sorry about the Indian food - the ethnic food is usually some of the best food across the cruise lines.  If they have a meat carving station, that's often quite good.

Edited March 22 by kitkat343

[floridafish]

I'm not a huge buffet guy but I'll hit it a couple of times. When on the Prima and Escape last year, I noticed a definite decline on main choices as well as veggies and salads. I also agree about the lack of cold cuts. Not just small ships. 

[julig22]

Yes, the buffet on the Sky is quite small so there just isn't room to have a much variety. But it is also a smaller ship, half the capacity of the larger ships, so not as many passengers. Would it be nice if they expanded it - sure. But it's probably not going to happen.

 

When I was on the Sky, the poor chef (Indian) got raked over the coals so to speak by a passenger (also Indian) at an officer Q&A because, in her words, there were a lot of Indians on board and he, of all people, should be more aware and provide a better variety of Indian foods. It actually got quite embarrassing because she kept at him. But if you took a look at the buffet, there simply wasn't enough room to have much more than a couple of main dishes (1 always indian) and some sides.

[david_sobe]

The Sky was always like this.  Even when it was a party ship and took weekend cruises from Miami to the Bahamas, it was fairly limited compared to newer ships.  But NCL lately seems to treat the Sky with pricing as if its a new ship.  There is a saying you get what you pay for but I wonder these days if you are getting less.  The Sky used to be the best deal at sea.  I have not compared its pricing for awhile but I would see similar itineraries from the Sky and Getaway and similar prices. That should not be.

Its a smaller ship with a much, much smaller and limited buffet. 

Edited March 22 by david_sobe

[dhanakorn]

This’s all the hot food options on Sky. 

 

The cold cut (ham) and omelette station. 

 

You definitely won’t be staved on the Sky but probably won’t gain 10lbs after cruise either. 

[IAcruising]

4 hours ago, dhanakorn said:

The “egg benedict” is a scoop of scrambled egg on top of muffin.

 

That would not make me happy.

 

[mking8288]

FWIW, question for OP, you've previously sailed the Pearl, Jade, Jewel and Star - those mid-sized ships are slightly larger in overall tonnage, with differences in design or layout, but kind of similar to one of the oldest ship currently in the fleet - what is your impression and how they compare ?  Are some of the food stations in the buffet closed (not opened) so is the issue being raised here, more of the design faults and not having adequate space for variety of choices ?  

 

The Epic, Getaway and the Bliss are obviously a different class / category with more public space dedicated to buffet, and, by virture of seating capacity or sizes, by definitions - have the space to offer broader range of choices and varieties of food.  

 

Not a cheerleader or defender for NCL here, just trying to clarify and zoom in where the perceived limitations and issues are ... and, whether it can be addressed easily.  Prima, one of the newest ship has a capacity of 3,000+ guests and we find their buffet to be relatively small and limited in food choices & varieties too, but some of the popular items are gone or no longer available - furthermore, within the past year, hours of operations have been trimmed and - fleetwide, it seems - buffet stopped services promptly at 9:30 PM, roped off and switched quickly to cleaning mode.  

 

Joking told a friend, if we are strictly buffet people onboard NCL, we will easily achieve weight watcher goals if we are only doing the buffet for meals, and steer clear of "The Local" and MDR's along with specialty restaurants.  

 

We found burgers but not chicken wings, desserts were lackluster on the Prima.  Still, there are "more" "choices" than eating at home but lately, our expectations had certainly been "disappointed" onboard NCL ... and, it isn't just the "smaller" ships either, IMHO.   

Edited March 22 by mking8288

[dhanakorn]

Last night I wrote a comment about the lacking of indian food in the buffet line and dropped the note in the suggestion box at the guest service. 
 

This afternoon I received a letter from GM in my room I’ll be offload at the next port. I’m kidding. The note says my comment was forwarded to F&B manager. And tonight I saw a sign that indian food available upon request. 

 

The restaurant manager also stopped by to make that I get the curries. The okra curry is good!

 

Tomorrow there’ll be yogurts in the buffet line. Like what’s been suggested here on CC boards, if you have something you feel unhappy about then let them know while you’re still on the cruise. So they may have a chance to make it better for you. 

[seekatz]

Wonder if someone wanted Italian food, Korean BBQ, Chinese food.

My point is a rotation would be a good idea, but to think just because we like one of these foods it might be difficult to have all of them available. As noted the Sky and Sun are very limited on space. When they add a dish, they need to remove another. 

[dhanakorn]

8 hours ago, seekatz said:

Wonder if someone wanted Italian food, Korean BBQ, Chinese food.

My point is a rotation would be a good idea, but to think just because we like one of these foods it might be difficult to have all of them available. As noted the Sky and Sun are very limited on space. When they add a dish, they need to remove another. 

You need to know what you’re asking for. I’ve cruised with NCL for 10 years to know that indian food has been standard in the buffet line. All of my previous NCL cruises had indian food in the buffet so it was naturally expected. 

[dhanakorn]

Yogurts are back to the buffet line this morning. Bananas are available upon request. 
 

[UKstages]

15 hours ago, mking8288 said:

The Epic, Getaway and the Bliss are obviously a different class / category with more public space dedicated to buffet, and, by virture of seating capacity or sizes, by definitions - have the space to offer broader range of choices and varieties of food.  

 

and yet things seem to be changing.

 

on my most recent cruise on the getaway, the very large buffet had a collection of items for lunch and dinner repeated at three or four different stations throughout the eatery.  in other words, the available choices were cut by 50% or more. (at breakfast, it has always been common for items to be repeated in mor ethan one place on the buffet line.)

 

and the indian food was extremely limited.

 

there are too many reports fleet-wide, across all ship classes, of severe cutbacks in the buffet... too many to toss this up to the size of the ship. if anything, the array of food on the smaller ships now looks better because they are not repeating items as they are now on the mega ships.

 

bananas on request?

 

BANANAS?

[EllieinNJ]

Another perspective is maybe if they serve less variety maybe people would stop taking everything that is put out.  I've seen many people filling their plates sky-high (pun intended) and then just taking a few bites of of each.  A lot of wasted food.

[david_sobe]

I suppose hash browns and cookies are out of the question.

Edited March 23 by david_sobe

[UKstages]

34 minutes ago, EllieinNJ said:

Another perspective is maybe if they serve less variety maybe people would stop taking everything that is put out. 

 

two words: smaller plates.

 

more words:

 

i often use dessert plates for buffet entrées, to limit intake. seriously. (pro tip: you can always go back for more.) any buffet management trying to limit food waste should put out smaller plates. i'm not saying they have to go down to dessert plates, but something smaller than a ten inch plate would be swell.

[julig22]

56 minutes ago, UKstages said:

 

two words: smaller plates.

 

more words:

 

i often use dessert plates for buffet entrées, to limit intake. seriously. (pro tip: you can always go back for more.) any buffet management trying to limit food waste should put out smaller plates. i'm not saying they have to go down to dessert plates, but something smaller than a ten inch plate would be swell.

Except that I often travel solo and if I go back my table is gone....

I often forget to carry anything extra with me to leave at the table to indicate I'm coming back - and if I happen to catch the eye of one server, another one will come by and clean the table.

[bedfordmom]

3 hours ago, UKstages said:

 

and yet things seem to be changing.

 

on my most recent cruise on the getaway, the very large buffet had a collection of items for lunch and dinner repeated at three or four different stations throughout the eatery.  in other words, the available choices were cut by 50% or more. (at breakfast, it has always been common for items to be repeated in mor ethan one place on the buffet line.)

 

and the indian food was extremely limited.

 

there are too many reports fleet-wide, across all ship classes, of severe cutbacks in the buffet... too many to toss this up to the size of the ship. if anything, the array of food on the smaller ships now looks better because they are not repeating items as they are now on the mega ships.

 

bananas on request?

 

BANANAS?

Totally agree about limited Indian food. One entre along w white rice. Would have loved a second entre even an appetizer kind samoas. Same thing with Chinese - one vegetable entre with two types of rice. Where is the beef . I’m someone that doesn’t like to mix types of food I. 

[UKstages]

1 hour ago, julig22 said:

I often forget to carry anything extra with me to leave at the table to indicate I'm coming back - and if I happen to catch the eye of one server, another one will come by and clean the table.

 

yes, solo traveler here, too, and i feel your pain.

 

i used to carry a sign with me: "table occupied. be back in five minutes." i no longer do that. now, i just go find another seat. works on almost every ship, except the prima (and presumably the viva), with its ridiculously small venue.

[902]

there were very little options on the Getaway as well but i haven't been on others. It was similar to your photo, just multiplied 8 times.

And I would argue that none of it was "hot" unless you got custom eggs done.

[mking8288]

5 hours ago, UKstages said:

two words: smaller plates ... not saying they have to go down to dessert plates, but something smaller than a ten inch plate would be swell.

Agreed and I didn't want others to flame us to generalize.  It is trending in the wrong direction for us to sustain but the moves are to grow NCL's revenue.  Most buffet uses 8.5 or 9 inch plates these days 

 

As for above post's comment on food being not hot, we never expect it ... warm at best but mostly like better than just above room temperature ...  Items available upon request, as in cook to order should be close to hot 

Edited March 23 by mking8288

[Middleager]

23 hours ago, dhanakorn said:

You definitely won’t be staved on the Sky but probably won’t gain 10lbs after cruise either. 

I certainly hope we won't gain 10lbs from taking any cruise.

[cruiser2015]

6 hours ago, david_sobe said:

I suppose hash browns and cookies are out of the question.

Fer sure!

[dhanakorn]

Chicken curry and aloo gobi (cauliflower curry) taste so good today.

 

[cruiseny4life]

On 3/23/2024 at 12:41 PM, julig22 said:

Except that I often travel solo and if I go back my table is gone....

I often forget to carry anything extra with me to leave at the table to indicate I'm coming back - and if I happen to catch the eye of one server, another one will come by and clean the table.

I go to the buffet solo, because my husband wants nothing to do with it. I try it out, just to see if there's anything good. I get tiny portions (this is very hard for a guy with limited self-control, hence I'm a big guy). I go back often to try everything and generally don't finish anything, because it just isn't good. That's not really the point though. I just leave my phone and key card on the table. I've never had a buffet crew member (roving bartender? bar server? waiter? server? plate cleaner upper?) take anything but my plate. If I keep my utensils on the plate, they don't take the plate. It's worked every time on Pr1ma, Joy, and Getaway.