Finger Lickin Good

[fedexretiree]

My friend and I just returned from a cruise on the Emerald Princess.  It was WONDERFUL!  Ship was in great shape, crew was extremely friendly and in both of our opinions the food in the buffet was much better than on Celebrity.  

However I do have 1 issue.... PLEASE STOP LICKING YOUR FINGERS AT THE BUFFET THEN TOUCHING THE NEXT SERVING SPOON!!  Also eating samples from your plate as you are still in line.  You can't possibly be that hungry that you can't wait to sit down to eat.  I have never seen so many people doing this as I did on this trip.  I know that I could have gone to the main dining room instead of eating at the buffet but I'm not a fan of taking almost 1 1/2 hours to eat dinner. 

I'm sure that people do this subconsciously but please next time think before you lick!!

 

 

[PacnGoNow]

I agree!  It grosses me out.  They are probably also the ones who do not wash their hands upon entry to the buffet.

SMH

[memoak]

2 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

I agree!  It grosses me out.  They are probably also the ones who do not wash their hands upon entry to the buffet.

SMH

They are the same people and there are tons of them. It is only getting worse   This is another reason we will not eat at the buffet 

[fedexretiree]

5 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

I agree!  It grosses me out.  They are probably also the ones who do not wash their hands upon entry to the buffet.

SMH

I also make it a habit to wash my hands as I enter the buffet but more importantly after taking my plate to the table I salt, pepper everything then return to rewash my hands before eating anything.  I won't even touch the sugar containers..they are always sticky as well!

[cynbar]

Reports like this make me glad that Sun Princess has only staff serving in the buffet. Yes, it slows down the line and you can't reach in to get what you want, but it is so much more hygienic . If people would just consider good sense and reasonable safety practices, it wouldn't be necessary.

[Lady Arwen]

We never, ever eat in the buffet.  Over the years we’ve seen so much disgusting behaviour.  There’s many other places on the ship to eat,  so we don’t miss it one bit.  People can be so ill mannered!

[tonit964]

58 minutes ago, fedexretiree said:

I also make it a habit to wash my hands as I enter the buffet but more importantly after taking my plate to the table I salt, pepper everything then return to rewash my hands before eating anything.  I won't even touch the sugar containers..they are always sticky as well!

This is what I do as well, I would rather have clean hands and cold food than to not wash my hands after using the serving utensils. Some people just have no clue.

[shipndip60]

I always take one disposable glove with me when going to the buffet and I use just the one hand when touching anything while I'm in line, then throw it away before I sit down to eat

[Teechur]

13 minutes ago, tonit964 said:

This is what I do as well, I would rather have clean hands and cold food than to not wash my hands after using the serving utensils. Some people just have no clue.

I agree with you, but often just use hand sanitizer when I sit down to eat. I also carry thin disposable gloves, but found they are not worth the hassle since I typically go back for something.

[mahasamatman]

53 minutes ago, shipndip60 said:

I always take one disposable glove with me when going to the buffet and I use just the one hand when touching anything while I'm in line

 

That's what we do as well, though we also eat in the buffet as little as possible.

[no1racefan1]

🤢🤮 We avoid the buffet.

[Outerdog]

3 hours ago, memoak said:

They are the same people and there are tons of them. It is only getting worse   This is another reason we will not eat at the buffet 

 

Same.

 

Reserve Class or higher or I ain't going.

[memoak]

11 minutes ago, Outerdog said:

 

Same.

 

Reserve Class or higher or I ain't going.

But even with Reserve class on port days there is no dining room lunch. 

[Kay S]

21 minutes ago, memoak said:

But even with Reserve class on port days there is no dining room lunch. 

That is true, and I was sad on that cruise.  We have been doing HAL for the last couple of years, where they serve you at the buffet, and I must say, I really prefer it.  It's not any slower, IMO.  I'm glad Princess is going that route on the Sun.

[nini]

I really liked it when you could only be served buffet items. I don't think it really slowed anything down much. And if so, we did not mind.

[azbirdmom]

Yes this happened to us on the Royal Princess last December too. There seemed to be a particularly large tour group from one country that were the prime offenders. And I usually don’t think of nationality when I observe such unhygienic behavior but this was so prevalent among that group it was hard to not notice.  I did mention something about it but was met with shrugs. Sadly we all must be overly cautious when dining in the buffet. 

[sunviking90]

This thread should be a sticky. No pun intended.

[JamieLogical]

At lunch on one of our port days on the Enchanted this week, I had planned to get some tortilla chips until I saw a woman just grabbing them with her hands and not using the tongs to load up her plate.

[wish_I_was_a_mermaid]

1 hour ago, Kay S said:

That is true, and I was sad on that cruise.  We have been doing HAL for the last couple of years, where they serve you at the buffet, and I must say, I really prefer it.  It's not any slower, IMO.  I'm glad Princess is going that route on the Sun.

I've been on several cruise lines, HAL is my favorite buffet not so much because of their food offerings but because they portion the food and serve it to you on the line. They even make your salad at the salad bar. No handling of utensils used by hundreds before me, some unwashed hands as well. Shipndip60 has the right idea of bringing some disposable gloves in case we go to the buffet on our Enchanted cruise in August. 

[jeromep]

5 hours ago, fedexretiree said:

PLEASE STOP LICKING YOUR FINGERS AT THE BUFFET THEN TOUCHING THE NEXT SERVING SPOON!!

Ewww!  There is a light at the end of the tunnel.  Sounds like Sun Princess has a buffet where the food is served to you and the pax don't touch it.  I suspect that as we see new builds, and maybe some drydocks, that the buffets will eventually be reconfigured to eliminate self-service.

[waltd]

Many moons ago Princess kept a stack of paper napkins at the buffet along with the utensils.  I would always grab a clean napkin and use it to pickup  the serving spoon. Once done I would throw it away.

Wish they still had the paper napkins.

[fedexretiree]

4 hours ago, shipndip60 said:

I always take one disposable glove with me when going to the buffet and I use just the one hand when touching anything while I'm in line, then throw it away before I sit down to eat

I love this idea!!!  Will try this on my next trip.

[555]

16 hours ago, jeromep said:

Ewww!  There is a light at the end of the tunnel.  Sounds like Sun Princess has a buffet where the food is served to you and the pax don't touch it.  I suspect that as we see new builds, and maybe some drydocks, that the buffets will eventually be reconfigured to eliminate self-service.

As much as I dislike being served a portion of food, this seems to be a better way to go.

[lahlah57]

Napkin in hand as I get my food with the questionable utensils!

[Daisyloo]

I really dislike the Princess buffet for all the things mentioned by the OP.  So many people have no idea about proper hygiene.  I much prefer the buffet on Holland America Line.  The staff serve most of the food except for a few pre-plated things.  And it goes quickly, contrary to what some people say.