Buffet Bugs

[dockman]

Recently off a 14 day Sapphire alaska cruise.  The first few days was great but about day 5 I felt the dreaded scratchy throat and spent the next 7 days mostly in my cabin with a bad cough and cold in spite of my efforts to not get sick.  I was certainly not alone as it seemed every day there were more and more people coughing and sneezing and obviously sick.

 

The first few days in the Lido buffet  a crew member was strongly encouraging people to wash their hands when they enter the buffet line but as the days went by there was less and less of this.   I rarely if ever saw anyone wash their hands after going through the buffet line.  All it really takes is a few sick people go through the line and pick up the tongs with some good ole cold virus on their hands that then gets spread to all the tongs and likely to all the hands that touch them. 

 

 I saw one guy who was obvioulsy sick coughing into his hand as he went down the line.  When you look at the sheer numbers of people who go through those lines it is hard to imagine that several people do not spread their germs this way.

 

Washing before and AFTER going through the line might offer more protection as you would want to get any bugs you pick up off the tongs off of your hands before you start eating or touching you eyes or mouth etc. But frankly i do not think washing after going though the line will happen as it would create a big line of people trying to wash before and after using tongs.

 

So the question is how to best protect yourself from getting a bug off the buffet line.  Interesting that people will push elevator buttons etc with their elbows or knuckles to avoid bugs or wear masks but seem oblivious to the buffet bugs?

 

  I suppose other options would be to carry your own sanitizer bottle and clean that way? But is that as good a hot water and soap?  Or some have suggested wearing a disposal rubber/plastic glove while using the tongs?  Or maybe use a napkin to pick up the tongs ?  I have noticed on Holland where the servers wear gloves and serve you rather than every passenger dealing with tongs i seem to rarely get sick.  Is it time for Princess to copy the Holland procedure?

 

As we all know getting sick certainly can ruin most any vacation.  And of course we don't live in a bubble so you may well pick up a bug elsewhere but to me it does seem that it might be time for Princess to take a hard look at how the buffet is handled.

 

Anyone have any other ideas as to how to protect yourself?

Edited July 25 by dockman

[mtnesterz]

27 minutes ago, dockman said:

Anyone have any other ideas how to protect yourself?

We keep the one hand we use to self serve gloved in the buffet for utensils. Then discard at the table so as not to need re-washing.  That and other precautions, yet we came home with Covid one time.

Edited July 25 by mtnesterz

[Wishing on a star]

Serving utensils on the buffet line are not usually how air-borne illness' spread.

Unless you are one to actually rub your eyes/nose etc.

It is utterly amazing to see how many people still do this, or lick wayward food/grease/juice off their fingers.   

I won't say anything more about face masks....  

 

I do think we will bring the disposable gloves...  And we always have sanitizer wipes.  Haven't been caught without those since the dreaded pandemic.

 

I do hope that this cold/cough/covid thing subsides before we travel again!!!!

Edited July 25 by Wishing on a star

[dog]

I only choose things that are served from the buffet.  I have seen too many gross things happening up there.

[LACruiser88]

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Edited July 25 by LACruiser88

[sunviking90]

Whew, when I saw your title, I thought you were talking about the creepy crawly bugs! 
We consider the buffet a hazmat zone and proceed accordingly. There’s a lot you just can’t “unsee” in the buffet.

[mahasamatman]

Disposable gloves are cheap insurance. Never buffet without one.

[Ken the cruiser]

My DW, after washing her hands before going through the line, takes her plate to the table and then goes back to use the hand sanitizer near the buffet entrance to sanitize her hands again. For me I just wash my hands when I enter the buffet area. But then I’m a guy. What can I say! 😂

 

However, I will say the only time we actually eat in the buffet is once in a while on port days. The rest of the time we’re eating in the MDR where we always sanitize our hands prior to entering. However, you never know who last touched the menu. 
 

We also try to find theater seats where there is no one sitting behind us. There is nothing more annoying to us than someone coughing directly behind us. So we make a serious effort not to let that happen. That’s one reason why we show up to the show 30+ minutes in advance. But I also have to say cruising 5 B2B cruises during the first 6 months after cruising started back up, where you had to test prior to each transition day, really made us twitchy when we hear people coughing near us and work very hard to avoid them if at all possible. But that’s just us. 😁

[mtnesterz]

57 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

Serving utensils on the buffet line are not usually how air-borne illness' spread.

But it is how cold, flu and Noro are spread, among other contact spread vectors.

In our times, people forget there is still everything else out there.

I suspect we picked up our Covid sitting in the theater, someone behind us with a cough, forgot our masks.

[karatemom2]

As someone pointed out, many respiratory viruses like COVID are airborne. You are at much more risk in crowded spaces like the theatre, elevator, buses, etc. Masks for those at risk are always a smart choice in these settings. 

 

However most colds and gastrointestinal viruses are droplet borne and spread on surfaces. Of course, the buffet is a big culprit there. Washing hands before you enter is great and considerate for helping to protect others from you. However, it doesn’t really protect you unless everyone complies, which we know they don’t. 
 

Personally, when we eat at the buffet, which is not a lot, I wash my hands, make sure I select everything I will be eating, including dessert and set it at my table, and then go wash my hands thoroughly again and add a spritz of hand sanitizer on top of that just for good measure. 
 

I do sometimes see people wearing gloves which is not the worst idea if you feel

comfortable doing so. I’ll just stick to excessive hand washing. 
 

One other reminder, there are many other places other than the buffet where you are touching things - think pencils at trivia, slot machines and chips in the Casino, etc. it’s a good idea to wash/sanitize before and after all of these pursuits and just in general avoid touching your, mouth, face, and eyes. 
 

Can you tell I work in a hospital?

[Leo37]

A little bottle of anti bacterial hand gel fits easily in the pocket and something I've started to carry (day to day, not just on vacation). That staff serve you, rather than self serve, something I liked on the Sun Princess recently.

[memoak]

34 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

My DW, after washing her hands before going through the line, takes her plate to the table and then goes back to use the hand sanitizer near the buffet entrance to sanitize her hands again. For me I just wash my hands when I enter the buffet area. But then I’m a guy. What can I say! 😂

 

However, I will say the only time we actually eat in the buffet is once in a while on port days. The rest of the time we’re eating in the MDR where we always sanitize our hands prior to entering. However, you never know who last touched the menu. 
 

We also try to find theater seats where there is no one sitting behind us. There is nothing more annoying to us than someone coughing directly behind us. So we make a serious effort not to let that happen. That’s one reason why we show up to the show 30+ minutes in advance. But I also have to say cruising 5 B2B cruises during the first 6 months after cruising started back up, where you had to test prior to each transition day, really made us twitchy when we hear people coughing near us and work very hard to avoid them if at all possible. But that’s just us. 😁

Unless you sit in the last row it is impossible to keep people from sitting behind you. Again one more reason to avoid the buffet when you can. On our 16 day cruise a few months ago we only went to the buffet 3 times I believe and that was only to get some cheese and bread

Edited July 25 by memoak

[CalLuvsCrusingToo]

1 hour ago, Wishing on a star said:

Serving utensils on the buffet line are not usually how air-borne illness' spread.

Unless you are one to actually rub your eyes/nose etc.

It is utterly amazing to see how many people still do this, or lick wayward food/grease/juice off their fingers.   

I won't say anything more about face masks....  

 

I do think we will bring the disposable gloves...  And we always have sanitizer wipes.  Haven't been caught without those since the dreaded pandemic.

 

I do hope that this cold/cough/covid thing subsides before we travel again!!!!

 

I quoted you because your statement can't be repeated enough.

Also, we don't sit by anyone else in buffet.  Usually take our meal outside,

or sit by the doors to outside.

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

6 minutes ago, memoak said:

Unless you sit in the last row it is impossible to keep people from sitting behind you. Again one more reason to avoid the buffet when you can. On our 16 day cruise a few months ago we only went to the buffet 3 times I believe and that was only to get some cheese and bread

That’s definitely not true on the Royal Class ships. We’ve been sitting in them every night. Come to think of it, there are some theater seats on the Grand Class ships as well. It just takes a little more due diligence to find them. 😁

 

Edited July 25 by Ken the cruiser

[avonlady6390]

My choice is to rarely eat in the buffet there are other choices for all meals including breakfast one choice for a quick bite is the international cafe.

[Mara4166]

3 minutes ago, avonlady6390 said:

My choice is to rarely eat in the buffet there are other choices for all meals including breakfast one choice for a quick bite is the international cafe.

on our last cruise we never ate in the buffet.  It made me think back to my first cruise in 1999 where I was amazed at the vast array of food and how good it was in the 24 hour buffet.  Now we stick to the MDR and speciality restaurants for all meals when possible.

[julia]

As mentioned by the OP, the buffet on Holland America is nearly all SERVED and it's fast and friendly.  No nasty tongs!!

Edited July 25 by julia

[Paula_MacFan]

We sailed on Sapphire in May/June with no health issues. We wash our hands before going through the buffet. I always carry individually packaged wet wipes and after we go through the buffet we use them before eat. We also generally try to eat everything with utensils and not our hands.

 

By the way I also thought the thread title was referring to actual bugs before I read the OP.

 

Edit to add we also never take the elevators and try not to touch handrails. I carry the individually wrapped wet wipes in my bag all the time. Never know when you have to touch something or the soap dispenser is empty, whether on land or at sea.

Edited July 25 by Paula_MacFan

[Wishing on a star]

We do not frequent the buffet, but I have to say that I, as a wanna-be foodie, like to visit the buffet and try a little of this and a little of that.  One time, lunch ended up being mostly desserts!

I like to be able to take just the portion and section that I like.  Just don't feel free to do that when everything is pre-plated.   I like fruit and berries...  try getting that, and not a lot of cheap melon, on a pre-portioned fruit bowl/plate.  A good percentage of what is 'served' would def. not be eaten.   

 

Nothing seems more gross where a buffet isn't even set up to promote cleanliness.  

Tongs that are laying out all over the food.. Ewwwww.

 

I haven't been on the Sun yet.  So, I will see how that is at some point!

[startedwithamouse]

2 hours ago, CalLuvsCrusingToo said:

 

I quoted you because your statement can't be repeated enough.

Also, we don't sit by anyone else in buffet.  Usually take our meal outside,

or sit by the doors to outside.

 

 

You're closer to others in the MDR than the buffet.

[dockman]

Well of course there are many who do not eat in the buffet but there are also a ton of people who do eat at least one or more meals or snacks in the buffet every single day. How many people for example use the tongs to pick up a chocolate chip cookie and then use that same hand to shove the cookie, germs and all, right into their mouth?

 

For a variety of reasons I prefer to eat in the buffet and rarely eat in the dining rooms.

 

Seems the best realisitic defense is to wear a glove going through the line as well as use a bottle of hand sanitizer before you eat.  As said washing your hands after going through the line is great but realistically if even half the people did that there would be lines at the wash station and nearby toilets.

 

  Personally I wish princess would go with the Holland buffet model and not allow people to self serve with tongs. 

 

Or what if princess had packets of wet wipes sitting on all the tables next to the silverware/napkins.  I suspect that alone would reduce a lot of germ spread? I realize they do have the sanitizer dispensers around but frankly the amount of sanitizer that comes out per squirt seems miniscule and i have found many of them to often be empty.

Edited July 25 by dockman

[sunviking90]

12 minutes ago, dockman said:

 

 

Or what if princess had packets of wet wipes sitting on all the tables next to the silverware/napkins.  I suspect that alone would reduce a lot of germ spread? I realize they do have the sanitizer dispensers around but frankly the amount of sanitizer that comes out per squirt seems miniscule and i have found many of them to often be empty.

This would be a good idea. The problem with hand sanitizer is that it isn’t usually effective against noro virus, which is one of the more common bugs passed around through touching things. 
If we eat in the buffet, we eat nothing directly with our hands. Yes, I have eaten a donut with a knife and fork. From the time we leave our stateroom until we return to it and wash our hands we assume our hands are “dirty” and keep them away from our mouths. Phones, etc are also wiped down regularly. People don’t realize that their phones are teeming with germs!

And no elevators! I’ll walk up 10 flights of stairs to the buffet and then I feel I earned that donut!

[doghog]

Phew! Based on the title I thought Princess was cutting back and now serving bugs in the buffet. 🤢

[Cruzinnana47]

We wash our hands AND use sanitizer, and on the last couple of cruises, have tried to only get the "served" items, like the made-to-order omelets in the buffet, or burgers, etc. on the pool deck that are served to us.  I always have wipes with me, also, to wipe down surfaces.  

 

Some people can be so oblivious to simple common-sense hygiene.  It totally grosses me out when I see someone picking something up in the buffet line...then putting it back...yuck!  

 

Unfortunately, it's pretty hard to avoid being completely free of germs everywhere on the ship, but we try.

[voljeep]

37 minutes ago, dockman said:

Or what if princess had packets of wet wipes sitting on all the tables next to the silverware/napkins

deleted

Edited July 25 by voljeep