Trouble In The Horizon Court?

[Clutterlady]

Since there have been so may complaints about the Horizon Court, about the food and also the crowding and people bumping into each other, etc. thought I'd just put in my take about buffets.

 

First of all I think I'm correct when I say the Horizon Court is set up in stations instead of one long buffet line. It's made so you can go from one station to another instead of standing in a long line for something you want which on a regular buffet my be at the very end. We all know what would happen if we left that buffet line and scooted down to the end for the one little roll...........

 

A lot of resorts with buffets are going to stations, which in concept is excellent. One problem with Horizon court is the area in which the stations are located is much too small. With the amount of people, the stations should be spread out more so that the congestion doesn't occur. One of the big things right now in our area are grazing stations (sounds like a bunch of cows.....) you have your carving station, salad/cheese/bread station, starch station, pasta station, dessert, etc.

Love the concept, but you need to make it work!

 

As far as the food goes, it is a "buffet". I thought the Horizon Court was pretty good compared to the NCL Dawn buffet:eek: !! Some people's expectations are a little high for mass market cruises. The Dining Room has a great breakfast and lunch so you can avoid the buffet. I'm always in a hurry on sea days and find the buffet just great for that quick grab and run. Gotta go get me a lounger!!!

[Tatka]

Except for the first day lunch buffet, I haven't even seen lines there! No bumping or anything like that. I loved set up. Never crowded port or sea day.

 

I was very surprised after witnessing huge lines on Carnival Liberty with the same number of PAX on board.

[celebrity]

Since there have been so may complaints about the Horizon Court, about the food and also the crowding and people bumping into each other, etc. thought I'd just put in my take about buffets.

 

First of all I think I'm correct when I say the Horizon Court is set up in stations instead of one long buffet line. It's made so you can go from one station to another instead of standing in a long line for something you want which on a regular buffet my be at the very end. We all know what would happen if we left that buffet line and scooted down to the end for the one little roll...........

 

A lot of resorts with buffets are going to stations, which in concept is excellent. One problem with Horizon court is the area in which the stations are located is much too small. With the amount of people, the stations should be spread out more so that the congestion doesn't occur. One of the big things right now in our area are grazing stations (sounds like a bunch of cows.....) you have your carving station, salad/cheese/bread station, starch station, pasta station, dessert, etc.

Love the concept, but you need to make it work!

 

As far as the food goes, it is a "buffet". I thought the Horizon Court was pretty good compared to the NCL Dawn buffet:eek: !! Some people's expectations are a little high for mass market cruises. The Dining Room has a great breakfast and lunch so you can avoid the buffet. I'm always in a hurry on sea days and find the buffet just great for that quick grab and run. Gotta go get me a lounger!!!

 

The complaints regarding the food have nothing to do with the concept of a buffet. Try Celebrity or RCCL and their breakfasts and lunches blow Princess out of the water. No omelet station, no waffles, same fruit everyday. They don't even have Cheerios! This was the first time I ever saw fried rice served for breakfast. Vegetables at lunch were almost always carrots. How about some variety?

[Clutterlady]

I had a made to order omlet last year on the Golden! Waffles, not sure, don't eat them. I'm sure some other lines buffets are great, but I find it very hard to believe that someone couldn't find anything worth eating?!? As always, food is very subjective but gosh.................

[OuiOnboard]

... Try Celebrity or RCCL and their breakfasts and lunches blow Princess out of the water. No omelet station, no waffles, same fruit everyday. They don't even have Cheerios!

Celebrity has better breakfast on the whole, but I think they get their bacon at the same shop as Princess...really bad stuff. :)

Only been on RCCL Serenade, but liked buffet area layout and the food quality/selection best of the three.

[Tatka]

The complaints regarding the food have nothing to do with the concept of a buffet. Try Celebrity or RCCL and their breakfasts and lunches blow Princess out of the water. No omelet station, no waffles, same fruit everyday. They don't even have Cheerios! This was the first time I ever saw fried rice served for breakfast. Vegetables at lunch were almost always carrots. How about some variety?

 

Not really . I sailed with all 3 lines and this is simply NOT TRUE.

 

I won't even go into RCCL food quality and especially buffets.

 

Celebrity used to be my favourite line (well it's kind of a tie now).

 

We found better variety of food in Princess buffets. First of all . THERE IS OMELET STATION! On our Splendor of the Seas there was not.

Also they do alot of different dishes with eggs. Different every day. Scrambled eggs with shrimp, mushrooms, other components, eggs benedict. They have very nice selection of fish. ( kinds I could only find in russian speciality stores before). The only thing I couldn't find were waffles. (which was not a huge issue for me anyway, so much calories, not even funny). And fruits? May be they were the same but I counted about 8-12 every day.

 

And lunch.. Seafood, meats, different vedges...salads, sushi e.t.c.

[scubydo]

If the "buffet" was that bad,why is it always "crowded"???

 

Just another thing that makes you say,Hmmm........

LOL

[OuiOnboard]

If the "buffet" was that bad,why is it always "crowded"???

 

Just another thing that makes you say,Hmmm........

LOL

Because everyone is starving! :rolleyes: :)

[Toto2Kansas]

Since when does Princess no longer have an omlet station? DH goes to the omelet station on every Princess cruise we have sailed on. Big ????????

[arabrab]

My take on Horizon Court on the large ships is:

1. It is poorly designed for the number of people who mass in there at certain hours, and the design flaws are exacerbated by crowding -- by the time you've got your food and then gotten to a seat, your food is likely to be less than a great temperature and then you've got to go get coffee or water.

 

2. The food quality is probably ok at the point when the food is first put out, but it quickly deteriorates. We found the desert cakes to be either dry dry dry (from being stored cut in refrigerated air) or soggy -- no happy middle ground. Bacon is dumped into a serving tray with a lot of grease from previous batches, at it too can be swimming, while the scrambled eggs had a weird texture. There were a few jewels, like the smoked salmon, but a lot of clinkers.

 

3. The service is fairly lackluster. If you ask for something that ought to be available, but isn't out, you're likely to wait quite a while. If an elderly person comes up and is clearly having trouble even walking, no one from Princess steps forward to carry the person's tray. I ended up helping somebody in this circumstance nearly every time I was in Horizon Court in the early morning. This was quite in contrast with Holland America, where staff seemed to show up as soon as they were needed with a polite offer to help. (Strangely enough, it was the dining room breakfast service on Holland America that was sorely lacking -- trying to get a cup of tea could be a good half hour wait.)

 

We found the buffet fare to be better on both Royal Caribbean and Holland America, so I don't think that it is a ship size issue. As others have mentioned, the dining room food is far better, but sometimes it doesn't time out or you have kids who need to be fed RIGHT NOW, or you're hungry after a shore excursion.

 

I did enjoy our one breakfast in Cafe Caribe when the serving staff unexpectedly brought around a cart with coffee and juice -- it was really nice to not have to get up and leave to go get some. Solo eaters have an even worse problem -- there isn't much opportunity to set something down so that you can go get that cup of coffee without risking one of the staff clearing your table before you return.

 

I don't mind seeing rice or congee out for breakfast -- Princess tends to have a number of Asian customers and so I don't find this weird. I wish they'd up the overall quality of food in the buffet because it makes it a nicer option for those for whom an extended time in the dining room doesn't work.

 

I'm surprised that they set up the Crown Princess with the same buffet arrangement that hasn't worked that well on the other grand class ships. I would have thought they'd have tried a different model by now.

[OuiOnboard]

If one is concerned about getting the best they offer, the most important thing about any buffet is to get there as soon as it opens.

[mr green]

There might be less crowding, if Princess went back to the use of trays, few people can handle a large plate and a beverage or two. I am one who dislikes having my food taken from me, and being plonked on the nearest table, I like to, find my wife, or get a satisfactory table for both of us. john

[PescadoAmarillo]

I noticed quite a decline in the Horizon Court flow between our Sapphire Princess cruise in 2004 and our Diamond Princess cruise in 2006. I'm not sure why, but, of the three entrances into each side of the buffet (port and starboard) all of which were open to traffic moving any direction on our 2004 cruise, by our 2006 cruise, one was designated the ENTRANCE, one was the EXIT and one was blocked off (by a food display). One possible reason is that they wanted more control over the use of antibacterial lotion (good reason), and another might be that they needed more display space for food (another good reason). But if they did it to improve flow, it DIDN'T work, at all. This flow seemed to bog down the system, blocking people up in the hallway area to get into the buffet, cutting down on the room for people to pass through the Horizon Court to simply move to another area of the ship (aft or forward). Beyond that, they frequently set up made to order stations outside the gated buffet areas, again blocking up the through-way.

 

As for the Sun Class ships...I think the buffets work better there, as there is space for people to line up to get through the hand cleansing part, without blocking through traffic.

 

And as for the made to order omelet station...I've noticed them on some Princess cruises, but not on all of them. It really depends on the ship and the cruise. IMHO, nothing beats Celebrity's buffet food...amazing made to order omelets, waffles, etc.

[Hughbud]

First time cruiser with Princess and reading on these boards that you do NOT have a tray to carry your many dishes on? and is someone from Princess there to carry your plate to a table, or are you able to go and find the place you want to sit by yourself. I hope this is the case or I will be telling them "Thank you" but I prefer to find my own table setting. Also, what do you do, keep going back for different plates at different stations, Ex: fruit, dessert, etc. Guess I have been use to Carnival's usage of trays in their buffet lines. Maybe I need to pack my own in suitcase to make it easier! HA

 

Hughbud

[Sailaway Girl]

I have found cook to order eggs and omlettes on all Princess ships. It's not in a separate areas like it is on Celebrity RCCL so you do have to look for it. It's usually at the end of one of the serving stations. In addition, NCL also serves rice and wonton soup at their morning buffet. They have a rice cooker at the end of the buffet line. I saw a lot of cruisers, not all Asian, helping themselves. Keep in mind, they try to cater to everyone.

 

We always found something to eat at the buffet, the pastries and croissants were good, the fruit plentiful and omelettes or eggs over easy. And if we wanted french toast or pancakes, we would head down to the dining room sit and be served.

[Clutterlady]

The dish you get is like a small platter. Big enough to put a lot of food on. But, trays would sure make things easier. The point of stations are that you can get you hot food at one station. Then when you are ready you go back to the station where the fruit or danish are and get that without having to get back in line.

[MCManders99]

I may be in the minority but I actually liked the Horizon Court on our Sun Princess Cruise. I didn't think it was bad at all. Yes I have no other cruises to compare to... but I have been to plenty of buffets on land and it is not soo bad. I do agree the layout is messed up but the food is not that bad. But the dining room is far better. But I only went to the dining room for dinners with the exception of 2 times.

[OuiOnboard]

...Then when you are ready you go back to the station where the fruit or danish are and get that without having to get back in line.

What line? ...in the busiest times, most times people are coming and going..zigging and zagging...no one said getting something to eat couldn't be exciting. :D

[cusyl]

. If an elderly person comes up and is clearly having trouble even walking, no one from Princess steps forward to carry the person's tray.

 

.

I have not found this on my cruises. They always ask if they can help and at times insist that they help. I always like to be self sufficient and not be a bother to anyone, but they insist.:rolleyes:

[Lynda90]

As buffets go, I found Princess' to be more than adequate. Never had any trouble getting through. If there was a line at one station, I just moved to another where there was no line and then went back to the original line. Always found some things I liked. However, I would like it if they provided trays. Too much juggling. I don't really like putting everything on one plate and without trays it makes it very difficult if you don't want to do that.

[piper28]

I have not found this on my cruises. They always ask if they can help and at times insist that they help. I always like to be self sufficient and not be a bother to anyone, but they insist.:rolleyes:

 

I have to agree with this. I was grabbing my toast the one day and reacted to the fact that it was pretty warm with a yelp, and one of the guys behind the counter went, grabbed a glove, and pulled the rest of the toast out for me. (I would have been perfectly find pulling it out myself, it was just one of those little involuntary reactions when you grab a piece of toast that's warmer than you expect.)

[Nliedel]

One of the things Carol figured out (wish I could take credit for this observation, but I can't) is that the different stations have different things at lunch. They are not the same. The back (Caribe Court) had pasta one day and the true Horizon Court had a whole different selection! So if you don't find what you want go somewhere else. This was true on the Crown.

 

For those of you worried about a tray. It bothers some people, but did not bother me. I found the plates to be very large. I do not eat a lot though, so your mileage may vary.

[kendon]

I have found the Horizon Court to be just fine as is, however I think the quality has declined over the past couple of years. There are those times that it can be hectic, but it sure beats one LONG line as I have found on other cruiselines. I enjoy the eclectic mix of food items. The very large platters are adequate as opposed to trays. Trays are too 'cafeteria like'. I agree with another poster here, that the NCL buffet quality was beyond awful (I was on the NCL Sun). Makes my son's high school cafeteria look four star! My experience on the RCCL Enchantment buffet was also terrible. It was a casserole of everything they had in the dining room the night before. The only fruit available were apples. Few fresh vegetables too. Well, I'll be eating in the Horizon Court in just a few weeks now....

[MaryPoppinz]

No omelet station,

 

I have a veggie-n-eggbeaters omelet virtually every moning on my cruises, frequently from Horizon Court if we're in a rush. It's not a "station," you just need to go to counter and ask for whatever you want.

[Tatka]

We just sailed on Caribbean Princess at full capacity. 3,100 lower births plus about 600 upper births. Except for the first lunch buffet we never seen lines in the buffet. On Carnival there always were line, it was sooo annoying, I skipped lunch several days.

 

There is no trays, but plates are big. Also I don't remember any trays on RCCL.:confused: