Hello! 1st time poster with questions : )

[M-E-K]

Hello everyone out there in cyber-space! I am a brand new member of cruise critic (exciting ! ) I booked a cruise for myself, my handsome boyfriend and my two sons (ages 12 and 13) and have several questions if anyone is willing to share ideas and info. Could not be more excited about this trip! This is a last minute cruise, we are leaving 2 weeks from tomorrow (yippie !) We are sailing on the Norwegian Spirit from Boston to Bermuda. We have an inside cabin on the back of the ship which I would love to change to an outside cabin, if possible. They are sold out of quads outside : ( Anyway, I have cruised before (long time ago) and wonder if they still do the midnight buffet with all of the artfully displayed desserts and things at midnight (a favorite of mine). There is no mention of it on Norwegian website. Any ideas or info is greatly anticipated and appreciated! Thanking you all in advance! :D

[Jed12345]

Not sure on the spirit, on the Jewel and the Star they had a "Chocaholics" buffet one night that featured chocolate sculputures and lots of deserts.

[lawton54]

Same thing on the Spirit in April. Lots of chocolate sculptures and desserts. Very crowed though, with quite a bit of wasted food. Lots of folks trying to get some of everything, then leaving a lot on their plates.

[OceanDreaming2]

Hi - welcome to Cruise Critic! I'm sure you'll make lots of new friends here.

 

To answer your question, the Chocoholic Buffet is generally held at 11PM toward the end of the cruise. People start lining up well before 10PM. If you want to take photos, I'd suggest you do the same. After the crowds begin, the buffet becomes quite the mess. And as people are known to do, lots of food is wasted.

 

Some of tastes good; the rest looks better than it tastes.

 

As for other midnight buffets, you may find a small buffet set up in the casino after 11PM. Most of the dining venues are closed after 10PM. The Spirit does have a Blue Lagoon - if you want something after hours, it's open 24 hours. And, you can always order from room service.

 

Enjoy!

[Toyz711]

it's not, always, late at night...check the daily newsletter for the times.

people really do tend to trash the chocolate....the next morning the hallways are littered with plates full of chocolate. it's mostly dark chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate, people are so used to very sweet milk chocolate they don't eat what they take.

the chocolate dipped fruit are excellent.

[martinchem]

The NCL is an awesome ship, your room will be fine. It seems most cruiselines did away with the Midnight Gala Buffet, but as others mentioned the Blue lagoon had great fast food 24 hrs and the casino always has cheeses and sandwiches at night. The chocoholic buffet is awesome and is held once per cruise afternoon or night. Enjoy!!

[fridaythe13th]

Hello everyone out there in cyber-space! I am a brand new member of cruise critic (exciting ! ) I booked a cruise for myself, my handsome boyfriend and my two sons (ages 12 and 13) and have several questions if anyone is willing to share ideas and info. Could not be more excited about this trip! This is a last minute cruise, we are leaving 2 weeks from tomorrow (yippie !) We are sailing on the Norwegian Spirit from Boston to Bermuda. We have an inside cabin on the back of the ship which I would love to change to an outside cabin, if possible. They are sold out of quads outside : ( Anyway, I have cruised before (long time ago) and wonder if they still do the midnight buffet with all of the artfully displayed desserts and things at midnight (a favorite of mine). There is no mention of it on Norwegian website. Any ideas or info is greatly anticipated and appreciated! Thanking you all in advance! :D

 

Lucky you!! I just want to let you know that the cabins on the Spirit are very small. Since you will all be in one cabin I would suggest you bring an over the door shoe hanger/organizer. It will help immensly in keeping the cabin organized. Hang it inside the bathroom door and put anything and everything in it. Did you happen to put your name on a wait list for an outside? Henry's Pub is a great place to hang out. They have free popcorn and soft pretzels. Check out my recent pictures in the webshots link in my signature. Have a great time!

[jp2001]

Since you will all be in one cabin I would suggest you bring an over the door shoe hanger/organizer. It will help immensly in keeping the cabin organized. Hang it inside the bathroom door and put anything and everything in it. /QUOTE]

 

I agree but I put my organizer outside the bathroom door. This way, I can still hang towels on the hangers and people in the cabin can access their "stuff" even if someone is in the bathroom.

 

I've seen the Chocoholic Buffet being held at 2pm a few times too, it's not always at night.

 

Blue Lagoon is not totally 24-hours, they close down for 1 hour or so right before breakfast (about 4 to 5 am).

[lhogan11]

My dh calls the chocolate buffet the "Fluffy Chocolate Display". :D They tend to use a lot of the moussey type chocolate surrounded by cake and such. You usually have to be one of the first ones in line to get the chocolate covered fruit!

[CruisnGram]

( Anyway, I have cruised before (long time ago) and wonder if they still do the midnight buffet with all of the artfully displayed desserts and things at midnight (a favorite of mine). There is no mention of it on Norwegian website. Any ideas or info is greatly anticipated and appreciated! Thanking you all in advance! :D

 

When I cruised years ago, there no buffets on the ships during the day. You had the main dining rooms and a perhaps a grill for lunch. And at midnight, they set up the buffet which was open for a couple hours. Everyone flocked to them because they were the only place to get something to eat after the dining rooms closed.

 

Things have changed drastically on cruise ships and there is now a buffet that you can dine in for all 3 meals, room service, and other 24 hour eating venues. Therefore, the need for the midnight buffet has disappeared. To my knowlege, other then some small, usually late night buffets in perhaps the casino, and NCL's chocolate buffet, midnight buffets are a thing of the past on cruise ships.

 

CG

[CanadianTwosome]

When I cruised years ago, there no buffets on the ships during the day. You had the main dining rooms and a perhaps a grill for lunch. And at midnight, they set up the buffet which was open for a couple hours. Everyone flocked to them because they were the only place to get something to eat after the dining rooms closed.

 

Things have changed drastically on cruise ships and there is now a buffet that you can dine in for all 3 meals, room service, and other 24 hour eating venues. Therefore, the need for the midnight buffet has disappeared. To my knowlege, other then some small, usually late night buffets in perhaps the casino, and NCL's chocolate buffet, midnight buffets are a thing of the past on cruise ships.

 

CG

 

This is the type of buffet I thought the OP was referring to as well. Things are definitely different now!!

 

I know that the buffet is open in the evening, though I'm not sure of the hours; your daily will tell you the hours of every venue for each day. The best part about not having the 'midnight buffet', though is that you don't have to be there 'on time'. The reason there isn't one is that it is no longer necessary, as Gram explained. At any given time of day or night, there is food available on the ship. Certainly the midnight buffets of old were more than food - they were an impressive, artistic display and a bit of an 'event' unto themselves, but for me I prefer good food that is available any time I want it to attractive, well presented food that I have to set my watch for. :)

[garycarla]

midnight buffets are pretty much a think of the past.

 

Still, lots of food options. Blue Lagoon open all night for comfort food.

 

See notes below.

[newmexicoNita]

Hello everyone out there in cyber-space! I am a brand new member of cruise critic (exciting ! ) I booked a cruise for myself, my handsome boyfriend and my two sons (ages 12 and 13) and have several questions if anyone is willing to share ideas and info. Could not be more excited about this trip! This is a last minute cruise, we are leaving 2 weeks from tomorrow (yippie !) We are sailing on the Norwegian Spirit from Boston to Bermuda. We have an inside cabin on the back of the ship which I would love to change to an outside cabin, if possible. They are sold out of quads outside : ( Anyway, I have cruised before (long time ago) and wonder if they still do the midnight buffet with all of the artfully displayed desserts and things at midnight (a favorite of mine). There is no mention of it on Norwegian website. Any ideas or info is greatly anticipated and appreciated! Thanking you all in advance! :D

 

congratulations, tje Spirit is a cool ship.

 

No, midnight buffets are pretty much a thing of the past, they will have a chocolate buffet though (depending on the ship) it will have the fancy desserts done artisitically. If you can't get the quad, which I am not surprised as the Spirit doesn't have a lot of quads, can you get 1 outside and 1 inside or is that out of your budget? A lot of families to exactly that. The kids won't care where they are and you would have the view.

 

I will add one thing, make sure you dine in one specialty dining room, at least one and don't be surprised if the kids enjoy Blue Lagoon more than any other eatery on the ship.

 

Nita

[collegecruiser346]

The Spirit offers a small buffet in the casino at night, but since you'll be in Bermuda, the casino will be closed while in port. Blue Lagoon is open 23hrs (they close for a bit around 4-5am) Also, raffles buffet is open late offering snack type foods (pizza, chicken wings, chicken tenders, sandwiches etc) There is also 24 hr room service. Rest assured, there is no shortage of food. As for the stateroom goes, 4 people will fit in an inside, but it'll be a bit cramped. I did that two years ago with myself and 3 friends. (we were all college students, so we could deal with little space) If you keep the room organized and somewhat clutter free, you'll be fine.

[terrymtex01]

I have to say that I have never sailed on any ship that had any impressive midnight buffet. The only ship I remember at all having a midnight buffet was CCL and it was not impressive and honestly I only remember them having it one, maybe two nights.

 

OP, when on the Spirit, you have got to try the Hot Wings in Blue Lagoon and order a PB&J from room service at least once as well. BOTH ARE EXCELLENT. NCL literally makes the best PB&J I have ever had.

[CruisnGram]

I have to say that I have never sailed on any ship that had any impressive midnight buffet. The only ship I remember at all having a midnight buffet was CCL and it was not impressive and honestly I only remember them having it one, maybe two nights.

 

 

Hi Terry,

 

I don't know what you took your first cruise, but many years ago, ships had a midnight buffet every night. They were extravagant with ice sculptures, tons of desserts, and truly were spectacular. But, I'm talking at least 15, closer to 20 years ago. And, as I said before, the buffet as we know it now on cruise ships (open for breakfast, lunch and dinner) didn't exist. Neither did places like the Blue Lagoon. And no room service. You had the main dining room for breakfast and dinner (perhaps a continental breakfast pool side) and a grill and the dining room for lunch...period. So by midnight, people were "starving" and flocked to the midnight buffet. :)

 

CG

[M-E-K]

WOW! i just looked through all of the pics that you took on the spirit out of boston! fantastic pictures! i am so so so very excited about this trip and even more so now that i have seen your pictures and the beautiful ship our family will be vacationing on. i can't thank you enough for sharing them with us. best of luck with all of your future travel! thank you, again : ) maggie

[M-E-K]

yes! yes! that's it. it truly was extravagent with ice sculptures and exotic food sculptures. i cruised in the 1980's, back in the day ; ) - on Home Lines Cruises the ship name was the Homeric. it was an italian cruise and as you would guess, the food was outstanding. that cruise company is no longer in business, but man, did we have a blast. that was my first cruise and i have been hooked ever since. my travel budget allows me to cruise about once every 5 years. i have been on royal carribean's nordic empress in the 1990's, great cruise. can't remember the name of the ship when i sailed with celebrity cruise lines, that cruise was too stuffy and formal, not my favorite. the last cruise i went on was the norwegian dawn 6 years ago. and now we are booked on the norwegian spirit leaving boston on july 24th. yeah, that midnight buffet was something to see............if you could stay awake until then, which was a challenge that was not easy for me to accomplish! anyway, thank you for the info and best of luck with all of your future travel plans! peace ~ maggie

[Coach D]

Just got off the ship. No midnight buffet.. late night food is in the casino or in the Blue Lagoon. The chocolate Buffet was held at 10pm I did not go (crash night for Me) but my daughter and husband went they decided to go late we have cruised NCL many times and waited in the long line's in the past they decided to try late and had no problem getting enough chocolate.The Spirit is an awesome ship and the staff is great.