Why We Eat at the Buffet - Sometimes.

P&O Pacific Encounter - Dragon Lady main dining.

Food is one of the good things about cruising - it's usually good and you don't have to cook or wash up. We always book late dining in the main dining room, and enjoy the 3-4 course meals. Of all the cruise lines we have been on the food in the main dining room has been great and varied except for P&O Australia - the food was good but very little variety from night to night, despite there being three different main dining rooms.

P&O Pacific Encounter - Pantry buffet lunch.

It is the same with the buffet dining on some ships. Some people like the buffet on P&O Australia, but I have never liked it - from our first sailing way back in 2009. The salads are usually good as are the chips, but everything else is hit and miss. Every other cruise line we have been on have had great buffets.

OK, so lets look at each meal. Breakfast, P&O Australia use to have the best main dining breakfast, but no more - too many up-charges for what use to be free. Main dining rooms for breakfast usually start early and run for about 2 hrs - sometimes too early for us, so it is the buffet. Buffet breakfast is not as good as the main dining room but we are on holiday and sometimes don't want to get up early for breakfast. Buffet breakfast is usually the same each day on P&O, with limited choices - fried eggs or scrambled.

P&O Pacific Encounter buffet breakfast - same each day.

Royal do some dishes alternating each day which is lovely, including crepes and Eggs Benedict.

Royal Caribbean Quantum of the Seas - buffet breakfast, many choices.

Carnival do Eggs Benedict - my favourite, and all buffets do scrambled and fried eggs.

Carnival Luminosa - buffet breakfast 

Lunch, we often don't eat in the main dining room for lunch, although Carnival do a good Sea Day Brunch in the main dining room. Most cruises we go to the buffet for a late lunch/snack. Royal do a lovely afternoon tea of savory and sweet finger food. Buffet lunch is usually when we pick up a few snacks for the cabin for the afternoon or late night snack or early morning before while getting ready for breakfast. Typically cookies on Celebrity, Royal and Carnival (no cookies on P&O); bread rolls, cheese and crackers on P&O; I really don't recall needing to have anything for the cabin when we sailed on Princess - we just got what we wanted when we wanted it.

P&O Pacific Encounter buffet lunch - the rare day they had prawns and donuts.

Dinner, we prefer the main dining room, but if sailing on longer cruises or back to back the buffet is can be good for a change. We never tried the buffet for dinner on Princess. We did a 19 night cruise on Celebrity and had the buffet a couple of nights when we were not that hungry to sit down for a 3 course meal. We often do back to back cruises on Royal, and we have found the first week in the main dining room good, but the second week the occasional buffet was better. Surprisingly we found the French night in the buffet had more choices than the main dining room menu. It always pays to check. Carnival we had buffet dinner when the show times were changed and conflicted with our dining time. We found some of the exact same dishes in the buffet as on the main dining room menu on both Royal and Carnival. P&O, well there are only two menus for each restaurant and they are suppose to rotate every three days as the passengers rotate the restaurants. That doesn't always happen. As the menus are not very varied, maybe 3-4 different dishes across the 3 courses. The buffet is not much better, but they do have salad and chips.

Carnival Luminosa buffet lunch - many different choices and longer open hours.

So there are advantages and disadvantages, depending on ship. 

Generally buffet is more casual and main dining is more formal, as it should be. 

Buffet is often quicker service, choose what and how much you want to eat. Main dining is a la carte and usually takes longer, although you can get as much as you want. In the buffet you can eat as much as you want and go back many times. In the main dining you can order two or more dishes of food for each course.

In the buffet you can be as quick or a leisurely as you want. Main dining is regulated by your dining staff. 

In the buffet you need to find a seat, at busy times it can be difficult. In main dining you have a  set table and staff each night which we like.

Carnival Luminosa buffet lunch.

The dress code in the buffet is very casual, most passengers dress better for main dining room, although sadly, the staff no longer enforce the smart casual dress.

In the buffet you know what you are putting on your plate and have more control over what you eat. The main dining room you don't know what size serving you will have until you get it. I hate leaving food in the main dining room and often don't order a main because I know I wont eat it all. I'll order two or three first courses instead.

Royal Caribbean Quantum of the Seas lunch buffet.

The views are often better in buffet, with the large usually floor to ceiling windows both sides. You can't be sure of a window seat in the main dining room.

You can arrive when it suits you in the buffet - no need to book like in the main dining room.

Royal Caribbean Quantum of the Seas buffet lunch.

So we eat in the buffet when:

   1. the times are more convenient than the main dining room for entertainment or shore excursions.

    2. main dining overlaps the shows.

   3. there is nothing new to try in the main dining menus, or we want more variety.

   4. we are tired after a port day and don't want to shower and dress for main dining.

Just our opinions, and what we do.