Cruise commentator recommends embarkation-day buffet alternatives

Cruise commentator Gary Bembridge says passengers generally should avoid the buffet for embarkation-day lunch because it is busy and other dining choices may be available.

Bembridge recommends checking whether the main dining room is open. He says it can provide a less crowded and more elevated dining experience. He also advises passengers with food allergy requirements to speak with the main dining room maître d’, who normally handles those needs.

According to Bembridge, the breakfast buffet is usually busy during the hour before a ship arrives in port, when passengers are preparing for excursions or independent exploration. He also says the lunch buffet becomes busiest as excursions and independently exploring passengers return to the ship.

Bembridge’s own buffet choices have varied by cruise. He avoided the buffet restaurant throughout a voyage aboard Cunard’s Queen Anne but ate lunch there every day during a Holland America cruise. Aboard Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas, he said he ate nearly all of his meals at the buffet.