Midnight buffet

This will be our very first cruise. I always hear so much about the fabulous "midnight buffets". I see no reference to this in any of the materials I have from Holland America. Do they have such a thing? It isn't that I need to feed my face at that time, it is just something you always hear about when people talk about cruises.

HAl and most cruise lines have generally eliminated the daily midnight buffet. HAL has a Chocolate Extravaganza buffet one night. Some lines have a fancy midnight buffet one evening.

[DeeDee]

I don't know if all the ships it, but last month on the Veendam they had what they called "Late Night Snack" from 11pm-midnight. Each night is a different theme - Chinese, Italian, South Western, French, etc.

No more big buffets, - sometimes a Dessert Buffet and sometimes the Chocolate Extravaganza.

[Suki]

Those lavish buffets - a l-o-n-g time ago.

You only get what you pay for.

[cruisecrazy]

Yup - all HAL ships have the theme snacks, as DeeDee stated, each eve., generally they are quite good and give u a chance to sample different cuisine. The dessert extravaganza is wonderful even if not as 'large' as the buffets yrs ago...Guess it must be over 'cause most folks didn't eat much or even come to them as most are watching what & how much they eat now and the bonus is that it does keep our fares lower..Happy 'munching' on your cruises...

Very few people even show up for the late night buffet in Lido anymore.

We haven't been to one in so many years and so very many cruises that it never even occurs to us to think of eating again after we've had our dinner.

Hopefully, more and more of us eat more sensibly today.

Thanks for the info. I agree, nobody needs to feast at that time of the evening. Anxious for our first experience cruising.

Deeee (or anyone who has the answer),

Do the VISTA class ships also have these nightly buffets highlighting different regional cooking? Thanks!

Ooops, sorry 'DeeDee'

[Southbound]

We were on the Zuiderdam this past Christmas and the Oosterdam end of Feb. Both sailings had what HAL now refers to as a late "snack" starting at 11 p.m. and each night the food prepared was of a different ethnic origin,included a cooked-to-order section, plus pizza, burgers, desserts, etc. It is a scaled-down version of what was once known as the "Midnight Buffet", but it certainly exceeds the common definition of "snack".