The Extinction of the Gala Buffet
Raise your hand if you remember the Midnight Gala Buffet. I know I have my hand raised high in the air, but there are a huge percentage of the cruising public who have no idea what I am talking about. The Gala Buffet was a huge event put on by the cruise ship which was a showcase of the talent of the people who work behind the scenes preparing our meals.
The event took days to prepare and featured some of the most interesting pieces of art one could ever see. Ice sculptures, animals made of food and sculpted deserts were the norm and it was definitely a sight to behold. Usually, the dining room in which everything was staged was opened about 60 minutes prior to when the buffet would be served so you could take pictures of everything. Unfortunately for me most of the pictures (that weren’t already printed out) died with my last hard drive.
While it is still quite normal for ships to put on midnight buffets, none of them come close to a Gala Buffet. Like I previously stated the whole event took days to prepare and was extremely labor intensive. Unfortunately it was also a huge waste of food and the kind of expense that could potentially kill a business. Therefore, the Midnight Gala Buffet has gone the way of the dinosaur.
Another theory is that people just were not into the Gala Buffet anymore. I guess the whole concept was kind of hokey, but personally I like that kind of stuff. Some members of the industry have suggested that attendance was down and this was read as an indicator that the buffet was no longer wanted. It was not looked at as a way to cut cost but was instead, the cruise lines listening to their customers.
Whatever the reason, chances are if you have never experienced a Gala Midnight Buffet, you never will. While you will still find food carvings around the ship (like the Native American Chief pictured above), but nothing that approaches the number or intricacy of what you would find at the Gala Buffet. Truthfully, even the food carvings are dwindling in numbers as my cruise count increases and I wonder if its only a matter of time before they too are extinct. So, my advice to you is enjoy every cruise as if its your last, snap as many pictures as you can and most importantly either print out or back up all of your photos to disk.
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Comments
2007 is probably the last time I saw a proper Gala Buffet. They still do midnight buffets on some ships but they aren’t nearly the same. Each cruise I usually print out a binder full of pictures but are mostly family photos. The still pictures and alot of the scenery shots were wiped out.
I was just talking about that! The last Royal Carribean we were on November 2007 (Liberty) Had the midnight buffet. But none of the cruises we have been on since have had it. The chocolate carvings and ice carvings, and bread sculptures were truly amazing…but it probably was a huge waste of food and labor like you said. I will have to save my pictures!!