Please do NOT use your hands to pick up buffet food...

[disneyfreakjackie]

OMG!!!! Enjoy your Disney Cruise ... I know I WILL!!! ; )

 

[Nikisha421]

absolutely yuck.com and fyi keep your kids at a distance and this is coming from someone with two children...

 

[momof2minnies]

OK think about all the hands that touch the tongs then people lay the tongs over the food!!!!!!!


Or here at home On the Border has a "policy" because they all do it to lay the menus across your appetzer plates- I used to be verbal about it and my kids would say- Mom be quiet!!!


Linda

 

[Bonniec]

I didn't use to be a germaphobe. My kids rarely got sick, maybe a cold a year. I always felt that you needed to be exposed to them anyway to harden up your system.

Then I had my 3rd child who seems to always be sick and then I always catch it from him. Last year he was sick on a monthly basis. We are almost at the point of having him to tested to understan why the heck he is so sick all the time.

I don't know if it is him, or if the bugs are just a lot stronger now. There is a big age gap between him and my older two. All I know is, whenever I have caught something from him the last few years, it has been terrible. We aren't just getting hit with colds, we are getting full blown infections.

So I am quickly becoming a germaphobe.

 

[CarolAnnC]

Now we know why Norovirus can be so rampant on a ship.

While buffet style dining may not have been an issue in years gone by, in this age of superbugs and other diseases that are resistant to antibiotics, I believe it is a valid concern.

I have been on board when only the staff can serve from the buffet to guests' plates and it does cut down on some of these issues. That would be when there has been evidence of Norovirus on recent cruises, that they then revert to limiting guests' contact with the buffet tongs, plates, etc.

 

[disney1990]

I didn't use to be a germaphobe. My kids rarely got sick, maybe a cold a year. I always felt that you needed to be exposed to them anyway to harden up your system.

Then I had my 3rd child who seems to always be sick and then I always catch it from him. Last year he was sick on a monthly basis. We are almost at the point of having him to tested to understan why the heck he is so sick all the time.

I don't know if it is him, or if the bugs are just a lot stronger now. There is a big age gap between him and my older two. All I know is, whenever I have caught something from him the last few years, it has been terrible. We aren't just getting hit with colds, we are getting full blown infections.

So I am quickly becoming a germaphobe.

http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/201...ible-to-be-too-clean-researchers-say-yes?lite

Just saw this on the news last night.

 

[ludari]

This is one of the reasons I try to avoid buffet. Nothing against Disney at all it's a personal thing but it grosses me out to see an adult using their hands to grab food.

 

[RedSox68]

OK think about all the hands that touch the tongs then people lay the tongs over the food!!!!!!! Linda

And again, another argument for not taking the top food item on the pile

 

[perdidobay]

At our embarkation lunch the guy on the other side of the buffet at Parrot Cay did use the tongs to put the food on his plate, then promptly picked the food from his plate and put it and 2 fingers into his mouth, then licked his fingers! He then grabbed the tongs at the next dish with the same fingers he just licked. We finished going through the line, I pointed out what the guy had done and the server changed all the tongs and spoons on that side of the buffet. We never ate a buffet the rest of the cruise knowing this guy could have been there before us.

Though I know it doesn't get our hands totally clean, DH and I always carry Purell and clean our hands with it after we sit down with our food at a buffet.
Because of the fact that we have held the tongs that others have held, and you know the handles are not clean.

 

[Emteach]

And this is the very reason I NEVER take the first one in the row or the top one on a pile. I got toward the middle to grab my food (with tongs only).

Was going to say precisely the same thing. We ALWAYS take food from the back of the serving plate/dish - that is harder to access with hands.

 

[lucas]

At our embarkation lunch the guy on the other side of the buffet at Parrot Cay did use the tongs to put the food on his plate, then promptly picked the food from his plate and put it and 2 fingers into his mouth, then licked his fingers! He then grabbed the tongs at the next dish with the same fingers he just licked. We finished going through the line, I pointed out what the guy had done and the server changed all the tongs and spoons on that side of the buffet. We never ate a buffet the rest of the cruise knowing this guy could have been there before us.

I have seen people do this. A LOT.

 

[chateau]

but cool life event... A fly got in the OR (operating room).. you WOULD NOT believe the measures taken to get rid of that fly and resterilize that room!!! Cross contamination catches my
eye!

 

[Handbag Lady]

I'm not a germophobe, but I do carry handiwipes and such.

There's nothing wrong with a couple of cleanings a day. Yes, I get sick, and thankfully, each time I come across a germ, it just makes me stronger.

 

[Niebz]

I'm a huge germaphobe too (been diagnosed with OCD) but I try not to let stuff like that bother me. I love the food on the cruise and the lunch buffet is a huge part of it.

 

[riley2008]

On the last morning of our cruise, I tried three times to pick up the muffin with the tongs. They just weren't wide enough. I picked it up with my fingers.

I did it and I will do it again!

 

[SharonLowe]

I agree that he should have used the tongs. You really do have to be more careful on a cruise ship because you are such close quarters.

That said, to all those people that don't go to buffets and are germophobics, my question is, how often do you get sick? We have no problems with going to buffets or having work potluck lunches (another thing people complain about).

No germophobics in my house and we average about 1 cold a year.

Not everyone who avoids buffets is a germaphobe. I have severe allergies to a number of things and I have seen too many issues of cross contamination because people don't think anything of using tongs for one item on another. And, if someone uses their hands, you have no idea what else they might have touched that will contaminate the item you want. Everyone should use common sense at a buffet and not use one utensil for several items and of course they should not use their hands to pick up items.

People have different levels of abilities to fight germs; on a cruise, it is up to ALL of us to try to avoid getting ourselves and others sick. I was amazed on our August cruise how many people did not wash their hands after going to the restroom - no wonder norovirus is so prevalent. Common sense people!

 

[disney1990]

Not everyone who avoids buffets is a germaphobe. I have severe allergies to a number of things and I have seen too many issues of cross contamination because people don't think anything of using tongs for one item on another. And, if someone uses their hands, you have no idea what else they might have touched that will contaminate the item you want. Everyone should use common sense at a buffet and not use one utensil for several items and of course they should not use their hands to pick up items.

People have different levels of abilities to fight germs; on a cruise, it is up to ALL of us to try to avoid getting ourselves and others sick. I was amazed on our August cruise how many people did not wash their hands after going to the restroom - no wonder norovirus is so prevalent. Common sense people!

Absolutely agree that cross contamination is a big problem at buffets.