A cruise ship has a lot of workers focusing on keeping passengers happy. Your room attendant makes your bed, cleans up after you, and does other things like picking your dirty towels off the floor and then replaces them with new ones.
When you eat in the main dining room (MDR) or in any specialty restaurant, multiple waiters take care of you and, in many cases, there's a wine sommelier or person in charge of beverages. Cruise ship bars, of course, also have multiple bartenders and waiters who come around to take orders.
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That's true at the pool deck as well where roving waiters take your drink order, deckhands make sure to clean up any water that might lead to a slipping hazard, and other workers collect abandoned towels.
Cruise lines literally have workers who clean up after passengers in the bathroom. That's a thankless job, but making sure every part of the ship is both clean and sanitary takes a lot of people doing their part.
In the buffet, however, where most food is self-served, it has always been a little unclear exactly how passengers should operate when it comes to cleaning up after they have finished.
That's a topic that Carnival Cruise Line (CCL) Brand Ambassador John Heald addressed on his Facebook page in response to a recent question.
Image source: Carnival Cruise Line
Carnival addresses cruise buffet etiquette
Heald shared a question he had been asked with the readers of his Facebook page that many cruisers have likely asked themselves.
"I have a question. What is the proper etiquette in the buffet area with your plates? Do you leave them at your table and wait for staff to clear it off? Or do you remove your plates? Same goes for when you are at the pool area?" the unnamed person asked.
Heald had a very simple answer that wasn't fully definitive as to what the cruise line expects from passengers on the pool deck or in the Lido Marketplace buffet.
"Well, I think it’s safe to say that most people just leave them on the tables or on the Lido or open decks probably on the sun lounges or under them. Either way, I don’t think we have a specific request," he shared.
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Basically, it's okay to clear your own table or return your dish to the buffet from the pool deck, but it's not required.
Heald then asked his followers what they do and the over 1,200 answers were very varied.
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Carnival passengers share their cleanup behaviors
Most people who responded seemed to want to be courteous to the ship's staff and other passengers.
"In the buffet. I wait for staff to remove the empty plates. If I have plates by the pool, I usually take them back into the buffet. Sometimes, no one takes them and they are in the way," wrote Susa Natale.
Several passengers shared that they tried to clean up after themselves but were often not allowed to.
"I try to put my dirty dishes where I see the staff put them ....thats if they let me. The staff usually tell me 'nnnooo we have this' and takes them from me. I was just raised to clear the table," posted Estelle Davis Varnado.
Others try to make things as easy as possible on the crew.
"We do leave them on the tables, but we try to organize our dishes so they are easier to pick up, and if there's some food on the table we'll get it onto a plate. They're very busy so we basically try not to make the job more difficult by leaving a big mess," shared Sharon Elaine.
Others noted that you rarely get a chance to clean up after yourself in the Lido buffet.
"The crew is amazing, they’ll have those plates out of your way when you sit your fork down from that last bite," wrote Janice B. VanWagoner.
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