Babies only

A buffet dining policy aboard a cruise ship has gotten mixed reactions from passengers.

Costa Cruises posted on its blog, Crew Center, that “all food must be consumed exclusively in designated dining areas.”

For room service, only staff trained in sanitation and hygiene procedures are permitted to deliver food to guest cabins, the blog said, Fox News reported.

Guests who take buffet food to their cabins would be charged a 60-euro cleaning fee, it added.

Reacting to the policy of the Genoa, Italy-based company, one commenter on the blog said, “One thing I hate to see is plates [and] cups in the hallways by room doors. If you bring them there, [carry] them back or just eat in the eating areas!”

Another commenter said he won’t pay that cleaning fee, while another insisted, “We love to take our food and coffee to enjoy on our quiet balcony.”

Meanwhile, the Incheon International Airport in South Korea has been criticized for a policy that is being ignored and violated.

Eating and sleeping are banned in the airport’s baby care rooms that are reserved for pregnant women and passengers with children under three years old.

Mothers complained that other travelers disrupted their use of the rooms, citing the strong odor of noodles while they were breastfeeding, people sleeping on sofas, and soup residue left around sinks, The Standard (TS) reported.

Chinese tourists were the culprits. They apparently used to prepare and eat their noodles in airport convenience stores until these stopped providing hot water due to complaints about strong odors and the safety risk from passengers carrying boiling liquids, according to TS, citing travel bloggers’ posts.

Hygiene problems also arose when leftover soup was poured into water fountain drains, TS reports.

Korean moms called for the use of an electronic access system to baby care rooms and fining users who eat their noodles there.