How often do you eat in local places during your cruise?

[sail7seas]

Whenever possible, we have lunch or dinner ashore.

 

If we sail late from a port, we would almost always have dinner in a shoreside restaurant.

Always lunch ashore in Mexico, St. Thomas, St. Barts, Key West, San Juan and all over the Caribbean. :)

 

Canada/NE cruises we love our lobster/mussels/clam, blueberry pie lunches in ports.

 

We think you learn much when visiting a place new to you by eating local food, with local people and immersing a bit in their environment.

 

[Hlitner]

For us, it depends on where we might be. In the Caribbean we seldom eat anything other then a very light lunch ashore if we are on a beach. On cruises that go to New England or Canada we will often get lobster or lobster roll at almost every port (this is real lobster as compared to those silly things they call lobster onboard). In Europe, eating ashore is very important to us as we are real foodies and oenophiles. A lot of European culture is defined by their cuisine which is one more reason why we seldom to ever take any kind of tour. We prefer to go off on our own (using bus, trains, or rental cars) so that we can enjoy a long lunch in a great café or restaurant. We also take longer cruises (over 30 days) that will often overnight in a few ports. In many of those cases we will have dinner in a great restaurant ashore. One good example is in Lisbon (we often seem to get overnights in that port) where DW and I have a favorite Fado restaurant. In Istanbul it would be one of several seafood restaurants (fresh seafood is something you seldom get on any cruise ship).

 

It is interesting about many cruisers who simply take very busy tours when in Europe and do not have the time to enjoy a decent lunch. When most folks talk about Italy it is usually about Italian food (or wine). When folks talk about France it is usually about French cuisine. Yet when they are in these countries they will spend hours in a museum instead of enjoying the cuisine. Go figure.

 

Hank

[pris993]

We don't usually eat in port but we do shop while in port for local food items, snacks, pastries (found wonderful ones in Spain and France), local "street" foods that we like and dried fruits, nuts and wine of course.

 

We enjoyed a late afternoon meal on our balcony with flaffel we got in Haifa Israel - with with a salad from room service and a cold beer - a perfect way to spend the a early evening before sail away.

 

Now days menues in the MDRs are not that exciting... supplementing with items we enjoy from ports is the way to go for us. We often skip dinner if we find something we like better in port.

[1025cruise]

I assume that if I ever do cruise to Europe, I will enjoy a meal or two in port.

In Alaska, outside of an all day tour, we just decided to eat on the ship versus finding a spot. Plus, we aren't huge seafood eaters.

[FoghornLeghorn]

Yes, it's nice to try things in port.

 

I love lunch at the Pioneer Inn's bar and grill in Lahaina, Maui. Great views of the harbor and great food.

 

Also I MUST have a Peanut Butter Gelato in Lahaina.

 

A snack at the Macadamia Nut Farm.

 

Had a great hamburger when we overnited in San Francisco. A hole in the wall burger place that someone recommended. We were exploring the city all day and this place was perfect for a quick bite.

[OCruisers]

Eating flying fish in Barbados while people watching over a cold beer.

 

An absolute must for us in Barbados is to have Flying Fish Sandwiches (cutters)! YUM! :)

 

LuLu

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[luvscruising2007]

We seldom eat at a port unless included with an excursion. However, we will be in NE/ Canada on our next cruise and we plan to eat lunch in most of the ports. Love lobster.

[virginialucy]

The rib plate at Sky's the Limit in Grand Case, St. Martin was AMAZING. My BF said they were the best ribs he's ever had. So far I've only been on one cruise, but having local fare for lunch is, for me, preferable to going back to the ship. On our recent cruise, we were often too far from the ship to be able to have lunch on board anyway.

[marco]

Rarely....we will stop for a beverage and appropriate "snack" for the time of day and the beverage we're having but rarely have a meal ashore.

[Gardeneroflove]

Never. We did buy snacks at Grand Cayman last year, my kid needed to eat. Normally I bring food with us (prepackaged, of course!). Sometime we've gone back to ship to eat. Last cruise, my husband did buy a few local beers, and we typically do try local candy, if possible. There's a few in Mexico we like. But as far as food, nope. I don't cruise to travel though, I'm not concerned or interested in ports (unless I can snorkel!), I cruise to be spoiled for a week!

[OCruisers]

Part of our total enjoyment of traveling is trying the special local food. :)

 

LuLu

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[frantic36]

My wife and I always try to find an out of the way location(a place where the locals eat-not a place for the tourists) to enjoy lunch in each port of call we visit. As far as we are concerned one of the most enjoyable parts of visiting other cultures is to share time with the locals and try local cuisine and beverages. The idea that "we have already paid for lunch on the ship" really doesn't enter into our equation. To us the experience is worth the "extra" money we spend. We have had the pleasure of eating in some really interesting places and had some wonderful food! Many of our favorite memories include meals we have enjoyed in port.

 

+1

 

Totally agree with all of this.

 

In fact part of my research of what to do before cruising is what are some of the local foods and ask for recommendations from the local tourism guides when we get there. We had a great pizza last month in Sorrento and Cicchetti in Venice.

 

Julie

[sail7seas]

This has been a wonderful thread.

I've enjoyed reading everyone's habits about eating ashore.

 

I cannot remember a cruise when we didn't have at least one meal in a port.

 

[Taxguy77]

Always try to have a local beer, preferably near the ocean.

Often we have a light lunch ashore. One time we were seated with 3 Italian businessmen, and had a great time trying to talk with them.

I have spent too much time in Mexico to eat at a sidewalk vendor there, but on one cruise we ate a great lunch ashore while most of our group (All lived within a ten minute drive from Mexico and ate there often) went back to the ship. They were served what they said was call "a Mexican dinner", but even the tortillas were bad.

[slidergirl]

I always eat locally on a cruise. Eating the local cuisine is as much a part of my vacation experiences as is seeing the sights. I rarely do excursions, so I can pick and choose when, where, and what I eat.

Eating in port at the Hard Rock, Cheesecake Factory, Mickey D's, Margaritaville, etc. do not count as eating local ;)

[sail7seas]

I always eat locally on a cruise. Eating the local cuisine is as much a part of my vacation experiences as is seeing the sights. I rarely do excursions, so I can pick and choose when, where, and what I eat.

Eating in port at the Hard Rock, Cheesecake Factory, Mickey D's, Margaritaville, etc. do not count as eating local ;)

 

 

I agree...... U.S. chain restaurants are just that. They are not local cuisine.

[slidergirl]

A good way of "going local" is as small a thing as grabbing a glass or bottle of the local beer! Astoria, Oregon - visited the Wet Dog. Had a sampler of several of their own brews. Yum. On Jamaica, gotta have a Red Stripe. For Italy, there is actually now a fledgling microbrew industry going on in Rome.

[sloopsailor]

It amuses me to read the inevitable "I don't eat on shore, I have already paid for my meals on the ship" comments. Such a myopic view of life. Using that rational, why bother going ashore at all since you've already paid to be on the ship.

 

One of life's delights is to try new things. We have always opted to have a meal ashore whenever possible, usually at a sidewalk cafe where we can watch the world walk by. New tastes, new experiences, new memories.

 

Eating only on the ship - frugal.

 

Experiencing local foods in local cafes - priceless.

[clackey]

Hey Slidergirl,

 

Belican in Belize, and Turks Head in Grand Turk, and Sol or Corona in Mexico.:D

[rwr235]

A good way of "going local" is as small a thing as grabbing a glass or bottle of the local beer! Astoria, Oregon - visited the Wet Dog. Had a sampler of several of their own brews. Yum. On Jamaica, gotta have a Red Stripe. For Italy, there is actually now a fledgling microbrew industry going on in Rome.

 

I make it a point to find a coffee shop (not a Starbucks !!) for a cup of java...and at least (1) local beer from every port we visit !! ( Places like Belgium and Germany...certainly more than (1) beer ) :D:D

 

In fact, since my first cruise in 1974...I can't remember a single port where I haven't had something to eat and/or drink, no matter how long, short or rushed our port stay was !!

 

Part of the joy of cruising !!

 

Woody

[GlendaleCruiser]

 

How about you? What local items have you enjoyed that made an impression on you and what about it made it memorable?

 

 

Lunch in Sorrento, Cannolis in Taormina, Little pasta places and pizza places in Venice, gelato in Rome, lunch overlooking the Aegean in Turkey. A "Spanish Omelet" (not like the USA) in Barcelona. It's the BEST.

[boogs]

With all the opportunities to eat on the ship during a cruise - breakfast and dinner on port days, plus lunch on sea days - no way would I go back to the ship to eat and pass up a chance to try the local cuisine. Sampling the local delicacies is as much a part of experiencing another country as learning it's history, or viewing the archaeology and architecture. Why deny oneself the complete experience?

[sail7seas]

One thing we've learned from eating locally in every place we've visited is that we have not yet found a culture that does not have some form of noodle as a basic in their cuisine.

 

[PrettyGirl01]

We have actually never eaten off the boat. Although we were on a tour in Costa Rica last year where they served fresh fruit and I got violently ill - but that could have been from the bus ride too :)

There was another thread where someone wrote that they went behind a local restaurant to take some photos of the scenery and saw the staff rinsing the dirty dishes with water - no soap. I am not comfortable eating in the Caribbean for fear of getting sick but may be more openminded in other regions.

[sail7seas]

We have actually never eaten off the boat. Although we were on a tour in Costa Rica last year where they served fresh fruit and I got violently ill - but that could have been from the bus ride too :)

There was another thread where someone wrote that they went behind a local restaurant to take some photos of the scenery and saw the staff rinsing the dirty dishes with water - no soap. I am not comfortable eating in the Caribbean for fear of getting sick but may be more openminded in other regions.

 

 

Of course, there are places most of us would not eat.

But there are also five star, fabulous restaurants/hotels.

Pick where you eat.

Don't eat in a dive if you question the sanitation or food prep/storage.

If every place all over the Caribbean was as you describe, would all of us still be eating all over the Caribbean? We use good judgment.