Lobsster on "formal" night?

[momrox1]

I know typically there is lobster served on one of the more formal nights aboard the ships...but how about a Canadian cruise? Do we get real down east Maine lobsters? Or the drier, smaller Caribbean ones? I'm not the type to dine off ship but will definitely get a lobster lunch in Bar Harbor just to taste the sweetness and freshness of a Maine lobster...unless you tell me differently.....we are sailing Holland America

Veendam end of June

[Arusha]

In 2012, HAL bought 2,000 pounds of Maine lobster for the Maasdam. Haven't seen anything more recent.

 

http://www.hollandamericablog.com/2012/08/22/maasdams-special-delivery-of-locally-harvested-lobster-at-bar-harbor/

 

Since you're in Massachusetts, you can get fresh lobster at the MA coast anytime. There's nothing special about Maine lobster vs. MA lobster vs. Canadian Maritime lobster. It's all the same North Atlantic cold-water species. Maine just does a better marketing job.

[momrox1]

hehe...you sound like my husband..that is exactly what he said! But there is something special about a Maine lobster eaten on a cruise ship! BTW, I see in your signature you've sailed on the Stephen Taber...I've done a dozen or so of those windjammers and love them! Now, you talk about Maine lobster bakes!!

[ellieanne]

In 2012, HAL bought 2,000 pounds of Maine lobster for the Maasdam. Haven't seen anything more recent.

 

http://www.hollandamericablog.com/2012/08/22/maasdams-special-delivery-of-locally-harvested-lobster-at-bar-harbor/

 

Since you're in Massachusetts, you can get fresh lobster at the MA coast anytime. There's nothing special about Maine lobster vs. MA lobster vs. Canadian Maritime lobster. It's all the same North Atlantic cold-water species. Maine just does a better marketing job.

 

On my HAL cruise in October 2013, the guide on LuLu's Lobster Boat said that HAL made a commitment to purchase fresh lobster from Bar Harbor vendors. I did not have lobster on the formal night, so I do not know if what was served was fresh, but I do believe the report that HAL purchases fresh lobster in Bar Harbor. I know they have in the past; I have shared tenders with the crates of live lobsters being taken to the ship for formal nights.

 

I would love to say ALL lobsters on HAL's Eastern Canada/New England cruises are fresh, Maine lobsters, but I really do not know that to be a fact. I know they have served fresh lobster in the past, and have made a commitment to purchase fresh lobster. But if you want to be sure it's fresh Maine/Nova Scotian/Massachusetts/Rhode Island/whatever lobster, the best bet is to eat ashore.