Crab Shack - ALL YOU CAN EAT?

[bhopal21]

Hi Mike,

 

It is possible although there is usually a break between ships. Our cruise ended 10/18.

 

He was amazing and did handle every little detail. He made sure we had our same waiter and a lovely booth by the window. Our last dinner there, he had our appetizers ready when we arrived!! What a difference in two dining rooms and two head waiters on the same cruise!!

 

Cheers, Denise

 

Sure sounds like him. He made sure we had our same table by the window every morning at breakfast.

 

Mike:)

[Gimer]

Denise, On the Nov. 24 Hawaiian Cruise, we did the Crab Shack. At the Crab Shack entrance in the back of the Horizon Court, there stood Jean Paul the Maitre'd and his assistant, greeting us. That night there were four wait staff serving. There was so much sea food, we could not eat it all. First soup with garlic bread, Hush Puppies/Deep Fried Prawns and then came the Mixed Crab Selection. I want to bring the rest back to my room:(. Two tables over, they had seconds. I guess they made changes.

[dchip]

Denise, On the Nov. 24 Hawaiian Cruise, we did the Crab Shack. At the Crab Shack entrance in the back of the Horizon Court, there stood Jean Paul the Maitre'd and his assistant, greeting us. That night there were four wait staff serving. There was so much sea food, we could not eat it all. First soup with garlic bread, Hush Puppies/Deep Fried Prawns and then came the Mixed Crab Selection. I want to bring the rest back to my room:(. Two tables over, they had seconds. I guess they made changes.

 

Excellent!! Your post makes me smile.

 

Cheers, Denise

[arizonaperson]

Sailing on the Regal next month and want to dine during the Crab Shack event. Does anyone know if the seafood is unlimited or pre-portioned? I love cab legs, but one set will not justify the $20 cover charge.

 

I was on the Crown December 6-13, 2014 and it was not all you can eat.:( Yes, it is plenty of food, but when we asked the head waiter, he said we could have more crab legs if we paid another $20 fee. We were a table of 6 and 4 of us had the crab leg bowls.

I am sure it varies ship to ship, cruise to cruise, but that was my experience. We are glad we tried it for the first time,but don't feel compelled to do it again. If we pay to upgrade our dining experience on a cruise, we like the Crown Grill better.

Julie

Edited January 14, 2015 by arizonaperson

[dcdisney]

We just returned from the Star and as others have reported from the Star it was NOT all you can eat on that ship. It was exceptionally good crab and OK shrimp. The family members who got the mixed basket got a huge overflowing basket of food with some giant shrimp. Those of us who ordered the shrimp and crab got a small handful of tiny shrimp and 1 big crab leg. That was it. For the app we each got 2 fried shrimp and 1 hush puppy the size of a quarter. Most of my family doesn't eat pork so we didn't have the soup though those who did enjoyed it. The one's of us who ordered the shrimp and crab went straight to the buffet after the meal. I would not spend the upcharge again unless you could get more. The ones who got the big mixed basket were full though.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thats too bad. :(

[Mom33]

I am sorry to hear your experience at the Crab Shack was so bad Denise.

Ours on both Royal and Regal was very good with my husband getting additional mussels and shrimp when requested. I'm glad they gave you a refund and hopefully they will get their act together.

[majortom10]

We did Crab Shack on Caribbean Princess and it was the worst we have ever had on a Princess ship. After having our starter one bowl between us and we were never asked if we wanted more we then waited 45 minutes with no soup and when called Head Waiter over he said he was sorry but some liked to be served quick and some slow. When I said we were never asked and 45 minutes was a long wait he served the soup and then later again apologised and said our waiter had forgotten us. When the main course arrived it had obviously been cooked a long time and put somewhere during the absent 45 minutes and was stone cold. Terrible service and a very unmemorable meal.

[CRUISEWITHH]

Just got off the Star Princess January 3 and the Crab Shack was NOT all you can eat. We were a party of two and the waiter suggested the Star's Mixed Steamer since that has the most crab. I specifically asked if we could order more and I was told no. We received two king crab legs and two snow crab clusters along with other shellfish in total - not each. I did not feel like the meal was a good value. The shrimp are the same shrimp served in the dining room - all you can eat in the dining room but not in the Crab shack. I was also very disappointed with the dessert choices at the Crab Shack - the Black Forest gateau was awful. The cake was very dry and dense.

The Crab Shack was a low point in terms of dining on our Hawaii cruise. I thought the dining room food was some of the best I've had on Princess. Sabatini's and the Crown Grill were excellent.

 

I had the same experience. I got ONE KING CRAB LEG and a lot of shrimp.

 

I would rather eat in the dining room, the Crab Shack was not worth it at all.

[moosenaroundtheship]

Is it only open in the evening, the same time as the other specialty restaurants or earlier?

[beg3yrs]

Is it only open in the evening, the same time as the other specialty restaurants or earlier?

 

Evenings only and not every night. Look in the Patter for when it will be offered or, call the DINE line. AFAI remember the hours are pretty much the same as the specialty restaurants.

[Colo Cruiser]

Is it only open in the evening, the same time as the other specialty restaurants or earlier?

 

 

Yes evenings only.

[CaboWabo62]

Do they serve crab in MDR or only in Crab Shack.

On our 1st cruise 2003 on the Star, we had king crab in MDR and waiter brought more than we could eat. Waiter actually suggested not ordering steak so he could bring more crab.

[ednmargo]

4 ships, 8 plus meals at the Crab Shack and its been all you can eat everytime.

You must have had a crabby waiter.

 

LOL... something tells me you must be a retired CPO.. :)

[dockhl]

We had a very nasty Crab Shack meal on the Emerald Aug'14 on a Baltic cruise. The food and service were so bad that we complained to the manager (for what it was worth). This after many great meals in the dining room, Crown Grill and Chef's Table. We were so disappointed. It was just awful. There is nothing I could do to get Michael in there again....even if it was free and "all you could stand to eat".

Edited August 12, 2015 by dockhl

[jandlwilson]

We experienced the Crab Shack on Royal on our recent British Isles cruise. Had lots of onboard credit to use and we were a group of 4 Adults who enjoy seafood and we could not finish the meal. Way too much, but great meal and well worth $20 charge.

[Steelers36]

To get back to the OP's original question, isn't ALL the food on board all you can eat?

 

Not that I have the appetite for it, but you can even order two steak dinners, or even three in Crown Grill. (Now maybe they would call a stop at some point, :D). You can order more servings in MDR and extra desserts. You can stuff yourself full of burgers and pizzas. You can try every item on display in the IC show case - and then start all over again.

:eek:

[annecolorgreen]

I was really looking forward to it...sailing the Ruby this weekend :(

[dtb55]

I was really looking forward to it...sailing the Ruby this weekend :(

 

 

Try it. We had it on the Star and the food was plentiful, tasted fine and we had great servers. I'd do it again.

[sportsmum]

Another thumbs down for Ruby Crab Shack. Not all you can eat and the waiter didn't bring everything (bread and dessert). We didn't go hungry but when you pay a surcharge there are expectations.

Edited August 12, 2015 by sportsmum

[CruisingJs]

I'm really surprised by the negative posts. We've done Crab Shack twice...on the Emerald and the Golden. I was given more king crab legs than I could eat and so many peel and eat Shrimp I couldn't even eat half. The service was slow on the Emerald and excellent on the Golden. I thought it was one of the best meals of the cruise. I guess it's just not consistent across the fleet.

[pusywillow]

We experienced the Crab Shack on Royal on our recent British Isles cruise. Had lots of onboard credit to use and we were a group of 4 Adults who enjoy seafood and we could not finish the meal. Way too much, but great meal and well worth $20 charge.

 

This was my experience on the Royal as well. We are both big eaters and were stuffed, even skipping the soup course. Service was slow however, but we were in no rush.

[Murray's Pop]

Had it on the Star a few months ago and it was neither plentiful nor was it good. May try it again on another cruise given the usual good reviews, but what we experienced was NOT good.

[Chunder Worthy]

We just got off the Emeral Princess in the Med last month and went to both the Crown Grill and Sabbatini's. I didn't think the hands-on hassle of the Crab Shack would be worth the $20 (and I'm FROM the SF Bay Area where we love our Dungeness crab) when at least the Crown Grill was such a HUGE homerun (I'd give Sabbatini's a comparative "meh"). But in retrospect, I know I would have enjoyed the Crab Shack and am sorry we missed going (but I'll probably go to Phil's Fish Market in Moss Landing for some cioppino this weekend and all will be irrecovably forgotten - haha).

 

Enjoy (and PLEASE eat the share I didn't have)!

[DUCHESSRN]

Done Crab Shack twice on Grand ..it was wonderful . In January on the Star it was awful ,poor service NOT all you can eat and very small portions .