Princess serving regional food from Alaska restaurants

[Sandy R]

In L.A. Times today, there was an article in the Travel section "Hauling local catch aboard". Below is an excerpt from the article...

"Dishes from the popular Alaska Fish House in Ketchikan, Tracy's King Crab Shack in Juneau (crab cakes) and Skagway Fish Company (mermaid burgers), will now be served aboard Princess ships visiting Alaska. Besides offering local restaurant fare, Princess is partnering with the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute to feature a variety of Alaskan foods, including crab, salmon and halibut in the dining rooms and specialty restaurants. Princess chefs have been trained by Alaska seafood chefs to capture the flavors of the state".

[ikirumata]

In L.A. Times today, there was an article in the Travel section "Hauling local catch aboard". Below is an excerpt from the article...

"Dishes from the popular Alaska Fish House in Ketchikan, Tracy's King Crab Shack in Juneau (crab cakes) and Skagway Fish Company (mermaid burgers), will now be served aboard Princess ships visiting Alaska. Besides offering local restaurant fare, Princess is partnering with the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute to feature a variety of Alaskan foods, including crab, salmon and halibut in the dining rooms and specialty restaurants. Princess chefs have been trained by Alaska seafood chefs to capture the flavors of the state".

 

Awesome! I love this! I hope other lines follow suite!

[pklein9747]

Yes!!!!:):)

[Pumba's mom]

Yum yum....can't wait!

[pklein9747]

Yum yum....can't wait!

 

Kim...thought of you guys when I read this post this morning. Was going to email it to you...glad you saw it. Can't wait to try out this amazing food :)

[theelfqueen]

That's brilliant. Wish we were sailing with them now!

[300dtc]

In L.A. Times today, there was an article in the Travel section "Hauling local catch aboard". Below is an excerpt from the article...

"Dishes from the popular Alaska Fish House in Ketchikan, Tracy's King Crab Shack in Juneau (crab cakes) and Skagway Fish Company (mermaid burgers), will now be served aboard Princess ships visiting Alaska. Besides offering local restaurant fare, Princess is partnering with the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute to feature a variety of Alaskan foods, including crab, salmon and halibut in the dining rooms and specialty restaurants. Princess chefs have been trained by Alaska seafood chefs to capture the flavors of the state".

 

Can't wait, sailing North May 27th!!

[5waldos]

This will be a wonderful break from being offered Atlantic Salmon all over the world. Not that there is anything wrong with Atlantic Salmon but when you are in areas where wonderful fish and shellfish is available- it is disappointing. I was quite surprised on our first trips to Alaska that this local food approach was not available. Made no sense to me at all. Increasingly pleased that we booked Princess for our August Alaska trip.

 

Understand that they are also going to be offering some local cultural experiences on board. i guess they have figured out that people are actually interested in Alaska when they go- not just a cruise ship.

Edited March 11, 2015 by 5waldos

[cruisnpat]

I saw this on another thread and was very excited because we are booked on a princess cruise on May 16. Looking forward to the different foods from Alaska.

[Lulubelle45]

This is fabulous news! I have been craving Tracy ' s crab cakes since last year and this May I will be taking my soon to be 80 yr old mom on her first cruise, but it's only a 4 day Alaska sampler and only goes to Ketchikan. Don't know how she will fair cruising, 4 days is long enough to see how she likes it. Mmmmm crab cakes. Just wish they had the crab legs too and the bisque......

[xlxo]

This will be a wonderful break from being offered Atlantic Salmon all over the world. Not that there is anything wrong with Atlantic Salmon but when you are in areas where wonderful fish and shellfish is available- it is disappointing. I was quite surprised on our first trips to Alaska that this local food approach was not available. Made no sense to me at all. Increasingly pleased that we booked Princess for our August Alaska trip.

Do you prefer the salmon to be freshly caught or freshly canned? Look for sushi when you are in port.

[xlxo]

This is fabulous news! I have been craving Tracy ' s crab cakes since last year and this May I will be taking my soon to be 80 yr old mom on her first cruise, but it's only a 4 day Alaska sampler and only goes to Ketchikan. Don't know how she will fair cruising, 4 days is long enough to see how she likes it. Mmmmm crab cakes. Just wish they had the crab legs too and the bisque......

I think the 4 day sampler only goes to Ketchikan. Tracy is in Juneau. You can give live King crabs in Vancouver for dinner at premium Chinese restaurants. Just make sure there is 5 to 10 of your. There's no place for left overs.

[Assateague Island Princes]

Lulubelle - you can order Tracy's crab legs, bisque, crab cakes, etc. thru their website and have it shipped directly to your home. That way, when you have a 'hankering' it is waiting in your freezer. I order the bisque every year to take to my family's christmas celebration, and everyone is most appreciative!;) The website is www.kingcrabshack.com. Enjoy!

[5waldos]

Do you prefer the salmon to be freshly caught or freshly canned? Look for sushi when you are in port.

 

Freshly caught thanks. Sushi good, sashimi better. From local waters- not across the continent. Reminds me of eating trout here in the Rockies- caught just down the road, shipped to east coast and flash frozen (quoting what we were told here!) and then shipped back. And that in a really fine resort. Or sailing through the far western Pacific and being offered Atlanta salmon when all they needed to do was to drop a line of the side of the ship.

Edited March 13, 2015 by 5waldos

[BruceMuzz]

Freshly caught thanks. Sushi good, sashimi better. From local waters- not across the continent. Reminds me of eating trout here in the Rockies- caught just down the road, shipped to east coast and flash frozen (quoting what we were told here!) and then shipped back. And that in a really fine resort. Or sailing through the far western Pacific and being offered Atlanta salmon when all they needed to do was to drop a line of the side of the ship.

 

The most expensive place in the world to purchase fresh Alaska Salmon is Alaska.

Most cruise lines purchase it flash frozen through suppliers in Southern California.

We save around $10 per pound by doing it this way - and most cruisers cannot tell that it was flash frozen.

[5waldos]

The most expensive place in the world to purchase fresh Alaska Salmon is Alaska.

Most cruise lines purchase it flash frozen through suppliers in Southern California.

We save around $10 per pound by doing it this way - and most cruisers cannot tell that it was flash frozen.

 

I believe what you say. And if it is going to be cooked I probably couldn't tell the difference. Eating it as sashimi I could- or certainly I can tell if tuna sashimi has been frozen. Changes the texture.

 

But it makes no sense at all of course. But then many things don't.

[BlueRiband]

...all they needed to do was to drop a line off the side of the ship.

 

I know you just intended to make a point, but cruise lines don't allow fishing off their ships. The reasons are the myrid of local legal versus illegal catch regulations and possible parasites. Even ship sponsored fishing excusions don't allow passengers to bring their catches back on board. These are either catch and release or the catch is fileted, flash frozen, and shipped home.

 

No chance of preparing fresh sashimi on your balcony. (And unless you are bringing full scuba equipment on board one cannot get a decent knife past security.):(

[portiemom]

Even ship sponsored fishing excusions don't allow passengers to bring their catches back on board. These are either catch and release or the catch is fileted, flash frozen, and shipped home.

 

Not sure about that, my DH could bring, or have someone else bring, his salmon from Ketchikan on board to have cooked by the ship's chef and served that night. He chose to have all of his fish sent home. But I recall another fisherman chose differently and we saw his fish being served at a table near ours. Could it be cruise line dependent? We were on Princess.

[xlxo]

I know you just intended to make a point, but cruise lines don't allow fishing off their ships. The reasons are the myrid of local legal versus illegal catch regulations and possible parasites. Even ship sponsored fishing excusions don't allow passengers to bring their catches back on board. These are either catch and release or the catch is fileted, flash frozen, and shipped home.(

I always wondered about this when I can see the salmon jumping outside my balcony in Ketchikan. Ketchikan also sells shore fishing licenses and that bridge is very crowded.

[Editrix]

"Dishes from the popular Alaska Fish House in Ketchikan, Tracy's King Crab Shack in Juneau (crab cakes) and Skagway Fish Company (mermaid burgers), will now be served aboard Princess ships visiting Alaska".

 

Princess is also now offering a Taste of Juneau Walking Tour that includes a stop at Tracy's.

 

http://www.princess.com/excursion/exDetails.do?t=A&exType=S&tourCode=JNU-385

[5waldos]

I know you just intended to make a point, but cruise lines don't allow fishing off their ships. The reasons are the myrid of local legal versus illegal catch regulations and possible parasites. Even ship sponsored fishing excusions don't allow passengers to bring their catches back on board. These are either catch and release or the catch is fileted, flash frozen, and shipped home.

 

No chance of preparing fresh sashimi on your balcony. (And unless you are bringing full scuba equipment on board one cannot get a decent knife past security.):(

 

Yea- I do realize that. But it is so tempting! We were in the western Pacific last fall and I kept thinking how easy it would be to simply sit on the platform we used to board the zodiacs with a string and hook on the end of it- I'm sure we could have caught enough fresh fish for the entire ship (there were only about 94 of us).

[geoherb]

On our last cruise to Alaska, we had a grandmother with two college age grandsons on the trip. Their table was beside ours in the dining room. The boys caught salmon in Ketchikan and the chefs cooked it for them. We got to try it.

 

Even on that trip, Princess had some local foods. The biggest event was an afternoon "Taste of Alaska" buffet they served poolside.