Question about steak in the dining room?

[Thrak]

The rib-eye was a new offering on the Alaska menus. Our waiter made a point to tell us about it so that we wouldn't miss out. It was excellent. It wasn't as big as ones in the Crown Grill, but it was a decent size and tender. I would compare it to the Harris Ranch rib-eyes that we buy at Bel Air grocery stores.

 

That would actually be better for me. I normally don't order the rib-eye in CG because I simply can't eat that much and hate leaving it to waste. A smaller cut would suit me just fine. One of the things we like about eating in MDR is that the portions are smaller and we can have a full meal without feeling bloated or having to leave a bunch to be thrown out. Hopefully this will be offered regularly and I can give it a shot in October.

[riclop]

Another cutback.

[Thrak]

I was on the Royal Princess for 20 day in January no steak in the MD at all. You had to go to the CG for steak and I don't think it was that good (The Steak). Sorry to all the CG lovers!!

Tony

 

It just doesn't really compare to the "Beef Jerky Surprise" on the Rowboat. Chewy goodness!

[Colo Cruiser]

It just doesn't really compare to the "Beef Jerky Surprise" on the Rowboat. Chewy goodness!

 

 

Beef lips.

[jwattle]

It just doesn't really compare to the "Beef Jerky Surprise" on the Rowboat. Chewy goodness!

Especially when followed by the evening's "Rowboat Red Rotgut" ...nothing like it to fire up a calm stomach, clear the sinuses, and burn the throat with a searing heat.;p:halo::evilsmile:

[Lucky TGO]

Thrak, Keith and jwattle,

You guys have finally realize how good things are on the Rowboat!!

We also have a great chef that catches fish right from the Charles River every day. It's sooooooooo good. :D

The Captain of the Rowboat,

Tony

[Thrak]

Thrak, Keith and jwattle,

You guys have finally realize how good things are on the Rowboat!!

We also have a great chef that catches fish right from the Charles River every day. It's sooooooooo good. :D

The Captain of the Rowboat,

Tony

 

It's the fried chicken that really makes it special though. There's nothing quite like your "Bucket of Beaks and Knees". Having that for the "Aft Gunwale Meal" is really something to remember.

[Credit 00]

You guys are really putting me off eating on Princess, That's princess cruises, not my neighbors dog called Princess.

 

Did we come to a conclusion? I've only seen "Beef Suggestions" in the md, like "Beef Strip" or "Beef Medallion", never an actual steak. Only seen Steak in the Crown grill.

[GweninTX]

You guys are really putting me off eating on Princess, That's princess cruises, not my neighbors dog called Princess.

 

Did we come to a conclusion? I've only seen "Beef Suggestions" in the md, like "Beef Strip" or "Beef Medallion", never an actual steak. Only seen Steak in the Crown grill.

 

 

 

The strip steak is an "actual " steak and the medallions are "filet mignons". Those are actual steaks!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Aus Traveller]

I love the beef medallions and I am really sorry that they are no longer on the "Always available" section of the menu.:)

[mrs and mrs]

The buffet has an endless supply of undercooked tri-tip

[Teresa Price]

On Crown last week the burger had replaced the steak. Not a popular move with DH.

And the grill now $30

Edited June 9, 2017 by Teresa Price
mistake

[SewMuch]

Maybe they will eventually do what RCI does. Offer a steak every night in the MDR but you pay additional for it. I'm sort of surprised they haven't done that already.

[Colo Cruiser]

Maybe they will eventually do what RCI does. Offer a steak every night in the MDR but you pay additional for it. I'm sort of surprised they haven't done that already.

 

 

 

I sure hope not!! :rolleyes:

[stoneharborlady]

I love the beef medallions and I am really sorry that they are no longer on the "Always available" section of the menu.:)

 

 

Me too, and many others do too. Replacing this option with a hamburger is just ridiculous.

[Astro Flyer]

Maybe they will eventually do what RCI does. Offer a steak every night in the MDR but you pay additional for it. I'm sort of surprised they haven't done that already.

 

Not only on RCI but based on this September 2014 article also in the Carnival MDR.

 

"Passengers will be able to choose from a 1 1/2 pound Maine lobster, 14 oz. New York Strip Steak, a 9 oz. filet mignon, and surf and turf. Each entree will cost $20, a savings of $15 over the steakhouse fee of $35 per person".

[keithm]

I was on the Royal Princess for 20 day in January no steak in the MD at all. You had to go to the CG for steak and I don't think it was that good (The Steak). Sorry to all the CG lovers!!

Tony

I'll give you an example from my food purchases, Tony. About 3 years ago, the sirloin flap meat that we buy the most was about $6.80lb. This is for choice "peeled". Now it runs about $8.75-9.25lb. We have discovered a New Zealand flap that was about $5.30lb. It's now gone up to $6.50lb. Higher, but still a better deal. I'm sure that "Carnivore Corp" uses mostly Sysco/US Foods for their vendors. We buy most of our meat at "Restaurant Depot".

Unlike Sam's Club/BJ'S/Costco, Rest. Depot ONLY sells to food service businesses like restaurants & caterers. This is why cruise lines are cutting back on the steaks. In CG(we both know)the quality has gone down from Choice to Select to Standard. At least on the Celebrity Eclipse they still use choice, but the entrance fee has gone up. They've actually experimented with selling "Prime" on a few ship for another $25 surcharge over the current $45 charge. Hard to say where it's going.. A lot of meat is now going to China, along with a lot of our New England Lobsters. My Partner is Chinese & his reply is simple: "If we want it, we will buy it, No matter what the cost" I'm afraid it's not going to get cheaper anytime soon, unfortunately.

[keithm]

Beef lips.

Never buy Gribenes from a Mohel! It's too chewy.

[elfinmagic]

I'll give you an example from my food purchases, Tony. About 3 years ago, the sirloin flap meat that we buy the most was about $6.80lb. This is for choice "peeled". Now it runs about $8.75-9.25lb. We have discovered a New Zealand flap that was about $5.30lb. It's now gone up to $6.50lb. Higher, but still a better deal. I'm sure that "Carnivore Corp" uses mostly Sysco/US Foods for their vendors. We buy most of our meat at "Restaurant Depot".

Unlike Sam's Club/BJ'S/Costco, Rest. Depot ONLY sells to food service businesses like restaurants & caterers. This is why cruise lines are cutting back on the steaks. In CG(we both know)the quality has gone down from Choice to Select to Standard. At least on the Celebrity Eclipse they still use choice, but the entrance fee has gone up. They've actually experimented with selling "Prime" on a few ship for another $25 surcharge over the current $45 charge. Hard to say where it's going.. A lot of meat is now going to China, along with a lot of our New England Lobsters. My Partner is Chinese & his reply is simple: "If we want it, we will buy it, No matter what the cost" I'm afraid it's not going to get cheaper anytime soon, unfortunately.

 

My dad was a pro meatcutter but I do not know what a "flap" is - please enlighten me.

BTW - we buy all of our strip and ribeye at Sams and they are the best except for prime which is hard to find and when found is not in my pay grade

 

We have 506 days on Princess and 7 days on Celebrity - the food on Celebrity is a step below McDonalds

Edited June 9, 2017 by elfinmagic
added content

[elfinmagic]

I'll give you an example from my food purchases, Tony. About 3 years ago, the sirloin flap meat that we buy the most was about $6.80lb. This is for choice "peeled". Now it runs about $8.75-9.25lb. We have discovered a New Zealand flap that was about $5.30lb. It's now gone up to $6.50lb. Higher, but still a better deal. I'm sure that "Carnivore Corp" uses mostly Sysco/US Foods for their vendors. We buy most of our meat at "Restaurant Depot".

Unlike Sam's Club/BJ'S/Costco, Rest. Depot ONLY sells to food service businesses like restaurants & caterers. This is why cruise lines are cutting back on the steaks. In CG(we both know)the quality has gone down from Choice to Select to Standard. At least on the Celebrity Eclipse they still use choice, but the entrance fee has gone up. They've actually experimented with selling "Prime" on a few ship for another $25 surcharge over the current $45 charge. Hard to say where it's going.. A lot of meat is now going to China, along with a lot of our New England Lobsters. My Partner is Chinese & his reply is simple: "If we want it, we will buy it, No matter what the cost" I'm afraid it's not going to get cheaper anytime soon, unfortunately.

 

We have 506 days on Princess and 7 on Celebrity - Celebrity food is a step below McDonalds

[VibeGuy]

Flap is aka "steak tips" in parts of the country. It's found on the bottom butt portion of the bottom sirloin.

 

FWIW, the beef in Crown Grill is USDA Inspected but not necessarily grade marked. The "Sterling Silver" branding is actually a trademark of Cargill. The most common trick I'm seeing in this space is that the beef is marbled like choice or even Prime, but is from a steer older than 30 months so it can't grade as Choice or Prime. Even if it's marbled like Prime the best an older steer can grade out as is Commercial. The same thing with Select, incidentally - you can actually have Standard with more marbling than Select if it's from a steer older than like 15 months. So these big packers come up with a proprietary brand and set their own grade standard for it.

 

 

My problem with Princess beef is that it's all wet-aged. I eat grain-finished dry-aged beef with either Abundant or Moderately Abundant marbling at home, and I'm not picky about maturity grade (so it's either Prime or the REALLY high end of Commercial, and thus usually ends up as "no-roll", aka Inspected but not Graded. Regardless of how tender or tough Princess beef is, it's rarely intensely flavorful.

 

If I ran the zoo, I'd serve flat iron, Bavette, outside skirt, zabuton and pretty much any steak that wasn't filet/strip/ribeye/t-bone/porter/sirloin onboard. More flavor, lower average cost per pound.

[OCruisers]

The Prime Rib on Princess:

We like ours on the rare side of medium-rare and have normally been happy. :)

Not so much with other steaks (beef) in the MDR ....

but never have a problem finding something we enjoy.

Happily, we have some great steak restaurants at home so it's not a big deal to us on cruises. Probably, many of you are the same. :)

[Lucky TGO]

It's the fried chicken that really makes it special though. There's nothing quite like your "Bucket of Beaks and Knees". Having that for the "Aft Gunwale Meal" is really something to remember.

 

Thrak,

I am so happy that you finally realize what a privilege it is to be a Elite member of the Rowboat :D

and receive the BEST of everything. Especially the Quality of the food. There will never be any cutbacks on the Rowboat.

The Captain of the Rowboat,

Tony

[LeeW]

Last Panama trip in April the only beef on the Anytime menu was the burger. We are not getting burgers in a dining room. On one night the only beef was short ribs, on another it was a really lousy pot roast. On a third night there were no beef options in the main menu at all. In the past my wife ate the medallions five nights out of seven (prime rib and chateaubriand the others). We eat mostly chicken at home and have no interest in the endless scallops or seafood. We are cruising on Royal for the next four cruises. Had a few tough steaks there but always available.

 

By the way, saw very few people eating the Curtis Stone stuff. The Chocolate Journeys desserts were available almost every night in the buffet even when not in the main dining room (usually the hazelnut square).

[Lucky TGO]

Last Panama trip in April the only beef on the Anytime menu was the burger. We are not getting burgers in a dining room. On one night the only beef was short ribs, on another it was a really lousy pot roast. On a third night there were no beef options in the main menu at all. In the past my wife ate the medallions five nights out of seven (prime rib and chateaubriand the others). We eat mostly chicken at home and have no interest in the endless scallops or seafood. We are cruising on Royal for the next four cruises. Had a few tough steaks there but always available.

 

By the way, saw very few people eating the Curtis Stone stuff. The Chocolate Journeys desserts were available almost every night in the buffet even when not in the main dining room (usually the hazelnut square).

 

Is Princess just trying to get us steak lovers to go to the CG??

Tony