Fresh fish at Seafood Shack

[Astromaid]

I was reading that Seafood shack sometimes has fresh fish offered purchased in port. Has anyone seen or tried this?

[Jasonsterling]

Do you mean the ports of call away from the United States? I don't think so but fresh fish bought in the U.S. definitely. More than 99% of the food on board is sourced in the United States- billions of dollars worth and it all has to be USDA approved. That said, The Seafood Shack is really hit and miss in what you get. It's pricey in comparison to other food options on the ship and sometimes the quality/portion just isn't there. See below two examples of the Lobster Roll, lol. First one on the Breeze in August and the last two shots on the Vista a week ago. It's the casino of food, lol. 

[sid_9169]

33 minutes ago, Jasonsterling said:

Do you mean the ports of call away from the United States? I don't think so but fresh fish bought in the U.S. definitely. More than 99% of the food on board is sourced in the United States- billions of dollars worth and it all has to be USDA approved. That said, The Seafood Shack is really hit and miss in what you get. It's pricey in comparison to other food options on the ship and sometimes the quality/portion just isn't there. See below two examples of the Lobster Roll, lol. First one on the Breeze in August and the last two shots on the Vista a week ago. It's the casino of food, lol. 

Wow, I would have just asked for a refund at the sight of such a paltry looking portion...

[Rudyard]

Definitely hit or miss. We've done it twice now and tried a variety of dishes. Some were good, some were "meh", but nothing that made us want to pay their prices again. Last time we wanted to try the crab legs but the market price was $28 per pound so we passed. 

[chengkp75]

43 minutes ago, Jasonsterling said:

I don't think so but fresh fish bought in the U.S. definitely.

With the exception of molluscan shellfish, virtually every protein brought onboard in the US is frozen.  This is to preclude the need to document that the protein has been maintained at the proper temperature from the time it was caught/slaughtered to arrival on the ship.  Fish brought on in foreign ports are very limited, as these need to be documented as well, and local fishermen don't typically have local regulations regarding food safety.

[IntrepidFromDC]

51 minutes ago, Jasonsterling said:

Do you mean the ports of call away from the United States? I don't think so but fresh fish bought in the U.S. definitely. More than 99% of the food on board is sourced in the United States- billions of dollars worth and it all has to be USDA approved. That said, The Seafood Shack is really hit and miss in what you get. It's pricey in comparison to other food options on the ship and sometimes the quality/portion just isn't there. See below two examples of the Lobster Roll, lol. First one on the Breeze in August and the last two shots on the Vista a week ago. It's the casino of food, lol. 

mayonnaise sandwiches

[dbrucern]

1 hour ago, Astromaid said:

I was reading that Seafood shack sometimes has fresh fish offered purchased in port. Has anyone seen or tried this?

If the ship has it we eat there, have never been disappointed with a meal, my husband always gets the seafood platter and likes the light batter this is $10 and I love clam strips and fries which is $5. The prices for the king crab and lobster are market prices but cheaper than we paid in Alaska or Seattle

 

Edited January 16, 2022 by dbrucern

[britbritrawr09]

5 minutes ago, dbrucern said:

If the ship has it we eat there, have never been disappointed with a meal, my husband always gets the seafood platter and likes the light batter this is $10 and I love clam strips and fries which is $5. The prices for the king crab and lobster are market prices but cheaper than we paid in Alaska or Seattle

 

I saw people complaining about the price but I live in the Bay Area. I was like ten dollars for a fish platter!! I was excited lol 

[firefly333]

1 hour ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

mayonnaise sandwiches

I asked for no mayo on lobster rolls, just butter .. twice and got it. Loved it. Not huge but luckily I'm not a big eater and they added french fries.

[firefly333]

Dup

Edited January 16, 2022 by firefly333

[chengkp75]

The meat from 4 of those sandwiches would be about 1 $12 low end roll up here.

[BlerkOne]

47 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

The meat from 4 of those sandwiches would be about 1 $12 low end roll up here.

Where the current temperature is?

[BlerkOne]

Terrible picture but fresh?

 

 

[staceyglow]

3 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Terrible picture but fresh?

 

 

Just because it is whole fish on ice doesn't mean it wasn't previously frozen. 

Edited January 16, 2022 by staceyglow

[BlerkOne]

3 minutes ago, staceyglow said:

Just because it is whole fish on ice doesn't mean it wasn't previously frozen. 

True. Most "fresh" fish may well have been on ice for days before reaching port. Might be better to freeze at sea.

[staceyglow]

1 minute ago, BlerkOne said:

True. Most "fresh" fish may well have been on ice for days before reaching port. Might be better to freeze at sea.

At a recent Chef's Table I was at, someone asked if they ever bring on food at a port. The Chef said "Never".  He said they they may get some food from another ship on the same port, but all the food is purchased and brought on board in the United States. Even then, it is very limited, such as bananas and other perishable items that can't be frozen. 

[BlerkOne]

4 minutes ago, staceyglow said:

At a recent Chef's Table I was at, someone asked if they ever bring on food at a port. The Chef said "Never".  He said they they may get some food from another ship on the same port, but all the food is purchased and brought on board in the United States. Even then, it is very limited, such as bananas and other perishable items that can't be frozen. 

I'm not sure I'm buying than. Perhaps for US only cruises. People may starve on the Carnival Pride European cruises this summer. I know once upon a time Carnival was looking to source the beef from South America, but that never happened.

[chengkp75]

15 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

True. Most "fresh" fish may well have been on ice for days before reaching port. Might be better to freeze at sea.

Nearly all fish is flash frozen on the fishing boat.  And then sold as fresh. 

[chengkp75]

1 minute ago, BlerkOne said:

I'm not sure I'm buying than. Perhaps for US only cruises. People may starve on the Carnival Pride European cruises this summer. I know once upon a time Carnival was looking to source the beef from South America, but that never happened.

Actually,  a lot of food on European cruises are sourced in the US,  as they try to maintain consistency across the fleet. 

[linga]

Does the seafood shack have oysters on the half shell?? 🙂

[BlerkOne]

8 minutes ago, linga said:

Does the seafood shack have oysters on the half shell?? 🙂

When available, yes.

[Astromaid]

I was afraid it was too good to be true. I have watched Mighty Cruise Ships where a chef went into port to see what fresh fish he could purchase. But it is higher end cruise ships and in Europe.

[mondello]

2 hours ago, Astromaid said:

I was afraid it was too good to be true. I have watched Mighty Cruise Ships where a chef went into port to see what fresh fish he could purchase. But it is higher end cruise ships and in Europe.

I'd have no problem eating fresh fish an experienced chef procured in port.

[Oletruckdude]

My DW and I ate at the seafood shack on the Magic last Oct. It was terrible. We had fried fish, clams and shrimp. It tasted like it had all been fried in dirty oil. Strong after taste. We Left it all on the table for garbage.

It's the only really BAD meal we've had in 12 carnival cruises, but enough to turn use off on the seafood shack.

We really love Guys burgers, the tacos venue, Pig and Anchor, Jiji's, the pizza, the deli, the steakhouse, and the buffet. We rarely ever eat in the MDR because it just takes too long to get through dinner. 

Oh, and the shakes at the Shake Shack are soooo good.

Lots of great food options with carnival!

[scpirate]

7 hours ago, staceyglow said:

Just because it is whole fish on ice doesn't mean it wasn't previously frozen. 

Exactly its what you get at kroger thawed out frozen fish.