RCCL No More Lobster in 08, Same for Celebrity?

[MortgageChick]

Just off the Navigator of the Seas last Sunday. 13 Nights from Southampton. 3 formal nights. Last night we had Surf and Turf with Lagostina Lobster, for those that don't know this is the smallest ugliest excuse for lobster I have ever seen. The tail was 2 inches long by 1.5 inches wide. They cut the "thing" in half and it's insides are disgusting. The waiter started apologising 3 days ahead of time adn suggested the Chicken Cordon Bleu that evening instead. No Real Lobster on that trip.

[CaribbeanCrazy]

I have ordered lobster on most of the 16+ cruises I have taken. Believe me...I'm no foodie or lobster critic...but I can honestly say I have never had a good lobster on a cruiseship.:( Most if not all have been tasteless and rubbery. The only reason I continue to order it is in hopes that my luck will change and I will get a decent one. So needless to say (but I will anyway:)) I would not miss it if they removed it from the menus!

 

CarribeanCrazy

[CathyCruises]

Just had it on Century 3 weeks ago and it was yummy--and big! But no kitchen tour was ever offered that I saw--and I did look.

 

cp

[selltile]

I eat ice cream desserts about once a year and this has no appeal for me--I'll even take HA silly serving night over the baked alaska parade

[bobbyleduck]

I don't eat seafood of any kind, so lobster holds no appeal. As for baked Alaska. I don't get it and I never order it. Now, if they take away my WAFFLES, look out.

 

WWWAMW!

 

Happy cruising to all!

 

Bob

[sasset]

I just disembarked Millennium last weekend and as I have stated before "the new menus" are identical to the old menus with just one new appetizer and one new main course every evening.

 

The Chef told us during the Galley Tour that the recipees did not change AT ALL since the departure of Michael Roux. Only the new dishes are non Michael Roux recipees. These new dishes have been rolled out fleet wide during the past months. There are no further changes to be expected in the very near future.

 

And obviously there is lobster on the last formal night. It was delicious.

 

Floris

 

Just off of the Summit. On our galley tour the chef said that they were supposed to have the new menus integrated by December, but that they were only about half done. He said he expected to be fully revised by about April. He didn't say, and no one asked, what the differences would be just that Michel Roux was out and the Blau Group was in. I was surprised to learn that all of the food in The Normandie (speciality restaurant) is prepared from the same ingredients as the Cosmopolitan (main dining room). More emphasis on presentation and tableside finishing and more cooked to order on the things that can be quickly prepared.

 

We had lobster on the last formal night. It was better than our last few Celebrity cruises, good but not great.

 

Regards

[tompeter]

Jade, the galley tour you asked about is a "perk" offered to Captain's Club select and elite members. I had it offered in Sept. on 4 night Mercury cruise, so potentially I guess Century could offer one as well.

 

Tom

[MEcruzr]

Sometimes, a food item isn't on a menu because it doesn't "make the ship" at embarkation. On our S. American cruise the Mercury didn't get the egg product they needed to make Hollandaise sauce (in Valpariso)... some people were quite upset over this! They said they couldn't use fresh eggs because they were needed for other things. I have also been on cruises when there were no fresh berries (raspberries/blueberries/blackberries)... only frozen. Again, when I asked they said they couldn't get them at embarkation for some reason. If you're on a cruise with no lobster, it may be from lack of availability, not because the cruiseline has decided against serving it ever again.

[FinelyCruising]

Good to know. Thanks!

[Luv4dacruise]

I dont eat Lobster, so it would not bother me in the least if they got rid of it, my reasons for not liking it may be different from everyone elses though. I live in NE, and when i was young, my parents would regularly buy lobsters for dinner. Well, they would bring em home, heat up the pot, and just leave the lobsters on the counter for a while. Everytime i would open up the bag, take em out, play with them, name them, have races with them. To make a long story short, its impossible to be able to enjoy eating anything that you have previously bonded with and named...:p

 

Havent had a taste for lobster since :p

 

As far as the Baked Alaska goes, cake, ice cream and merengue. Oooohhh yay (pause for sarcastic stare)....Never really cared for it. Its like eating birthday cake without the presents, pretty depressing actually :p

 

Happy Cruising!

[evoni]

Jade 13,

 

As mentioned the Kitchen tour is a perk for Captain's Club Select and Elite members and on our recent Panama Canal cruise it was not even mentioned in the Celebrity Today but was by invitation only. We were lucky enough to do the tour that trip even though officially we wouldn't be Select until our next cruise by politely asking the Captain's Club hostess if we could be included if she ended up having room for us. I have a short film clip and some photos of the tour in my blog at http://www.evoni.blogspot.com. It's listed as Sunday, November 11th, 2007, Kitchen tour and last formal night if you are interested.

 

We had lobster that trip and it was actually good. In 2006 on our Baltic cruise on the Constellation it wasn't that great so I wasn't expecting better on the Infinity but it was cooked perfectly instead of dried out and had some light seasoning on it that was quite tasty.

 

Diana

[Kathie44]

Luv4dacruise, I thought you were going to say that the lobsters weren't from Maine and that's why you didn't like them. That's what the tablemates from Maine said on our 2nd cruise. They really turned up their noses at the mere thought of a non-Maine lobster. The waiter on our last cruise told us the lobsters were from Honduras.

I understand your not being able to eat you're "friends", lol. I can't eat lamb, even though I don't have one as a friend. I just picture it frolicking in a meadow with a bell around its neck and ....:eek: Eating veal is not a problem, though--go figure, ;D

[MEcruzr]

Kathie... I haven't met a Mainiac yet who actually eats cruise ship lobster. ;) Our waiters are always trying to get us to order it... and then they want to bring it anyway, even though we refuse to order it. Once they find out where we're from, they stop. lol

 

MECruzr aka Maine Cruiser

[FinelyCruising]

Let me guess why.....are they from Canada?;)

[MEcruzr]

No... lobster from the Gulf of Maine, whether caught in Canadian waters or Maine waters is the same species. Lobster on cruise ships is seldom from the cold Gulf of Maine (unless you're on a NE/CA cruise)... it's from warmer waters and a different species. The taste and texture is different. It's much like salmon... some people don't like Atlantic salmon (aquaculture fish, usually from Chili), they prefer wild salmon from the NW, especially if they are FROM the NW. Same name on the menu, "salmon", but different species of fish. People from the NW are usually the same way about salmon as people from Maine are about lobster. ;) Another issue with cruiseship lobster is that it's been frozen. It has to be, of course, on a ship... but to us, that's just not right. Lobster should be cooked live.

[FinelyCruising]

My husband is in the restaurant business, and I do some understanding where things come from. I beleive right now the lobsters you are referring to are coming from Canada as it's their 'turn' right now.

[MEcruzr]

By "their turn" do you mean it's their season for catching lobster? Because it's not. The lobster are returning to deep water for the winter. They migrate to deep ocean during the winter and come back close to shore for the summer months... that's "lobster season", July (we hope to be into the season by July 4th) to October or so, it's all up to the lobster! Right now most lobstermen have hauled their gear for the winter, although this year the season did run long... the lobster took longer than usual to start their winter migration to deep water. Lobster is more expensive during the winter as fewer fishermen lobster all year... you need a larger boat for offshore fishing, boats have to go out in bad weather, go further (fuel costs) and fish deeper (more risk of losing gear). Nova Scotia (where CA lobster mostly comes from) has worse winter weather than we do protected by the Gulf.

 

The lobster tails I've seen served on cruise ships look nothing like our lobster, either. It's shell is darker (mottled greenish) and spinier. Cold water lobster has a smoother shell and turns red when cooked.

[bububr]

First luv4dacruise: "To make a long story short, its impossible to be able to enjoy eating anything that you have previously bonded with and named...:p " I totally agree, and growing up in a farming area of Massachusetts, I made friends with the furry creatures so I stopped eating beef and lamb. However working on Nantucket during the summers, I loved the lobster bakes;) . I do understand your choice as lobsters DO communicate and make noise, However I like to eat them.

 

Mecruzr: I have to agree with your comments.

 

Aside from wild caught lobster, there are also some lobster farms around the world. Perhaps the difference between eating a wild lobster and a farmed one could be one of the differences in texture and taste, as wild salmon tastes different than farmed salmon to me also. The lobster tails are flash frozen on top of everything else which effects the taste and texture.

 

The bottom line is, if you don't want it or like it, you simply do not have to order it. Some of us do like not only the lobster, but the tradition and look forward to that last formal night dinner. I hope they keep the tradition going.

 

As for wild caught products, we as a world have become so wasteful and overpopulated that we are OVER fishing the waters, and OVER farming the lands on top of creating non-bio waste that affects everything we eat and grow.

 

Dave:eek:

[MEcruzr]

Dave, the farmed lobster is the (tropical) Rock Lobster. Cold water lobster can't, so far, be raised in captivity (they're cannibalistic, picky about what you do feed them and grow too slowly). They are raising "seed lobsters" in Maine... hatching the eggs and raising the lobsters through the larval stage. Once they reach 5th stage of development, where they drop to the ocean floor (they spend the larval stage floating), they are released. It takes too long to raise them to market size... 5 to 7 years... for it to be a profitable enterprise. Yet. ;)

 

Besides the freezing part, the difference in species is what makes the biggest difference in taste and texture when it comes to salmon and lobster. It's like comparing the taste of antelope, buffalo and cattle. All bovines, but they sure taste different.

 

I hope Celebrity continues to offer lobster on the last formal night and the reason some people didn't get it was due to lack of availability, not a menu change. As you said, Dave... it's a tradition and many people DO like it and look forward to it. Even if you don't choose to eat it, I think it adds to the evening... just like the Baked Alaska. It just wouldn't be the same without it. :)

[bububr]

I agree.

 

I look forward to that last formal night. It is both the best night and the worse for me.

 

While I look forward to the lobster tail and Baked Alaska.....I always get sad when we all hold hands and sing Auld Lang Syne marking the beginning of the end of the journey and saying good bye to newly made friends.

 

Dave:eek:

[FinelyCruising]

Here is some seasonal harvesting information about the American Lobster:

 

SEASON

• In New England, year round, but most landings from July to October

• In Canada, seasons vary by province. Major fisheries include New Brunswick and P.E.I. (late spring and early fall) and Nova Scotia (November-July)

 

Here's one answer to why there are seasons:

 

Like all shellfish, lobsters molt, shedding their shells in order to grow into a new larger shell. Such "new-shell" lobsters tend be more fragile and have a lower meat fill than similarly aged hard-shell lobsters.

Canada's lobster fishery is closed during the summer, when lobsters typically molt. The New England lobster fishery, however, does not have a closed season and a high percentage of the catch from July through September is new shell lobsters .

In Canada, where annual landings average around 40,000 tons, the harvest season varies by province. The biggest catches are in the spring (New Brunswick and P.E.I.) and fall (Nova Scotia).

[ginagirl]

Just came off a 2 week Hawaii sailing on the Summit and had lobster at the end of the cruise. Previously sailed RCL and Princess to Hawaii and always had lobster offered twice during the 2 week cruises.

2 to 1 to 0 ?????? What next????

[mourne]

MEcruzr

 

You do know your lobster! Exactly the same where I come from.

 

mourne

[mourne]

Just off the Navigator of the Seas last Sunday. 13 Nights from Southampton. 3 formal nights. Last night we had Surf and Turf with Lagostina Lobster, for those that don't know this is the smallest ugliest excuse for lobster I have ever seen. The tail was 2 inches long by 1.5 inches wide. They cut the "thing" in half and it's insides are disgusting. The waiter started apologising 3 days ahead of time adn suggested the Chicken Cordon Bleu that evening instead. No Real Lobster on that trip.

 

 

What you were offered was not lobster but Lagsotines which are a type of large prawn, delicious if properly prepared and cooked. The 'inside' can be removed before cooking by pulling the centre tail 'fan' . These creatures do not need to be boiled when alive.

Much nicer than the warm water lobster which can be tough, but not as nice as the cold water lobster when in season.

 

Mourne

[FinelyCruising]

"There are two types of frozen lobster tails - warm-water or cold-water lobster tails.

 

Warm-water lobster tails are mainly from Florida, the Caribbean, and Latin America.

 

Warm-water lobster tails are not as reliable in quality as the cold-water lobster tails, as the meat can be mushy and not firm. There is nothing worse than spending your time and money to prepare a wonderful dinner and have one of the dishes not be up to par! Especially when you are spending the extra money to serve lobster tails.

 

Another way to tell the difference is by looking at the shells. Caribbean warm-water tails have distinct yellow spots and a yellow band across the tail.

 

Cold-water lobster tails generally come from Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. It is harder to get frozen lobster tails from Maine as the lobster are more expensive and the tails usually have less meat.

 

Look for the cold water ones, as they have whiter meat and are considered more tender because they grown more slowly in colder winters. Yes, the cold-water lobster tails will probably be more expensive, but why take a chance!

 

There is a difference in taste and quality in these two types of frozen lobster tails. When buying frozen lobster tail, ask the fish provider if they are warm-water or cold water lobsters. If your fish provider doesn't know, just presume they are warm-water lobster and don't purchase."

 

Since the cruiseline offers only tails on the ships, it's not about a whole fresh lobster....this may help in understanding why there is some confusion about what is the subject of disappointment from time to time.