Differing Ingredients for the Catering

[Aussie Cruisers]

I was thinking about storage space onboard the ship and was wondering about catering.

 

Would someone let me know please.....

 

1) When ships move from US to Aust/NZ (for example) do they stock up most food prior to leaving the States (I assume)? If so, how long will this last until they need to buy in Aust or NZ?

 

2) How often is the fish and seafood 'turned over' on the ship.... no - not while cooking :p but do they throw out left overs after a few days or is it stored for as long as possible etc?? Do they buy the fish from the market in NZ in the morning so it is fresh that night?

 

I hope I am being clear here! I am curious as there is a thread on the "Ask a cruise question" about the quality of the lobster and I know that the lobster varies in taste from place to place (I mean no offence here). So - do we get Australian lobster or American lobster? Do we get frozen or fresh? Does it really matter - you tell me! :)

 

Thanks!

 

Mark.

[Desertbelle]

I would bet my car that the lobster tails are frozen, and my guess is that they are from whatever country that has the best price. :)

[TravelerThom]

I was thinking about storage space onboard the ship and was wondering about catering.

 

Would someone let me know please.....

 

1) When ships move from US to Aust/NZ (for example) do they stock up most food prior to leaving the States (I assume)? If so, how long will this last until they need to buy in Aust or NZ?

 

2) How often is the fish and seafood 'turned over' on the ship.... no - not while cooking :p but do they throw out left overs after a few days or is it stored for as long as possible etc?? Do they buy the fish from the market in NZ in the morning so it is fresh that night?

 

I hope I am being clear here! I am curious as there is a thread on the "Ask a cruise question" about the quality of the lobster and I know that the lobster varies in taste from place to place (I mean no offence here). So - do we get Australian lobster or American lobster? Do we get frozen or fresh? Does it really matter - you tell me! :)

In general a ship carries approximately the amount of food needed just for that voyage. I have seen beverages being loaded at intermediate ports, but I have been told that most meat, fruit, staples etc. provisioning goes thru Miami, and is shipped in frozen and refrigerated containers to be loaded on ships no matter where they are at the beginning of a particular cruise.

 

I do know that when we cruised from Barcelona to Miami [X Century, Dec 2007]much of the beef left a lot to be desired, and the Maitre d' said that storms in the Atlantic (which had in fact been bad the preceding week) had prevented the arrival of their normal supplies, and they had had to buy beef in Spain and it had not turned out good [the joking rumor on the ship was that we got the losers from the bull ring]. I have also been on X Zenith that was running out of sad looking bananas while we were docked in Puerto Lemon, Costa Rico - a major banana shipping port.

[Karynanne]

We just completed a B2B (Sydney to Honolulu) last week, and supplies (meats, produce, diary, produce) were uploaded in Sydney for the 2 weeks, and then in Aukland for the next 2 weeks. We did notice that fresh produce and fruit were being brought onboard in Tahiti.

 

The meats for both cruises were extremely good, as were the all the veggies and fruits. Fish, I suspect was frozen...but we really enjoyed all the fish meals. Actually, they were the best we've had on any of our Celebrity cruises.

 

Vendors vary from destination to destination. That's why some qualities of meats or produce may be better on some cruises.

[Aussie Cruisers]

Thanks everyone... makes sense!:D

[terrydtx]

As a general rule on mass marketed cruise lines the fish is received frozen and stored on the ship that way because of the short shelf life. I have never really had a good piece of fish on a cruise ship and now stay away from ordering any on a cruise. I do not buy or eat any fish at home that has been previously frozen so why eat it on a cruise. On our last cruise on HAL Volendam my DW ordered the salmon the first night and it was about as dry as the Arizona desert,:eek: that was the last fish ordered on that cruise. The biggest shame is that on our Alaska cruise 2 years ago the ship served farm raised and frozen Atlantic salmon. That’s like serving USA lamb in NZ or Austrailia.:eek: :eek: :eek:

[Karynanne]

As a general rule on mass marketed cruise lines the fish is received frozen and stored on the ship that way because of the short shelf life. I have never really had a good piece of fish on a cruise ship and now stay away from ordering any on a cruise. I do not buy or eat any fish at home that has been previously frozen so why eat it on a cruise. On our last cruise on HAL Volendam my DW ordered the salmon the first night and it was about as dry as the Arizona desert,:eek: that was the last fish ordered on that cruise. The biggest shame is that on our Alaska cruise 2 years ago the ship served farm raised and frozen Atlantic salmon. That’s like serving USA lamb in NZ or Austrailia.:eek: :eek: :eek:

 

We used to feel the exact same way about the fish dishes as you do...but on this last Mercury cruise, our opinion changed.

 

The fish dishes were extremely good. Funny that you mentioned that remark about lamb...we were eating rack of lamb, and asked where it was from, and they said, "Colorado". Here we were...off the coast of New Zealand, and eating Colorado lamb! But it was delicious. Cooked to perfection.

 

I would guess that Celebrity contracts with large meat producers, for good pricing, etc. So using a different meat vendor for only a couple of months time, could produce negative results. They probably stay will companies that they have developed good relationships with, and with whom they can trust their products.

[prosenbl]

I was told by the "hotel manager" that almost all of the food is from the US - no matter where you are sailing - because the US has might tighter regulations.

[calgarygary]

I was thinking about storage space onboard the ship and was wondering about catering.

 

Would someone let me know please.....

 

1) When ships move from US to Aust/NZ (for example) do they stock up most food prior to leaving the States (I assume)? If so, how long will this last until they need to buy in Aust or NZ?

 

2) How often is the fish and seafood 'turned over' on the ship.... no - not while cooking :p but do they throw out left overs after a few days or is it stored for as long as possible etc?? Do they buy the fish from the market in NZ in the morning so it is fresh that night?

 

I hope I am being clear here! I am curious as there is a thread on the "Ask a cruise question" about the quality of the lobster and I know that the lobster varies in taste from place to place (I mean no offence here). So - do we get Australian lobster or American lobster? Do we get frozen or fresh? Does it really matter - you tell me! :)

 

Thanks!

 

Mark.

 

One of the disappointments that I had regarding dining on the Galaxy was the complete reliance on frozen fish. Nothing, including the fish used in the sushi, was fresh.

edited to add: We did however get fresh fish on the islands!

[Cruise Junky]

I was told by the "hotel manager" that almost all of the food is from the US - no matter where you are sailing - because the US has might tighter regulations.

 

One thing that really caught my eye when we were on Millennium was the fish waiting to be loaded in Athens. I'm from Vancouver and we have a very fine fish establishment here called 7 Seas. Sure enough, sitting on the dock in Athens were boxes upon boxes of frozen 7 Seas seafood waiting to be loaded onto Millie. So it's not just the US, more like North America.

[terrydtx]

I hope I am being clear here! I am curious as there is a thread on the "Ask a cruise question" about the quality of the lobster and I know that the lobster varies in taste from place to place (I mean no offence here). So - do we get Australian lobster or American lobster? Do we get frozen or fresh? Does it really matter - you tell me! :)

 

Thanks!

 

Mark.

 

Where ever the smallest lobster tails are from; is where Celebrity buys them. Lobster is a 100% dissapointment and are always frozen tough and tasteless. If you like chewy tastless lobster you will love the ones served on X.:eek:

[Karynanne]

Where ever the smallest lobster tails are from; is where Celebrity buys them. Lobster is a 100% dissapointment and are always frozen tough and tasteless. If you like chewy tastless lobster you will love the ones served on X.:eek:

 

 

In the past I would have agreed with you. But on Mercury, the lobster was just great. Done to perfection. We ordered it, knowing that we might be ordering something else, if we weren't pleased...but surprise, surprise...it was very, very good. They seasoned it differently, and wasn't chewy, dry, or rubbery.

 

Karyn

[Desertbelle]

Where ever the smallest lobster tails are from; is where Celebrity buys them. Lobster is a 100% dissapointment and are always frozen tough and tasteless. If you like chewy tastless lobster you will love the ones served on X.:eek:

 

I love lobster, but I have never understood the obsession people have with lobster on cruises. At best it's mediocre and at worse, it's horribly prepared, rubbery and tasteless. How can anyone really expect more than that when you know that they are preparing lobster for 2000 people? :rolleyes:

 

If you really want good lobster I would suggest you find it at a good seafood restaurant at home and skip it on your cruise. ;) That way you won't be disappointed.

[terrydtx]

I love lobster, but I have never understood the obsession people have with lobster on cruises. At best it's mediocre and at worse, it's horribly prepared, rubbery and tasteless. How can anyone really expect more than that when you know that they are preparing lobster for 2000 people? :rolleyes:

 

If you really want good lobster I would suggest you find it at a good seafood restaurant at home and skip it on your cruise. ;) That way you won't be disappointed.

 

I couldnt agree more!!! On our last cruise I passed up the lobster for the rack of veal and it was fantastic!! Everyone else at our table had the lobster and they complained all night about how bad they were:p If you are expecting dissapointment why accept dissapointment when you have other options!!