CGTNORMANDIE

I guarantee you Lois…if you ever had one of my Indian dinners you would like it. Chicken curry Bombay style and Madras beef curry with jasmine rice, lamb biryani, papadum, lime pickle, homemade mango and orange chutney with sultanas, sweetened lemon yogurt with sliced banana and tomato and onion raita all served with cold lager beer in frosted mugs! We would also need some skewers of meat from the tandoor.

As does the Greek horiatiki salad…chopped veggies and tomatoes with olives and feta cheese and no lettuce.

Hi Lois! French toast with English bangers…yummmm! And maple syrup of course!

I actually pour a little drawn butter and then mix the lobster meat with a little mayonnaise, chopped celery and a bit of celery salt. This makes a great lobster salad or lobster roll.

Well thank you Sox Fan! As a former Chef I have cooked lobster every way imaginable. The last time I grilled a lobster it was a 6 lb. monster. My favorite method is baked stuffed with fresh crab meat from Maine…and yes…butter!

I add a small can of diced roasted tomato and half and half then work it over with an immersion blender. This does wonders for your average tomato soup.

French toast with sausage?

Really? And what would you suggest?

Great point! I buy the lobster Sunday morning. If I just want the meat the store I go to will steam it for me. At any rate the trash goes out Sunday night…no fuss no muss!

I could buy a whole live lobster for $9.99-$10.99 lb at my local market…fresh from the tank. The good news is that March is coming and the hard shell lobsters should be coming in. The hard shell lobsters come from deeper waters and the lobsters are bigger and the meat is more compacted and flavorful. More good news…the price should dip down to about $8.00 lb A nice 2 1/2 lb lobster baked stuffed with crab meat stuffing…out of this world.

Monk fish makes a great addition to a Lobster Newberg. When mixed with real lobster it’s a great way to stretch a Newberg.

Believe it or not…we were on a repo from Boston to Caribbean and RCI JOS had just completed a series of Canadian cruises and was loaded with lobster. It was some of the best I have ever had!

Thank you one and all for your comments. Im still laughing😂. It’s very obvious that this thread is divided between folks who look forward to “Lobster Night “ and don’t get lobster very often and the folks who can take it or leave it. With the high prices for everything I'm amazed that they can even serve lobster tails no matter how small they are. Those of us from New England and eastern Canada are not too excited by the lobster situation because we can have real lobster, live and kicking, anytime. One steadfast rule is…ALWAYS serve the drawn butter on the side!

I have a good friend who cruised on Oceania for 14 days and never once went into any of the dining rooms…always the Cafe!

Coffee and casino are fine…I totally agree. I was referring to a regular bar that I would be attending for the duration of the cruise. I always try to set up a rapport with the bartenders and servers. I’ve even had bartenders recognize me three years later.

We have sailed in all types of suites and we always tip for excellent service and only for excellent service. This is over and above the daily service charge. Normally we tip at the end of the voyage. We use envelopes with cash and usually a nice short note thanking that particular person and promising them a good review. Sometimes I tip a bartender and server if I’m in a bar that I frequent during the cruise. I never tip up front but only after I have established a rapport with the bartender/server. I would never tip 1 dollar per drink as most servers view this as a bit gauche. I usually slip them a 5 or 10 dollar bill once or twice as we go along. There have been a few times when I tipped bartenders nothing at all or $20 or more. There have been other times I have tipped a lot for waiters and butlers. One time I left a recalcitrant waiter an envelope with a note telling him why he wasn’t getting a tip. There is no typical amount to tip. It is up to you, what you perceive as great service and an amount you feel comfortable with. Tipping is a purely personal matter. You get to decide. You would be amazed at what a 5 dollar bill can do for the person who brings you room service in the morning or the young lady who carves the meat in the buffet or $50 to the assistant to the cabin steward or $100 or more to the butler. Just as we rate and review these people they rate and review us also. They remember the pax who treated them well. Many times I have run into people who had served me on previous cruises and all of them were smiling when they recognized me! The decision to tip is yours alone.

We always found the first night in the MDR to be chaotic so dining in the Cafe on the first night was our preferred venue.

Hank, great minds think alike! I am constantly finding new routes and new opportunities by following your method. Right now I’m planning a trip to Rio then sailing back to Europe just as soon as I am physically able.

The good news is that…there are no appropriate amounts! Tipping, over and above the included tips, is simply a matter of your personal discretion and what you are comfortable with. I usually tip the room service people each morning and I tip via envelope at the end of the voyage to everyone else. As an ocean liner historian I always get a chuckle when I see someone from the European side of the ocean taking umbrage at the very thought of tipping. When, in actuality, it was the European shipping companies that started the “custom of tipping” that began with such companies as Cunard and White Star as well as CGT, Holland America and The Italian Line.

The ship sank??? Care to explain???

Various renditions of fruit chutney. It drives me nuts when they set out several excellent curries in the ships’ buffet but never seem to supply the condiments…no chutney and no riata. I can’t eat curry without my condiments.

That would be the indefatigable Susan Gibbs granddaughter of William Gibbs the designer of the Big U. The ship should have been saved years ago but ran up against one unsuccessful buyer after another. The ship is an American icon and historic monument. The question is…how many years can the foundation go on without an end use for the once great ship? The Big U will probably never sail again but she could become part of a convention/exhibition center on dry land. That would make a great maritime museum.

We would need to know the total cost you are already spending before the upgrade. With a $100 difference between an inside and an outside balcony I would definitely rule out the YC inside offer and take the YC outside balcony cabin. Cannot advise until we know the total cost.