MATHA531

If you read the other replies to yours, there was a Sun Alaska cruise after yours that served lobster in the MDR.

 

I cruise both RCCL and NCL. NCL still has better food and they are less stingy with it comparing the 2. e.g. hot choco single serve packs are wildly avail and they constantly refill it, as for RCCL, they rarely refill it and you have to ask for it, and they are reluctant to give a pack to you.

 

As for the lobster, the free one is already long gone in all Asia cruises for RCCL.

 

It is still avail in the MDR for Asia cruises for RCCL, but you have to pay $35 to order one as a premium item.

 

They still served lobster for free on other regions like in my recent Allure cruise late last year, but no longer in Asia for quite some time already, and I've already used to a lobster less cruise whenever I cruised Asia with RCCL.

The Sun cruise after mine is still on-going as I was on the cruise that left Vancouver on 04 August and ended in Alaska on 11 August. The one after mine is still going on and I kind of doubt anybody from that cruise has reported yet as it is still going on!

Like I said, it was just bad luck for me this summer as I missed out by a week or two on every one of the 3 cruises I took. Now of course the next question should be why would I use NCL if I hate it so much and the answer is since I live in NYC, it really is the only one at least for the time being now fully serving NYC being the home port of the Breakaway and having several cruises on smaller ships going to the Caribean at least for now. Carnival pulled out for now as last year I did a Caribean cruise and a Canadian maritime cruise on Carnival out of NYC so for whatever the reason, I do have some lattitude points on NCL so when I did the Alaska cruise or the Baltic cruise, I let that dictate mu choice lof lines where I indeed had a choice. These plans were made before I knew about the lobster tails and I do feel that what they advertise as their new and improved menu is really a cut back.

I will say this, also. I thought the food on the Sun in the MDR was adequate at best in the MDR, the specialty restaurants were mpty except for Teppanyaki you could walk in to every one without reservations (read into that whatever you want) and the food in the buffet was below standard.

What I will do in the future is up in the air. Of course at my age, I always have to questgion just what the future is. C'est la vie.

What? I just got back to back Sun Alaska last month June 23-July 7. On both sailings lobster was served both at MDR and Garden Cafe. Northbound it was served on the 1st day, south bound it was served on the 2nd day. For the MDR, it is surf and turf, for garden cafe it was lobster paella... the latter I agree you have less chance of getting one as it is served a rice topping.

 

But since I was in UDP, I had lobsters everyday that my uric acid went up!!

 

So how come lobsters just disappear in the MDR just a month after my sailing date?

 

You only mentioned garden cafe, but did you actually check the menu of the MDR either on the 1st and 2nd night???

I'm sorry you're questioning me this way. Yes indeed, the cruise I was on was the first one where they dropped lobster, not only from the MDR but also from the Garden Cafe. It might have been available at several of the specialty restaurants but then again, we all know that part of NCL's game is to skimp a bit on food in the MDDR and the Garden Cafe to encourage people into the specialty restaurantgs. We can argue whethewr this is right or wrong till the chickens come home to roost. I don't want to open another can of worms but I do believe this is part of their policy and why food in the MDR and the buffet on NCL is less fulfilling (the best way I canh put it) than other lines who do not have as many specialty resturants. Of course the name of the game for all cruise lines is getting people to do optional things to increase profits; the cabin prices are kept as low as possible on all lines and then efforts are made to push people for extras. It just so happens NCL big extra are the specialty restaurants and let's leave it at that.

But I did 3 cruises this summer, the Star to the Baltic, the Breakaway to Bermuda and the Sun to Alaska. In all 3 cases, I was about a week or two late to the time they all dropped lobster. Bad luck? Probably but trust me, I'm not making any of this up.

In myopinion, they have simply gone too far. That's it. And no I'm not sorry I started this thread. People should know what they're getting into.

I just wish some suit from NCL would have had the decency to explain why this has been done and in my opinion, and everybody is entitled to theirs, the substitution of that inedible (IMHO) pasta and call it lobster is simly reprehensible.

Just off the Sun on my Alaska cruise and guess what. This was the first cruise without lobster tails. Watched in sort of horror in buffet when one of the chefs came by the station with the lobster pasta...a big big vat of macaroni (just great for diabetics of course) and a salad bowl size plate of some lobster meat. The cook tasted it and said it needed more lobster. So the person put about four pieces of lobster meat in the big big vat. Odds of getting some lobster with your pasta...about less than 1%.

A total total disgrace. I let the hotel manager know my disgust at what is going on. He blamed it on the introduction of the new menus. Of course not once were there a shrimp cocktail as one of the appetizers be it in the MDR's or the Garden Cafre.

Just one other note. Every night teppanyaki sold out according to the boards posted with red rectangles. Understandable as there are two teppanhyaki tables that can seat 9 diners at a time. That means 54 teppanyaki dinners at most a night. Not one other restaurant ever had a red rectangle. Not one. Not any evening. People are no longer falling for the NCL attempts to drive them into the specialty restaurants by serving lousy food elswewhere.

Lobster night is history.

 

We just sailed the GEM last week, July 12-19, 2014. When I asked if lobster tail night was still the first night at sea, I was told that it had been discontinued -- starting with OUR cruise. :(

But I'm sure you went to the buffet and found the lobster pasta delicious.

On our June 7th Gem cruise we got awesome lobster tails the first night in the Grand Pacific. On the Breakaway cruise in Dec they had lobster in the buffet on the 2nd night. We didn't get any but I heard they were nice tails. Not sure if there is a fleetwide policy on this as of now. Maybe the NCL poster will answer?

Hi. You might not have gone through the whole thread. All the evidence suggests they moved lobster tails from the mdr to the buffet sometime early this year and are gradually replacing the lobster tails in the buffet with a lobster pasta in the buffet gradually. Nobody has stated it one way or the other although the Hotel Director on the Star told me early in June this was going on and on one of the reviews of the 22 June Breakaway cruise from NYC to Bermuda, somebody reported that was the first cruise where there were no lobster tails in the buffet but the lobster pasta and I can report that on my cruise on 06 July on the Breakaway, that indeed was the case.

The evidence may be circumstantial but I don't see how one can reach any other conclusion that as the new menus NCL is claiming is so much improved is introduced gradually on ship after ship, lobster tails are an endangered species. I do hope that the suits will at least own up to it.

The issue is somewhat more complex than just I prefer this line and don't like that line. Some of it has to do with where you live. For example, I live in NYC. Check the cruise schedule out of NYC to see which line has the most cruises. And of course if you take a few cruises for convenience, than you build up some points and even in those cases where you have a choice, it is probably to your advantage to take the line where you have some status, small as the perks may be.

Last year, because of the schedule I took two Carnival cruises out of NYC so when I did a Mediteranean cruise last year, I chose Carnival over NCL. We can argue the relative merits of one vs. another. In my opinion, Carnival's food in the mdr's is somewhat better; for example shrimp cocktails are on the every day menu and I had two each night. I know, that is not the whole thing. I get that. I had a nice sized lobster tail on lobster night. Again, that's not the whole thing. Of course, NCL's thing are the specialty restaurants which Carnival does not have. I also prefer coke products to pepsi products and while that certainly may be insignificant, it could be a tie breaker.

But this year (calendar 2014), Carnival has pulled out of Europe. They have cut down on their cruises out of NYC So for a veriety of reasons, this year it ended up being NCL and of course the more I did NCL, the more I got some status on my latitudes account. Again not THE factor but a tie breaker.

I do read the reviews and of course they are always mixed although I would say at least reading the reviews of the Breakaway recently including one I wrote, there seem to be more negative comments regarding the food than has been in the past which is not to say that all the comments are negative. Three or four of the recents reviews of the Breakaway cruise I took rated the food as 2. In the interests of being fair and balanced, a couple also gave the food 4 or 5.

So I suppose all this is to say that food is not the most important determining factor for me; convenience and itineraries are. But it would be nice to have my cake and eat it too, right?

For better or for worse, here is what my limited experience has been.....

 

We usually exchange some money at our local bank before we leave. Is it the best rate? Probably not but we liked the idea of having money spread out on us and in our carry-ons before getting on the plane so we aren't flashing money around when we arrive at the European airport.

 

Now we have heard ATM's are the best way so we decided to get 200 euros out of an ATM to try it out while in Greece for a cruise. I used a debit card. Exchange rates and fees from our bank seemed reasonable but the local bank in Greece hit us with a 15% fee!!! Of course we didn't find out about all of this until we got home and saw the transaction on our monthly statement.

 

I'm guessing all of the economic issues in Greece was probably why the ridiculous ATM fee.

 

Last year we traveled to Ireland and again we secured euros from our local bank. I wanted to check out the ATM deal again and this time everything was very reasonable. Just to be clear, I again used my debit card.

 

We use a no transaction fee Capital One card when making major purchases. BTW, our Capital One card does NOT have a chip in it. We've heard that there could be problems using it in certain places but, as yet, we haven't had any issues.

I'm not saying you're wrong and something else wasn't going on. However...

1. Be aware the two major shared teller networks are cirrus (mastercard really) and plus (visa really). Their regulations all prohibit a bank from charging a fee if you have the audacity to use an ATM with a debit or ATM card issued outside the country. Some banks have ways to evade this but in general, those rules apply.

2. Banks are supposed to inform customers of any fees they will charge and give you an opportunity to opt out before the transaction is completed. They also in general point out YOUR bank may charge fees for the withdrawal.

Now I understand, for example, in Great Britain it is claimed some non bank ATM's do charge fees on foreign debit cards. I've never run into one. Also the debit/ATM cards I use, one from my Fidelity Brokerage account, another from USAA and a third from Charles Schwab Bank all have a policy of reimbursing those fees either intotal or up to a certain amount each statement cycle. Not that I use cash for the most part for anything (I never understand, btw and I don't mean it in a critical way why people are reluctant to use credit cards for ALL purchases not just major ones. That's what credit cards are for).

If I was charged 15% by a bank for a cash withdrawal and not informed, I would scream bloody murder both because the fee is contrary to the shared teller regulations and I wasn't notified. Are you sure you used a debit card and not a credit card where banks can and do impose heavy fees on cash withdrawals but again it would be your bank imposing the fee.

As I said, there is no one answer that fits all situations nor do all banks have the same policies. All I can tell you is that as I write this, the "official" rate is €1 = $1.3526. That is constantly changing in the third or fourth decimal place. No bank will give you that on a cash transaction. Some banks claim to have rates without fees but then put the fee into the rate they give you. So a bank may say, for example, €1 = $1.43 and say it has no fee. Another bank might give you €1 = $1/41 but then adds on fees and in the end you pay the same. Of course, and I will agree, sometimes the convenience of having euro before you leave is more important to some than saving a few dollars in fees.

I'm a cheak person so every cent counts and I want the best for my money. The only way to get near the official rate is to use a credit card without a foreign transaction fee. At least in the USA, banks are required to state what their foreign transaction fee is right up front. And be careful. A bank may say it's foreign transaction fee is 3% and that includes even if the charge is written up in US$ (I am assuming one is American; it works the same way for other currencies and countries by and large). For example, just as an example, many have disocvered much to their chagrin if they use say a Chase card with 3% foreign transaction fee, and they go to Orbitz and buy 4 tickets on Aer Lingus for $900 each, a total of $3600 in a transaction that seems never to have left the USA, they will be socked with a $108 foreign transaction fee. How come, you cry to Orbitz. Well Aer Lingus, beieve it or not, processes its mastercard and visa charges in Ireland so the foreign transaction fee applies. Orbitz is just acting as an agent of Aer Lingus. Therefore it's important to know just what each individual bank's policy is regarding credit card charges and the same holds for ATM/debit card withdrawals at ATM's. Some banks charge 3% above the official rate, some don't. Some, like Bank of America give you a "network" of banks where they (the European banks in general do not charge fees for withdrawals from ATM based on shared teller network rules) charge no additional fee besides the 3% currency fee but charge $5 on top if yoou go out of "network". Other banks, like Charles Schwab, charge no withdrawal fees, charge 1% above the official rate and reimburse you if you use a bank that charges a fee. The point being every bank has different rules.

Personally, as I said, the easiest way to deal with this is to use a credit card everywhere it is taken, for every purchase loarge or small making sure the credit card you are using has no foreign transaction fee nor annual fee (as I said, for Americans, Bank of America travel rewards meets all these criteria) and be done with the whole thing and pick up a few euro (if you are in a country that uses euro) upon arrival at your first European airport using an ATM with a debit/ATM card which charges no fee. Enough exist that you should be able to find one.

Using the ship is just throwing away money (unless you feel the convenience of losing 15 or 20% on each transaction is worth it.)

There is no easy answer because a lot of it depends on just what you intend to do with the euro (btw the official plural of euro is...euro not euros but I digress). It depends on if you're going to stay in a country that uses the euro pre cruise, post cruise or what you think you're going to need durig any excursions you do when in port so it's a very difficult question to answer but I can give you some generalities.

1. In general, the best exchange rates are at ATM's. For the most part, the local ATM which probably operates through the shared teller networks cirrus or plus, do not charge a fee for ATM withdrawals and more or less give that day's official exchange rate which you can check in the papers or at xe.com. Your bank may or may not add extra fees for ATM withdrawals. You can open an internet bank account say with Charles Schwab Bank which requires no minimum balance. I keep $1.01 in that account and just before a trip, I might transfer $500 to the account. They give a debit card which you can use for ATM withdrawals in Europe at the official rate and charge no additional fee. At the end of the trip, I transfer whatever is left in the account back to my main checking account. Easy to do leaving $1.01 in the account. Avoids the problem of having my main account frozen for fraud and also there are no fees and Charles Schwab Bank rebates any fees ATM's charge for having the audacity to use the machine of a different bank either domestically or on holiday out of country (assuming one is a US citizen). Upon arrival at the European airport, you can hit the ATM for whatever euro you think you're going to need. Also

2. I credit card everything using a credit card which has no foreign transaction fee so I get the exact exchange rate. A go9od choice for a credit card is the Bank of America travel rewards card. It has no annual fee, no foreign transaction fee and has the valued emv chip that is much more prevelent in Europe. If using a credit card, if the merchant asks you if you wish to convert the currency to US dollars (again assuming you are from the USA), this is a scam called dynamic currency conversion. As Nancy Reagan used to say, just say no no matter how they try to talk you into it.

Even if you're doing a ship transfer, there will be a time upon arrival at the European airport to pull out euro from an ATM. Unfortunately, if you're doing independent touring, most of the ports do not have ATM's right smack at the port. If you're doing excursions either with the ship's overpriced ones or indendent oens, once you get into town, you will easily find ATM's.

Different people have different ways of doing things and be aware that in some countries, the use of credit cards is not used as extensively as say in the USA or the UK. Also some merchants, unfortunately, may have established minimums for use of a credit card.

If you exchange cash, whether at home or abroad, you have to watch out for much higher rates and additional fees which may be listed or may not be and you may have an unhappy surprise after exchanging cash when you see the amount of the fees some charge. The ships are horrific that way. I would never exchange for euro on a ship.

Also depending on destination, not every country uses the euro. The UK most assuredly does not; their currency is the pound although the same general ways of handling cash apply and the Baltic countries such as Denmark, Norway and Sweden, have their own currencies but again ATM's with a card that charges no fee is in general the best way to get whatever cash you need to supplement your use of a credit card with no foreign transaction fee.

Hope that helps.

So I was wrong. Oh well. It's always a matter of opinion. Maybe the problem is I was simply comparing with my experiences on Carnival last year. On Lobster night, we had nice sized lobster tails in the mdr and shrimp cocktails were on the every day menu (had 2 each night). Thanks for all the input.

First note the question marks in the title. Let's cut right to the chase. I just got through reading my review and several others of recent cruises on the Breakaway and they all mention in very unglowing terms the food situation.

Look, I understand NCL's food policy revolves around trying to get people to use the specialized restaurants and I don't think there is anybody who can say that in recent times, NCL's food for the masses (the mdr's and the buffet) have been both declining and is very far behind other cruise lines (which is not to say there aren't cutbacks there also). Also I know that NCL execs do read these boards and sometimes comment.

Now having said all that, I really believe NCL (and it apparently is not just my opinion) may have gone too far in this. They push the dining package which is their perogative but that also makes it difficult to get reservations for the specialized restaurants at desirable times (try to get a reservation say at Teppanyaki for around 1900 or 1930). Of course we've gone through the whole evolution of lobster tails first having been removed from the mdr's to the buffet and now, at least on several ships and apparently a corporate policy, of being removed from the buffets in favor of an inedible lobster pasta (I carried on enough about this but the point has been made).

Do others feel this way? Is it time to give some sort of message to the suits at NCL or do others feel I'm imagining all of this (just read the reviews).

Assuming you don't know in a particular establishment whether its preference is coke or pepsi, how many people walk in and ask for a rum and pepsi? Or a diet pepsi?

But at least NCL does not pull what the NY Mets did several years ago by making their drink of choice Royal Crown Cola. Now that's really scraping the bottom, eh.

The dispensing machines in the buffet in the AM hours during breakfast dispense both orange juice, apple juice and for those with kidney stone problems cranberry juice. At other times, those machines are set to dispense lemonaide, iced tea and a couple of other things. Those items are available for free in the dining rooms.

Other than that, you pay for sodas unless you take the soda package and bear in mond in its continued contempt for its passengers and/or to save money, ncl has contracted out to serve pepsi products instead of the real thing (coke). Of course there are a few who think pepsi is better (very few) and a few who think it doesn't matter (very few) but the vast majority of people in taste tests and the like strongly prefer coke products (how many people you know ask for a rum and pepsi?)

I try to bring cans of coke zero cherry, my favorite, and put them in the fridge (when the cabin has one) and bring a can to meals. In the buffet, btw, there are ice and water dispensing machines as well as complimentary coffee and tea.

(My queston is whether iced team is really cheaper than soda)

Is the dish called lobster and pasta or is it called a seafood pasta? If it is seafood pasta, what other seafood is in the pasta?

It's called lobster pasta. As I remember, there was some salmon available.

You can also reserve a time for a show on the television in your room. As noted until 10 minutes before show time, there is somebody with a computer at the entrances to the venue who swipes your room card which verifies your reservation. Ten minutes before show time, they let the stand bys in.

I'm curious if NCL advertises anywhere on their site that they serve lobster.. If not, then it shouldn't be expected right?

Two things. They put in the daily on 2 ships where this has taken place that I have been on the past month and a half that such and such a night is seafood buffet and a picture of a whole bunch of sea food dishes including shrimp cocktails and lobster tails. And when I asked the officer in charge on both occasions based on what I had been reading at the meet and greet, I was told specifically that such and such a night was "lobster" night. Of course, they didn't lie. They served an almost inedible pasta with a few slivers of lobster in them. That's certainly deceptive, wouldn't you agree?

Friday night at 2245...any open deck viewon port side (I was just outside H2O spice on deck 16. Not to be greedy but I wish they had some sort of music to go with it but to admit it's very unique.

I was on the cruise the following week and you did a great job describing most everything about the ship.

I was on that cruise and did the Friday night Jungle show which was held only once (it was sail away from Bermuda day and fireworks night) and I could only compare it with the cirque de soleil show I saw on the Epic. The food indeed was excellent. My complaint, perhaps a nitpick, was as I remember although I could be wrong, on the Epic,they served the meal, at least the appetizer and main dish before the show started. Here the show started and then during the show, they served the food. A tad hard to eat and concentrate on the show, at least in my opinion.

Also interesting and again probably another nitpick. On the television, they kept playing over and over a documentary about the building of the ship (and it was excellent, I actually watch the whole thing and enjoyed it). The fireworks on the maiden voyage were accompanied by some music and Julie, the cruise director, gave some commentary or so it seemed. The fireworks went off at 2245 on Friday, and you have to make sure you are in an open deck and be on the left side of the ship. It was nothing special but then again it was different. Interestingly from where I stood, on the 16th floor outside H2O spice, I could see another ship off to our side and just before the fireworks started, it manuvered into a better position to view the Breakaway's fireworks. I'm not sure which ship it was but I found that funny.

It really was a very very good cruise and despite the fact it was sold out, for the most part, never felt crowded on the lifts with the one exception of just after the life board drill when it seemed the whole ship wanted to crowd into lifts to get to various places to see the sail away from NY and I want to tell you something. If youve ever been on a cruise out of NYC, that sail away passing by Lady Liberty and then under the Verazano Bridge is really something and a highlight on the trip as you don't want to get up at 0530 on the last day to see these sites in reverse (or maybe you do).

I'm curious as to what makes the pasta dish "inedible"?

Well if you're on a low carbo diet, then it is inedible.

Actually it was my opinion and of course others might disagree. Again, while I have seem to have made a big deal over it, to substitute a pasta with a few slivers of lobster and believe me, there were very very few pieces of lobster, well to me that is inedible as a main dish for what is supposedly a seafood buffet with lobster. Sort of false advertising, don't you think?

Of course, I had read about it here as well as having had personal experience with this new "innovation" because I cruised on the Star in early June.

I understand to some people, even maybe many people, it's no big deal but over the years, all the cruise lines have made a big deal about "lobster" night as one of the treats of the cruise; whether it should be that way or not is obviously a matter of opinion and we can go through the whole well you don't cruise for the food bit and again I respect the opinion of others on this. I disagree but I will defend to the death one's right to disagree. But seriously, for example Carnival which is hardly a high end cruise line, still has "lobster" night (which is also formal dress up night and even a slob like myself brings along a blue oxford button down shirt to wear with my jeans on formal night so I can get the lobster and my experience with HAL was the night that was lobster night in the mdr was also lobster night in the buffet and on the last day of the cruise, at lunch in the buffet, there was plenty of lobster. It's something people have come to expect.

Sorry, as I said if you disagree, but to my way of thinking this was almost contempt on the part of ncl to its passengers Just say sorry if you want lobster, go to the specialty restaurants. Don't try to pass of a pasta dish with a few lobster slivers in it as part of "lobster" night as the hotel director claimed to me when I asked.

Does this mean no lobster tails in Le Bistro or other specialty restaurants?

Still available in Le Bistro and as a choice at Teppanyaki. Not sure about Cagney's. I seem to remember looking at a menu and not seeing them but I wouldn't swear to that.

Gem, Epic, Sun and Getaway still have " lobster" in a shell form-tail.

 

Breakaway and one other did not.

 

How do we know the whole fleet is going lobster- free? Why did they have lobster in Barcelona but not New York?

 

Hmmm.........

What other conclusion can you reach? Isn't it obvious that as ships go through their supplies of lobster tails, this inedible pasta is being imposed on them? I don't see how you can reach any other conclusion.

Here's the most irksome part of this whole mess. The absolutely disgraceful attitude of NCL to claim what they substituted i.e. a pasta with about 95% pasta and a few, very very few, pieces of lobster is a lobster dish. They tell people yes they will have lobster on a seafood buffet in the garden cafe or whatever; people go to the Garden Cafe and lo and behold go down the line looking for the lobster. When asked, they tell you in the pasta and I will tell you this pasta is almost inedible. Whether you like lobster tails or not, there comes a time when even the most frugal of operations has to level with its customers. To my way of thinking, and everybody is entitled to their opinion, the actions of NCL on this are simply reprehensible. At least tell the public what is going on and don't try to pull the wool over people's eyes.

To be fair, some people love the studios allowing them to cruise at a fair price without the asinine garbage like double single supplement. But you can watch it. I just got off the Breakaway and in a slow period, the price of an interior guarantee was actually less than the studio. I wouldn't count on it but obviously it does happen.

Let me be as fair as possible. There are worse things in life and after all, the cabin is really only for sleeping and the bed was quite comfortable.

Just off the Breakaway. "Lobster" Night was Monday night at the buffet. What the lobster was there were a few, very very few, pieces of lobster meat in an inedible pasta. How they can try to push this off as lobster is beyond comprehension.