Dreams pig and anchor a massive disappointment not real barbecue at all

We booked the Dream for a third time because we love the tandoor grill only to learn that is about to be removed from service. That said we also were excited to try the new pig and anchor barbecue Because we are from the south and love barbecue and we are Guy fans. We waited in a long line for about 20 minutes to get our barbecue and I could tell when I saw the beef brisket that something was wrong. It was a dense and hard and had no smoke ring. Then they piled the greens on my plate and they were covered with a slimy yellow grease and had no vinegar smell. I reach for the Carolina barbecue sauce for my pulled pork in it was the right color but again had no smell of vinegar in was a bit sweet tasting nothing like anything in any of the Carolinas. I tried to eat the greens I took two or three bites forcing myself to eat this slimy crap with no vinegar. I have no idea what that was but they were not greens this southern boy knows better. I took one bite of the brisket and spit it out. Anyone that knows me knows that I love beef brisket and I know what it is and whatever this crap was it had no business being on the menu and I’m sure guy would be hugely embarrassed if he tasted it. The chicken was just OK not enough smoke as was the pulled pork. But again Carolina style pulled pork is all about the vinegar-based sauce and there was none to be found on the ship. Is I threw most of my food away I heard other people complaining that the food was not worth the wait and there was much disappointment all around me. At the dinner table The only ones who had anything nice to say about the barbecue were the people from Michigan and being that they don’t have a strong barbecue tradition up there I will give them a pass for not knowing better. The sad thing was the dream heels out of Louisiana and poles from all the deep southern states and everyone on that ship nurse for barbecue were supposed to be in the aint this crap unfortunately

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That's regrettable.

You booked the cruise just for the Tandoor Grill?? Maybe it’s not supposed to be Carolina BBQ. I’ve had BBQ in Texas Tennessee and Carolina and they are all different.

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Just s like hotdogs. Love a good Chicago Dog but I hate the Carolina slaw dog. Gross

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We booked the Dream for a third time because we love the tandoor grill only to learn that is about to be removed from service. That said we also were excited to try the new pig and anchor barbecue Because we are from the south and love barbecue and we are Guy fans. We waited in a long line for about 20 minutes to get our barbecue and I could tell when I saw the beef brisket that something was wrong. It was a dense and hard and had no smoke ring. Then they piled the greens on my plate and they were covered with a slimy yellow grease and had no vinegar smell. I reach for the Carolina barbecue sauce for my pulled pork in it was the right color but again had no smell of vinegar in was a bit sweet tasting nothing like anything in any of the Carolinas. I tried to eat the greens I took two or three bites forcing myself to eat this slimy crap with no vinegar. I have no idea what that was but they were not greens this southern boy knows better. I took one bite of the brisket and spit it out. Anyone that knows me knows that I love beef brisket and I know what it is and whatever this crap was it had no business being on the menu and I’m sure guy would be hugely embarrassed if he tasted it. The chicken was just OK not enough smoke as was the pulled pork. But again Carolina style pulled pork is all about the vinegar-based sauce and there was none to be found on the ship. Is I threw most of my food away I heard other people complaining that the food was not worth the wait and there was much disappointment all around me. At the dinner table The only ones who had anything nice to say about the barbecue were the people from Michigan and being that they don’t have a strong barbecue tradition up there I will give them a pass for not knowing better. The sad thing was the dream heels out of Louisiana and poles from all the deep southern states and everyone on that ship nurse for barbecue were supposed to be in the aint this crap unfortunately

 

 

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I had a different experience. The brisket was soft and had a wonderfully dense crust (as it should). I believe that this is more of a Texas-style BBQ experience, than a Carolina-style. I didn't have the greens, but they didn't appear the way that you described yours. Personally? I prefer KC-style BBQ.

Sounds like there were some issues on your cruise.

I had a different experience. The brisket was soft and had a wonderfully dense crust (as it should). I believe that this is more of a Texas-style BBQ experience, than a Carolina-style. I didn't have the greens, but they didn't appear the way that you described yours. Personally? I prefer KC-style BBQ.

 

 

 

Sounds like there were some issues on your cruise.

Yeah it almost seem like the beef had been boiled it was dense and waterlogged and flavorless. Yes beef brisket is uniquely Texas style but pulled pork is Carolina all the way until a few years ago you never heard of pulled pork outside of the Carolinas or Virginia now I’ve seen at Subway in California. He has his own brand of signature sauces in one of them is specifically labeled Carolina which one would assume is to be put on the Carolina style pulled pork. Best I can tell there was zero vinegar in it. vinegar is the main ingredient in any Carolina style barbecue sauce as it helps to cut the fat like a solvent and keeps you from getting upset stomach from eating too much pork. The way the meat was prepared poorly I blame on the chefs on the cruise ship however the signature sauces are Guys recipes alone and I unfortunately have to lay the blame at his feet

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Yeah it almost seem like the beef had been boiled it was dense and waterlogged and flavorless. Yes beef brisket is uniquely Texas style but pulled pork is Carolina all the way until a few years ago you never heard of pulled pork outside of the Carolinas or Virginia now I’ve seen at Subway in California. He has his own brand of signature sauces in one of them is specifically labeled Carolina which one would assume is to be put on the Carolina style pulled pork. Best I can tell there was zero vinegar in it. vinegar is the main ingredient in any Carolina style barbecue sauce as it helps to cut the fat like a solvent and keeps you from getting upset stomach from eating too much pork. The way the meat was prepared poorly I blame on the chefs on the cruise ship however the signature sauces are Guys recipes alone and I unfortunately have to lay the blame at his feet

 

 

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Not true. Here in Alabama you could get pulled pork 20+ years ago. I would go eat it at Golden Rule BBQ with my parents when I was little, that was more than 25 years ago.

As a southern boy in Tennessee, I thought it was good BBQ and one of my favorite meals on the ship. As another poster mentioned though, I like a good Texas BBQ over Carolina style. First, you cannot expect a real smokehouse BBQ. I mean this is a ship after all. In that respect I guess I showed up expecting to be disappointed and was pleasantly surprised.

Yes beef brisket is uniquely Texas style but pulled pork is Carolina all the way until a few years ago you never heard of pulled pork outside of the Carolinas or Virginia now I’ve seen at Subway in California.

What!?! I was eating pulled pork in South Georgia and North Florida 40 years ago. Carolina and Virginia have no claim on inventing pulled pork.

To me, BBQ is ONLY pulled pork in Eastern NC vinegar-based sauce. NOTHING BETTER! However, imouer from Richmond, I don't think the rest of the world has been as fortunate as we are to experience it!

By the way, my friends tend to make the best sauce. But we rode a tourist train in Dinwidlle, VA many years back and they had the best BBQ Sandwiches ever - completed with Eastern NC style vinegar-based sauce. I still dream about that....

Yeah it almost seem like the beef had been boiled it was dense and waterlogged and flavorless. Yes beef brisket is uniquely Texas style but pulled pork is Carolina all the way until a few years ago you never heard of pulled pork outside of the Carolinas or Virginia now I’ve seen at Subway in California. He has his own brand of signature sauces in one of them is specifically labeled Carolina which one would assume is to be put on the Carolina style pulled pork. Best I can tell there was zero vinegar in it. vinegar is the main ingredient in any Carolina style barbecue sauce as it helps to cut the fat like a solvent and keeps you from getting upset stomach from eating too much pork. The way the meat was prepared poorly I blame on the chefs on the cruise ship however the signature sauces are Guys recipes alone and I unfortunately have to lay the blame at his feet

 

 

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Umm- I am not a southerner really (more like a Midwest/southernish) but we know our BBQ here in Missouri. And although we prefer to grill our pork in slabs called "pork steak" here I have had pulled pork and it definitely was more than "a few years ago." So that's definitely not the case.

I don't know about the sauce, never had Carolina sauce. I am more of a fan of Maulls, which is a tomato based- kind of like a spicy version of ketchup. I grew up on it and always loved it. I don't care for Kansas City style sauce (might as well just put sugar on it) or mustard based, so I might like Carolina style. I will have to try it, if I can find it.

Greens- Never. Ever. Ever. (See I told you I was not really a southerner).

However, my point is that people have different tastes when it comes to BBQ. My number one choice would be a pork steak on a charcoal grill slathered in Maulls, but you might see it as a slab of meat that had not finished smoking with ketchup on it.

That said, its hard to mass produce good barbeque. Especially on a ship that has to worry about fire, flames and ventilation. Its just not going to come out as good.

Did you try any of the other sauces, i.e., bourbon brown sugar, spicy Sriracha, or Kansas City? The sauce you mentioned is supposed to be Guy Fieri's Carolina #6 BBQ sauce which shows cider vinegar as the second ingredient on the label. I've had a lot of different Carolina sauces from different places and they all seem to taste different. It sounds like Guy's #6 must be different than you're used to. Guy was born in Ohio and grew up in California. I think its conceivable he hasn't had a lot of exposure to authentic Carolina sauce.

https://www.carnival.com/~/media/Images/explore/dining/menus/guys-pig-anchor-bbq-menu.pdf

https://www.amazon.com/Guy-Fieri-Carolina-BBQ-Sauce/dp/B008GN2QVE

Did you try any of the other sauces, i.e., bourbon brown sugar, spicy Sriracha, or Kansas City? The sauce you mentioned is supposed to be Guy Fieri's Carolina #6 BBQ sauce which shows cider vinegar as the second ingredient on the label. I've had a lot of different Carolina sauces from different places and they all seem to taste different. It sounds like Guy's #6 must be different than you're used to.

 

https://www.carnival.com/~/media/Images/explore/dining/menus/guys-pig-anchor-bbq-menu.pdf

 

https://www.amazon.com/Guy-Fieri-Carolina-BBQ-Sauce/dp/B008GN2QVE

Good to know I did try some sauces that I liked but didn’t have these good frame of reference for judging them so I went with what I know. End it sounds like I stand corrected that pulled pork is only in the Carolinas and Virginia I didn’t realize it was this far down is North Florida. I live in central Virginia which when I was a kid had a pulled barbecue joint on every corner in zero fast food restaurants. Here barbecue strictly minute pulled pork which I know is a different tradition than other regions. I appreciate flavors and styles of all kinds but for the purposes of critiquing again the pulled pork was just OK the sauces were massive disappointment despite what the ingredients may have listed it was sweet and barbecue here just isn’t sweet. As for the brisket Lord knows what they were thinking when I serve that but I’m gonna tell you guy would probably be humiliated to see his name on that product but maybe that was unique to our experience that day.

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That's the trouble with trying to replicate a local dish. I had Maryland Crab Cakes and New England Clam Chowder on our last cruise and they were edible, but they were no where near as good as the dishes made locally by folks who've made the same dish their entire lives.

Umm- I am not a southerner really (more like a Midwest/southernish) but we know our BBQ here in Missouri. And although we prefer to grill our pork in slabs called "pork steak" here I have had pulled pork and it definitely was more than "a few years ago." So that's definitely not the case.

 

I don't know about the sauce, never had Carolina sauce. I am more of a fan of Maulls, which is a tomato based- kind of like a spicy version of ketchup. I grew up on it and always loved it. I don't care for Kansas City style sauce (might as well just put sugar on it) or mustard based, so I might like Carolina style. I will have to try it, if I can find it.

 

Greens- Never. Ever. Ever. (See I told you I was not really a southerner).

 

However, my point is that people have different tastes when it comes to BBQ. My number one choice would be a pork steak on a charcoal grill slathered in Maulls, but you might see it as a slab of meat that had not finished smoking with ketchup on it.

 

That said, its hard to mass produce good barbeque. Especially on a ship that has to worry about fire, flames and ventilation. Its just not going to come out as good.

I have to agree 100% with the above. A grilled pork steak with Maulls sauce. A brat with Maulls, in fact most everything tastes good with Maulls.

I will never forget when I went to visit family in North Carolina. They took me to a barbecue restaurant (Stamies???). I looked at that pulled pork sandwich with no sauce on it and covered with cole slaw? What was this? And the whole place smelled like vinegar. I could not eat that sandwich.

There is a reason a lot of restaurants all over the country serve St. Louis style ribs. We do know our barbecue here in Missouri.

I have not tried Guy's barbecue yet. He probably has never heard of a pork steak. We went to a butcher in Colorado and we had to tell him how to cut them. It's a local thing, just like toasted ravioli.

Happy cruising everyone.

Brisket is best slow smoked, I highly doubt CCL uses a smoker. It's probably baked

We are from SW Virginia, and we like the ketchup based sauces better than vinegar based. We cruised the Magic the week of Thanksgiving and Guys Pig and Anchor was excellent. The Brisket had a crunchy dark bark and a really good smoke ring. I ate too much of it honestly. Not a big smoked chicken fan anyway, but the pulled pork was delicious also. We talked to the guy who was working there before it opened and he said they smoked the meats 12-16 hours. They are just large electric smokers and that affects the taste also. Remember, these guys who are trained to cook this have probably never smoked anything prior to doing it on the ship, so training and execution have a lot to do with the final product.

I suggest you not give up on it, as it can vary from ship to ship.

I do not eat greens, but the beans were good and the Sriracha BBQ sauce was excellent!

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I'm curious to know from everyone who's visited Guy's BBQ place, do you remember if it was open on embarkation day?

It's a shame you were disappointed. It's hard to imagine a one size fits all bar-b-que since it varies so greatly all over the country.

I'm curious to know from everyone who's visited Guy's BBQ place, do you remember if it was open on embarkation day?

Yes it is.

I enjoyed it on Vista. I’m from the Midwest and now live in VA. To me BBQ is actually stuff you put BBQ sauce on. I can’t stand the Carolina vinegar stuff that they have around here. It’s like mixing sauce into the cup you dip your Easter eggs into when coloring them.

Coming from Texas, we were excited to try the BBQ. I mean the Guys Burgers were awesome, so the BBQ should be too, right. Yeah, no. The line was expected but the quality of the food was not. I know Texas BBQ and this was far from it. You do gets lots, but quantity did not make up for the lack of quality. No real taste on most of it and what did have a taste was not a good one. Of course, to each their own, just my opinion. I'll have another burger instead.

I'm curious to know from everyone who's visited Guy's BBQ place, do you remember if it was open on embarkation day?

Yes it is.

It wasn't in October on the Dream.

My daughter went to college in NC and they do have good BBQ in the Carolina's.

However, I visited Dallas last January and had the best ever beef brisket BBQ. I can still smell and taste it as I am writing, it is like a magical DeJa Vu.

The greens, while my DD would try them, this northern girl will NOT. The slaw and beans sound like good items to add to my plate. Looking forward to tasting some for myself real soon. YUM

So seems like the consensus is that it’s pretty decent BBQ. Funny that most of the people on the Dream didn’t like it. I’m looking forward to trying it on the Vista.

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