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No Lobster on Brilliance

dschultz56

By dschultz56,
in Royal Caribbean International

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dschultz56

dschultz56

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Just off the September 18 9-night Canada/New England Brilliance of the Seas cruise and there was no lobster tails on either formal night. There was a surf and turf special on one night in the MDR that included lobster, but for an extra fee. Heard varying excuses - person handling inventory messed up and didn't order enough so they skipped it (Although the Fisherman's platter wasn't on the menu either) to it was being phased out fleet wide. Also heard another where they they expected lower prices for the next cruise and would have them then. Any other North America based cruises longer than 5 days experiencing no lobster night?

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setsail

setsail

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Heard varying excuses - person handling inventory messed up

 

You don't believe this? Didn't bots just come from Europe on a Ta. Sometimes it takes a week or two to get back into the swing of things after being in europe, of course you know that

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Big_G

Big_G

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Maybe they thought being a New England/Canada cruise, you'd do so much better getting your lobster at any of the port stops. I mean you really can't compare what they have on the ship to what you get at any of those stops.:D

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north29

north29

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You did not miss much, the last two lobster nights were a big disappointment, they were small, over cooked warm water lobsters.

 

Warm water lobster is they are prepared correctly,:D and heck IMHO the ship rarely do a great job with all lobster.

As said above forget the ships lobster, too many stops on this cruise that you can get great lobster.

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3CatsInMA

3CatsInMA

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I noticed that too--we were on the same cruise. One of the nights though, we decided to order surf & turf from the Chops corner of the menu and we both thought the lobster was very good. It was "real" lobster, prepared very well, and it was on SALE! for $19.99, down from $34.99 (+ 18% gratuity, of course;))...

 

The disappointment was in the filet as it is now 6 oz instead of 9 oz., and you could order that by itself for about $11 instead of $16. The SALE! was just for a few nights--maybe days 5-7 or so...

 

Overall, we thought the menus were a little weak, but that's a subject for another post. :)

 

We couldn't have asked for better weather though! :D

Edited by 3CatsInMA
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dschultz56

dschultz56

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I noticed that too--we were on the same cruise. One of the nights though, we decided to order surf & turf from the Chops corner of the menu and we both thought the lobster was very good. It was "real" lobster, prepared very well, and it was on SALE! for $19.99, down from $34.99 (+ 18% gratuity, of course;))...

 

The disappointment was in the filet as it is now 6 oz instead of 9 oz., and you could order that by itself for about $11 instead of $16. The SALE! was just for a few nights--maybe days 5-7 or so...

 

Overall, we thought the menus were a little weak, but that's a subject for another post. :)

 

We couldn't have asked for better weather though! :D

I agree on all the menus being weak. We ate in Giovani's and Chops each twice due to the menus. I had the surf and turf too, and that lobster was great (and 1/2 price was good too!). We had lobster in most ports, so I didn't miss it that much. Just surprised that no one really knew why.

 

We were in a suite and looked at the menu left in there each day and it showed the fisherman's platter on the 2nd formal night, but we were surprised when we got to the MDR and the menu was different.

 

And you are right - the weather was perfect!

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3CatsInMA

3CatsInMA

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I agree on all the menus being weak. We ate in Giovani's and Chops each twice due to the menus. I had the surf and turf too, and that lobster was great (and 1/2 price was good too!). We had lobster in most ports, so I didn't miss it that much. Just surprised that no one really knew why.

 

We were in a suite and looked at the menu left in there each day and it showed the fisherman's platter on the 2nd formal night, but we were surprised when we got to the MDR and the menu was different.

 

And you are right - the weather was perfect!

 

Interesting that your suite menu listed the fisherman's platter...makes me think that the change has been pretty recent.

 

The discrepancies that I noticed had to do with previewing the menu on the electronic screens. There always seemed to be one or two things left off of the preview. Thankfully one of those was key lime pie on the last night...can't have the rosemary lamb shank without key lime pie for dessert! :eek::D

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Hvnfuninmn33

Hvnfuninmn33

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I plan on eating my fill of lobster while in Portland and Bar Harbor!! I have a few questions for you regarding this cruise:

 

How dressy was the MDR? I'm guessing a little older crowd so perhaps more dressy that the typical caribbean itinerary?

 

Was there one particular bar over another that seemed to "fun" bar (i.e. piano bar, karaoke, etc).

 

Was there any port where you think there was a "must see or do"?

 

How were the colors?????

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Wickets

Wickets

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No color yet, weather was still great. We were in Chops for first formal night and it was empty. Second formal night late dinner very few in tux and probably less than half with even tie.

 

No cream cheese first two mornings in Windjammer, gave up trying after that.

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dschultz56

dschultz56

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I plan on eating my fill of lobster while in Portland and Bar Harbor!! I have a few questions for you regarding this cruise:

 

How dressy was the MDR? I'm guessing a little older crowd so perhaps more dressy that the typical caribbean itinerary?

 

Was there one particular bar over another that seemed to "fun" bar (i.e. piano bar, karaoke, etc).

 

Was there any port where you think there was a "must see or do"?

 

How were the colors?????

I don't know if this is new or I just missed it, but it seemed like on most cruises Smart Casual was recommended in the MDR except for formal night and the first and last night. There were several nights where casual was the recommended dress code in the MDR. A few in shorts, but not many due to the cooler than normal outside temps on this cruise.

 

This place had the best lobster rolls in Bar Harbor - only place we found where they were served warm - http://galynsbarharbor.com/. Had good ones in Boston at Legal Sea Foods, too.

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dschultz56

dschultz56

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We are on the October 11th sailing on BOS. Would you please give us some suggestions where you had good lobster in any of the ports. Also, if anyone stayed in Boston prior to the cruise, would also help. Thanks

We spent one day in Boston before the cruise and did the Freedom trail. We stayed at the Marriott Long Wharf. Bar Harbor had the best lobster rolls because my wife likes them served warm - http://galynsbarharbor.com/. Others are more like a lobster salad roll. Had good ones in Boston at Legal Sea Foods, too. I think the ones we had at a restaurant at Peggy's Cove were pretty good, too.

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3CatsInMA

3CatsInMA

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How was the embarkation process in Boston and what time did you get there?

 

 

I think this was the first cruise out of Boston for BOS this season, so maybe your experience isn't the best example, but any info would help!

 

We arrived at the ship around 1:45-2:00, and pretty much walked right on. One note is that boarding was delayed until about 1:00 due to a Coast Guard inspection. At least that was the time specified in the emails/texts/phone calls from RC in the week prior to warn us of the inspection. Not sure if they actually started boarding earlier than that...

 

Very easy process in Boston. I think it took me longer to park the car after dropping off my wife with the luggage, than it took to check in and get on board.

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dschultz56

dschultz56

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How was the embarkation process in Boston and what time did you get there?

 

 

I think this was the first cruise out of Boston for BOS this season, so maybe your experience isn't the best example, but any info would help!

Embarkation for us was a zoo. We arrived a little after noon (along with everyone else it appears) and there were cabs and buses everywhere Security guy wouldn't let cabs stop on the street since the dropoff lines were already full. So our cab (and others) kept driving. Well they don't do that for long and stopped after the buses. The people helping with buses told them not to stop there, but they want their next fare. They said they would get porters for us, but didn't. So about 150 of us dropped there in the 20 minute time period had to drag their luggage down to where the porters were. I guess we shouldn't have tried the noon check-in. We didn't have this problem last year on this cruise, so I think it was because of the coast guard inspection.

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JoyMouse

JoyMouse

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I was on this cruise as well, and at Saturday's Captain's Corner, the hotel director was asked about the lack of lobster. His answer was lobster was being offered based on the price of the cruise, so not all ships were offering it anymore. The number of ships without lobster was a good portion of the fleet but I don't remember the exact number. No guidance was given as to what qualified as a sufficiently priced cruise.

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mojomorris

mojomorris

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Yep,we were on this cruise also and took RCL's warning to board after 1:00.

We got there ~2:30 and there were no lines and NO person to check our carry on's for alcohol.

We had 2 bottles of wine and prob could have brought on more had we known.

There was so much GOOD lobster available at the ports of call that not having it

on the ship was no big deal.

And YES, the weather was fabulous all 9 days!

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denatravels

denatravels

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Maybe they thought being a New England/Canada cruise, you'd do so much better getting your lobster at any of the port stops. I mean you really can't compare what they have on the ship to what you get at any of those stops.:D

 

 

I was on this cruise in August on Liberty. So are SO right!! I had lobster in 4 ports-- it was much better there!! Hopefully you took full advantage-- not much missed on the ship.

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