Lobster - Caribbean Princess?

[zebra]

Please tell me whether they serve lobster tails at Cafe Caribe or will we have to go to the diningroom on the 2nd formal night?

[pamwinn]

All you can eat lobster tails will be served in Cafe Caribe more than once :D

[CroozBlooz]

Unfortunately, based on my experience, one is all you will want to eat. Others may disagree with me, but I've found that the lobster on Princess is not terribly tasty. Generally, they are somewhat rubbery and not very sweet.

[Dreamer333]

I ate at the Carib Cafe and/or Horizon Court for lunch, but not for dinner. I saw lobster CLAWS, but no lobster tails...

However, they may have served them during the dinner time!

 

BTW... the lobster tails in the dining room were DELICIOUS! I ate 4 of them! YUM!

[Ti2m]

Unfortunately, based on my experience, one is all you will want to eat. Others may disagree with me, but I've found that the lobster on Princess is not terribly tasty. Generally, they are somewhat rubbery and not very sweet.

 

 

I disagree ... at least concerning the lobster served in the Palm. Last year I ate seven. Oink! Our waiter brought me eight but I had to turn away the last one. I was just too full.

 

Timm

[MEOWSMURPHY]

Please tell me whether they serve lobster tails at Cafe Caribe or will we have to go to the diningroom on the 2nd formal night?

 

I'm sorry to say that by the time you board the CB there will be no more left after all of us that are on the 10/08 sailing have had our fill... Now there is word that they might be serving imitation lobster...haven't personally tasted it, but heard it's doable :D Check with ROBOAT...he and I will be in a race to get to the Caribe Cafe first...Have a great cruise....Em

[CroozBlooz]

I'll leave you the one I could have eaten. I still stand by my original statement. I even tried the lobster in Sabatini's last August on the Sapphire, and although it was not rubbery, it had no flavor whatsoever. Timm.... 7 lobster tails????

[zebra]

Thanks for all your responses. I'm really looking forward to the seafood especially the lobster tails. Now I have another question about Cafe Caribe - DH is allergic to shellfish, do they serve meat/chicken dishes as well at the seafood buffets????? Sorry if this sounds foolish!!!!

[Cruiseteach]

I think it depends on which cruise you are on. I believe on the Caribbean cruises they serve rock lobster, a crustacean from southern waters, which has a fairly good sized tail, which is the only part that is served. Rock lobster tails are, indeed, rather rubbery and tasteless, esp if not prepared carefully. They are often what you get in Lobster Thermidor. The New England cruises, however, serve Maine lobster, which is lucious and almost fully edible except for the shell and the eyeballs. Maine lobster is best served steamed, with drawn butter, not baked, stuffed or covered in a thermidor sauce. (Can you tell I'm a Maine girl, and just slightly prejudiced? :) )

[Ti2m]

. Timm.... 7 lobster tails????

 

Yes 7 ... and the following month I had the gout to prove it.

 

Timm

[hotmike98]

Cruiseteach, just because you are prejudiced doesn't mean you aren't correct. I spent three years in Boston while in law school, and became addicted. No disrespect, but Pacific Lobsters (no claws, which I find the tastiest part) just aren't in the same class. I rented a house in East Boothbay every other summer for a few years, and couldn't get my fill! My wife had lobster flown in from Maine for my 50th birthday, and my friends are still raving. The co. we went through out here in Calif. brought the steamracks and canvas, as well as authentic NE seaweed. Some people claim the seaweed is what makes Maine lobster so sweet. I don't care, I just want some more!

[Crazsea]

Hi Zebra!

 

The truth of the matter rests with your own personal taste. Although I have found the COLD WATER lobster tails in the dining room on the second formal night to be VERY enjoyable, it does not mean we all have to agree, nor does it compare at all to the lobster tails served in the Cafe Caribe!

 

As has already been posted, you cannot begin to compare the warm water(clawless)lobster that is served in the Cafe Caribe to what is served on the 2nd formal night in the dining room. The meat from the warm water lobster is tougher and not as tasty as the cold water lobster. It's not bad. You just can't begin to compare the two IN MY OPINION.

 

Our MAINE GIRL pretty much nailed it down!!!:D

 

PS, hotmike98 has it completely under control!!!LOL

[Host Caroline]

The grilled lobster tails in Caribe were divine on 2nd formal night two weeks ago.. if we had not had ressies at Sterlings would have eaten up there Sunday as well. Cold seafood buffet was good but crab too salty for me. At least when we ate in Caribe the lobster was some of the best ever on a cruise but then it could have been lousy to some.. just a matter of opinion right??? :)

[Crazsea]

Hi Caroline!

 

Just have to ask since if I missed something...anything...I don't want to miss it again. When you had the grilled lobster tails in the Caribe, were they the split warm water lobster tails or the whole cold water lobster tails?

 

This was the second time for me on the CB only three weeks ago(9/10 sailing) and I'll be on her again in December and in April 06. Did they serve the whole cold water lobster tails in the Caribe that my friends and I missed? I'll be bummed if we missed that!!

 

PS. Zebra, There are several other choices to choose from other than the seafood!

[jerseygirl3]

Crazsea, they are the warm Caribbean lobster tails; not very good in my opinion. Maine lobsters are so much better.

[Cruiseteach]

I suppose, when I go in March, I could make the supreme sacrifice and test those lobsters for you :) . I don't usually get the lobster on a cruise, since I can literally walk to the corner here at home and buy it for around $5-6 a pound. I prefer to try things that are too expensive or just not all that good here, like the Alaska salmon.

BTW, Hotmike, after hearing about your lobster treat in CA,I have to tell you a funny story:

I have a friend who runs a seafood market that does a big business in shipping lobsters out of state. He once got an order for over $100 worth of lobsters, which he carefully packed and shipped, live, for the woman's party the next day, Sunday. On Monday he got a call from the outraged woman, who said the lobsters had arrived "spoiled" and she had to throw them all out. He couldn't believe it and asked how she knew they were spoiled. "Why", she said, "They were all green!" (For the uninitiated, Maine lobsters are green until cooked, when they turn red. ) The woman had thrown out over $100 worth of perfectly good lobsters.

[stoneharborlady]

Hi Zebra!

 

The truth of the matter rests with your own personal taste. Although I have found the COLD WATER lobster tails in the dining room on the second formal night to be VERY enjoyable, it does not mean we all have to agree, nor does it compare at all to the lobster tails served in the Cafe Caribe!

 

As has already been posted, you cannot begin to compare the warm water(clawless)lobster that is served in the Cafe Caribe to what is served on the 2nd formal night in the dining room. The meat from the warm water lobster is tougher and not as tasty as the cold water lobster. It's not bad. You just can't begin to compare the two IN MY OPINION

 

IMHO this was exactly correct. The Dining room had fabulous lobster tails, they were wonderful. The lobster in the Carib Cafe was totally different, and a disappointment to me, anyway. But there were plenty of shrimp and crab claws to fall back on!! In no way am I complaining!!! Karen

[Crazsea]

You're killing me Cruiseteach!!! I'm having LOBSTER ENVEY!!!!!!LOL

 

Karen,

 

Me either, I'm not complaining!! Just wanted to help point out the difference. I still chow down on those Caribe lobster tails!!! But I'm not setting the records that have been mentioned by any means!!!LOL

[imsulin2]

When I was in college (University of Denver) back in the late 60's, I spent summers working at a girl's camp in Maine (Camp Kippewa...near Augusta), and on our one day off each week, we headed down to Boothbay Harbor to pig out on Maine lobster! We ate them on paper plates with drawn butter in paper cups on a picnic table. I think we paid about $2.00 per lobster...and these were whole cracked lobsters! Five of us drove there in a VW bug every week (imagine the comfort!) and belched the whole way back! Loved it!! Nothing better than a real Maine lobster (except for Alaskan King Crab legs...a whole other story!)

[hotmike98]

OK, Cruiseteach, I have 30 salmon filets (must admit they are pinks, not chinooks or kings) that we caught in Ketchikan while on the Sapphire. Want to trade some?

[zebra]

Thank you all for being so informative - we'll see how we feel on the 2nd formal night whether we'll go to the diningroom or not. We had almost decided that this was going to be our first cruise where we would not do formal nights, but the lobster story might have swayed our thinking!!! I'm sure whichever we choose will be wonderful!

[marlinmike]

There is definitely a difference between the lobster served in the Caribe during the week and the lobster served on 2nd formal night in the dining rooms (and maybe in the Caribe that night too). I was talking with a waiter about this in the dining room who seemed to be "in the know".

 

The lobster served on the 2nd formal night comes from New Zealand. New Zealand lobster is similar in taste and texture to Maine lobster, but usually smaller tails. It is a COLD WATER lobster (check it out, about the same latitude as Maine - just the other hemisphere) and the lobster served the other times is Caribbean Rock Lobster. This is the same lobster caught and served in Mexico and Hawaii. Rock lobster is good, just not like the real thing. Here in the Pacific Northwest we have rock crab and Dungeness Crab. Same sort of thing. Or in Alaska they have snow crab and king crab. Same thing.

 

IMHO - It's not that Rock Lobster isn't good, just New Zealand or Maine Lobster is better. Last time I had Rock Lobster it was a plate full of them and a couple dishes of butter and a cold beer sitting in the moonlight by the Terrace Pool watching the wake. Man, that's livin'

 

Marlin

[cruiserforlife]

I think we all know that cold-water lobster is head and shoulders better than warm-water pacific lobster but when you've consumed as much lobster as I have (18 tails on my last Sun cruise and 12,11,and 10 respectively on my last three cruises),I can state I've never had a problem with enjoying lobster on any Princess cruise.I have never experienced a rubbery or less than stellar lobster tail aboard a Princess ship....so far.

[CroozBlooz]

cruiserforlife,

 

 

I need to sail with you. I've had rotten luck with the lobsters!

[Cruiseteach]

You're killing me Cruiseteach!!! I'm having LOBSTER ENVEY!!!!!!LOL

 

If you ever come to Maine, here is the trip/meal for you:

It is called The Cabbage Island Cruise and Clambake. It is a smallish tour boat (maybe 100 people) out of Boothbay Harbor. For $44.95, you get a narrated cruise around Boothbay Harbor, and a stop on Cabbage Island, a tiny, privately owned island where you get the following meal:

a bowl of fish chowder,two 1.25 lb lobsters with plenty of drawn butter, a big bag of steamers (steamed clams for those who have never had them), an ear of roasted corn, a potato, a baked onion and an egg, all cooked in a seaweed steam pit, iced tea or lemonade and a huge piece of fresh blueberry cake. I thought they were going to have to roll me back to the boat! It is very scenic, too.

Imsulin, I live very near Kippewa, and was also a camp counselor in the 60's. (Judging from the lobster price, I gather that's when you were here. Lobster hasn't been $2 a pound for a long time.)