The Lobster Controversy

[c-boy]

So there seem to be some Foodies on various threads who think the Lobster on formal nights or for that matter in general is not up to par.  I'm suspect that for many the only time they eat lobster or steak is on board  while cruising. Which begs the question, How do you rate (on a scale  1 being poor, 5 being outstanding) the Lobster on formal nights?

[mdb9774]

4

[cb at sea]

Most of the lobster tail served on ships is "warm water" tails...not "Maine" or "cold water" lobster like most folks are used to.  Are they good?  Sure...they simply aren't what most people expect.  Overall, on all our cruises, I'd rate them at a 3-4....they're fine.  I consider lobster to be a vessel for the drawn butter!

[Snookie's Mom]

I admit that I am really really looking forward to the Lobster night. I think I figured out Lobster is averaging about 600.00 a pound for us. lol

[c-boy]

23 hours ago, Snookie's Mom said:

I admit that I am really really looking forward to the Lobster night. I think I figured out Lobster is averaging about 600.00 a pound for us. lol

  this is hilarious 

[c-boy]

I gotta say I just viewed a post  on the Princess thread that showed lobster that looked like slipper tails and some had two & three on plate being doused with clarified butter.

Edited November 12, 2018 by c-boy

[pc_load_letter]

I would say a 3.5

 

I had asked for a couple of tails and they waiter brought me a platter. I was so stuffed. But it was all good going down.

[Johnamac123]

Very disappointed in my two lobster tails on NOTS. They look more like two crawfish tails. Sad. 

[c-boy]

Johnamac thats my concern, Iv'e read that the demand for the crustaceans has out stripped supply.  Crawfish reproduce faster and can be genetically modified for larger growth. thanks for the reply.

[Harry and Lucille]

I love lobster but, not on a cruise. Small tails cooked early and held under heat lamps produce over cooked tidbits. Usually the same size as the 2 prawns that come with them.

 

I live in Colorado. Long way from the sea and lobster is very expensive however, I will pay the price to cook it to perfection at home.

 

I don't eat a lot so, usually what I do. I enjoy Escargo. I will order one or two (depending on how hungry I am). Request a plate of assorted cheeses, pair with a glass of wine and have the crispy bread rolls to sop up the garlic butter.

 

Sorta my version of a French picnic lunch. Can always fill up with desert.

[zogrand]

We’re from New England so are very picky about lobster.  I’d rate the lobster tails about a 3.  There’s nothing like enjoying lobster on the New England Shore!

 

[JeffT237]

22 hours ago, zogrand said:

We’re from New England so are very picky about lobster.  I’d rate the lobster tails about a 3.  There’s nothing like enjoying lobster on the New England Shore!

 

I would agree with the New England lobster, when visiting family in the New England area we always have lobster multiple times on the coast and it's the best.  As far as the lobster on the cruises we have been on I would rate them a 3.

[angie7911922]

I don't eat lobster on the ships. I prefer the cold water lobster from the New England shore (you lucky people that live there 🙂 )

 

[Coolclimate]

I'd rate it 2 tops compared to Maine lobster. There is a reason the charge the big bucks for the Maine lobster.

 

 

[Hlitner]

Count me as a lifelong lobster lover.  Give me a steamed Maine lobster (the kind with nice claws) that weighs 2-3 pounds, a bib, a cracker, a small fork, and I am good to go.  But please do not forget my hot melted butter (some would saw drawn butter).  If we are taking a cruise out of Port Everglades (or the Port of Miami and are staying in Ft Lauderdale) we fulfill this lobster fantasy by going to Kelly's Landing (just off 17th Street) where this treat will cost me less then $30.  And Kelly's Landing also has world-class clam chowder :).

 

As to cruises, we have spent far more then 1000 days on many cruise ships and have experienced that stuff they call "lobster" on the ship's menu.  On most of the mass market lines it is now a warm water lobster tail (the warm water variety is not nearly as tasty as a cold water tail).  The cruises boil the things, usually too long, and in way too much salt.  What comes out if usually a shrunken small tail that is overcooked.  If your waiter is on the ball you might actually get a small dish of warm melted butter although these days you are more likely to have a waiter walk buy with cool melted butter that they spoon on the lobster (not nearly as good as dipping each piece into butter).    We live in Central Pennsylvania where a local diner (yeah, some places still call themselves diners) used to serve a lobster dinner with 2 small cold water lobster tails and all the sides for $24.99.  And the diner was kind of a dump, but the lobster tails were far superior to the best we have ever had on a ship.  And most supermarkets also carry very nice lobster tails which are easy to buy, thaw (if frozen) and cook.   So not sure why "lobster night" is such a big deal on mass market lines...but some still go crazy about those nights.

 

Hank

[c-boy]

Hmmmm. thanks Hlitner.  Kelly's Landing sounds like a planned visit this fall

[DebInAntigua]

I remember like 30 years ago, when I was a poor single mom who didn't treat herself to many things, I would occasionally bring an entire lobster home to share with my young daughter. (By 2 and 1/2 she could peel her own shrimp as fast as me. Seafood was our special mealtime!).

For like $5 or $6 back then ($25 or more today), I'd pick a whole live lobster out of the aquarium and have the supermarket steam it, then hightail it home to crack open on top of our cheap kitchen table and share it with her. Just lobster and melted butter - who needs side dishes?

 

Nothing ever tastes like that anymore. So on lobster nights while I may ask for one on the side, the poor substitute it is for cold water, fresh lobster usually just makes me wistful.... beef wellington or lamb is a much better choice for me on those nights.

[c-boy]

19 hours ago, DebInAntigua said:

I remember like 30 years ago, when I was a poor single mom who didn't treat herself to many things, I would occasionally bring an entire lobster home to share with my young daughter. (By 2 and 1/2 she could peel her own shrimp as fast as me. Seafood was our special mealtime!).

For like $5 or $6 back then ($25 or more today), I'd pick a whole live lobster out of the aquarium and have the supermarket steam it, then hightail it home to crack open on top of our cheap kitchen table and share it with her. Just lobster and melted butter - who needs side dishes?

 

Nothing ever tastes like that anymore. So on lobster nights while I may ask for one on the side, the poor substitute it is for cold water, fresh lobster usually just makes me wistful.... beef wellington or lamb is a much better choice for me on those nights.

Ya, after  three decades of preparing and serving lobster, I'm no fan.  I too, go for the other offerings and enjoy a nice wine with em'. However it's nice too see others enjoy the event.

[Cru1s1ng2009]

On ‎4‎/‎30‎/‎2019 at 8:25 PM, DebInAntigua said:

I remember like 30 years ago, when I was a poor single mom who didn't treat herself to many things, I would occasionally bring an entire lobster home to share with my young daughter. (By 2 and 1/2 she could peel her own shrimp as fast as me. Seafood was our special mealtime!).

For like $5 or $6 back then ($25 or more today), I'd pick a whole live lobster out of the aquarium and have the supermarket steam it, then hightail it home to crack open on top of our cheap kitchen table and share it with her. Just lobster and melted butter - who needs side dishes?

 

Nothing ever tastes like that anymore. So on lobster nights while I may ask for one on the side, the poor substitute it is for cold water, fresh lobster usually just makes me wistful.... beef wellington or lamb is a much better choice for me on those nights.

i actually visualized your story!

 

I am from Maryland and I prefer crab over lobster any day. The texture is much better.

 

I am with you, I prefer the other items that night. I now may ask for one on the side though. Thanks for the idea.

[Lmm79]

A scale of 1-5 compared to what?  Real lobster or the other offerings in the MDR?

 

Other MDR food 3.5

real, not massed produced lobster 1

[c-boy]

that'll do .. Lmm ..  that'll do.

[NutsAboutGolf]

Fun fact, Lobsters will keep growing indefinitely over their potentially long lifetimes, but their hard shells don't. Once a year, every adult lobster wiggles out of its old shell and forms a new shell that it puffs up with water into a larger size that it'll eventually grow into. So there's hard shell lobster and soft shell lobster, generally the soft shell lobster will have the superior taste.

[chengkp75]

On 6/11/2019 at 4:08 AM, NutsAboutGolf said:

Fun fact, Lobsters will keep growing indefinitely over their potentially long lifetimes, but their hard shells don't. Once a year, every adult lobster wiggles out of its old shell and forms a new shell that it puffs up with water into a larger size that it'll eventually grow into. So there's hard shell lobster and soft shell lobster, generally the soft shell lobster will have the superior taste.

However, since lobster is sold by the pound, a soft shell lobster has a lot of sea water inside its shell, and you are paying $5-6 a pound for that sea water.

 

Lobster on a cruise ship is a 2 at best.  It is frozen and then broiled, and typically over done.  Then there is the hot cart that keeps the 10 trays of 30 tails each warm until plated.  I prefer claw and knuckle meat anyway.

[Will Work for Tiramisu]

Ah, lobstah!  As a child, my daddums - born on island off Maine coast, and raised by family in New Brunswick - insisted we make regular trips to his home area.  As small children, we would wolf down numerous heaping plates of fried clams, and endless lobster rolls and fresh lobsters.  For my 16th birthday, renting a house on a tidal river in NB, the "landlady" brought in an Atlantic salmon from her nets on the river, and stuffed it with lobster we had bought at 25 cents a pound that morning from the lobster boats just arrived back in the morning from pulling their pots.  I am so spoiled in this regard, I have little hope of every finding that experience again, short of - duh! - going back to Maine and New Brunswick!  But as for on a cruise ship, I understand that most "lobster" is one of its relations.  Lobsters are basically bugs who live in the ocean, and there are a lot of variations, as there are on land, such as crawdads and mud shrimp.  It's a successful lifeform, that adapts to cold water, warm water, warm mud, etc..  Truth be told, if you really want a good meal on a ship, order something for which the supply chain isn't so byzantine.  If you're really smart, tell the waiter you'd like what the chef does best, their suggestion.  She may be from Bengal or Malaysia or Port au Prince, who knows where, but you might get some real "home cooking", from a chef who is flattered that someone cares about what they know, and will go overboard to give you something special.  (And management doesn't have to know - it will be your little secret!!)  Bon appetite!!  

[NutsAboutGolf]

5 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

However, since lobster is sold by the pound, a soft shell lobster has a lot of sea water inside its shell, and you are paying $5-6 a pound for that sea water.

 

Lobster on a cruise ship is a 2 at best.  It is frozen and then broiled, and typically over done.  Then there is the hot cart that keeps the 10 trays of 30 tails each warm until plated.  I prefer claw and knuckle meat anyway.

 

Very fair points; there's definitely the contributing factor that it's usually spiny lobster.