Planks and Steamers for breakfast and lunch

[jillire]

Do Planks and Steamers have menus for breakfast and lunch or is it similar to the buffet? Anyone eaten here that could weigh in on what the food is like? 

[Ep010835]

In part, think Mongolian Grill. 

Never saw a menu. 

[mcrcruiser]

We did not even know this existed .Interesting though  to hear about it 

[satxdiver]

It is buffet style.  Breakfast they offer individually cooked omelets which are quite good but can be a line.  At lunch they have a wok area where you pick what you want with several different kinds of noodles and fillings both veggie, meat or seafood.  You can pick either spicy or more normal seasoning when they cook it.  All this for no charge.  It is only at dinner they have a $12/pax charge. 

[Colo Cruiser]

Did not like the lunch at all in P&S's.

Wasn't impressed by the noodles or the extras. 

[jillire]

9 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

We did not even know this existed .Interesting though  to hear about it 

I hadn't either, until today.  At night its a shellfish and BBQ place. 

[fishywood]

15 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

We did not even know this existed .Interesting though  to hear about it 

 

Those two venues are on Caribbean Princess only (a helpful fact so far omitted that explains why so few have heard of them).

 

No menus but a good description of the offerings on the CB ship page of the website

https://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/ships/cb-caribbean-princess/ (click on 'Specialty Dining'):

 

STEAMERS

 

Our new family-style seafood restaurant offers dinner served by wait staff for a nominal fee. Choose from Black & Blue Mussels or Classic Clams “Steamers” and other seafood favorites. All come with generous sides and dipping sauces as well as starters and dessert. At lunchtime, help yourself to a buffet that includes Gourmet and Ramen Bowls with regionally inspired broths—all at no charge. And join us for breakfast, also at no charge, for specialty egg dishes like omelets, fried eggs and eggs Benedict.

 

PLANKS

 

Drop by for a classic American-style dinner, served by wait staff for a nominal fee. Our casual BBQ restaurant gives you a choice of "Planks" loaded with four meats, chili, coleslaw and seasoned fries along with starters and decadent dessert. Planks BBQ also serves a buffet-style lunch at no charge, with signature soup and freshly tossed salad, as well as regionally inspired fork-and-knife sandwiches. Buffet-style breakfasts, also at no charge, include savory breakfast bowls customized for you.

 

 

ETA: ...and now that I see the OP is posting to an Emerald Princess roll call perhaps this entire thread is now moot 

Edited January 6, 2019 by fishywood

[mcrcruiser]

3 minutes ago, fishywood said:

 

Those two venues are on Caribbean Princess only (a helpful fact so far omitted that explains why so few have heard of them).

 

No menus but a good description of the offerings on the CB ship page of the website

https://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/ships/cb-caribbean-princess/ (click on 'Specialty Dining'):

 

STEAMERS

 

Our new family-style seafood restaurant offers dinner served by wait staff for a nominal fee. Choose from Black & Blue Mussels or Classic Clams “Steamers” and other seafood favorites. All come with generous sides and dipping sauces as well as starters and dessert. At lunchtime, help yourself to a buffet that includes Gourmet and Ramen Bowls with regionally inspired broths—all at no charge. And join us for breakfast, also at no charge, for specialty egg dishes like omelets, fried eggs and eggs Benedict.

 

PLANKS

 

Drop by for a classic American-style dinner, served by wait staff for a nominal fee. Our casual BBQ restaurant gives you a choice of "Planks" loaded with four meats, chili, coleslaw and seasoned fries along with starters and decadent dessert. Planks BBQ also serves a buffet-style lunch at no charge, with signature soup and freshly tossed salad, as well as regionally inspired fork-and-knife sandwiches. Buffet-style breakfasts, also at no charge, include savory breakfast bowls customized for you.

Thanks for the full info on P&S  .Seems that Princess is using the Caribbean Princess as their testing for pax interest before launching to the entire fleet 

[idahospud]

Yes, only on the Caribbean Princess, but here are the Planks and Steamers menus and food pics. I just copied from my blog...

 

We fought it as long as we could. 

When we boarded the ship over two weeks ago our plan was to walk off after three weeks with no balance due. We booked these super-cheap cruises so late that we didn't have any promotions tied to the bookings. But we did have some of the onboard credit that comes with future cruise deposits, a small amount of additional bonus onboard credit, and the $100 loyalty credit per cruise segment. It was all enough to cover the gratuities for both of us for three weeks. Plus a couple shirts for hubby at the 2 for $20 t-shirt sale. No drinks, no other shopping, and no specialty dining would ensure we walked away from the ship with no charges.

But these Planks and Steamers restaurants have been peaking our interest. Then Vickie and Bernie from http://vickieandbernietravel.blogspot.com/ were on the ship a couple weeks ago and talked about Planks and Steamers. She had written about their visit on her blog, too. So we finally took the plunge tonight and paid a whopping $12 each for our meal. Boy, it was a bargain for the amount of food we received. And the flavor? Yummy yum yum.

We ate on the Planks side but they allowed us to mix and match from the two restaurants. Here's what we got for $24 total.

Welcome starters from the Planks side: Chipotle BBQ meatballs and honey and bacon-cheddar cornbread with jalapeno-honey butter and pimento cheese

From Steamers: Tomato-Lime Ceviche with breads and sun-dried tomato-cream cheese and smoked salmon spread

Look at the bacon in that cornbread.

Next up, appetizers. We chose both from the Steamers side.
Caesar Salad and Clam and Smoked Ham Chowder

 

Main courses:
From Planks: You can order four different meats. If you want to want to double up on a meat and not choose four different ones, you can. We went with smoked kielbasa, ribs, and a double order of chili-spiced roasted tri-tip. It also came with wedge-cut fries, 3-bean chili, slaw, toast, dill pickles, and two different BBQ sauces.

 

From Steamers:

We went with the Fried Seafood Platter. It had fried torpedo shrimp, battered haddock, fishcakes, carrot and raisin salad, fries, and tarter sauce, cocktail sauce, and ketchup.

 

For dessert we went from just the Steamers side. Strawberry shortcake and key lime pie in a jar.

 

I probably should have taken a picture after we were finished eating. But you probably wouldn't notice we had finished because we left so much food behind. Again, all of this for $24 total!

 

The highlights of the meal included the jalapeno-honey butter, the Caesar salad (hubby loved the capers on it), the ribs and tri-tip, and the haddock and the shrimp. I think the desserts were a tie for what was the best. So basically everything was delicious.

 

If you want more detail about our menu items or want to know what else is offered, here are the menus for both places.

 

 

 

 

 

I'm totally okay we went over our budget by a whole $24. 

 

As usual, if you have any questions or comments, please click on the envelope icon at the top right of this screen. And if you wind up visiting Planks or Steamers I'd love to hear your thoughts, too.

 

 

[fishywood]

5 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

Thanks for the full info on P&S  .Seems that Princess is using the Caribbean Princess as their testing for pax interest before launching to the entire fleet 

 

Not claiming to have any inside information but my guess is that they will remain a one-shot addition. Caribbean Princess is a unique ship in the fleet in that the public areas are the same as the earlier Grand-class but with the addition of Riviera Deck and its additional cabins. No ship needs the additional capacity for dining (and most other public facilities) as much as CB did and does; it definitely has the worst public space ratio in the fleet.

[Thrak]

We did a 14 day Circle Caribbean on CB last March. Breakfast in the buffet was totally meh... Pre-cooked eggs, etc. We went on to the aft portion where Planks and Steamers was and it was much better. Cooked to order eggs. Made to order omelets. I was totally amazed that the chopped jalapeno peppers were actually hot! There were lots of omelet fillings and you just put whatever you wanted into a cup and gave it to the cooks. They gave you a number and delivered your eggs or omelet to your table when it was ready. We had breakfast there multiple times. There was also more readily available seating there as almost everybody just stopped in the main buffet and never ventured to the aft portion.

 

We had some great burrito fixings there one day for lunch and I liked having the Ramen bar. Yes, it was noodles and broth but one could also pick out how much in the way of noodles, what type of broth, and what veggies to add to the mix.  We didn't eat in either venue for dinner but were quite pleased with the breakfast options and the lunch options were definitely a change from the regular buffet fare.

[jillire]

1 hour ago, fishywood said:

ETA: ...and now that I see the OP is posting to an Emerald Princess roll call perhaps this entire thread is now moot 

Not moot at all, my next booked cruise may be on Emerald but I’m looking at future cruises as well. I like to plan and it seems others were curious as well.

[fishywood]

18 minutes ago, jillire said:

Not moot at all, my next booked cruise may be on Emerald but I’m looking at future cruises as well. I like to plan and it seems others were curious as well.

 

Fair enough. Looking at a thread-starters post history (which I do reflexively) is usually helpful but occasionally gets one into trouble. 

 

And I too keep the different Princess ships in the corner of my mind. CB is not one I prefer but I may be on her this year anyway as she heads up to NYC much earlier than usual--and my cousin in New York state wants to join us with her granddaughter on the next cruise, so school schedules will dictate.

[jillire]

7 minutes ago, fishywood said:

 

Fair enough. Looking at a thread-starters post history (which I do reflexively) is usually helpful but occasionally gets one into trouble. 

 

And I too keep the different Princess ships in the corner of my mind. CB is not one I prefer but I may be on her this year anyway as she heads up to NYC much earlier than usual--and my cousin in New York state wants to join us with her granddaughter on the next cruise, so school schedules will dictate.

We’ve got to work around school schedules as well, I work for a college. Looking at some Spring Break cruises and Caribbean, Crown, and Regal are our options.  

[skynight]

9 hours ago, jillire said:

Do Planks and Steamers have menus for breakfast and lunch or is it similar to the buffet? Anyone eaten here that could weigh in on what the food is like? 

The Planks and Steamers section works pretty much like the Cafe Caribe for breakfast and lunch, no charge. There is a cafeteria style line that you walk through and select your items. In the morning this is where the made to order omelette station is located. The seating area is open for anyone and waiters serve coffee, juice and other drinks just like in the World Fresh Marketplace, old Horizon Ct., area. There is a small lounge section at the aft of each with soft chairs and low tables. Nice if you just want coffee, tea or something light.

In the evening the serving line is closed and there is Planks on the Starboard side and Steamers on the Port side, $12 surcharge. If one person likes Planks and the other Steamers, no problem. You can order from either menu no matter where you are seated.

[TracieABD]

This is rather intriguing.  Hopefully, there is a CB cruise in my future!

[Coral]

9 hours ago, idahospud said:

Yes, only on the Caribbean Princess, but here are the Planks and Steamers menus and food pics. I just copied from my blog...

 

We fought it as long as we could. 

When we boarded the ship over two weeks ago our plan was to walk off after three weeks with no balance due. We booked these super-cheap cruises so late that we didn't have any promotions tied to the bookings. But we did have some of the onboard credit that comes with future cruise deposits, a small amount of additional bonus onboard credit, and the $100 loyalty credit per cruise segment. It was all enough to cover the gratuities for both of us for three weeks. Plus a couple shirts for hubby at the 2 for $20 t-shirt sale. No drinks, no other shopping, and no specialty dining would ensure we walked away from the ship with no charges.

Thanks Idahospud - your blog is a great resource!