Why doesn't HAL have a Lobster Night?

[Reds4life]

For all of the "upscale " talk, seems pretty cheap there isn't a Lobster Night. 

[kangforpres]

They haven't had them since the Covid re-start, maybe even before? Hal is  not an upscale line, it's a mass market premium line akin to Princess and X. Do those 2 lines still serve lobster 1 night on a 7 night cruise? I think the parent company made the decision in order to help pay down the $32 billion or so debt. 

[Charles4515]

50 minutes ago, Reds4life said:

For all of the "upscale " talk, seems pretty cheap there isn't a Lobster Night. 

HAL is not upscale. The lobster served on other mass market lines similar to HAL is not upscale by the way. It is not Maine Lobster. It is a cheap variety. 
 

Also I have been on three non mass market cruise lines that are truly upscale of HAL. They don’t have a lobster night.

Edited December 28, 2022 by Charles4515

[RedneckBob]

5 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

HAL is not upscale. The lobster served on other upscale lines is not upscale by the way. It is not Maine Lobster. It is a cheap variety. 
 

Also I have been on three non mass market cruise lines that are truly upscale of HAL. They don’t have a lobster night,.  

Ditto. Bottom line is $$$. Recently on Celebrity. They had lobster nite. Found that the $10 up charge for lobster tail in PG is worth it.

[CruiserBruce]

Lobster night doesn't define "cheap". 

 

 

 

[ken4556]

Just off the Celebrity Beyond, lobster was offered on the last formal evening in the main dining room with no upcharge.  I had the lobster with the Beef Wellington (Surf and Turf) while my brother just ordered two lobster tails.

 

Unlike HAL, I was able to have a shrimp cocktail every night in the main dinning room.  One can also get escargots every night too.  Both without any upcharges.

[oakridger]

Guess what?  Carnival Cruise Lines serves lobster tail on one dressy night and shrimp cocktail every night.  No extra charge.   That fact won't make me run out and book a cruise on them, but they are doing it.

 

NEW Carnival Menus, Updated May 2022! · Prof. Cruise (profcruise.com)

 

 

~Nancy

[new kiwi girl]

Sorry Oakridge/Nancy, buy not true. We just got off the Westerdam and we were on for 27  days and NOT one lobster night the whole time unless you were prepared to pay for it. And as for a shrimp cocktail there were some appetizers that were shrimp but very small with just a couple on the plate and maybe there were 4 nights with an actual shrimp cocktail consisting of 4 shrimp! Seafood was definitely not a big part of the menu. 

[oakridger]

5 minutes ago, new kiwi girl said:

Sorry Oakridge/Nancy, buy not true. We just got off the Westerdam and we were on for 27  days and NOT one lobster night the whole time unless you were prepared to pay for it. And as for a shrimp cocktail there were some appetizers that were shrimp but very small with just a couple on the plate and maybe there were 4 nights with an actual shrimp cocktail consisting of 4 shrimp! Seafood was definitely not a big part of the menu. 

 

I think you misunderstood my comment.  I was referring to Carnival Cruise Lines not HAL.  HAL is owned by Carnival Corporation & PLC as are several other cruise lines such as Princess, Cunard, Seabourn, Aida, Costa, etc.

 

"Carnival Corporation & plc provides travelers around the globe with extraordinary vacations at an exceptional value. The company’s portfolio of global cruise line brands includes Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourn, P&O Cruises (Australia), Costa Cruises, AIDA Cruises, P&O Cruises (UK) and Cunard. Carnival Corporation also operates Holland America Princess Alaska Tours, the leading tour company in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon."

 

~Nancy

Edited December 28, 2022 by oakridger

[kangforpres]

11 hours ago, oakridger said:

Guess what?  Carnival Cruise Lines serves lobster tail on one dressy night and shrimp cocktail every night.  No extra charge.   That fact won't make me run out and book a cruise on them, but they are doing it.

 

NEW Carnival Menus, Updated May 2022! · Prof. Cruise (profcruise.com)

 

 

~Nancy

Great! I will be on my first Carnival cruise in April for a 24 day trans-pacific!

[Destiny0315]

11 hours ago, oakridger said:

Carnival Cruise Lines serves lobster tail on one dressy night and shrimp cocktail every night.  No extra charge. 

Well the shrimp cocktail is available every night for no extra charge as I had my share on a cruise with them last May, but as far as I can see the surf and turf with lobster tail is still available every night but only for a $23 upcharge.

[VTcruisenut]

not a deal breaker for me, the "lobster" we had on previous cruises wasn't that great.  save your $$ and order a Maine Lobster!

[Destiny0315]

1 minute ago, VTcruisenut said:

not a deal breaker for me, the "lobster" we had on previous cruises wasn't that great.  save your $$ and order a Maine Lobster!

Right idea VTcruisenut. To me if you crave lobster on a cruise I suggest that you book one of Hal's 7 (or 14 b/b) night cruises that visits ports in Maine, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island and spend your $ on authentic versions of lobster meals off ship from the best sources.

[VennDiagram]

It might be a lot easier for the dining stewards to have no lobster night.  I can see some passengers ordering 5 or 6 or more lobster tails, and then the poor dining stewards having to explain and try to enforce a "2 per passenger" limit imposed by management, or similar. 

 

I will miss lobster, and will probably try the upcharge one(s) at some point when we finally get to cruise again.

[kangforpres]

I often see HAL passengers order 2 shrimp cocktails when they are offered since then you get 8 shrimp instead of 4. Almost a "Galaxy of Prawns" ---Curb Your Enthusiasm

[albingirl]

Like others have said, there's nothing like lobster from Maine or Canada.  The lobster onboard, at least in the MDR in the past, was previously frozen and fairly tasteless.  There is so much other food onboard that is delicious, so I don't think this is a big deal.

[kazu]

1 hour ago, VennDiagram said:

It might be a lot easier for the dining stewards to have no lobster night.  I can see some passengers ordering 5 or 6 or more lobster tails, and then the poor dining stewards having to explain and try to enforce a "2 per passenger" limit imposed by management, or similar. 

 

I will miss lobster, and will probably try the upcharge one(s) at some point when we finally get to cruise again.

 

Do the 12 ounce lobster tail offered at surcharge on Gala nights.  It’s better than the 2 5 ounce ones on other nights. My friend said it was quite good or, second option is at Sel de Mer where it is a whole lobster and very good (according to reports from my friends) 

[Guest ldtr]

14 hours ago, kangforpres said:

They haven't had them since the Covid re-start, maybe even before? Hal is  not an upscale line, it's a mass market premium line akin to Princess and X. Do those 2 lines still serve lobster 1 night on a 7 night cruise? I think the parent company made the decision in order to help pay down the $32 billion or so debt. 

Princess does.  Just had one 2 weeks ago.

[KroozNut]

1 hour ago, Destiny0315 said:

as far as I can see the surf and turf with lobster tail is still available every night but only for a $23 upcharge.

 

If you look at the Night 2 ('Gala night') menu in the link provided, it does show broiled lobster tail available with no up charge.

[Copper10-8]

15 hours ago, Reds4life said:

For all of the "upscale " talk, seems pretty cheap there isn't a Lobster Night. 

 

From what I've read, understand the marine crustaceans, especially the Homaridae, are playing hard to get as they are dwelling on the bottom, especially the ones from the Pine Tree State

 

[3rdGenCunarder]

2 hours ago, VTcruisenut said:

not a deal breaker for me, the "lobster" we had on previous cruises wasn't that great.  save your $$ and order a Maine Lobster!

 

1 hour ago, Destiny0315 said:

Right idea VTcruisenut. To me if you crave lobster on a cruise I suggest that you book one of Hal's 7 (or 14 b/b) night cruises that visits ports in Maine, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island and spend your $ on authentic versions of lobster meals off ship from the best sources.

 

I agree! On one of my Canada/New England cruises I made it a mission to have lobster roll (my favorite way to eat lobster) in every port. I even tried a McLobster (in Halifax, IIRC). Definitely not the best--too much lettuce filler, but not bad. A stall at the market in Saint John was the best.

[Destiny0315]

https://profcruise/carnival-7-day-dinner-menus/

21 minutes ago, KroozNut said:

If you look at the Night 2 ('Gala night') menu in the link provided, it does show broiled lobster tail available with no up charge.

Point taken. I was on a cruise in early May with them on the Legend and don't remember the offer even on either 'Cruise Elegant Night'. But then after the two years of Covid I guess we were all admiring how elegant we could all still look.😊 Seriously, here is the link to the latest (Nov. '22) menus for CCL which now features lobster tails on the 2nd elegant night or 6th night of their 7 day cruise.

[WriterOnDeck]

59 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

Do the 12 ounce lobster tail offered at surcharge on Gala nights.  It’s better than the 2 5 ounce ones on other nights. My friend said it was quite good or, second option is at Sel de Mer where it is a whole lobster and very good (according to reports from my friends) 

On the Westerdam this fall I split the 12-ounce lobster with another guest. 6 ounces of lobster meat was plenty!

[HALcruiser2001]

6 minutes ago, Destiny0315 said:

https://profcruise/carnival-7-day-dinner-menus/

Point taken. I was on a cruise in early May with them on the Legend and don't remember the offer even on either 'Cruise Elegant Night'. But then after the two years of Covid I guess we were all admiring how elegant we could all still look.😊 Seriously, here is the link to the latest (Nov. '22) menus for CCL which now features lobster tails on the 2nd elegant night or 6th night of their 7 day cruise.

Linky no worky.

[MISTER 67]

Offering lobster at only an upcharge is just another one of HAL's cutbacks. We were on X 3 times this summer and lobster was on the menu the last dressy night on all 3 cruises, on our sailing in June everybody who ordered lobster had 2 tails on their plate. Shrimp Cocktail was one of the appetizers every tonight with no upcharge, one night they brought out 2 to those who ordered it. We sailed with Princess twice at Thansgiving and Chritmas of 2021 and lobster was on the menu one night on both cruise at no extra charge.

HAL's chintzy ways have put a real bad taste in our mouths and we are done sailing with them for the foreseeable future.

Edited December 28, 2022 by MISTER 67