Why doesn't HAL have a Lobster Night?

[Destiny0315]

8 minutes ago, bdd123 said:

Linky no worky.

Sorry, forgot the .com.

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

[Destiny0315]

17 minutes ago, MISTER 67 said:

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

Yes it is becoming harder for people to claim that HAL is being Carnivalized by CCL when some of the things that you liked and expected from them are still being offered on those CCL ships but not on the HAL ships themselves.

[KroozNut]

3 hours ago, VennDiagram said:

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

 

Curious as to what is holding you back from cruising now?

[KroozNut]

40 minutes ago, Destiny0315 said:

Yes it is becoming harder for people to claim that HAL is being Carnivalized by CCL when some of the things that you liked and expected from them are still being offered on those CCL ships but not on the HAL ships themselves.

Very true.. It is difficult to rationalize why HAL does not offer certain menu items or amenities (without up charge) that its parent company CCL does without the up charge.

[foodsvcmgr]

Agreed, makes no sense for the entry level line to offer more than the superior mass market line.

Runs contrary to basic marketing.

Currently RCL is experiencing food and service downgrades while Celebrity is not (for specific items that differentiate the two).

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, KroozNut said:

Very true.. It is difficult to rationalize why HAL does not offer certain menu items or amenities (without up charge) that its parent company CCL does without the up charge.

It makes a lot of sense.  HAL has become the budget line of the CCL company.  

 

Hank

[KroozNut]

18 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

It makes a lot of sense.  HAL has become the budget line of the CCL company.  

 

Hank

Perhaps so, but that concept just seems so counterintuitive, considering the brand reputation that HAL had over the years as more of the 'refined' or 'upscale' brand of the CCL family.

I guess they're slowly losing that long-standing reputation, especially in recent years..

[Hlitner]

4 minutes ago, KroozNut said:

Perhaps so, but that concept just seems so counterintuitive, considering the brand reputation that HAL had over the years as more of the 'refined' or 'upscale' brand of the CCL family.

I guess they're slowly losing that long-standing reputation, especially in recent years..

We started cruising HAL because of that excellent brand reputation.  Now, HAL is pretty low on our list of preferred cruise lines.  Perhaps our upcoming 42 days on the Westy will put HAL back on top of our personal list of lines.

 

Hank

[Destiny0315]

I think in all cases the parent companies like CCL, RCCL, and NCL have to invest in keeping their newest shiniest monster ships full with happy people people no matter what. That has left some of the what used to be considered quality and somewhat upscale lines that they own out to flounder.

[KroozNut]

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

We started cruising HAL because of that excellent brand reputation.  Now, HAL is pretty low on our list of preferred cruise lines.  Perhaps our upcoming 42 days on the Westy will put HAL back on top of our personal list of lines.

 

Hank

Hopefully so Hank, as we'd hate to see you go!

[Seasick Sailor]

Well I guess we are in the minority.

 

We love HAL, especially Rotterdam, on until 1-25. 45 days.

 

The food is excellent. Love Tamarind. 

 

I don't mind paying extra lobster cost. 

 

Love HAL after sailing many lines.

 

Too many plusses to out weight the complaints.

[shack]

3 hours ago, Hlitner said:

It makes a lot of sense.  HAL has become the budget line of the CCL company.  

 

Hank

Yep, just closing the deal on our LAST HAL cruise ever.  And - of course - I need to bring money even without a lobster tail/claw...

 

Below average TRYING to do an average job and failing.

[jimbob22]

ok, we got off Rotterdam today (fam of 4) and we got off Mardi Gras a month ago, so I feel qualified to type on this issue. While it is true that Carnival does offer the small, but cherished and sacred 'lobster tail'--Carnival does NOT offer lamb chops, and has eliminated (or greatly cut back) on filet mignon.  Carnival is also serving many sides in condiment containers.

 

On Hal we had two nights with tenderloin, and it was very, very good (not skimped out super-thin slices).  The tenderloin on the first night was a nice sized medium rare slice from a full, roasted tenderloin.  The 2nd time, it was slightly smaller, on a bed or orzo, but still excellent.   On the first tenderloin night, I had tenderloin+lamb chop entrees.  The lamb was excellent too.  It was the equivalent of a very pricey restaurant meal.  I had zero meals on Mardi Gras that were the equivalent of a very nice restaurant meal.  Although big chicken and guys are good--they do not compare to tenderloin+good lamb chops.

 

Hal also serves a very high % of the mdr menu in the lido.  So on another night, the only real tempting mdr entree (to us) was prime rib.  They were slicing medium rare prime rib in the lido that night, with gravy and/or horseradish sauce--and it was excellent.  Hal also had shrimp, crabcakes, smoked salmon and other upper-tier items on the lido often (the smoked salmon was available every morning).

 

Hal also offers a LOT more baked breads, croissants, fruit pies, etc.  There was no comparison--the food on the Rotterdam was far superior to MG in presentation, quality and flavor.  

 

This was our 2nd Hal sailing (we did K-dam over Christmas 5 years ago).  I think this sailing had more people, and on this one I noticed more of the 'hal stereotype' older/scooter riding passengers, but there were still many families with teens, kids, a wide variety of ages.  We paid under 100 pp per day (crammed into a 4 person room with obstructed balcony), but this still a great price for a product that IMO is superior to that of Carnival.  In terms of dining, there is no comparison.

 

 

Edited December 29, 2022 by jimbob22

[NSWP]

8 hours ago, kangforpres said:

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

That is what I do, double up on the shrimp cocktail, but dont forget the gout pills, lol.

I was on Coral Princess in 🇦🇺 Australia in September, there was lobster tail on Formal night in MDR.

Edited December 29, 2022 by NSWP

[Destiny0315]

40 minutes ago, Seasick Sailor said:

Well I guess we are in the minority.

 

We love HAL

No you really are not in the minority. HAL continues to provide great service by its crew and superior dining compared to many other lines. But the overall perception of it has been lessened by changes in other areas that have occurred over recent years. So the veteran HAL cruisers have been disappointed with many of these changes and expressed it here and elsewhere which adds to the perception vs. reality issues which corporate seems to ignore.

[Reds4life]

Royal Caribbean has Lobster. Never had them put a limit on it either. I watched a family of 4 eat 11 between them 

[VennDiagram]

17 hours ago, KroozNut said:

 

Curious as to what is holding you back from cruising now?

 

Life is holding us back for now.

[jb008]

Just off Rotterdam, no lobster on the complimentary menu (but available with an up charge).  Echoing @jimbob22 though, that they were using a lot of expensive ingredients (e.g., lots of nice cuts of beef, lamb, larger "jumbo" shrimp, and crab cakes) such that I was surprised to not see lobster on one of the holiday gala menus (we had 3 gala nights: sea day 1, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day).

I found the buffet menu to be relatively repetitive, but the quality of the food in both the buffet and MDR were all solid and I'm not convinced the missing lobster tails is a major cost saver when I look at the other ingredients they were using. I don't know the lobster market though... maybe it's just scarce right now, like the escargot shortage from 5 or so years back. <shrug>

[jimbob22]

1 minute ago, jb008 said:

Just off Rotterdam, no lobster on the complimentary menu (but available with an up charge).  Echoing @jimbob22 though, that they were using a lot of expensive ingredients (e.g., lots of nice cuts of beef, lamb, larger "jumbo" shrimp, and crab cakes) such that I was surprised to not see lobster on one of the holiday gala menus (we had 3 gala nights: sea day 1, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day).

I found the buffet menu to be relatively repetitive, but the quality of the food in both the buffet and MDR were all solid and I'm not convinced the missing lobster tails is a major cost saver when I look at the other ingredients they were using. I don't know the lobster market though... maybe it's just scarce right now, like the escargot shortage from 5 or so years back. <shrug>

I figure that maybe when taking costs (and availability?) into account, that providing good lobster to everyone does not work well.  On a meat-to-meat basis, everything on Hal is higher quality than on Carnival, so I don't think Hal wants to provide those same small lobster tails that Carnival provides.

 

We felt that the evening lido had some variety to it (since it would provide much or all of the mdr items), but the morning lido was repetitive, but still with enough variety to keep us happy. I *would* like to see Hal have more trays of pre-made omelettes, benedicts and similar.  I never wanted to wait in that line and would gravitate toward the lox, bagel, croissants, muesli areas. 

 

I saw one round metal pan by the sticky buns, and it may have had pre-made benedicts in it. I'm not certain. Someone may be able to confirm.

 

But overall, their standard lido offerings were (for our tastes) sufficiently varied, good quality.

[Wakepatrol]

9 hours ago, Reds4life said:

Royal Caribbean has Lobster. Never had them put a limit on it either. I watched a family of 4 eat 11 between them 

That was the Chestnut family

[Sea42]

39 minutes ago, jimbob22 said:

We felt that the evening lido had some variety to it (since it would provide much or all of the mdr items), but the morning lido was repetitive, but still with enough variety to keep us happy.

Seeing I eat the same couple of things at breakfast, everyday at home, I'm betting it will be enough to keep us happy too!

[jimbob22]

1 minute ago, Sea42 said:

Seeing I eat the same couple of things at breakfast, everyday at home, I'm betting it will be enough to keep us happy too!

oh definitely.  You should definitely walk all of it though to get a good look!  I'm having croissant withdrawal shakes right now.  Pray for me.

[cruisemom42]

1 hour ago, jimbob22 said:

I *would* like to see Hal have more trays of pre-made omelettes, benedicts and similar. 

 

'Cuz nothing says "quality" like a pre-made omelet or eggs benedict. 

 

I'd never touch a pre-made E.B. in the buffet. In fact, one reason I eat in the buffet for breakfast is to get a fresh one. I don't even like the ones from the MDR as the dish is often tepid and the Hollandaise sauce congealed by the time it is brought to me.

 

[jimbob22]

8 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

'Cuz nothing says "quality" like a pre-made omelet or eggs benedict. 

 

I'd never touch a pre-made E.B. in the buffet. In fact, one reason I eat in the buffet for breakfast is to get a fresh one. I don't even like the ones from the MDR as the dish is often tepid and the Hollandaise sauce congealed by the time it is brought to me.

 

different strokes for different folks. I have no problem eating a pre-made EB, since it's undoubtedly fresher than much of the pre-made stuff I eat at home. The quality need not suffer other than sitting for a few minutes under the heat lamp.

 

I don't feel like waiting in a 10-15 minute line--but many have no problem with it of course.

[Destiny0315]

10 hours ago, Reds4life said:

Royal Caribbean has Lobster. Never had them put a limit on it either

There are reasons why most of the best, most expensive, and most of the higher quality restaurants in the world do not feature lobster dishes on their menus, and it is not because of pricing. If keeping the masses happy means serving basic lobster tails then go for it CCL and RCCL. But I am certainly not basing my cruise decisions on one item that I can't get on the menu.