NCL Dining

[arawak]

I have read on another thread that NCL no longer serves Lobster or Rack of Lamb except in the specialty restaurants where one has to pay extra. Is this "official"? I for one look forward to these "special" dishes when I am on a cruise, and with fares increasing as they are, I think it's a shame if NCL is going to get all miserly about its cuisine. Elegant dining is one of the pleasures of cruising, and I don't see why we should have to pay extra to enjoy it.

[Planer's Edge]

There was lobster (as it were) on our Dawn cruise a few weeks ago. I don't remember ever seeing rack of lamb on any of my previous NCL cruises except of course in LeBistro.

 

PE

[silkhair1]

I have never seen rack of lamb either and I have been reading mixed reviews on having lobster or not. I think they still have it, and maybe people missed it. I will find out soon.

[newmexicoNita]

I have sailed NCL 10 times now I do not think we ever had rack of lamb, I could be wrong. As for the Lobster, this seems to be a confusing question: some say, yes, they had it just last week, others say it isn't Lobster but a seafood platter with a small amount of Lobster. This was the case on the Star in Sept/Oct. Apparently RCI has stopped serving it as well and Princess has cut way back on the amount. it is a disappointment at first, but when you think about it, the Lobster served wasn't Maine Lobster, but Caribbean or some such breed and frozen. I have had great pieces, fair servings and bad servings. I really think it is more the tradition that is bothering most of us, not the actually Lobster itself.

 

Nita

[smeyer418]

Rack of lamb was served as part of the President's dinner when Henry Hallack? was the NCL chef(former white house chef)...in fact it was the Ronald Reagan....in the regular dining rooms.....

[tommy]

We actually looked forward to lobster night,I bet you can still get it with the specialty dining[cover charge].The other lines have cut back on the portions [small]but you can ask for 2 or even 3 when you order.Anyway I hope they still offer it.

[bratsuzy]

Its frozen lobster!

& tiny & not good so why bother

[Skimo]

Had the lobster as part of the surf and turf in Cagneys (which incurrs an extra charge above the normal cover) and was utterly bland and not worth the regular cover, never mind the surcharge. To be honest I wasn't really surprised as I was pretty sure it wouldn't have been fresh, the only way good lobster should be eaten.

[Toyz711]

on my last cruise, we got and rock (caribbean) lobster tail in the main dining room...ours was good. the 1/2 of maine lobster FIL had in cagney's was bigger(of course), but we were talking so much...didn't find out how it tasted.

there were lamb chops (rack of lamb served as chops)..there were only 2 chops..(note to self: order more), the sauce was very good, the chops weren't over cook..over-all excellent.

the beef wellington was one of the favorites for DH. something he is looking forward to next week. no matter what is or isn't on the menu...we make a pact to try new foods on each trip.

[tommy]

Its frozen lobster!

& tiny & not good so why bother

Your probably right,Might as well just go to the specialty restaurants and pay the cover charges.

[sgip2000]

Here's the deal on Lobster:

 

They do indeed have a "Lobster night".

 

They do not announce which night it will be.

 

The lobster is cold and has very little flavor.

[tommy]

Here's the deal on Lobster:

 

They do indeed have a "Lobster night".

 

They do not announce which night it will be.

 

The lobster is cold and has very little flavor.

Iam glad you cleared that up.On our last cruise less than a year ago the lobster wasnt cold or tasteless it was small but we asked for 2 with no problem.

[Jeanne S]

I have read on another thread that NCL no longer serves Lobster or Rack of Lamb except in the specialty restaurants where one has to pay extra. Is this "official"? I for one look forward to these "special" dishes when I am on a cruise, and with fares increasing as they are, I think it's a shame if NCL is going to get all miserly about its cuisine. Elegant dining is one of the pleasures of cruising, and I don't see why we should have to pay extra to enjoy it.

 

 

We sailed on the NCL Crown in July of this year and the Lobster was shredded and horrrible- presented like - cold like a shimp cocktail. There was no rack of lamb. People complained and on my recent Crown Cruise in October, we had Lobster, Filet of Beef and Rack of lamb. This was in the Seven Seas Regular Dining Room. I think NCL has been rethinking its regular menu offerrings as passengers have comnplained on their comment cards. I mean there has to be a Lobster night as we as fillet of beef.

 

 

This is why we loved to sail on Celebrity - but now that they are owned by RCCL, the menu has gone down hill - they cannot brag about Chef Roux anymore.

 

I have been on every major (Queen Mary 2 and QE2) and small ship liner and must say that the best food was served on Carnival.

[salty dingo]

Everyone should be aware the trend on all the "affordable" cruise lines is to have average meals in the main dining room, included in the cruise fare. The truly special dining is now moved to the extra charge restaurants.

 

I don't see anything wrong with this at all. Good food is still available. People should just budget extra for this if that is important to them. If fine dining is not so important (and to many people, it's not) then you can cruise less expensively.

 

People may be able to book an inside where they would have booked a balcony, and use the difference for upscale food, rather than upscale lodging. There are all sorts of ways to go, and the name of the game is choice, and paying for what you get.

[deepnite10]

if your looking for an alternative restraunt to have lobster...go the the

SOHO if ur sailing on the Star..it s $5 cheaper than cagney s...and

you get to pick your own lobster out of a tank..if none in the tank

you ll get a frozen main..and $5 off the meal..

 

i did nt order the lobster..but, the wife did..and she could nt finish

it..:p sooooooooo

[sailandcruise]

Had caribbean (rock) lobster tails in Azura and Tsar's Palace Monday night 11/19 aboard the Jewel's 11/18-23 five night western Caribbean cruise. Not only could you order more than one, but if you want you can take advantage of freestyle and have an early dinner, see the shows, and then have another late dinner. Tsar's was open from 5:30 to 9:30 and Azura from 6:00-10:30 so you could have two meals with lobster 5 hours apart if you wanted to. Beef Wellington was also on the menu that night.

[salty dingo]

you could have two meals with lobster 5 hours apart if you wanted to.

 

Would anyone actually do that?

[sailandcruise]

sure -- if you had a late breakfast around 10:30, no lunch, then two dinners. ;)

[mbisson]

Would anyone actually do that?

 

I did once, sort of. We were fortunate enough on our Jewel sailing that the first lobster dinner was pretty good (especially with the beef I had and created my own "surf & turf"). Went to have nachos late that evening after the show and I noticed that people were being served lobster dinners. The waiter started talking to us and I mentioned how cool I thought that was. He said it was available in all the dining rooms. As we were leaving he brought me a plate to go (without my asking-but that was another thread wasn't it ;) ) that had 3 tails on it.

 

Even eating them on my bed (again ;) ) they tasted pretty good and as pointed out by others they're pretty small and the wife ate one of em.

[2boyzmom]

Had caribbean (rock) lobster tails in Azura and Tsar's Palace Monday night 11/19 aboard the Jewel's 11/18-23 five night western Caribbean cruise. Not only could you order more than one, but if you want you can take advantage of freestyle and have an early dinner, see the shows, and then have another late dinner. Tsar's was open from 5:30 to 9:30 and Azura from 6:00-10:30 so you could have two meals with lobster 5 hours apart if you wanted to. Beef Wellington was also on the menu that night.

 

 

Was this "formal night" ?

[insidecabin]

Would anyone actually do that?

 

Why on earth not, Double dinner quite often, even on other lines, Celebrity hit the Sushi at 6.00 and then go for regular dinnner, RCI prime rib buffet night hit the buffet at 6.00 have small rib dinner then go for a full dinner at regular time and sometimes will have the rib again. Mind you usualy skip the soup or salad and only have one desert if double dining.

 

NCL make it even easier with so much choice an you can create a bigger gap in timings with freestyle.

[sailandcruise]

2boyzmom, Yes it was "formal night" although they called it "Dress Up or Not"

 

We actually had appetizer and the lobster for our first dinner; the service was incredibly slow in Azura so even though we showed up around 6 pm we just got out in time to make it to the 7:30 show and we cancelled our dessert order. Since we were still hungry later we went to Tsar's Palace just before it closed and had our second dinner of additional entrees followed by dessert.

[Lipton]

I grew up in Maine and the rock lobster tails on my last two cruises one NCL and the other HAL tasted like they were boiled in a rubber hose.

The taste was strong like a chemical rubber...

I have had edibile ones in the past .. so I sort of knew what to expect but wow...It was so tough almost like dried squid I do not think I will ever order it again. I had to order a scotch to get rid of the taste on the second one.

 

I did buy a Maine Lobster ( I think it was frozen but not 100% sure)

and it was tons better than the rock lobster. We save a ton of money sailing on NCL vs. HAL so I do not mind buying a lobster one night or paying the extra for the cover charge for my dinners. I like the free food just as much except for steak and lobster... oh yes and the Choc fondue if they still have it in the Bistro...

[Sactogal]

I was on the Dawn 11/18-25 Thanksgiving cruise and we had lobster the 2nd night (small, but you could order an extra) and rack of lamb on the 6th night (cut as chops, excellent flavor).

[CanadianTwosome]

Lipton, growing up in Maine, I'm glad to know that the lobster served in the specialties is up to your standards. I'm sure that wherever you go, your expectations are well above mine - I'm a landlocked landlubber with nothing but land as far as the eye can see. I'm about as far from salt water as a person can be living in North America! ha ha ha

 

I've been around, mind you, so I've definitely had good lobster and bad, and I have to agree with you, when it's overdone and rubbery, there isn't much worse (especially when you're expecting the good stuff). I'm with you, though, if there's something I want that is available in the specialty restaurants, I'm happy to pay the surcharge. As I've said on other threads, I would much rather pay the $20 for something I choose to order than to have $100 or more added to my fare so that we can have that ONE item on the main menus along with all of the other specialty fare I DIDN'T want!! :)