All you can eat lobster

[MillauFr]

Fresh Maine Lobster cooked correctly can be sublime. The frozen rock "lobsters" that Disney overcooks are just nasty. No flavor and very tough. No thanks.

 

[Melissa S]

Fresh Maine Lobster cooked correctly can be sublime. The frozen rock "lobsters" that Disney overcooks are just nasty. No flavor and very tough. No thanks.

Agree! I grew up in RI so we used to get lobster off the boats. I LOVE lobster and looked forward to it on our 8 night. So much that I ordered two. It was the worst lobster I have ever had in my entire life and on top of it, it wasn't served with butter, a baked potato and corn lol. I wish I didn't order it and know better for the next time.

 

[texasgirl73]

I love lobster but didn't want to order for fear that it wouldn't be good. My daughter wanted some and was looking forward to it. She was not impressed. I tried it and I am gald I didn't order it....it's a shame to see lobster mistreated like that!

 

[woody73]

. . . it's a shame to see lobster mistreated like that!

LOL!

Woody

 

[daipp]

Lobster is one of the highlights of our Disney Cruise for my wife - she loves it.

David

 

[KBT35]

I wonder with Disney being so accommodating....if you could ask for it to be prepared differently? Maybe grilled would lend a bit more flavor or even flash fried! Hmmmmmmm

 

[jdb in AZ]

There's more to it than preparation. Two years ago we had lobster two nights on the Wonder WBPC cruise. The first night it was bleah. The 2nd night the lobster was tender and flavorful. The waiter said the lobster came from different parts of the world. Neither was from Maine (my fave) but the 2nd night's lobster was definitely better than the first.

 

[KBT35]

There's more to it than preparation. Two years ago we had lobster two nights on the Wonder WBPC cruise. The first night it was bleah. The 2nd night the lobster was tender and flavorful. The waiter said the lobster came from different parts of the world. Neither was from Maine (my fave) but the 2nd night's lobster was definitely better than the first.

Oh I know there's more to it than just preparation BUT preparation can indeed enhance the flavor and minimize the opportunity for toughness.

 

[lbgraves]

I had a "stick in the mud" server on our last trip. He was really uptight and would get stressed out at small things. (My head server would roll his eyes at him and My assistant server made fun of him under her breath...) The team dynamic was weird.

Well anyway...on lobster night I ordered 2 for myself and 1 extra for DH and I to split. He tried to tell me "no," and said that I might not finish them. It was just the way he said it. I am small but I eat ALOT.
.... I've never been scolded for ordering food.

Sounds like one of the servers we had years ago. Did his name start with a G?

Oh I know there's more to it than just preparation BUT preparation can indeed enhance the flavor and minimize the opportunity for toughness.

We have always enjoyed the lobster on the Magic/Wonder. I was surprised that they could prepare it and have it turn out so tender. What a disappointment the lobster on the Fantasy was on the MV. We thought the additional count in the MDR contributed to that, perhaps it is just too many.

 

[lilpooh108]

I hate that happened to you. Great table service is one of the best parts of a Disney cruise.

Thanks. Yeah, we were disappointed with our server but we LOVED our assistant server so she more than made up for it. This was our 4th cruise and it wasn't the worse service we had (that was on the Dream, about 4 months after the ship started cruising--gah that service was awful...it took 3 hours daily to get through dinner).

It was obvious that our server's personality wasn't a right fit for Disney. Interestingly, he told us that his last jobs were with: (1) Norwegian Cruise Line; and (2) a gambling ship in Hong Kong. I thought this was particularly interesting because I could see that he already had developed his "serving" personality/style a certain way. Maybe NCL trained him differently. His personality was very different than those attuned with the Disney Cruise Line culture. He was very "frugal" and acted put off fairly easily. I will say though, that our head server was a b*llbuster. He took no crap from anybody. So it was probably very difficult to work for him. It just made us very uncomfortable to watch the dynamic the whole week. Our assistant server was easygoing, and she kind of laughed it off. It must be hard to deal with that week after week, though. He probably wasn't helping his team getting any bonus time off if he was getting bad reviews. There was alot of tension in our team.

We still managed to have a very good time.

Sounds like one of the servers we had years ago. Did his name start with a G?

We have always enjoyed the lobster on the Magic/Wonder. I was surprised that they could prepare it and have it turn out so tender. What a disappointment the lobster on the Fantasy was on the MV. We thought the additional count in the MDR contributed to that, perhaps it is just too many.

No, he's relatively new (about 1 year with Disney, before that with NCL). His name starts with an H. I think ironically, he felt very comfortable with us because we tried to chat with him and make him comfortable. In turn, he started complaining alot and saying inappropriate things. He was very homesick and I felt bad for him, but the service was just really not up to par.

~~Lobster on the Wonder~~ I really thought it was great. My parents (who did Alaska on the Wonder in 2010) also thought it was great. They were on the Fantasy in November 2012 and they said the food overall was not impressive, and that the lobster was not very good at all. Perhaps its because they had too many plates to prepare. I love the food on the classic ships. I thought the food on the Dream was hit or miss.

 

[carpenta]

Know wonder why.....NCL?.....THE WORST cruise line ever we have sailed. That alone answers your question of why the poor service.

 

[yarlenna]

If you in the Orlando area - and really want lots of lobster try "boston lobster feast". You can also get coupons on line. The place is not fancy, but the lobster is worth the drive to me.

 

["Cinder" Ella's Mom]

Know wonder why.....NCL?.....THE WORST cruise line ever we have sailed. That alone answers your question of why the poor service.

I think you have a point. With the freestyle dining on NCL passengers do not have the same servers each night. There was no incentive to be especially kind or speedy, as servers would likely not wait on those passengers again. After one painful three hour dinner one night, we paid the up charge for specialty restaurants every night after that. And you know what? I think that was NCL's plan all along. Brilliant. . We won't cruise again with them either.

 

[lilpooh108]

[QUOTE="Cinder" Ella's Mom;47258139]I think you have a point. With the freestyle dining on NCL passengers do not have the same servers each night. There was no incentive to be especially kind or speedy, as servers would likely not wait on those passengers again. After one painful three hour dinner one night, we paid the up charge for specialty restaurants every night after that. And you know what? I think that was NCL's plan all along. Brilliant. . We won't cruise again with them either.[/QUOTE]

I had no idea about NCL!!

And we were considering sailing the Epic over the Maguc this summer for the Med.

What ship was this?

 

[bceagle76]

It is not Maine Lobster but it is still very good
I always order 2 Once had 3

 

[jlynch924]

Our servers kept bringing more lobster on our recent DCL Magic cruise... He brought me two and three for my husband, all without asking!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[carpenta]

I had no idea about NCL!!

And we were considering sailing the Epic over the Maguc this summer for the Med.

What ship was this?

All NCL ships feature "free style dining" where there is one main dining room and various "specialty" resturaunts. You eat at any time you walk into the main dining room where you make reservations in the specialty areas that feature Italian, French, Steak, Japanese etc. There is a charge for eating in each venue. The food in the main dining was HORRIBLE and service TERRIBLE IMO. That forces you to eat in the other venues where we found the food lacking. There is a reason why the cost of the cruise is less because they whack you when you get on board. The difference is really eveident when you cruise Disney and then go to NCL. Royal Caribbean is a good substitute IMO if you want a less expensive alternative to Disney. I for one would never sail NCL again even if they offered a free cruise. But some people like it...to each their own.

 

["Cinder" Ella's Mom]

All NCL ships feature "free style dining" where there is one main dining room and various "specialty" resturaunts. You eat at any time you walk into the main dining room where you make reservations in the specialty areas that feature Italian, French, Steak, Japanese etc. There is a charge for eating in each venue. The food in the main dining was HORRIBLE and service TERRIBLE IMO. That forces you to eat in the other venues where we found the food lacking. There is a reason why the cost of the cruise is less because they whack you when you get on board. The difference is really eveident when you cruise Disney and then go to NCL. Royal Caribbean is a good substitute IMO if you want a less expensive alternative to Disney. I for one would never sail NCL again even if they offered a free cruise. But some people like it...to each their own.

We ate at the upsell steak place (Cagneys, I think) and a French one. This was a four day cruise. Both were good and the service was good too, but no better than you would receive in the MDRs on Disney or RCCL. I liked NCL many years ago before the dining change, but it really isn't our style now.

 

[lilpooh108]

All NCL ships feature "free style dining" where there is one main dining room and various "specialty" resturaunts. You eat at any time you walk into the main dining room where you make reservations in the specialty areas that feature Italian, French, Steak, Japanese etc. There is a charge for eating in each venue. The food in the main dining was HORRIBLE and service TERRIBLE IMO. That forces you to eat in the other venues where we found the food lacking. There is a reason why the cost of the cruise is less because they whack you when you get on board. The difference is really eveident when you cruise Disney and then go to NCL. Royal Caribbean is a good substitute IMO if you want a less expensive alternative to Disney. I for one would never sail NCL again even if they offered a free cruise. But some people like it...to each their own.

Well that does explain alot about our server's "style" since he was from NCL. He didn't really fit in with the rest of the group.

Had no idea about NCL...I've actually heard some good reviews. I wonder if the newer ships are nicer? But I guess company culture is what it is....

Back to the lobsters--they were big portions (I think 8 oz/per lobster). If you really like them I'd say 2-3 would make a great meal. We did skip dessert that day though

 

[bceagle76]

When consider NCL the cost of most resturants is like $30
We are family of 5 that $150 a night for 7 nights thats another $1050