quote:

Don't the most ships use the lobsters bred at lobster farms?

I don't know the supply source, but they certainly aren't Maine lobsters. More likely the same sources which supply the boxes of frozen lobster tails to Costco and Sam's Club.

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Originally posted by TrvlPro:
My advice to cruise loyalists is never ever consider cruising with any other line for any reason. You'll be very disappointed and those who dine with you, your agent, friends and family can do without the comparisons of why it was a disappointing experience because they didn't provide a robe or fold the napkins correctly in the dining room.

Cheers, Neil

Sorry, I have to disagree here. Variety is the spice of life. What a boring world it would be if everyone just did the same thing over and over and never experienced different things. Yes, it is typical of people to compare something to their "first" whatever. First cruise, first car, even first love, first child, first dog. I would hope though that most people are open minded enough to make fair, constructive comparisons, and then choose what works best for them. People grow and learn by trying different things.

Cruise Fanatic, I agree with you completely on variety and love trying new experiences and different lines. I guess its the "Most people are open minded enough to make fair, constructive comparisons" part that I'm beginning to wonder about. Many who have sailed exclusively with one line and really like it don't seem to have the ability to not be critical of the way other lines may opperate. Perhaps I've just had an unusual string of complaints about "They didn't do things this way when I sailed with _____".

I know, I think I just need a vacation so I'll quit being so picky and petty myself over such silly issues. Hmmmm, I wonder if I should do a cruise or resort? Maybe there is someone out there that combines the two and I could cruise to a resort for a few days and then cruise home!

Cheers, Neil

Ok thanks to you now I know something new,
At first I did not understand why you were talking about Lobsters farms,
I didn't know you can grew lobsters, since lobsters in the Caribbean live on the sea,
we not usually have farms to grew them so I guess the lobster you use to eat on cruises is
Is what they call “Fresh Water Lobster" now I can understand why they are smaller and the taste,



But the spiny lobster is not cheaper than the “fresh water lobster”
Actually prices goes as this prices at the moment;

Spiny Lobster average Price: $36

Fresh water average price: $ 25

So you know there are a few problems with the spiny lobster:

• They live on sea and you cannot grow them on farm, you have to catch them. Cuba had been experimenting with them and, at the moment, is the only island that had transplanted them to a place where they don’t have natural enemies giving them a great number on their population but, this number is not good enough to drop down the prices.

• Since they are a protected species and for quite a time had been on extinctions levels, you can only catch lobsters if they are on a certain number of pounds, and a fully grown adult lobster. if they are less than this number you have to release them to sea, so as you see depending on the season you can only found a limited number of adult spiny lobsters to catch and sell for food.

• If you visit the Caribbean you can find the two kinds of lobsters, but our restaurants will always charge you more for the spiny lobster, and prices may vary depending on the season. In most cases, the local restaurants normally will serve you the spiny lobster fresh and the frozen “fresh water” lobsters just for the off season time.

If you ever visit Caribbean, especially Puerto Rico, please remember that our spiny lobster is always fresh catch from sea, but the “fresh water” lobster is not, we have to buy it from Florida or other jurisdiction from USA.
I even know a few restaurants on Puerto Rico that you can see the lobster alive before they prepared it for you and you can choose which one you will want.
If you visit our island, ask for “Asopao de Langosta” or “mofongo relleno de Langosta”
You will love it!!!

The lobster complaints kind of make me laugh. You have folks spending thousands of dollars on a cruise and they make a big issue about lobster tails that anyone can buy in the market for about $20. But yes, we have also noticed that RCI has made major cut-backs. Its not just on food but also on entertainment. On the Dec 3 crossing of the Brilliance of the Seas we talked with some entertainers who said there had been reductions in the entertainment budget. We also noticed that the already wine prices had become higher and that more expensive food items such as large shrimp, lobster, and some decent meat (such as good veal) had all but disappeared. Within 4 months of that RCI cruise we also cruised on the Grand Princess (20 days) and the Azamara Journey (18 days) and the quality on both of those lines was good to excellent. We have cruised on 12 different cruise lines and still enjoy RCi (14 cruises with this line) but it no longer measures up to the competition in most areas. We still book RCI when they do a decent itinerary and have a good price, but otherwise, we prefer HA, Princess, Celebrity, Azamara, Crystal, etc.

Hank

Price is affected by more than the species of lobster. What the price is in Puerto Rico is not what the price is in Boston. Oddly enough, I just googled the subject of lobster price and according to this story east coast lobster prices are in the tank, pardon the pun.

I also checked on raising lobsters commercially. The problem is that it takes so long for lobsters to achieve a marketable size that the venture is not profitable.

We have always cruised RCCL--the first two were free, incentive travel. After that I visited my agent, told her we loved those first two--and she encouraged us to never depart from RCCL since we were so satisfied. My parents first cruised with Princess (this stands in their memory as their "best" cruise) and are very loyal to that line. They sailed RCCL once, and Carnival once, and the complaining never stopped. They are very old now and will have to cruise with us if they go at all and we may get in a stalemate over which line to choose.

In the end we are all creatures of habit, and having had a wonderful time at something we try to recreate or exceed it time after time. We hold on to all the experiences and flavors and want them to be present to recreate the magic of that "best" cruise.

You can also poll a hundred people on this site and get 5-6 different answers of which is the best cruise line. I don't think anyone is saying RCCL love it or leave it--I think the greater message is "hey, you've got options--if you aren't happy here try somewhere else".

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Originally posted by Dave Beers:
Price is affected by more than the species of lobster. What the price is in Puerto Rico is not what the price is in Boston. Oddly enough, I just googled the subject of lobster price and according to this story east coast lobster prices are in the tank, pardon the pun.

I also checked on raising lobsters commercially. The problem is that it takes so long for lobsters to achieve a marketable size that the venture is not profitable.

Thanks for the info Dave

But what I really don't understand is the logic on prices
for me, since we don't breed "fresh water lobster" here on Puerto Rico, it will have to be more expensive than the spiny lobster since we can catch them in our waters and the first one we have to import it from USA, but thats not the case

for soem reason the spiney lobster is more $$$ than the other...
My guess is that maybe, SAMS here on PR, has bring an overstock of them and since we are an island there is not much uses for frozen lobster when we can get it fresh from sea...

Island economies are always complex since in many cases the island has to import so much stuff. But PR has so many natural resources and grows so much of it's own food that the usual island economy arguments don't necessarily apply.

I don't know about the lobster pricing in PR. I do know that if it was readily available fresh from the sea, I wouldn't buy frozen!

Many people are afraid to deal with live lobsters and prefer them to be already "processed" (dead).

To get back on track here - I think it is safe to say RCI has made a mistake by dropping the lobster. Most cruisers expect to see it at least once on the menu, and the price is a fraction of the cost of a cruise. I found $10 lobster tails on line today. I suspect the cruise line could get them cheaper.

Although we liked the food, we didn't have lobster or baked Alaska on the Navigator in April either. It was our first cruise and our tablemates had said to expect it so we eagerly awaited it every night without luck. It was also a big anniversary for us and our travel agent had notified the cruise line but there wasn't a mention of it (not that I expected more than a "Happy Anniversary" at dinner). I guess I should have said something or pre-bought a cake(?) but I figured they must do something since they asked at the time of our reservation if we were celebrating something. None of these things ruined our cruise and as I said, we loved the food. Not to change the subject, but we pre-tipped for the cruise. Does this mean that the dining room waiter received a tip if we went or not? She was fine but towards the end of the cruise, we were only hurrying to dinner out of guilt for her waiting and the hopes of lobster!

NCL had stopped serving lobster in it's main diningrooms, but at last report, they are returning it for at least one night on a 7 day cruise and 2 nights on a 9 day cruise....Being from Minnesota, Lobster is a treat, but not worth crying about because I didn't get one...I'm sure there will be drastic cuts coming with all the new restrictions....but this means I will only be able to go on two cruises a year instead of more....Life sucks sometimes, but it's still better than the alternative...Happy Cruising...

Bob E

quote:

Originally posted by spoheat:
We have always cruised RCCL--the first two were free, incentive travel. After that I visited my agent, told her we loved those first two--and she encouraged us to never depart from RCCL since we were so satisfied. My parents first cruised with Princess (this stands in their memory as their "best" cruise) and are very loyal to that line. They sailed RCCL once, and Carnival once, and the complaining never stopped. They are very old now and will have to cruise with us if they go at all and we may get in a stalemate over which line to choose.

In the end we are all creatures of habit, and having had a wonderful time at something we try to recreate or exceed it time after time. We hold on to all the experiences and flavors and want them to be present to recreate the magic of that "best" cruise.

You can also poll a hundred people on this site and get 5-6 different answers of which is the best cruise line. I don't think anyone is saying RCCL love it or leave it--I think the greater message is "hey, you've got options--if you aren't happy here try somewhere else".

We also like RCI (Diamond members) but that has never stopped us from trying other things (including 12 other cruise lines). On our cruises we have met many folks who have only cruised on one cruise line. Nothing wrong with that and its the reason the cruise lines have nurtured their frequent cruisers. But, only trying one line is kind of like somebody who spends their life eating in McDonalds, thinks it has the best food in the world (because they have never been in another) and goes to their grave never having experienced a different restaurant. We have found many differences between the various cruise lines (and even different ships of the same line) and the variety has been a lot of fun. We are often asked, "Whats your favorite cruise line" and we always respond that they are all our favorites.

Hank