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After our first night aboard the Freedom, I was already getting the sense that the food was going to be better than expected. Sure, I didn't have super high expectations going into it, but I did have minimum requirements. So far, the first dinner showed that the food wasn't going to be what once was considered, "the McDonald's of cruising". Our second night was our "Casual Elegant" dinner where lobster would be on the menu. If my memory serves me right, NCL didn't even offer lobster in the main dining room for the duration of our 7-night cruise.
I started off my meal with the Fried Oysters accompanied by chipotle lime dip. Although small in portion (hey, you can always order more, it's a cruise!), the 2 oysters were lightly fried, hence being buttery and soft inside. The breading was crispy and just the right thickness. What brought this altogether was the creamy and spicy dip. It gave life to the mildly-briny oysters. For Viv, she had the Italian Wedding Soup with kale, meatballs, egg, endive and parmesan. The light chicken broth was not oversalted, unlike many other versions of this soup. Meaty and lean, the meatballs gave body to the soup while the tender kale florets ate easy.
My son ended up with the Mushroom Cream Soup as a means of satisfying his vegetable quota. Good try buddy... We made him eat the broccoli on his main dish... The soup was indeed creamy and full of woodsy mushoom flavor. There was actually lots of mushroom which had been diced into small pieces. Again, the soup was not oversalted, which we enjoyed. To get my intake of greens, I also added a Baby Spinach Salad on the side. This was topped with plenty of crumbled blue cheese as well as being dressed in blue cheese. Hence, the flavors were a touch sharp while creamy throughout. Loved the walnuts which added a texture.
For our mains, we practically all had the Broiled Maine Lobster with toasted orzo, shrimp, broccoli and citrus gremolata. Okay, this was another pleasant surprise as the lobster was absolutely perfect. No joke. The lobster was barely cooked through, which meant the meat was succulent, buttery and sweet. This is no small feat as we've been on 10 cruises and this has been executed the best. On the side, the shrimp didn't take a back seat as they were grilled beautifully being buttery with a cold-water snap. My daughter didn't do the lobster, opting for the Spaghetti Carbonara instead. It was a large portion of noodles which were fairly al dente, but a little dry. It did taste good with a garlicky cheesiness while the bacon crumble added saltiness. With that being said, we could've done with more saltiness.
To get more of a variety, I added the Slow Cooked Prime Rib with baked potato and broccoli. The thinly sliced prime rib was medium and sauced with a thick au jus. Much like the flat-iron steak from the previous night and the tenderloin I had for brunch, the meat was tender and moist. It was also well-seasoned where I didn't need much in the way of anything else. So far, the meat quality was impressive and we hadn't even made it to the steakhouse yet. Our last dish was the Seared Striped Bass with lemon, creamy savoy cabbage and sourdough fried potatoes. Unlike the mahi mahi, the bass was flaky and moist while being well-seasoned. The lemon provided a nice acidity. We weren't enamored with the potatoes though as when the batter got cold, it wasn't that appealing.
For dessert, we shard the Creme Brulee and the Malted Chocolate Hazelnut Cake with warm chocolate sauce. I thought the custard in the brulee was nicely textured being silky and lightly eggy. It wasn't too sweet either. However, the sugar topping was somewhat uneven. As for the hazelnut cake, it was more of a cross between a ganache and a gelatin. It tasted good with a nice chocolate start and a hazelnut finish. Other than a few issues here and there, this was yet another solid meal. Considering that the kitchen has to produce a wide range of dishes for half of the passengers at a time, the execution was more than acceptable. We went away especially impressed with the lobster.
Heading into the first night, we were scheduled for the early seating at Posh Restaurant. This is one of 2 main dining rooms aboard the Freedom with Chic being the other main dining room (but for "Your Way Dining"). Unlike any other cruise ship we have been on, we were assigned booth seating which was rather private for the 4 of us and comfortable at the same time. We were greeted warmly by our waiter, Iradwin and his 2 assistants, Gede and Gefri. We found them efficient, attentive and responsive to our requests.
For our appetizers, I started with the Maryland Corn Chowder with potatoes, peppers, oregano and cream. This was served smoking hot and chock full of sweet corn niblets and tender potato nuggets. I found this to be more similar to a thicker cream of corn (Asian-style) rather than a chowder. This was not a bad thing though as the soup was lighter and didn't take away our appetite. Viv went for the Fried Calamari which was served with 2 dips - zesty tomato and lemon aioli. Although this didn't look like much (weak plating), the squid rings were tender with a chew while coated in a light breading which was crispy. I enjoyed the lemon aioli as it was tangy and light while the zesty tomato came exactly as advertised with a kick.
My daughter had the Cured Salmon with candied tomato, dill cream, grapes and lemon dressing. Since it was sugar cured, the salmon was firmer and chewier. Again, this was not a negative, rather we had to point that out to her as she was expecting smoked salmon texture. It was mildly sweet with an equal amount of saltiness. We thought the dill cream added another layer of flavor while the tomato offered up the necessary tang as well as more sweetness. My son had the classic Shrimp Cocktail with traditional cocktail sauce. This was pretty straightforward with buttery shrimp that had a cold water snap. I found the cocktail sauce to have enough horseradish for impact.
Viv ordered the Fried Shrimp accompanied by a tangy sweet and sour sauce and a scallion garlic & shrimp fried rice. At first, I was skeptical of the dish as we had something similar on Holland America and it was not very good. This dish, on the other hand, was better since they served the sauce on the side. As a result, the crispy rice coated shrimp were crunchy and light while not soaked in sauce. The best part was actually the fried rice as it was nutty and well-seasoned with chewy grains. For my daughter, she had the Grilled Mahi Mahi with coconut, fresh pineapple and red pepper sauce. Unfortunately, the fish was a bit overdone, so it turned out to be dry. Despite this, the sauce was a nice compliment as it was tropical with aromatics and bright flavors.
My son wasn't sick of brisket and decided on the Barbecued Beef Brisket with baked beans and double baked yams. Although we've had our fair share of authentic smoked central Texas brisket during the week, this one was actually respectable. It was super tender and moist while lightly smoky. Sure, it wouldn't beat some of the competition-level BBQ in Texas, but it was delicious nonetheless. The ball of yams and peppers on the side were good except the peppers didn't seem to go. For myself, I had one of the standard (offered every meal) dishes on the menu being the Flat-Iron Steak with Bearnaise, baked potato, broccoli and a side of creamed spinach. I'll admit that I was surprised to see that my steak was cooked a perfect medium-rare. It was tender, juicy and nicely seasoned. The creamed spinach was also good where it wasn't cooked to a pulp.
For dessert, we shared their famous Carnival Melting Chocolate Cake for the table. This large serving was enough for 6 people, let alone 2 adults and 2 kids. There was a crispy crust on the top and sides while the middle was soft, moist and indeed melting. Exhibiting plenty of chocolate flavor, the cake wasn't incredibly sweet. Served on the side was a bevy of vanilla ice cream to eat with the cake. We also added the Tiramisu for good measure and it was also pretty good. It sported soft, well-soaked lady fingers and creamy marscapone. The dessert ate rather sweet and needed just a touch more espresso. For our first ever sit-down meal on a Carnival cruise ship, this was much better than we expected. Sure, the fish could've been better, but that is not unique to Carnival as it is a hard dish to nail when preparing so many of them. Good start to the cruise!
Okay, I'll be completely blunt on this one - I have always been afraid to take a cruise with Carnival. What??? Afraid??? Yes, I was one of those people who bought into the negative hype about the company. We've been on Celebrity (2X), Holland America (3X), Princess, Norwegian (2X) and RCCL (2X), but never Carnival. Finally, I decided it was time that I made my own conclusions by taking a cruise aboard the Freedom sailing from Galveston, Texas. As expected, the cruise was reasonably-priced and in fact, less expensive than all of the aforementioned companies. For myself and Viv with the kids in a quad-room, it cost roughly $2800.00 Canadian dollars including port charges and taxes for the March 24th, 2018 sailing. So far, that has been the lowest price we've paid for cruise outside of a special we had for our Alaska cruise aboard the Celebrity Mercury in 2006.
Carnival has tried to streamline their embarkation process by allocating a 1-hour time slot for people to arrive. In theory, passengers would arrive in waves so that the port would not be overwhelmed. We had the 11:00-11:30 embarkation time and it only took us roughly 20 minutes from arriving at the port to boarding the ship. There was no long lineup to speak of, except there was one for those who missed their time slot or arrived too early. Something that is out of Carnival's control, but was still slightly a hassle was the distance of the Galveston cruise port from Houston. We took an Uber from Hobby Airport and it took over 30 minutes while if one was to travel from George Bush International, it would be over an hour (without traffic). We could have stayed overnight in Galveston, but the hotel rates were quite high. If one wanted to rent a car and drop it off in Galveston, there is only one option in Enterprise. They are fully aware of this, hence their pricing is downright outrageous. Another option would be to drop off your rental car in Texas City which is only a 10 - 15 minute taxi or Uber ride to the port.
Once onboard, we made a quick beeline up to the Freedom Restaurant which is on the Lido deck aft much like any other cruise ship. The buffet had several different stations including comfort food, Mongolian wok, deli, sushi and a rotating theme section (Italian for lunch this day). I wouldn't say that the comfort food was anything to write home about, but it did the job and there were some highlights. The Mongolian Wok was a good choice for freshly-prepared food (rather than something sitting in a chaffing tray) that sported veggies, noodles, meats and sauces. Overall, I thought it was pretty good as it wasn't greasy and the food came out hot. Impressively, the meats were cooked just right including the buttery shrimp. The deli featured the usual sandwiches including turkey, pastrami and corned beef. Hot dogs as well as bagels with smoked salmon and cream cheese were available as well. Although the sushi required a surcharge, we thought it was good since it was pretty legit. The only negative was the dessert bar as the textures seemed a bit off.
After lunch, our Stateroom was available at 1:00pm. We made our way down to the room (#2355) on the Main Deck at mid-ship. This was a good location since it was close to the mid-elevators. However, with the Chic Restaurant sitting on floors 3 & 4 above at mid-ship, it prevented us from moving from one part of the ship to another without either walking down the hallway on 2 or above at 5. Back to the stateroom, it was fairly spacious with plenty of space to maneuver around the bed and between the vanity and sofa bed. The quad configuration saw a pull down bed just above the sofa bed to create a bunk bed-like arrangement. Again, this didn't impeded our mobility within the room and I much prefer this over the pull down beds above the main bed. Common with older ships, there was only one A/C plug in the room and one in the washroom. Be sure to bring an power bar or something similar to plug in multiple electronics. About the washroom, it was also standard with the usual stand-up shower featuring a dispenser with body wash, conditioner and shampoo.
The room was kept in pretty good condition with only a few parts with wear. Our cabin steward and assistant were attentive in making the room 2 times a day. Whenever we needed something, he was quickly responsive. We weren't too keen on the pink accents in the room, but it wasn't a deal-breaker. Storage space was good with the standard row of closets near the front door as well as the cabinets at the vanity and 2 night stands. There was even storage underneath the sofa bed. I particularly liked how the fridge was empty, so we could put our own beverages and other items into it. Many cruise lines fill it with their choice of beverages that are for an extra cost. Overall, we slept well as the beds were a good combination of being firm and comfortable. Although we were never too warm, the A/C in the room was a little weak when we were in warmer temperatures.
In terms of the public spaces aboard the ship, the Millennium atrium felt a bit compact, but was never difficult to navigate through. We sat at the bar and there was natural light from the above. This was used extensively for trivia and other games during the cruise. Just in the background of the picture, you will see the front desk, which was pretty calm. However, most of the time, there was a lineup down the hallway. That is pretty standard aboard cruises as people have various inquiries, but that made for quite the bottleneck. Other public spaces were not too bad, but deck space was at a premium during sea days and movie nights. Due to the various choices for food (at no extra charge), lines were manageable and according to people I asked, walk-ins for dinner at the Chic dining room were not a problem.
Remember I mentioned part of my fear with Carnival was with the mediocre food? Well, I have to take that back. For the most part, the food in the Posh main dining room was good. Even though I did dine at the Sunking Steakhouse for $35.00 extra per person, I thought the steak in the main dining room to be tender and prepared to my specifications. I will go more in depth with each dinner service in the next 7 posts. Onto more casual dining options, Guy's Burger Joint was pretty enjoyable with meaty, well-seared patties. Plenty of customization options available too with a DIY bar consisting of sauteed mushrooms, fried potato sticks, caramelized onions and so on... Also on the Lido deck, the Blue Iguana Cantina offered up freshly made tortillas (like made from scratch) with 3 meat options for tacos and burritos. There was also an option for taco salads in a taco shell bowl.
At the aft of the Lido deck, we found the adults-only pool where it was a bit quieter than the main pool area. The 2 food options available were pizza and seafood. The Pizza Pirate offered up fresh made-to-order thin crust pizzas. The fresh pizza dough was made from caputo flour and the tomato sauce was from San Marzano tomatoes. For those who aren't familiar with Neapolitan-style pizza, these 2 ingredients are pretty legit. The result was a uniformly crispy crust with a tangy sauce. In addition to the classic Margherita, there was funghi, prosciutto & arugula, 4 cheese and pepperoni. Lineups were common at The Pizza Pirate, but I didn't mind as it meant the pizzas were always hot and fresh. As mentioned above, there was also The Deli, which served up made-to-order sammies, smoked salmon bagels and hot dogs. I had the Montreal Smoked Meat a few times and for a cruise, it was pretty good with tender smoky and fatty meat.
Over on the port side, The Seafood Shack was one of the few pay restaurants aboard the Freedom. We decided to try a couple of items including the Fish & Chips (since my daughter really wanted it...). In terms of the fish itself, the preparation was on point being flaky, moist and tender. I found the batter a bit inconsistent where some parts were crunchy while the middle was too soft. The fries were excellent being hot and crispy. For myself, I tried the Lobster Roll served as 2 mini-portions. Although the roll was nicely buttered and seared on the flattop, I thought it was too dense and not warm enough. However, the lobster (without any other fillers) was texturally perfect having a sweet briny snap. It was dressed in a mild-tasting mayo. Although we thought the 2 items from the seafood shack were solid, it isn't necessary to deviate from the free options as they are just as good.
As if there weren't enough options already, there was a BBQ Restaurant above the buffet with a menu that offered up BBQ Beef, BBQ Chicken and Pulled Pork with sides of Mac n' Cheese, Coleslaw, Potato Salad and BBQ Beans. We went there twice during the cruise and although it doesn't compare to the awesome BBQ I had in Texas, it was more-than-acceptable. In fact, the BBQ chicken was super tender and juicy. The skin was nicely rendered and spiced while the chicken itself tasted good. If that wasn't enough, we could choose from 3 Guy Fieri BBQ sauces (Brown Sugar, St. Louis and Sriracha). The BBQ beef was decently tender with a light smoke while the pulled pork was decently moist. It did need BBQ sauce for full flavor though. Due to complete apprehension, we left the Sushi Bar to the end. Moreover, it was at an extra cost. But it turned out to be solid with chewy sushi rice and carefully constructed rolls. Definitely an option if one is tired of all of the heavier choices.
Since Carnival caters mainly to a younger crowd and families, there was more than enough activities to keep everyone busy. In addition to the usual kid's programs, we found a large arcade, mini-golf and many planned activities in our daily schedule. The shows in the Theater were decent with an enthusiastic cast featuring a few strong singers. The set design was quite modern. Our cruise director, Malcolm (who moved onto another ship as of this writing), was friendly, energetic and a great host. One of our favorite activities was watching Thor: Ragnarok up on the Lido deck. Literally, we were watching a blockbuster Movie with the waves splashing against the ship and the sea breeze around us. And if you look at the picture (Ferdinand was playing that night), we could also gaze at the stars and moonlight. They even had fresh popcorn. For all the times I avoided Carnival, I bought into the negative hype. A lesson learned, do not listen to the media, go with your own experience.
The Good:
- Surprisingly solid food across the board
- Plenty of activities with a youthful crowd
- Inexpensive compared to other cruise lines (except for NCL)
The Bad:
- Lineup for certain things could be long (buffet, front desk, popcorn)
- Stateroom decor a bit drab (but consider the pricing)
- Other than their awesome signature melting chocolate cake, some desserts needed work
Rolling into Houston during rush hour was indeed a fatal mistake. Instead of a 3-hour drive, it suddenly became a 4+ hour exercise in frustration on the I-10 and then subsequently the I-45 on our way to the hotel. We had to take a detour into Walmart to wait out some of the traffic! Once settled in, we looked over our options for dinner. In my mind, I wanted to go to the nearby Killen's, but I wasn't sure if anyone was in the mood for anymore BBQ. My son was game (I love him...), but the 2 females were not. We ended up going anyways!
My daughter was not in the mood for BBQ at all, so she went for one of the daily features being the the Chicken Fried Chicken. It consisted of a whole-flattened chicken breast battered and fried. This dish was mint as the chicken was succulent and juicy while the batter was super crunchy and shattered on contact. The side of creamy gravy was just the right consistency and provided a subtle richness to the chicken. On the side, she had green beans (with bacon) and mashed potatoes. The beans were not overdone (despite the unappetizing hue) while the mash was chunky and not overly buttery.
For the table (but my son ate most of it), we had the 3-Meat Combo Plate with fatty brisket, pulled pork and pork ribs. Although different than the other BBQs we've had so far, the brisket at Killen's was good as well. It was meaty, tender while lightly smoked. The pulled pork was tender and moist while the ribs were fall-off-the-bone and well-crusted with rub. On the side, the mac n' cheese was super creamy and buttery. It was also cheesy and plenty tasty. We found the baked beans to be syrupy sweet, but tasty as well.
Our last plate consisted of a Beef Rib with a Turkey Sausage Link. The beef rib was also aggressively coated with rub and plenty smoky. It wasn't as fatty as the one at Heim, but that did not detract from the juiciness. Bouncy with a nice snap casing, the turkey sausage was sweet with hits from the jalapeno. On the side, there was creamed corn and coleslaw. The creamy corn was sweet and rich while the coleslaw was crunchy with plenty of tang. Although we still prefer Franklin BBQ over anything else we had tried so far, the stuff at Killen's was good in its own way. We also liked the reasonable-pricing as well.
The Good:
- Reasonably-priced
- Solid sides
- Solid BBQ
The Bad:
- Line can get long (but moves fast)
- To keep the line going, staff rush you a bit (they were nice though)
As mentioned in the last post, sometimes too much of a good thing may be too much of a good thing. Hence, all the delicious and authentic central-Texas barbecue may have been getting a bit too repetitive. Apparently, this wasn’t true for my son because he can eat meat and only meat every meal. However, the rest of us needed a change of pace. Therefore, we ended up at Cured for lunch. Yes, we stayed with the theme of meat, but not barbecue. Rather, just like its namesake, we feasted on cured meats.
That we did with 6 Selections (for $28.00) consisting of smoked duck ham, chicken liver mousse, catfish mortadella, porchetta di testa and smoked gouda. This came with all the fixin’s including charred flatbread, orange marmalade, 2 types of grainy mustard, blackberries and berry compote. For me, I thought the duck ham was the best being tender and impactful with a smoky saltiness. Surprisingly, the catfish mortadella did not taste murky like I expected. It was still somewhat fishy, but in a pleasant manner. Fatty, sliced thin and full of rich meatiness, the porchetta was buttery delicious. Lastly, the chicken liver mousse was creamy, rich and nicely spiked with brandy.
Since we were devoid of vegetables so far on this trip (to the delight of my son), I made a point in ordering the Kale Salad with black garlic vinaigrette, smoked feta, dried cherries and pumpkin seeds. Turns out that this wasn’t only a great way to get some greens, it was also rather delicious. The earthy tanginess of the vinaigrette was appealing and completely flavored the tender kale. Add in the sweetness of the cherries and smokiness of the crumbly feta, this was more than just a salad. To balance off this healthiness, we got the Pig Cheek Poutine with a fried egg on top. I found the house-cut fries to be nicely potatoey where they were drenched in a salty, but tasty braising liquid. The pig cheek was generous in portion and tender. All of the heaviness was counteracted somewhat by the pickled cauliflower.
To top it all off, we also got the Masa Fried Soft Shell Crab Po’ Boy with remoulade, lettuce and tomatoes. After the first bite, it was clear that this was not as heavy as one would expect. The bread was soft and light while the crab was crunchy, yet not overdone. There was enough remoulade for moisture and some spice. Overall, we enjoyed out meal at Cured. The unique and varied options of cured meat helped the restaurant live up to its namesake. Too bad I don't live nearby because I would be return over and over again trying out the different meats.
The Good:
- Unique cured meats
- Nice open space in a repurposed bank
- Excellent service
The Bad:
- Cooked food that we tried was not bad, but the cured meats is where it is at
When in Texas, specifically San Antonio, it didn't seem right if we skipped eating Tex-Mex. It's like going to New Orleans and not grabbing a po' boy or two (if you are Mijune, it would be 8 or 9). Naturally, there are many choices for the aforementioned cuisine, but we needed to find something that would be representative and convenient. After walking along the River Walk and almost doing some Tex-Mex there, we stuck with the plan and walked a few blocks from our hotel to Rosario's on S. Alamo.
Viv and I ended up with some frozen Margaritas prior to our eats. She chose the Coco Rita consisting of Rosario's original frozen Margarita with tequila, orange liqueur and sweet ‘n’ sour combined with pina colada. This was decently smooth with the aromatics normally associated with pina colada. It wasn't overly sweet, but sweet enough. I would've liked it to be stronger, but the tequila was definitely there. For myself, I had La Tuna made with silver tequila and prickly pear cactus juice. this was a bit stronger and equally sweet. It went down easy where it was a nice compliment to the Lengua that I had ordered. I enjoyed the soft, but not mushy slices of tongue which were bathed in a light tomato sauce that was on the saltier side, but as mentioned, was balanced off by the Margarita.
For Viv, she had the Fish Tacos with pan seared tilapia, chipotle mayo, cabbage lime slaw, pickled red onion and avocado.
Frijoles a la charra (pinto beans) was served on the side. Although they didn't look like much (as you can clearly see in the picture), they ate rather well. The fish was perfectly-prepared being moist and flaky (as much as Tilapia can be). With a few drops of hot sauce, there was more than enough impact to make the taco tasty. My son ended up with the Tacos Nortenos Mix also with frijoles a la charra. As evidenced in the picture, the tacos were evenly seared and crispy. Inside, there was a thin layer of refried beans, enough melty Monterey Jack cheese and tender chicken to go around. Nothing complex, but it did the job on the cheap.
For my daughter, she went for the children's meal and had the Bean & Cheese Chalupa with refried beans and rice. For this, it was pretty simple as well with a crispy shell topped with refried beans and plenty of melted cheese. She ate it without complaints, but then again, she can eat refried beans out of a can too... Whatever the case, Rosario's did the job for a reasonable price. Not the most amazing food we've ever had, but it was exactly what we needed after too much BBQ (yes, there is such a thing) and steak.
The Good:
- Inexpensive
- Kid-friendly
- Decent
The Bad:
- Food could be more impactful in terms of flavour
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After our first night aboard the Freedom, I was already getting the sense that the food was going to be better than expected. Sure, I didn't have super high expectations going into it, but I did have minimum requirements. So far, the first dinner showed that the food wasn't going to be what once was considered, "the McDonald's of cruising". Our second night was our "Casual Elegant" dinner where lobster would be on the menu. If my memory serves me right, NCL didn't even offer lobster in the main dining room for the duration of our 7-night cruise.
I started off my meal with the Fried Oysters accompanied by chipotle lime dip. Although small in portion (hey, you can always order more, it's a cruise!), the 2 oysters were lightly fried, hence being buttery and soft inside. The breading was crispy and just the right thickness. What brought this altogether was the creamy and spicy dip. It gave life to the mildly-briny oysters. For Viv, she had the Italian Wedding Soup with kale, meatballs, egg, endive and parmesan. The light chicken broth was not oversalted, unlike many other versions of this soup. Meaty and lean, the meatballs gave body to the soup while the tender kale florets ate easy.
My son ended up with the Mushroom Cream Soup as a means of satisfying his vegetable quota. Good try buddy... We made him eat the broccoli on his main dish... The soup was indeed creamy and full of woodsy mushoom flavor. There was actually lots of mushroom which had been diced into small pieces. Again, the soup was not oversalted, which we enjoyed. To get my intake of greens, I also added a Baby Spinach Salad on the side. This was topped with plenty of crumbled blue cheese as well as being dressed in blue cheese. Hence, the flavors were a touch sharp while creamy throughout. Loved the walnuts which added a texture.
For our mains, we practically all had the Broiled Maine Lobster with toasted orzo, shrimp, broccoli and citrus gremolata. Okay, this was another pleasant surprise as the lobster was absolutely perfect. No joke. The lobster was barely cooked through, which meant the meat was succulent, buttery and sweet. This is no small feat as we've been on 10 cruises and this has been executed the best. On the side, the shrimp didn't take a back seat as they were grilled beautifully being buttery with a cold-water snap. My daughter didn't do the lobster, opting for the Spaghetti Carbonara instead. It was a large portion of noodles which were fairly al dente, but a little dry. It did taste good with a garlicky cheesiness while the bacon crumble added saltiness. With that being said, we could've done with more saltiness.
To get more of a variety, I added the Slow Cooked Prime Rib with baked potato and broccoli. The thinly sliced prime rib was medium and sauced with a thick au jus. Much like the flat-iron steak from the previous night and the tenderloin I had for brunch, the meat was tender and moist. It was also well-seasoned where I didn't need much in the way of anything else. So far, the meat quality was impressive and we hadn't even made it to the steakhouse yet. Our last dish was the Seared Striped Bass with lemon, creamy savoy cabbage and sourdough fried potatoes. Unlike the mahi mahi, the bass was flaky and moist while being well-seasoned. The lemon provided a nice acidity. We weren't enamored with the potatoes though as when the batter got cold, it wasn't that appealing.
For dessert, we shard the Creme Brulee and the Malted Chocolate Hazelnut Cake with warm chocolate sauce. I thought the custard in the brulee was nicely textured being silky and lightly eggy. It wasn't too sweet either. However, the sugar topping was somewhat uneven. As for the hazelnut cake, it was more of a cross between a ganache and a gelatin. It tasted good with a nice chocolate start and a hazelnut finish. Other than a few issues here and there, this was yet another solid meal. Considering that the kitchen has to produce a wide range of dishes for half of the passengers at a time, the execution was more than acceptable. We went away especially impressed with the lobster.
