'Twas the Week Before Christmas - Live from the Eurodam

The Lobster Shack at Half Moon Cay

The Lobster Shack at HMC is a new, paid lunch option for guests stopping at the island. If you walk through the town square area and head down the brick beach path towards the pirate ship, the first bar you'll encounter is the "Wish I Could Stay Here Forever" bar.

The Lobster Shack is directly next to it.

It's got a small U shaped counter that looks like it might seat 8-10 people, tops.

There is overflow seating at tables on the patio of I Wish I Could Stay Here Forever. There are lobster cooking facilities right in the shack.

The menu is pretty simple and straightforward. Note that there is a a 7.5% Bahamian value added tax on your meal. This explains the price discrepancies that some posters noticed between the menu, the daily program, and their room charges.

We did not stick around to watch people order and eat their lobsters. Nor did we order them ourselves. The Lobster Shack serves spiny, warm water lobsters and we're not big fans.

We've got a tradition of having our last night's dinner in the Pinnacle Grill. It allows us to eat at 7 instead of our usual eight o'clock. That gives us a little extra time to pack and catch a final show or two.

The Pinnacle has a new amuse bouche, new to us at least. It's mushrooms in a vegetable brunoise. (Pronounced BROON-wah) It's a soup. Brunoise is a knife technique where the pieces are cut into 1/8 inch cubes.

For starters, I had the jumbo shrimp cocktail.

DW has the Caesar salad.

It's prepared table side.

DFIL had the crab cakes.

For our second courses, Huskerchick had the beef tartare.

And I had the crab cakes.

My father in law sat out the second course, but I could tell from the longing in his eyes that he wished he had ordered the shrimp.

In unrelated news, none of us ordered the 12 ounce Maine lobster tail supplement. A gentleman at the table next to us did. So with stealth and an unusual quickness, I took a photo.

For our mains, my wife's dad ordered the salmon. We ordered the 10 ounce tenderloin. It was more like a 12 oz filet though - which I am absolutely not complaining about.

DW ordered her steak sans sauce, while I opted for Bearnaise. (I am concerned that she may have communist leanings.)

We both ordered our filets medium rare, and they were cooked perfectly - warm red center.

We started the evening with Nicholas Feuillatte Champagne, followed by the Chablis from the MDR list for my lovely wife, and a Sauvignon Blanc for me. We had a red from the Pinnacle Grill wine list with our meat. DFIL had Black Opal Shiraz from the MDR wine list. SBP note: Your wine selections in the Pinnacle are pretty much nonexistent on the SBP. Just order wine from the main dining room. The MDR is next door, so it won't slow you down.

Next came the friandises - an assortment of chocolate truffles and some passion fruit gelee. (Safety tip: Gelee prevents hangovers.)

DW had cappuccino. For dessert wine, she had the Errazuriz Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc. Her go to dessert wine is Sauternes. This was a reasonable substitute. I had a Cognac.

DW had the Chocolate Volcano Cake. Her dad and I had the vanilla souffle.

In my haste to post the meats, I skipped the sides. We had carrots, asparagus, and mushrooms.

Each of us had a baked potato.

Our waiter was Renzo of caviar and De Librije fame. Service was excellent.

One note on the Pinnacle: You're not going to get a check at the end of the meal. If you wish to leave a gratuity, you can pass it to your waiter on the way out of the restaurant. You could also place it under your plate, but we always like to make sure that the tip reaches its intended recipient.

I suppose that you could always wait until the end of the cruise as well, but that's too much last minute running around for me.

We really enjoyed the Pinnacle Grill. It's one of DFIL's favorites. The food and service were excellent.

We made our reservations online before the cruise, because the 7:00 PM slot on the last night is a toughie. After boarding, we visited the Pinnacle and they credited off our free Explore 4 dinners. The credit was applied back to our shipboard account.

We have the same last night tradition and our 7:00 pm reservation is made for our Koningsdam cruise coming up.

Thank you for such an informative and entertaining thread.

Debbie

The Pinnacle Grill Filet medium rare---Nirvana---perfect happiness!

Thank you so much for the picture.

May I present to you the Day Menus from Set A of the 2016/2017 7 Day Eurodam Caribbean Sailings.

http://www.evernote.com/l/AFjVF0u94DpJrZ8Hoxxas2yf36fhOhnr5qU/

Sorry this is taking so long, but my cold has turned into bronchitis and Christmas was in the middle. (Not to worry. I've had bronchitis before and it hasn't beat me yet.) However, if you're in a position to pick a souvenir for your trip, choose the T-Shirt. Bronchitis sucks.

Set A - Day 5 Menus

http://www.evernote.com/l/AFht9qeoWSxNWZGM-b83LBrvU11Lj6fmg4s/

May I present to you the Day Menus from Set A of the 2016/2017 7 Day Eurodam Caribbean Sailings.

 

http://www.evernote.com/l/AFjVF0u94DpJrZ8Hoxxas2yf36fhOhnr5qU/

 

Sorry this is taking so long, but my cold has turned into bronchitis and Christmas was in the middle. (Not to worry. I've had bronchitis before and it hasn't beat me yet.) However, if you're in a position to pick a souvenir for your trip, choose the T-Shirt. Bronchitis sucks.

Thanks. Be well.

Here is the Day 6, Set A menu pack. Please note the the files I was given had two different Lido dinner menus. One of the Lido dinner menus has lobster. The other does not. The file date of the lobster version is newer, which tends to make me think it's more current. However, we didn't eat in the Lido for dinner, so I don't really know which version is correct.

http://www.evernote.com/l/AFj2HBKKCvBLF4Esmk20GpfLJ5c94vJzAjc/

This is the 7th set of menus from Set A of the Caribbean week long cruises. Our particular sailing was using Set A menus and the one previous and following us used Set B as they alternate. I have the Set B menus and I'll get to them shortly.

http://www.evernote.com/l/AFguYDHXsgNMAbwwrEkKU-h_ip-fLGqpRFk/

Moving on to the B Set of menus, here's Day 1.

http://www.evernote.com/l/AFhn94yOJDFHvpgj3MDTWkafsJc8hFd3JkM/

From what I understand, the Nieuw Amsterdam, also doing 7 day Caribbean sailings, uses pretty much the same menus. There may be a switch in the order if the Gala Nights don't fall on nights 2 and 6.

Now, back to Half Moon Cay. (Holy messed up timelines Batman!)

We were last on HMC about two years ago, in mid December 2014. We knew that the lobster shack was going to be new, but we weren't sure what else would be. One obvious change is evident as you walk off the tender dock. There is now a pretty sizable mustard yellow (Grey Poupon, not Guldens,) building to your left as you walk towards the town square welcome area. From the dock side, it's not 100% clear what it is. If anyone knows whether this is a 2015 thing or new for 2016, please chime in. I did not get a photo from the dock side. I was focused - like a laser beam - on reporting on the Lobster Shack. (This is one more reason why we should always take longer cruises. We'd have been back at Half Moon Cay in a few days and I'd have gotten the shot.)

One of the large island tenders. There are two. The first one is named "Love Me" and the second one is called "Chicken."

It's always nice to be the only ship at anchor in Half Moon Cay. The facilities have been expanded over the years to accommodate more and larger vessels. On some of the days when HAL doesn't use the island, Carnival's ships make a port call here. If you are fortunate enough to to be the only ship at HMC and you're on something the size of the smaller HAL ships, the island will feel truly private. We were here on the Maasdam in 2012. Since we were the only ship calling that day, it was a very private experience.

Looking up and down the beach, you can see that it's uncrowded.

Finally moving on to the mysterious mustard yellow building by the dock. Turns out that it's a covered waiting area for people waiting for tenders back to the ship. There are snaking lines inside the building as well as a bar. The bar wasn't operating when we were there. I think it's called "Last Chance," or "My Drinking Problem is One Mouth & Two Hands." (It's actually called "Last Chance" but I didn't take a photo.)

Pleas don't wait another 2 years to take a cruise. I bet the folks here on Cruise Critic could do a "crowd funding website" to raise money to send you another "research cruise":) to keep us entertained.

 

Merry Christmas

I will contribute!! Thanks POA1 for an awesome review and countless laughs!!:p

POA1, I'm so sorry to hear about your bronchitis.

Your pictures and reports are fabulous, but please, take care of yourself.

We can wait - if we have to ;)

We, too, enjoy dinner in the Pinnacle Grill our last night. Very civilized.

Sent from my XT1064 using Forums mobile app

We really enjoyed the Pinnacle Grill. It's one of DFIL's favorites. The food and service were excellent.

The photos are great. I wasn't really planning to eat there since the appetizers don't excite me (I don't eat shellfish). You can't posted the menu yet -- can you please confirm that it matches what HAL has on their website?

https://www.hollandamerica.com/assets/cruise-vacation-onboard/menu_pinnacle_grill_dinner.pdf

PS I am not happy with the first day "B" lunch menu! I liked the "A" menu with wings, beet salad and tuna brochette! That said, the dining room and Lido lunch menus in the "B" set don't seem to sync up on entrees and desserts the way that the "A set do, so perhaps those are not the correct pair (although the MDR desserts are the same on both, so that may be the correct one and the Lido is off.

Here is the Day 6, Set A menu pack. Please note the the files I was given had two different Lido dinner menus. One of the Lido dinner menus has lobster. The other does not. The file date of the lobster version is newer, which tends to make me think it's more current. However, we didn't eat in the Lido for dinner, so I don't really know which version is correct.

 

http://www.evernote.com/l/AFj2HBKKCvBLF4Esmk20GpfLJ5c94vJzAjc/

Hi POA! Great review, per usual!

We did eat in the Lido on day 6. The lobster is correct!

Hope that helps and that you're feeling better.

Thanks for taking us along on your vacation.

The photos are great. I wasn't really planning to eat there since the appetizers don't excite me (I don't eat shellfish). You can't posted the menu yet -- can you please confirm that it matches what HAL has on their website?

 

https://www.hollandamerica.com/assets/cruise-vacation-onboard/menu_pinnacle_grill_dinner.pdf

 

PS I am not happy with the first day "B" lunch menu! I liked the "A" menu with wings, beet salad and tuna brochette! That said, the dining room and Lido lunch menus in the "B" set don't seem to sync up on entrees and desserts the way that the "A set do, so perhaps those are not the correct pair (although the MDR desserts are the same on both, so that may be the correct one and the Lido is off.

I'll double check, but the menu files were arranged in folders by day. Remember that the Day 1 lunch is the embarkation lunch and the MDR might be more limited than the Lido. I'll check either way.