Crabs

My dd and dh love crab. I don't eat crab. We are sailing on HAL - last week of May, first week of June. Will they serve crab in the dinning room? If so, what type? (king, snow, dungeness) What is in season while we will be there? Is the stuff on the ship fresh or frozen? Since we will be in Alaska I would like to get my dd some fresh crab. I do not want to go on one of the crabbing excursions. If they don't serve it in the dinning room on the ship (which I would totally understand) do you guys have any recommendations of the best places to get fresh crab? We will be hitting Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay and then a land trip to Denali and Anchorage.

Thanks

Kathy

On the ship, crab will be frozen. As I understand the issue, has to be frozen for safe storage.

As far as ashore, you are at the end of a particular king crab season, and near the start of Dungeness. Google search for specifics.

A little search around the board finds many threads with crab info.

You might check out Tracey's Crab Shack in Juneau....a favorite of many on these boards.

Thanks!

You might check out Tracey's Crab Shack in Juneau....a favorite of many on these boards.

The only option for fresh King crab in cruise season is Vancouver - several large Chinese restaurants keep them alive in big tanks. The fishing season is long finished before the first cruise ship heads to AK however, so every single resto there is serving you precooked, frozen, then reheated King.

The downside to the fresh Kings here is that you have to order an entire crab - traditionally it's served as a multi-course feast where the crab is used in different ways, and realistically you need at least 6 big eaters (8+ regular appetites) to do justice to the meal. Pricing varies, sometimes a lot, but expect to pay at least $400 in total - if you have a group of people it can be great value as well as a fun experience!

Edit - whoops, should have also mentioned that you'll also find that Dungeness and other crabs are likely also much cheaper to eat here than in AK ports - we don't have to jack up prices as much for tourists as we're year-round, plus the whole weak Canadian dollar thing! Somewhere like e.g. the Fish Shack offers a wide range of seafood, not just crabs, and have some specials making it really cheap on certain days/times. Check their menu nearer your visit, there are Fresh sheet specials based around relevant fishing seasons.

Depends upon which species of crab you are interested in. The King Crab(s) seasons are diverse. If there isn't a season open at the time you are interested then the product you buy will be frozen, which will taste the same anywhere. Sounds like there will be fresh crab available at the time you are here though. I'm not certain what you will find in the Southeast ports.

We live in Anchorage but come from the Alaska coast and are seafood lovers. There will be restaurants that serve fresh crab in many of the ports you visit, particularly here in Anchorage, at least 15 high end restaurants will have them, check google and bring your wallet.

You mention time in Anchorage. I'm not certain what type of travel arrangements you are going to undertake in Central Alaska. However, if you have access to a hotel room with a kitchenette in it you might consider buying from a market here and eating there. For instance, our favorite is to buy from the New Sagaya market. They have live tanks and fly fresh in from all over. We love lobster too, so we call and order, they clean and steam and then I drive over and pick them up at a given time. Also, you can eat them there in their deli section if you want.

They usually have Lobster, Dungeness and Alaska oysters in live tanks. During the King Crab season they don't usually have those in live tanks but cook them that day and have legs, etc. in the cooler for you. Sagaya has two markets, their City Market (W. 13th Avenue) and their Mid-Town Market (3700 Old Seward Highway). The midtown market is about a mile walking from “Hotel Row” in midtown, which will have about 13 or 14 name hotels in it, on C Street between Tudor and International.

http://www.crab-o-licious.com/alaskan-king-crab-season.html

https://www.newsagaya.com/

My dd is going to be in Heaven - she loves all types of seafood. I checked the menu for Tracy's - we may or may not go - I am a vegetarian so the only thing on the menu for me is rice. I can't believe they don't even have salads! I will check out the other restaurants listed. And the take out option sounds perfect for when we are staying at a hotel! Thank you for the suggestions!

kathy