When do they serve lobster on the 7 night cruises for free in the MDR?

[Eli_6]

I never eat the lobster so I haven't paid attention, but my younger son is coming on our next cruise and he loves it. Unfortunately, I think I may have accidentally booked us for the Steak house on lobster night because I wasn't thinking about him being upset about missing lobster...but my husband just reminded me.  Is it only serve on the second night?  I can't recall.  Last cruise he went on, he ate like 5 lobsters so I really don't want to have to pay for them.  I don't even know he ate them all...

[Itried4498]

Yes, usually on the second (first formal) night.

[hurricane0226]

1 hour ago, Itried4498 said:

Yes, usually on the second (first formal) night.

Yes, that is when they usually do it.

[Illbcruzn4life]

2 hours ago, hurricane0226 said:

Yes, that is when they usually do it.

yep first elegant night.

[silversneakers]

Maybe no longer "free".....I believe you can order for an upcharge in the MDR 

[bar1068]

1 hour ago, silversneakers said:

Maybe no longer "free".....I believe you can order for an upcharge in the MDR 

 

1 hour ago, silversneakers said:

Maybe no longer "free".....I believe you can order for an upcharge in the MDR 

Nope, still free. The free "lobster" is still available on the first play dress up night. You do have an option most nights in the MDR to purchase an upgraded lobster. Though if I wanted to treat my kid to lobster, and had steakhouse reservations on dress up lobster night, I'd spend the $$ in the steakhouse and give him/her a better treat.

 

[Bostwick girl]

If you think you booked the steakhouse on elegant night, then just cancel and rebook for another night. 
 

[victory2020]

Is the dressier of the 2 formal nights the first or second?

[Joe817]

1 minute ago, victory2020 said:

Is the dressier of the 2 formal nights the first or second?

Uhhhh...there is no distinction between the 2 elegant nights. They are the same. 

[victory2020]

47 minutes ago, Joe817 said:

Uhhhh...there is no distinction between the 2 elegant nights. They are the same. 

OK, On some lines the second is more formal ( or so I've been told) & they serve lobster then

[Joe817]

1 minute ago, victory2020 said:

OK, On some lines the second is more formal ( or so I've been told) & they serve lobster then

That's not the experience I've seen on Carnival. But as always,  YMMV.  

[Schoifmom]

14 hours ago, victory2020 said:

Is the dressier of the 2 formal nights the first or second?

 

14 hours ago, Joe817 said:

Uhhhh...there is no distinction between the 2 elegant nights. They are the same. 

 

While there is no formal distinction (see what I did there 🤣), most people tend to dress up a little more and more people seem to dress up for the first cruise elegant night than they do for the second.

[oyme]

On 5/14/2022 at 7:26 AM, Bostwick girl said:

If you think you booked the steakhouse on elegant night, then just cancel and rebook for another night. 
 

They almost should discount the paid resteraunts on formal night. Then again I bet there's probably some bougie people who never eat at MDR and want the paid resteraunts every night, lol. I've seen cruise youtubers who seem to never go to MDR, I'll never understand! I go to the steakhouse once sometimes but I love the food at MDR and elsewhere even. I just really don't like buffets much anywhere.

[oyme]

25 minutes ago, Schoifmom said:

 

 

While there is no formal distinction (see what I did there 🤣), most people tend to dress up a little more and more people seem to dress up for the first cruise elegant night than they do for the second.

 

Probably because you go to the first, you see the people around you who are dressed down and then you're like "Meh, the bar is set pretty low. I can dress more casually and still not be the least dressed up," or something along those lines. I don't mind dressing up but a lot of people in my party don't love it. My husband is finally more okay with dressing up but I reminded him the other day that there's usually 2 formal nights  and he rolled his eyes. So he's still not super jazzed about there being 2 nights to dress up.

[stephen@stoneyard.co.uk]

Please could I ask as I am new to Carnival. I am from the UK and cruising on Carnival Pride.  People talk about ordering multiple portions of Lobster on the first Formal night. Would it be possible to order the beef and lobster? That way I can try both. I apologise if I am being too greedy.

 

Thank you, Stephen. 
 

PS. I have nearly finished reading a book about the early Carnival Ships.  It was written by Mr Farcus. I think it is going to be different from my usual cruise ship. 

[Cruise, J.D.]

16 minutes ago, stephen@stoneyard.co.uk said:

Please could I ask as I am new to Carnival. I am from the UK and cruising on Carnival Pride.  People talk about ordering multiple portions of Lobster on the first Formal night. Would it be possible to order the beef and lobster? That way I can try both. I apologise if I am being too greedy.

 

Thank you, Stephen. 
 

PS. I have nearly finished reading a book about the early Carnival Ships.  It was written by Mr Farcus. I think it is going to be different from my usual cruise ship. 

Yes, you can order multiple apps/entrees/desserts 😀

[stephen@stoneyard.co.uk]

25 minutes ago, Cruise, J.D. said:

Yes, you can order multiple apps/entrees/desserts 😀

Thank you.  I shall definitely go for that. 
 

Best wishes, Stephen. 

[rj59]

If the schedules conflict, you can always have a lobster night at home. My parents treat lobster night as some great luxury, but I can find lobster tails at Safeway for $5-10, and so it's less than the salmon that's on most cruise meals nightly. For most US history, lobster was trash food that was something the poor and prisoners had to eat, and was used for fertilizer and fish bait, so the lobster industry has done a great job of rebranding it as a luxury item, and during past oversupply of lobsters, restaurants had to keep the prices jacked up so customers wouldn't think of it as common as shrimp or crawfish. I remember rolling my eyes when on a short Princess cruise they served a jumbo shrimp instead of lobster and made a big show of cutting it out of its shell. It's part of the faux-luxury experience, along with the overpriced wine. 

[kicia]

On 5/14/2022 at 7:49 AM, silversneakers said:

Maybe no longer "free".....I believe you can order for an upcharge in the MDR 

Lobster is free on the first formal night - but only on cruises of 6 nights and longer.

[travrn]

With the 1st Elegant (Formal) night on day 2 of the 7 day cruise, when is the 2nd Formal night?  I haven't been able to find out this information anywhere...even on the Carnival website.  Any info I can get regarding this is greatly appreciated!

[Illbcruzn4life]

1 hour ago, travrn said:

With the 1st Elegant (Formal) night on day 2 of the 7 day cruise, when is the 2nd Formal night?  I haven't been able to find out this information anywhere...even on the Carnival website.  Any info I can get regarding this is greatly appreciated!

it depends on the itinerary when the 2nd elegant night will be. It's usually a sea day but if there are no sea days late in the week it's usually on a day when everybody is due back on board about 3-4 pm.

[KmomChicago]

On 5/15/2022 at 5:14 PM, victory2020 said:

Is the dressier of the 2 formal nights the first or second?

In my experience more people make more of an effort on the first formal night and more people tend to scale down or not bother at all with 2nd. The stated rules are the same for both as noted, but the guests kind of control the asylum on Carnival. Which is either a love it or hate it feature, but it's a loose run operation when it comes to formal nights, all arguments aside.

 

Just a generality, I think as the week wears on and people get more comfortable onboard and also sometimes more tired from all that fun, they are committed and energetic and excited about the first one - and planned for it and want to wear the designated outfit. But later in the week some have reverted to all-relaxation-all-the-time mode.  As noted also sometimes the 2nd one is a port day, possibly the last port day, and people might be exhausted from multiple high-impact excursions in a row.

 

It seems like a lot of folks switch to country club casual for the 2nd night, tunic and capris or polo and khaki sort of thing.

 

 

[ledges1]

I wear a pair of pants and golf shirt for formal night. I do not eat the lobster. They are usually on the small side. You can buy better lobster at your local grocery store. 

[KmomChicago]

1 hour ago, ledges1 said:

I wear a pair of pants and golf shirt for formal night. I do not eat the lobster. They are usually on the small side. You can buy better lobster at your local grocery store. 

"Buy" being the operative word. Most people won't try that and so any lobster included in the fare is still a big deal for a huge percentage of cruisers. . . remember of course only a teensy percentage are all of us old salts on CC but there is still a large novelty factor to all of this for many passengers.

[Purvis1231]

Remember nothing is free on the cruise- some things are included in the price or extra.