We fought it as long as we could.
When we boarded the ship over two weeks ago our plan was to walk off after three weeks with no balance due. We booked these super-cheap cruises so late that we didn't have any promotions tied to the bookings. But we did have some of the onboard credit that comes with future cruise deposits, a small amount of additional bonus onboard credit, and the $100 loyalty credit per cruise segment. It was all enough to cover the gratuities for both of us for three weeks. Plus a couple shirts for hubby at the 2 for $20 t-shirt sale. No drinks, no other shopping, and no specialty dining would ensure we walked away from the ship with no charges.
But these Planks and Steamers restaurants have been peaking our interest. Then Vickie and Bernie from http://vickieandbernietravel.blogspot.com/ were on the ship a couple weeks ago and talked about Planks and Steamers. She had written about their visit on her blog, too. So we finally took the plunge tonight and paid a whopping $12 each for our meal. Boy, it was a bargain for the amount of food we received. And the flavor? Yummy yum yum.
We ate on the Planks side but they allowed us to mix and match from the two restaurants. Here's what we got for $24 total.
Welcome starters from the Planks side: Chipotle BBQ meatballs and honey and bacon-cheddar cornbread with jalapeno-honey butter and pimento cheese
From Steamers: Tomato-Lime Ceviche with breads and sun-dried tomato-cream cheese and smoked salmon spread
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| Look at the bacon in that cornbread. |
Caesar Salad and Clam and Smoked Ham Chowder
From Planks: You can order four different meats. If you want to want to double up on a meat and not choose four different ones, you can. We went with smoked kielbasa, ribs, and a double order of chili-spiced roasted tri-tip. It also came with wedge-cut fries, 3-bean chili, slaw, toast, dill pickles, and two different BBQ sauces.
From Steamers:
We went with the Fried Seafood Platter. It had fried torpedo shrimp, battered haddock, fishcakes, carrot and raisin salad, fries, and tarter sauce, cocktail sauce, and ketchup.
For dessert we went from just the Steamers side. Strawberry shortcake and key lime pie in a jar.
I probably should have taken a picture after we were finished eating. But you probably wouldn't notice we had finished because we left so much food behind. Again, all of this for $24 total!
The highlights of the meal included the jalapeno-honey butter, the Caesar salad (hubby loved the capers on it), the ribs and tri-tip, and the haddock and the shrimp. I think the desserts were a tie for what was the best. So basically everything was delicious.
If you want more detail about our menu items or want to know what else is offered, here are the menus for both places.
I'm totally okay we went over our budget by a whole $24.