Marco,
It does seem unfair to pay hundreds of dollars for a premium cabin—and then not even receive a meal. Many airlines including Continental are forgoing some meal services as a cost-saving measure. They feel that very few people want a meal on short-haul flights and the food often goes to waste. This issue is part of the frustration of flying these days.
As a rule of thumb for most airlines today, meal service is generally not offered on short-haul flights in a premium cabin. Medium-haul flights (including PBI/EWR routes) are generally dependent upon the departure time. The following link was active today (11/22/2011) which outlines the specific policy for Continental Airlines:
http://www.continental.com/web/en-US...s/dining.aspx/
Also, if you purchase your flights on Continental.com, the website has a “meal service indicator” will appear on the right-hand side near the price of each itinerary.
In my opinion, PBI/EWR is long enough for meal service—especially because New York area airports are plagued by delays so frequently. I hope this information is helpful if you decide to fly that route again on Continental.