cruise food...
Posted by macie26 on May 05, 2007 · Member since Feb 2007 · 85 posts
so my entire family is going on a cruise this summer, which means i have to attend also. when looking at the royal caribbean cruise line page, it sounded like they would accommodate vegetarians, but maybe not vegans :-\ has anyone been on a cruise recently and run into issue with finding vegan food? any ideas on what to do/bring to make this cruise thing work? i'm really excited to go on the cruise with my family, but this food thing is making me nervous...
I just went to Russia and they made NO attempt to accommodate me. I took a stash of my own food to eat.
The thing that saved me was the baked tofu jerky I found on this site. I made two pounds of extra firm tofu into "jerky" and used that as filling for sandwiches.
I also took McDougall's cup a soup which was pretty much inedible.
Also took chocolate, Luna and Cliff bars, dried fruit and nuts. I stuck with stuff that looked like vegan food, hoping I wasn't eating any animal products. That amounted to fruit and plain veggies, french fries, bread (sans obvious egg washes) and vinegrette dressed salads.
I cannot emphasize enough how the baked tofu jerky saved me.
Needless to say, the food wasn't that great, but I didn't go hungry. And that wasn't why I went on the trip anyway.
Good luck.
I'm not a big fan a lying, but I'm also not a big fan of poor customer service. So, you're not vegan - you're vegetarian and allergic to dairy and eggs (both due to the same IgE antibody).
Contact R.C. at eval(unescape('%64%6f%63%75%6d%65%6e%74%2e%77%72%69%74%65%28%27%3c%61%20%68%72%65%66%3d%22%6d%61%69%6c%74%6f%3a%66%6f%6f%64%61%6c%6c%65%72%67%69%65%73%40%72%63%63%6c%2e%63%6f%6d%22%3e%66%6f%6f%64%61%6c%6c%65%72%67%69%65%73%40%72%63%63%6c%2e%63%6f%6d%3c%2f%61%3e%27%29%3b')) at least 45 days before the cruise to let them know about your allergies. They will forward the information to the cruise ship you will be on. Once you arrive onboard, meet with the Maitre 'D. They will review the menus with you and will modify meals as needed for your allergy needs. They will for sure have soymilk.
I'd still bring some protein snacks, like soy or seitan jerkey.
thanks so much for your suggestion! i'll definitely check out the jerky recipe and send out some emails...i like your thinking honey! thanks again!
I went on their website, and I was disturbed by how inconvenient they consider those with special diets to be. They need 45 days advance notice to accomodate a vegetarian, and simply cannot accomodate a vegan at all!
Why is it that when I fly, they only need 48-72 hours advance notice, and Amtrak serves me a vegan Gardenburger with absolutely no advance notice (yay Amtrak!), but on a cruise (where you're spending quite a bit more) they cannot be bothered?
I wonder if any other cruise lines do better?
Here's a link it took me ages to find online, that lists how vegan/vegetarian friendly a long list of cruises really are. I'm not sure if its completely up to date so don't rely soley on the list - contact the cruises to confirm. I think this is one of those "good for future reference" things if your family has already chosen a cruise line, but either way, maybe you can find the one they chose on there. And then let us know what happened :( My bf and I have been dying for years to go on a cruise. Before it was finances that prevented us, now its mostly me not wanting to have a week-long vacation centered on a salad bar while he enjoys gourmet cooking. (I know.. childish. :P)
http://www.emcoinc.com/travel/html/Cruises/Dining.htm
(Edited to add the most important thing, the link! Hahaha.)
I took a Carnival cruise this past October. I booked the cruise only 3 weeks before departure, but I asked my travel rep there to make a notation that I was vegan. On the first day of the cruise, I went to the maitre d' in the dining room and asked if they could accomodate me. Well, they really outdid themselves. Not only did I have a vegan dinner every night, they also made me a vegan dessert!! I was so pleased with Carnival. The food was really good, too. Not sure if that helps since you're going on RCC but maybe for future reference...
Edited to add: Carnival menus are the same on all ships (I believe) so it doesn't matter what ship or itinerary you use...and some famous chef designed the menu (I want to say Georges Blanc??)..seriously the food was excellent - in the dining room, and elsewhere.
I was on Princess this past summer to Alaska for my honeymoon. I wasn't vegetarian at the time, but I must say that the food was bad! Horrible! There were nights that i couldn't eat anything in any dining room. For example, the "wild game" night was really rough. Everywhere had game for choices, which I refused to eat even though I was eating chicken at the time. When I tried talking to the Maitre D, he called me picky and wouldn't serve me somethng that wasn't on the menu since I had requested it. I wasn't aware that I had to request something before I even saw that I didn't like the menu! It was horrible! I can't imagine trying to take the cruise as a vegetarian, much less a vegan.
I should also say that ALL the food was bad, not just the choices, but the quality and taste of the food served. At the end of the two week cruise, I couldn't wait to get off the boat, so I could have real food again! After all the good things I'd heard about cruise food, so disappointing! However, our table mates at dinner were avid cruisers, also disappointed in the food, and said they had never had food was so bad before. They said it was untypical of crusies, even Princess!
So goodluck and pack lots of choices that you like, just in case, you can't find anything you like on board, even if they accomodate you!
Plus, you can buy food when you get off the ship too!
So I emailed the cruiese line (Royal Caribbean), and it sounds like they are going to try and accomidate! I'm so relieved by this, and by veggeroni's response. Definatly looking forward to it more now - I just hope the food is better than it sounds on the Princess cruises!
How did it turn out? I've just emailed Carnival, who are doing my cousin's wedding. I want to go on the cruise, but I want to enjoy myelf too.
I have had a really good experience with Royal Caribbean. They really try to accommodate everyone!