Can you get a boxed lunch?

We're booked on Riviera Eastern Caribbean. We're planning a scuba/snorkel excursion through a private dive company at one of the ports, and the timing of this particular excursion is 11:00a - 2:30p. The boat does not provide lunch.

Does anyone have any experience asking for a boxed lunch from the ship? If so, what did they provide?

Thanks!

no boxed lunch

Some ports you are not allowed to take food from the ship

I carry prepackaged power bars to tide us over

I would ask the tour Op if there is some way to pick up food prior to the tour

I find it so odd when people ask this question as if they just had a boxed lunch on a cruise last year-

I can well remember my grandmother Doris pitching a fit when Cunard ceased providing boxed lunches on the Carmania.........and that was in 1968!

no boxed lunch

 

Some ports you are not allowed to take food from the ship

I carry prepackaged power bars to tide us over

I would ask the tour Op if there is some way to pick up food prior to the tour

Good to know. We'll just eat a big breakfast before we leave the ship, and maybe grab a snack in town to carry with us on the dive boat in case we get a little peckish.

I find it so odd when people ask this question as if they just had a boxed lunch on a cruise last year-

I find it odd that you find my question odd. Isn't this the place to ask questions? Even experienced cruisers might not know something about cruising.

I have received a boxed lunch from a cruise ship...I believe it was a Crystal Baltics cruise just a few years ago. Is there some kind of rule about boxed lunches I'm unaware of?

You may want to ask the private dive company you have engaged about lunch. I am sure they have had the question before.

Good to know. We'll just eat a big breakfast before we leave the ship, and maybe grab a snack in town to carry with us on the dive boat in case we get a little peckish.

 

 

 

I find it odd that you find my question odd. Isn't this the place to ask questions? Even experienced cruisers might not know something about cruising.

 

I have received a boxed lunch from a cruise ship...I believe it was a Crystal Baltics cruise just a few years ago. Is there some kind of rule about boxed lunches I'm unaware of?

OP: I see from your profile that you are in SoCal. If anyone should know about prohibitions on entering certain ports (or states like CA or HI) with un-inspected and/or un-prepackaged food (which includes many items one might find in a boxed lunch), it is a Californian.

No food,flowers,fruit etc are allowed off cruise ships in Australia or New Zealand.There are very,very stiff fines.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

OP: I see from your profile that you are in SoCal. If anyone should know about prohibitions on entering certain ports (or states like CA or HI) with un-inspected and/or un-prepackaged food (which includes many items one might find in a boxed lunch), it is a Californian.

Okay so it seems I'm going to chided for asking the question at all, because apparently I should have known the answer.

Gotta love Cruise Critic! Some things never change. :rolleyes:

The reason I asked is because I actually didn't know the answer. My question wasn't about taking food off in a US port, it was about taking food off in a Caribbean port. I'm not particularly schooled in port/food prohibitions in the Caribbean. Thus, my question.

Fortunately somebody already answered, and I now have a plan for that day, which is the reason I asked...so I could plan my day. I like to consider all the 'little things' when I'm planning a vacation, so we don't get caught by surprise and have a day ruined by not factoring in things like food, comfort stops, etc. Of course many times our plans go sideways anyway, but it's not for lack of trying! :p

Thanks everyone! :)

You may want to ask the private dive company you have engaged about lunch. I am sure they have had the question before.

It's a dive boat, and they do not provide food on this boat. We'll be on this dive boat from 11:00 to 2:00. So we'll just eat a good breakfast and bring a light snack that we pick up in town. Now that I know I can't bring something from the ship, we will give ourselves enough time to pick something up before transporting to the dive boat. So I think we're all set. :)

I'm sorry that you were treated rudely for asking a question. My request for a box lunch 3 years ago on Silversea was cheerfully filled. This was in a South Africa port. We were scheduled to have an all day private tour to an elephant reserve. The tour guide informed us ahead of time that food would not be available and suggested that we bring a lunch. The only caveat was to avoid citrus fruits as the elephants love oranges. Years ago the reserve area had been devoted to growing oranges and the elephants retained an atavistic taste for citrus.

The bottom line is that some cruise lines will provide a boxed lunch if local regulations permit. YMMV.

Enjoy your cruise!

I'm not going to chide you for asking a question to which you didn't have the answer LeeAnne! Originally Oceania DID have box lunches available but they stopped providing them some years ago. Liability issues? I don't know.

It's true that in certain ports you are not permitted to take any food off the ship but that is not by any means in all ports. But you won't get a box lunch anywhere.

Mura

I'm sorry that you were treated rudely for asking a question. My request for a box lunch 3 years ago on Silversea was cheerfully filled. This was in a South Africa port. We were scheduled to have an all day private tour to an elephant reserve. The tour guide informed us ahead of time that food would not be available and suggested that we bring a lunch. The only caveat was to avoid citrus fruits as the elephants love oranges. Years ago the reserve area had been devoted to growing oranges and the elephants retained an atavistic taste for citrus.

 

The bottom line is that some cruise lines will provide a boxed lunch if local regulations permit. YMMV.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

LOL no worries...I'm used to it. It's Cruise Critic. I've been on this board for so long, I've seen it all. People routinely get pilloried for asking questions, which always makes me laugh because...what is this board for if not to ask questions? OH, and don't EVER criticize the cruise line on that cruise line's board! I once posted about some bad service I got from the Crystal home office prior to my cruise...and someone from the Crystal board actually CALLED THE SHIP and told them to watch out for me...that I was a nasty rude person who was going to create all kinds of problems onboard! I am not making this up...and there are people on this board who likely remember this. I learned about it after only a couple days, when I ended up befriended the crewmember who'd received the call, and he revealed it to me. It turned out to be one of my best cruises ever! So nothing surprises me on here anymore. ;)

I know I've asked for, and received, box lunches more than once on a cruise, but for the life of me I can't remember where this was. I know we did it once on a Baltics cruise, and I'm pretty sure we did also on a Med cruise (Regent). But I didn't know if this would be possible in the Caribbean. Apparently not - but the port we're talking about is St Barts, so I'm sure there will be plenty of options to buy a snack to bring with us.

All my other dive tours are either morning or afternoon, with lunch time free to either go back to the ship or grab something in port...but this one happened to hit right over lunch time so I wanted to know what my options are.

I'm sure I'll have a great cruise, and I'm very excited about getting to experience Oceania!

I'm not going to chide you for asking a question to which you didn't have the answer LeeAnne! Originally Oceania DID have box lunches available but they stopped providing them some years ago. Liability issues? I don't know.

 

It's true that in certain ports you are not permitted to take any food off the ship but that is not by any means in all ports. But you won't get a box lunch anywhere.

 

Mura

Thanks Mura! :)

Could be liability, or could just be the hassle of having to do something extra/unplanned for an unknown number of people on each cruise. Anyway, given all that I've read about the fabulous food onboard, I'm not too worried about starving on this trip! :D I just know that when I'm on a small dive boat, if I go for too long without eating I can start to feel a bit ill...which kinda messes with the diving. So a small snack will fit the bill.

Thanks Mura! :)

 

I just know that when I'm on a small dive boat, if I go for too long without eating I can start to feel a bit ill...which kinda messes with the diving. So a small snack will fit the bill.

It is understandable.

I would bring an energy bar (or some such) with me rather than "hunt" for something ashore in a foreign port (for any number of reasons).

YMMV

I have taken baked goods ashore in many ports and never had a problem. Use a small plastic box or zip loc bags and stick this in your day bag. IF you have a problem (highly unlikely), just toss them. If you like you can also bring prepackaged bars from home as a backup, but they aren't tasty to me so I just take something from the ship that was either on my breakfast tray or something from the night before.

Restrictions about food (from the port, not the ship) are related to produce and things like sausages, deli meats, cheeses, eggs, milk, etc. Cookies, crackers, croissants and similar have never presented a problem in my long and varied experience.

I have taken baked goods ashore in many ports and never had a problem. Use a small plastic box or zip loc bags and stick this in your day bag. IF you have a problem (highly unlikely), just toss them. If you like you can also bring prepackaged bars from home as a backup, but they aren't tasty to me so I just take something from the ship that was either on my breakfast tray or something from the night before.

 

Restrictions about food (from the port, not the ship) are related to produce and things like sausages, deli meats, cheeses, eggs, milk, etc. Cookies, crackers, croissants and similar have never presented a problem in my long and varied experience.

Oh, right! Great idea. A croissant sounds like the perfect pick-me-up to stave off hunger when out on a boat. I'm not a huge protein-bar or granola bar fan...they sometimes taste like clay to me. But I can grab a croissant or two from the breakfast buffet, put it in a zip-lock (I never go anywhere without ziplocks!) and stuff it in my bag. Sounds perfect -- why didn't I think of that? Thanks!

Oh, right! Great idea. A croissant sounds like the perfect pick-me-up to stave off hunger when out on a boat. I'm not a huge protein-bar or granola bar fan...they sometimes taste like clay to me. But I can grab a croissant or two from the breakfast buffet, put it in a zip-lock (I never go anywhere without ziplocks!) and stuff it in my bag. Sounds perfect -- why didn't I think of that? Thanks!

You're welcome. I hope you will do a trip report as you have in the past. :)

I have taken baked goods ashore in many ports and never had a problem. Use a small plastic box or zip loc bags and stick this in your day bag. IF you have a problem (highly unlikely), just toss them. If you like you can also bring prepackaged bars from home as a backup, but they aren't tasty to me so I just take something from the ship that was either on my breakfast tray or something from the night before.

 

Restrictions about food (from the port, not the ship) are related to produce and things like sausages, deli meats, cheeses, eggs, milk, etc. Cookies, crackers, croissants and similar have never presented a problem in my long and varied experience.

You're missing the point. The restrictions are also about food handling. The problem is that it is what you don't see that is going to present a danger to agricultural enterprises.

Just leave the food on the ship and break down and buy something while you are ashore.

I agree with the poster above: ziplock bags and squished croissants from this morning's buffet? Really?

You're missing the point. The restrictions are also about food handling. The problem is that it is what you don't see that is going to present a danger to agricultural enterprises.

Just leave the food on the ship and break down and buy something while you are ashore.

 

I agree with the poster above: ziplock bags and squished croissants from this morning's buffet? Really?

I am "the poster above". I don't squish croissants. They are too precious. Personally, for the croissants, I use firmer small plastic boxes that are made by Ziploc and intended to be disposable, but I wash and reuse them in most cases, at least a few times.

What is in a croissant (or a cookie) that you think is a danger to agricultural enterprises anymore than the croissant that is sold on the street in the same port?

I am "the poster above". I don't squish croissants. They are too precious. Personally, for the croissants, I use firmer small plastic boxes that are made by Ziploc and intended to be disposable, but I wash and reuse them in most cases, at least a few times.

 

What is in a croissant (or a cookie) that you think is a danger to agricultural enterprises anymore than the croissant that is sold on the street in the same port?

So you do this even if the dailies request you not to?

They have pre packaged granola cereal or other type you could take that

It is sealed package but check the rules for the port first

Listed in our "Currents" for our Panama Canal Cruise in December..."Please note that taking ashore any kind of food or fruit from the ship is not permitted in any of our ports of call". One woman in front of us, tried to take a sandwich off, and was caught at the port gate by port security (with sniffing dogs) when they inspected our purses/bags, and made her throw it away. She told me that they told her she could have been fined, if caught outside the gate with the sandwich. She later asked the staff, and they told her in the future, to purchase store bought sealed bars to take ashore, if needed. (She joked, "or take bail money" later).

See reply to "gillianrose" below.

I am "the poster above". I don't squish croissants. They are too precious. Personally, for the croissants, I use firmer small plastic boxes that are made by Ziploc and intended to be disposable, but I wash and reuse them in most cases, at least a few times.

 

What is in a croissant (or a cookie) that you think is a danger to agricultural enterprises anymore than the croissant that is sold on the street in the same port?

You need to reread your own post. It's not always what's IN food but also what's ON food, the "hitchhikers," (e.g., the med fruit fly that wreaked havoc in California decades ago), which were not inspected by the USDA or it's equivalent in a developed country.

What's different between the croissant on the ship and the one in the street? Food safety (e.g., cross contamination proximity) and handling are vastly different. And that doesn't automatically mean that the one on the ship would pass USDA inspection.

I really don't care what's on or in street food in a foreign port as long as you don't bring it on a ship and deliver it here to California (or Hawaii). Likewise, I don't care what you take off the ship in some foreign port. If you need to cart plastic boxes around to avoid paying a few dollars for a meal ashore, that's your business. Just don't subject others to the potentially negative impact of your actions, particularly when they are farming families.

It's not always what's IN food but also what's ON food, the "hitchhikers," (e.g., the med fruit fly that wreaked havoc in California decades ago), which were not inspected by the USDA or it's equivalent in a developed country.

 

What's different between the croissant on the ship and the one in the street? Food safety (e.g., cross contamination proximity) and handling are vastly different. And that doesn't automatically mean that the one on the ship would pass USDA inspection.

I am totally confident that the croissants on Oceania will pass USDA inspection and that they do not harbor medflies. Aren't you? :rolleyes:

Actually, it is far more likely that a passenger could be unknowingly carrying a harmful insect in their hair or on their clothing, including shoes, than that a BAKED good would. Even if there had been an insect in the flour, for example, the high heat used for BAKING would have killed it.