Sattvika

Wow, if I had known Indian vegetarian was an option, I definitely would have tried to ask for it. I had read about Indian vegetarian offered on Royal Caribbean, but didn't know it was available on Princess. Thanks so much for this information, I will definitely ask about it next time!

Thanks again! I forgot to ask you in my last post, from what I recall on Princess they always had fettucini alfredo on their every-night menu. Was that not an option for you? I find that is sometimes a choice for me in restaurants though only as a last resort because I really hate to eat anything that heavy.

I asked about this the first night. The conversation with the head waiter went something like this:

"No that has eggs, you won't be able to have that."

"What has eggs? The pasta or the sauce? I was told you have eggless pasta onboard."

"No it can't be made without eggs."

"Oh okay, I was just thinking if it was just the pasta--"

"No, not possible."

He wasn't unfriendly about it, just didn't seem willing to try.

I had no idea Princess even served tofu dishes. From the pictures it looks like it was somewhat well prepared instead of just cutting and throwing it into any old dish. Was the consistency ok and did it seem like they knew what they were doing with it?

I'm glad you found the thread useful. When you tell Princess you're vegetarian, they send you a standard email which states, "Tofu, egg-free pasta and vegetarian burgers are available onboard and can be prepared in a variety of styles." The tofu I ate was actually really good. It was not seasoned much, just fried in a good amount of oil, and it was crispy and tasted fresh. I actually ordered it again the second night because the portion of the pad thai was a bit small for me, and ended up getting it again the third night because they weren't able to make what I ordered. So while I enjoyed it, three nights in a row was a little much.

My bigger issue when it comes to vegetarian dining is normally with the chefs and not the waitstaff. It's too bad about the headwaiter's lack of enthusiasm in your case but if you have someone in the kitchen doing their best I find that to be helpful. Again I appreciate your posting, I am sailing on Grand in April and though I do eat eggs and dairy I am a little concerned about food choices.

I've heard that there are a lot of Indian chefs on cruise ships, who are able to make vegetarian Indian dishes easily (and may even be vegetarian themselves). I wasn't offered anything like this even though I suggested it to the head waiter. The waiter didn't seem put off or inconvenienced by my requests so I don't know whether my real problem was the kitchen. The only person who made a comment on my being vegetarian was a guy at a shared lunch table who remarked, "I'd be vegetarian too, but I figure if God intended us to be vegetarian, He would have made animals out of vegetables." :rolleyes: But he seemed like one of those people who feels he has to say something about everything...

I am sailing on Grand in April and though I do eat eggs and dairy I am a little concerned about food choices.

In any case, I think my major obstacle was not eating eggs. So since you eat eggs you will have NO problem at all. Best of all, you'll be able to enjoy all of the yummy desserts at dinner as well as the constant stream of cookies and treats at the international cafe all day, as well as the desserts available from room service 24-hours. I would not be concerned at all, you're going to have a blast!

Yes, that was me! I'm falling off my chair laughing!!

Of my 16 Princess cruises this was the most lackluster on dining among other things. The 7 day Pacific coastal up to San Francisco is a great cruise to try & they have a good promo with onboard credit going on now.

That's amazing! Thanks for your suggestions. Too bad we never talked on the cruise, you seem to be an experienced cruiser from whom I probably could have learned a lot.

I think we were sitting across from you in the Botticelli. I did notice a lot of things on this cruise were a little sub par. I'm sure if you go on Princess again you will find the head waiter a little more helpful.

That's hilarious! Were you the lady whose roll rolled off the table the first night? :D

I think you're probably right. I did enjoy the food I got, but I think it could have been better if the waiter was more enthusiastic. I am thinking of trying again on Princess.

I think for Princess, V means it doesn't have dead animals in it. To have a labelling system that covers all different subsections of vegetarians, those who eat eggs but won't have milk, those who will have milk but not eggs, those who will have free range eggs but not battery, those who will eat fish but still claim to be vegetarian, vegans, fruitarians, etc etc etc - not practical.

 

Did the system of ordering the day before, not work for puddings?

Yeah for sure. I just would have appreciated a reply to my email requesting clarification on the definition of the 'V'.

I think it could have worked for anything if I had a head waiter that was a little more interested in increasing my options, but the one I had didn't seem to be. There was an eggless tapioca pudding one night:

(The forum wouldn't let me include more than 6 pictures in one post so I left this one out.)

I'm a lacto-vegetarian (i.e. no meat or eggs but dairy okay) with some additional dietary restrictions. I did this short cruise to see if I could be accommodated. Bottom line: I think you could probably eat decently regardless of what your restrictions are, but the variety of what you're offered probably depends on who's looking after you and how enthusiastic they are to help you.

I was in traditional dining on the Crown Princess (LA, San Diego, Ensenada) February 5-9, 2016. Prior to the cruise I had entered my dietary request in the Cruise Personalizer and called Princess to confirm. I got their standard email about the menu items marked 'V' being vegetarian and to ask a Head Waiter or maitre d' about specific ingredients. I tried to find out whether items marked 'V' could contain eggs but received no reply. Looking at the menu on board 'V' items can clearly contain egg (and dairy), so to Princess 'V' = LACTO-OVO-VEGETARIAN.

The first day on board I received a note in my room reminding me to discuss my dietary request with a head waiter or the maitre d'. At dinner I gave this note to my waiter, who called the head waiter to take down my request. As many others have reported, the head waiter simply brought me the next day's menu each night so I could pre-order with slight modifications to ingredients if necessary. Since we did not have much time the first night, he had the kitchen prepare me this dish of sautéed vegetables and tofu:

For the next night, I ordered pad thai without egg:

The head waiter came to me the third night and told me the dish I had ordered suddenly couldn't be prepared, so they gave me the sautéed vegetables and tofu from the first night again. For the final night I ordered deep-fried battered eggplant with rice and some kind of spiced mango:

Each night there was also a cold soup served in a glass that always looked something like this:

Fruit was usually the only appetizer I could have, but one night there was veggie sushi that was actually really good:

The desserts were all "vegetarian", but this meant they could have eggs in them. The only item that definitely did not contain eggs each night was the fruit sorbet, which I didn't really like. One night I asked the head waiter if any of the other items might be eggless, and instead of checking for me, he simply said, "99% of the desserts have egg." What about the ice cream? "The recipe for ice cream generally calls for egg." He couldn't be bothered to check.

I also ate in the main dining room the one sea-day it was open for lunch. The waitress that day was decidedly more helpful than the head waiter I had at dinner. I ate a stuffed yellow pepper:

There was a nice vegetarian sandwich and Moroccan crock-pot available from room service, and the room service breakfast was simple but good. I wish my head waiter had been more enthusiastic about helping me. I have heard of people getting special dishes not on the menu in order to fit their requests. However I still enjoyed all the food I was offered and would consider another cruise in the future.

I used EZAir + Princess Transfer in LA on my first cruise earlier this month. As others have said it was very smooth, I was on the ship within 1.5 hours of landing at LAX. However I think I will stay overnight near the port on my next cruise. My flight from Vancouver to LAX got cancelled and the only reason I made my cruise was because the airline found a spare plane to replace it (never had that happen before, usually cancellation means you're on the next available flight). Even though Princess would have flown me to the next port, I think I still would have had to pay out of pocket for food and accommodation, not to mention it would not have been a nice way to start a vacation.