New Menus & Vegetarian

[monkeyinhat]

I have read reviews and seen the pics. (thank you very much!)

 

Would love and appreicate review and pics from the vegetarian view point.

 

:)

 

(I am a no meat at all, but definately not vegan)

[CP3o]

Not to jump in and change course but I'm curious too about Samba's, if any vegetarians viewing happen to know. I'm not as strict, eat seafood occasionally and will dine at Samba's for the rest of the carnivore family. I know the salad bar there is an option but that doesn't get great reviews.

 

Would they ever bring in some yummy vegetarian dish from another restaurant if you promise not to touch one of those skewers of meat? I think I checked before and did not see any seafood/shrimp skewers on the menu there. If there were, I could stick with that. I'm thinking I'll just be told to load up on the salad bar options. I don't want a reduce rate or anything but wondered if they would accomidate with an entree from somewhere else........ if anyone happens to know.

 

Does the new menu in MDR always have an indian dish option? I chose that most nights.

[Newwbeee]

I have read reviews and seen the pics. (thank you very much!)

 

Would love and appreicate review and pics from the vegetarian view point.

 

:)

 

 

I'm going on the Allure in December - I'll post one when I get back :)

[SECdawg]

My father does not eat meat and he really enjoyed the new menu on Freedom. Though I do not know what he ate each night he said he had no trouble finding something wonderful to eat. He does eat seafood so I do not know how much of those entrees he ate.

[sandy toes]

I do know that as long as you talk with the folks at Samba's prior to dining they will have a vegetarian offering that will suit you. My DD,DGD and DMIL are vegetarian and they have all dined there while I had my "food with a face" (which was wonderful!!!)

[ksg]

I also am interested in Samba's, but DH doesn't eat meat. Will they bring you a piece of fish from the MDR?

[chukli]

Not to jump in and change course but I'm curious too about Samba's, if any vegetarians viewing happen to know. I'm not as strict, eat seafood occasionally and will dine at Samba's for the rest of the carnivore family. I know the salad bar there is an option but that doesn't get great reviews.

 

Would they ever bring in some yummy vegetarian dish from another restaurant if you promise not to touch one of those skewers of meat? I think I checked before and did not see any seafood/shrimp skewers on the menu there. If there were, I could stick with that. I'm thinking I'll just be told to load up on the salad bar options. I don't want a reduce rate or anything but wondered if they would accomidate with an entree from somewhere else........ if anyone happens to know.

 

Does the new menu in MDR always have an indian dish option? I chose that most nights.

 

Just back from the Allure of the Seas, and must say i didn't like the new menu for vegetarian options. They do not have an Indian Vege option as in the previous menu. However, the Windjammer had an Indian vege curry every day (for breakfast and lunch), and it tasted great with rice. They had curried rice once too.OUr entire vegetarian family enjoyed that and had no problems with finding seats at Windjammer.

We did talk to the Head Waiter in the MDR and he was able to get the chef to make some Indian Vege dishes for a few days in the week. Those dishes were okay, not as good as the Windjammer, but we were very grateful for them. The vege options on the new menu didn't taste that great and my 11 year old daughter struggled for the kids menu (vege option). At least the new menu has pasta with marinara sauce every night!

[monkeyinhat]

THANK YOU so much newbbie. will appreciate it. I am going in January so that would be perfect.

[CP3o]

Just back from the Allure of the Seas, and must say i didn't like the new menu for vegetarian options. They do not have an Indian Vege option as in the previous menu.

 

Ugh, that's disappointing to learn. I really liked the indian dishes at dinner on the old menu (although the sides being exactly the same got boring).

 

I'm not a big fan of WJ or buffets in general but will give Carnival some props when it comes to indian food. The Tandoori Grill was wonderful and I had lunch there every day I could on my first Carnival cruise.

[dep]

Traveling with daughter in law , a vegeterian . I remember seeing a place to check a box for vegeterian , however I do not remember where , help please.

[kevinyork]

Traveling with daughter in law , a vegeterian . I remember seeing a place to check a box for vegeterian , however I do not remember where , help please.

 

We informed our agent that my partner was a veggie however given that their menu choices are limited to the one veggie dish on the MDR menu this seems a little pointless. It also seems the veggie always available riggatoni has been dropped.

[PPH]

Traveling with daughter in law , a vegeterian . I remember seeing a place to check a box for vegeterian , however I do not remember where , help please.

 

I've never booked a Royal Caribbean cruise before so I'm not sure how much I can help. I do know that when you log into your account online, go to profile and then onboard preferences, at the bottom of that page is a box for dietary needs. They have vegetarian and ovo lacto vegetarian.

 

Hoping to book my first Royal cruise tonight!

[JM-1972]

Oh I do hope they offer more than one choice in MDR, my husband loved all the vegetarian options and the variety on RCCL. He will be really disappointed and might mean our next cruise is our last cruise on RCCL. On a recent cruise we took on P & O they only had one choice each evening for vegetarians in the MDR but offered an alternative vegetarian menu that you could pre order from if you did not like the following evenings choice, wonder if RCCL will offer something similar? It is a shame if only one option is offered or pasta.

[shipgeeks]

It has been 10 months since our last RC cruise, but on that one, as on previous ones, there were always lots of veg dishes, in all categories, in MDR. Also, one of our tablemates asked for Madras curry, extra hot, and that was provided. In fact, it was provided every night, if he expressed even a bit of interest. It never hurts to ask, nicely, if the menu doesn't show anything you'd like.

[JM-1972]

Traveling with daughter in law , a vegeterian . I remember seeing a place to check a box for vegeterian , however I do not remember where , help please.

 

 

In the Crown and Anchor section you can state vegetarian under the onboard preference tab, not sure where else you can record it.

[monkeyinhat]

ok, my time is almost here

any vegetarian reviews hopefully with pix???

[Merion_Mom]

ok, my time is almost here

any vegetarian reviews hopefully with pix???

 

 

 

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1723737

 

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=36072617&highlight=vegetarian#post36072617

 

I have had the new artichoke crepes au gratin. I could eat those all day long.

 

I have watched tablemates eat the always-available pasta with marinara sauce with pleasure.

 

All ships now have the Tutti Salad bar in the MDR on sea days. Most ships now have the Park Café with a scaled-down version, available all days.

[monkeyinhat]

Thanks mom. I had not seen that post.

I dont make a big fuss, have never asked for special meals, usually all is well. Never go hungry, just dont see alot of pics and reviews on vegetarian.

 

I had been unsure about the chicken and meatball veg. meals but poster seemed to like them.

[JM-1972]

Hope you enjoy your cruise and if you have time, can you take some pics and post them of the Veggie options?

[39august]

OMG, the artichoke crepes! Heaven. But I also miss the wonderful Indian veggie dishes that were offered every night on the "old" menus.

[Newwbeee]

Thanks mom. I had not seen that post.

I dont make a big fuss, have never asked for special meals, usually all is well. Never go hungry, just dont see alot of pics and reviews on vegetarian.

 

I had been unsure about the chicken and meatball veg. meals but poster seemed to like them.

 

So many of the dishes were heavy on the dairy. The soy meatballs were yummy but a bit salty for me. If you eat dairy you will be just fine.

[reney313]

Has anyone seen many options for vegans? We have 2 friends that we are currently trying to convince to book a cruise with us next year and 1 is vegan (the other vegetarian).

 

Also--I see mention of the marinara and pasta. I know they have ran into issues in the past at restaurants with the marinara sauce being made with a meat stock (even though there is no "meat" in the sauce itself). I don't want them sick on the cruise :( Unfortunately, they no longer have enzymes to break down any meat product. One of my friends was so sick after eating some beans one night. She spent the entire night in the room and was miserable. We found out later the place had used chicken stock to cook the beans...

 

I am not vegetarian (LOVE my meat!) but I don't want to sell them on taking a cruise with us and they have limited options for food. I personally think I would starve to death if I were vegetarian/vegan (maybe that's why they are so much skinnier than me!).

[meadowlander]

ok, my time is almost here

any vegetarian reviews hopefully with pix???

 

I was on Vison in November and their menu (old) offered many options for me as a vegetarian. I completed a cruise on Explorer (new menu) 10 days ago and the lack of choices of what I like to eat, left me with a very negative experience.

 

Knowing that the same company offered such different menus and is instituting the new menu fleet wide, has me reconsidering the cruises I have booked for this year. It was not just the menu, the wj on Explorer was by far the most chaotic and least organized I have encountered. The total dining experience was poor.

 

I wish you better luck.

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

Has anyone seen many options for vegans? We have 2 friends that we are currently trying to convince to book a cruise with us next year and 1 is vegan (the other vegetarian).

 

Also--I see mention of the marinara and pasta. I know they have ran into issues in the past at restaurants with the marinara sauce being made with a meat stock (even though there is no "meat" in the sauce itself). I don't want them sick on the cruise :( Unfortunately, they no longer have enzymes to break down any meat product. One of my friends was so sick after eating some beans one night. She spent the entire night in the room and was miserable. We found out later the place had used chicken stock to cook the beans...

 

I am not vegetarian (LOVE my meat!) but I don't want to sell them on taking a cruise with us and they have limited options for food. I personally think I would starve to death if I were vegetarian/vegan (maybe that's why they are so much skinnier than me!).

 

The vegan will have fewer choices than the vegetarian because the vegan can eat no dairy (cheese, yogurt, butter, milk, eggs) and it just seems that so much food is prepared on cruise ships with at least one of these dairy products. Even if you order what seems like a harmless plant-based food item, it might be brought to the table with a dollop of sour cream or a pat of butter.

 

I've been a vegetarian much of my life and vegan the last five years. I have to confess that I am surprised that slight exposure to animal products causes such physical distress. I can understand emotional distress if one is vegetarain for deeply religious or ethical reasons, but I had never read that long-term vegetarians lose enzymes that help them digest animal products such as chicken stock. I have certainly learned something today.

 

I also confess that on cruise ships I try my best to stay vegan, but I realize it is especially difficult to be purely vegan, because often the person you might ask about how a food item is made, may not know for sure.

 

Still, if your friend does become ill at the slightest exposure to any food not 100% plant-based, I'm not sure they should cruise. Gosh, that would be too bad! Well, if they still want to go, tell them to constantly ask questions about the food. The other thing they can do is keep their food choices as close to unprocessed as possible, such as pure fruit, simple salads, veggies with no sauces. Yes, that can get tiresome pretty fast, but that is what I do on cruises. When I am in doubt, I go for the unprocessed food.

 

I really hope you can all go on teh cruise and I hope your friends will be able to enjoy some delicious meals that meet their requirements.

[zooma]

Just returned from Oasis. Though the new menus in MDR are pretty good, I agree that the vegetarian options are definitely subpar (too starchy, not enough protein). Our teen daughter is a vegetarian, and we spoke with the Head Waiter for our section in the My Time Dining room the first night onboard. Asked him whether they still had the Indian vegetarian curries and other options available. He said that they removed them from the menus because not enough people had been ordering them, but that he could ask the Chef to prepare them for us if we wanted. We let him know which nights we were planning to eat in the MDR (as opposed to specialty restaurants), and, indeed, they brought Indian plates for our daughter every night! A nice variety and very yummy -- vegetables, rice, roti and papdum. In fact, I also decided that I wanted those, so they were happy to bring me a plate as well. They even prepared nonveg curries, such as lamb, for my husband and son to enjoy (in addition to the regular entrees they ordered). Whenever there were popular regular vegetarian options available, eg, the moussaka, crepes, spinach dip, they always just automatically brought those for our table. Very thoughtful, we thought. Still, RC should consider improving the vegetarian options to make them more nutritionally sound and tasty.