Any Vegan cruiser tips?

[SadieN]

Nvm

[AussieOmni]

Did you have to wait a long time for them to cook it?

 

 

It was like five minutes

 

 

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[AlohaKnights]

To EVERYONE -- carnivores & herbivores -- welcome to this discussion. Thank you for taking an interest in Vegan cruise tips.

 

The more people inquire about Vegan options on the ships, the more abundant the choices will be. There are many delicious options already, but there is always room for improvement. :)

 

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[PlanoDebbie]

I am a Vegan cruiser. If going on a ship with American Table I'd skip MDR most nights. Guys has a vegan veggie burger, skip the meat at Mongolian and burritos and they're vegan. We also did the chefs table last week and it was amazing.

 

Hoping I have time to post a full review tonight

 

 

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Great tips! Thanks! Glad to know I can get a veggie burger at Guys.

[PlanoDebbie]

Best thing to do is to contact Carnival's Special Needs desk. They will set it up for you and your family to have vegan entrees and selections in the MDR and to point out Vegan friendly dining options in other venues. There are any number of posts on vegan experiences on Carnival ships in this forum. But check out Curt Jerome's threads on the "Friends of Cruise Critic" boards.:)

 

I'm not a vegan. IMO vegan as practiced in the US is a socio-political choice, not a health choice. Vegan as practiced in other cultures is a religious requirement concocted by certain elites to control religious observance and establish cultural hegemony and fit in with geographical constraints and agricultural practices at the time. Similar to Jewish and Islamic prohibitions on pork and shell fish. Nothing to do with health or well being. But that's my view, your mileage may vary.

 

Nevertheless, I'm in full support of those who wish to practice these eating habits to have an opportunity to do so, without ridicule.

And thus I'm glad that Carnival recognizes these choices and bends over backward to accommodate.

 

Have a great cruise and enjoy your dining selections.:)

 

Totally agree. That's why I put in my original post that I'm not a militant Vegan or anything close to it. Hoping to improve some of my lab work with the Dr by reducing/eliminating red meat from my diet. We'll find out in a few weeks if anything has changed since Christmas. Trust me, I told my son we were having ham for Christmas because only he and my other daughter are Vegan and the other 9 of us are carnivores. I finally gave in and let the two of them plan our dinner.

 

I kind of figured my only options were gonna be grazing at the salad bar all week. Truly appreciate the input.

[AussieOmni]

Another tip for vegans. Tell them you want more options in your survey, the more they hear it the more likely they are to do it.

 

 

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[happy trailer]

So, for the cruise has anyone had any problems obtaining quality Vegan foods?

 

Of the several lines I've cruised, Carnival has consistently provided me with the best vegan experience. Contact their special needs department in advance to let them know your dietary requirement, and then be assured you will have no issues at all. Each evening at dinner, you will be brought the next night's menu to peruse. You decide which selections you'd like, and they will tell you if they can be adapted to your diet. I absolutely prefer this method, as it means I am eating very similar food to my table mates, which helps keep my diet from being a topic of conversation. It also gives me the greatest control over my meals, and gives me many more options than on other lines where the chef prepares a meal of his choice after being notified of my requirements.

 

Aside from the MDR, Carnival not only has the most choices in their buffet area and specialty restaurants, but in my experience, the most knowledgeable and aware food service staff. No matter which station I approached- Mongolian Wok, Indian, Mexican, Deli- when I said I was vegan, the staff told me what I could eat, and that they would be happy to prepare it for me- and before I could ask them to be sure to use a clean knife and cutting board, they pulled them out from under the counter or from the kitchen, and showed me that they were using separate utensils to prepare my food. I haven't experienced anything close to that on any other line.

[happy trailer]

You can also order any of the soups and appetizers for entrees. Many of them are vegetarian even vegan.

 

One evening DH couldn't find an entree he wanted so he ordered an appetizer, a soup and a salad for his entree. He's not vegan or vegetarian - he just couldn't find an entree that tickled his fancy.

 

Sorry, but this advice is incorrect. While the food your husband ordered may have appeared vegan or vegetarian, chances are very high that they contained some 'hidden' animal products. For example, most soups are based on fish, chicken, or meat broth- even soups described as vegetable soups. The only way to be sure they are indeed vegan or vegetarian friendly is to ask for a clarification. Same goes for salads (anchovies in the salad or dressing, cream or mayonnaise based dressing..). Appetizers as well.

 

Most people who do not follow vegetarian or vegan diets are unaware of those hidden ingredients, just as people who are not diabetics are usually not aware how sugar infiltrates so many prepared food (just as salt does).

[Love2Cruz2015]

Very interesting discussion. I have recently switched to a vegetarian diet myself for health reasons, I still consume dairy, though trying to limit due to high cholesterol and I still have my morning cappucino, but with fat free milk instead. Not going to exclude eggs either, but reducing.

 

I have since found there are SOOOOOOO many options for vegetarians and I am loving the way I feel. Some of my meals are vegan but not most.

I also have a new found fondness for Indian food. They really know how to cook interesting veg meals so I'm delighted to read that I can get Indian food at the MDR.

Do I just speak with the waiter on my first night, or can I note it somewhere on the reservation?

 

I don't miss meat at all...I do miss sushi, but I've adapted well, looking forward to seeing my lab work next MD visit to see if it has made an impact. I think this is a long term thing for me.

 

Also to add to the discussion, from what I recall, there is always a vegetarian option on the MDR menu...but may not be vegan.

[pcorwin]

We were on Oasis in May we had a vegan in our group. I recommend you eat at the same table and time same waiter and order the night before. There were 8 of us and we were given a vegan appetizer for the table every night. It was great! They were very accommodating. I also informed the cruise line of dietary restrictions before the cruse. Trust me you will have plenty of options and not eat salads the hole time.

 

 

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[SadieN]

We were on Oasis in May we had a vegan in our group. I recommend you eat at the same table and time same waiter and order the night before. There were 8 of us and we were given a vegan appetizer for the table every night. It was great! They were very accommodating. I also informed the cruise line of dietary restrictions before the cruse. Trust me you will have plenty of options and not eat salads the hole time.

 

 

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No need to do assigned dining with special orders.

We have allergies in our family and do ATD. Preorder the night before. (First day see the hostess) When we are seated the hostess gives the waiter our order slip. Never had an issue.

Definitely would do assigned dining with groups more than 4, it's just easier.

 

I'm a huge carnivore at home but on cruises I gravitate towards the vegetarian meals.

[PlanoDebbie]

I must say that I was truly afraid that absolutely nobody would join this conversation, so Thank You to everyone! I've learned a lot.

 

I'm a Type 2 Diabetic, so I am hoping that this change of diet will help reduce my A1c. We'll see.

[Seago2]

I went vegetarian because suddenly I couldn't stand the thought of meat, and it was a quick jump to vegan after that. The one thing I do is drink half and half with my coffee. I have yet to find a vegan cream replacer and there's no way I'm soaking cashews, not a chance. I don't like sweetener in my coffee, the only "milk" I drink is unsweetened almond milk but it's not enough in my coffee.

 

Anyway, I've cruised as a vegetarian before. There are a lot of options as we all know. The breakfast burritos with the crunchy hash brown bits are to die for. Love those. The pasta is quite frequently vegetarian if you just take the shrimp off, for example. I know that some dishes probably have some beef stock in them but I really try to stay far away from them. The buffet is easy. Plenty of vegetarian things to eat at all times.

 

Vegan gets a little trickier. We like to eat in the MDR at night so it gets far more limited. You can get the menu the night before and select or you can just eat sides or the Indian selection. Honestly after a day of pigging out in the buffet I don't mind a dinner of two baked potatoes and some broccoli. Yes it's limited in the MDR but a vegan diet is by its nature a limited way of eating. We might be able to create colorful, varied meals but we are in fact limiting whole groups of foods. So it's limited.

 

My plan for these next cruises is to throttle back to vegetarian. I like the Danish (butter), I like the breakfast burritos (eggs), I like the Caesar salad (eggs, dairy and yes some anchovies in it somewhere). So I will be "mostly vegan" and move on.

 

I give all vegans who cruise a lot of credit. There are days with not a lot to do but lie around and eat. I became a vegan for compassionate reasons. I still cook meat at home 4 nights out of 7 because I have some students living here and one child still at home and they all expect meat. My husband is a vegetarian who is happy being vegan most of the time but will also like a good Mac and cheese.

 

People who have left some drive by snarky comments on here are not helping, but they have their own agendas in life and "helping" is not on the agenda.

 

Definitely accepting ideas on what I can do about the coffee creamer issue! No corn syrup. Can't stand sweetened coffee. Thanks in advance-

[fabby50]

Seago2 - Have you tried coconut milk? Of course, you'd have to like coconut, but they have a reduced fat and full fat canned coconut milk. It's yummy and creamy in coffee.

 

Been a vegetarian/mostly vegan for over 40 years. Gave up years ago trying to have an intelligent conversation with people about my reasons for not eating flesh or most animal byproducts (gelatin for instance). For some reason, it always ends up with them thinking I am judging their choices and I SWEAR I am not. My husband eats meat and I cook it for him. It is my PERSONAL CHOICE and should be no concern of others.

 

Sailing on the Miracle on Saturday - since I'm going so soon and this thread is topical to me, I'll come back after the cruise when things are fresh in my mind and report what goodies I found to eat :) I try to keep an semi-accurate food log for dietary reasons.

 

HAPPY SAILING EVERYONE -

[AussieOmni]

Given we're sharing origin stories. My wife went vegan cold turkey one night for ethical reasons. I still ate meat but a month later stopped doing so in front of her, to respect her.

Eventually I found that I was enjoying the vegan stuff more so I went vegetarian full time. As my health results got better (my protein count was higher than ever) I was more convinced. Eventually I realized I'd ditched dairy and eggs and so decided I was vegan. Like another poster it becomes more and more an ethical thing.

 

As for supplements, the only thing all vegans need to get a supplement for is B12.

 

 

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[Love2Cruz2015]

I don't think I can ever go full on vegan, though I'm certainly open to having vegan meals. Though I'm now vegetarian for health reasons, it's a plus that I am not contributing to unethical treatment of animals...though I've been a meat eater all my life, so I wouldn't judge anyone. I also reconcile with the fact that milk and eggs are byproducts of animals...but again, don't want to turn this into an ethical discussion. My reasoning is strictly for health reasons, but it does make me feel good too for no longer eating meat or fish. Fish is now farmed and it comes from less than sanitary regions of the world, I started getting turned off to it for a while now, especially things like shrimp and tilapia which are farmed in Indonesia and China. Meat and chicken is injected with so many growth hormones and other junk that it too has turned me off.

 

I want to cut more dairy but I am working on it...I'm Italian and love all things with cheese :o But that's a work in progress.

[Crifascb]

I'm going on the MSC DIVINA for the Holistic At Sea Cruise 3/4 thru 3/11 2017. It's vegan with options.

 

 

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[Sunquest4me73]

Thank you for this topic - I am vegan as well and have been doing a ton of research on this topic. This post has been very helpful!

[ShillyShally]

Been vegan 8.5 years and have cruised many times on RCCL with great success after going vegan and have heard Carnival is even better! Also excited to be going back on Carnival, had fun on them in the past! Now next month we'll be sure to find good options as we are on the Fundraising cruise for Esther the Wonder Pig so we're super excited that it will be easier than usual :) We have 3 vegans, 1 vegetarian and 1 meat eater in the family but only the vegans/vegetarian are going next month (meat-eater has to be back at college).

 

Love these tips!

[Sarapdot]

Best thing to do is to contact Carnival's Special Needs desk. They will set it up for you and your family to have vegan entrees and selections in the MDR and to point out Vegan friendly dining options in other venues. There are any number of posts on vegan experiences on Carnival ships in this forum. But check out Curt Jerome's threads on the "Friends of Cruise Critic" boards.:)

 

I'm not a vegan. IMO vegan as practiced in the US is a socio-political choice, not a health choice. Vegan as practiced in other cultures is a religious requirement concocted by certain elites to control religious observance and establish cultural hegemony and fit in with geographical constraints and agricultural practices at the time. Similar to Jewish and Islamic prohibitions on pork and shell fish. Nothing to do with health or well being. But that's my view, your mileage may vary.

 

Nevertheless, I'm in full support of those who wish to practice these eating habits to have an opportunity to do so, without ridicule.

And thus I'm glad that Carnival recognizes these choices and bends over backward to accommodate.

 

Have a great cruise and enjoy your dining selections.:)

I disargree. Everytime I call the special needs department about my dietary requests they always tell me to speak to the dining room once on board

 

I went vegetarian because suddenly I couldn't stand the thought of meat, and it was a quick jump to vegan after that. The one thing I do is drink half and half with my coffee. I have yet to find a vegan cream replacer and there's no way I'm soaking cashews, not a chance. I don't like sweetener in my coffee, the only "milk" I drink is unsweetened almond milk but it's not enough in my coffee.

 

Anyway, I've cruised as a vegetarian before. There are a lot of options as we all know. The breakfast burritos with the crunchy hash brown bits are to die for. Love those. The pasta is quite frequently vegetarian if you just take the shrimp off, for example. I know that some dishes probably have some beef stock in them but I really try to stay far away from them. The buffet is easy. Plenty of vegetarian things to eat at all times.

 

Vegan gets a little trickier. We like to eat in the MDR at night so it gets far more limited. You can get the menu the night before and select or you can just eat sides or the Indian selection. Honestly after a day of pigging out in the buffet I don't mind a dinner of two baked potatoes and some broccoli. Yes it's limited in the MDR but a vegan diet is by its nature a limited way of eating. We might be able to create colorful, varied meals but we are in fact limiting whole groups of foods. So it's limited.

 

My plan for these next cruises is to throttle back to vegetarian. I like the Danish (butter), I like the breakfast burritos (eggs), I like the Caesar salad (eggs, dairy and yes some anchovies in it somewhere). So I will be "mostly vegan" and move on.

 

I give all vegans who cruise a lot of credit. There are days with not a lot to do but lie around and eat. I became a vegan for compassionate reasons. I still cook meat at home 4 nights out of 7 because I have some students living here and one child still at home and they all expect meat. My husband is a vegetarian who is happy being vegan most of the time but will also like a good Mac and cheese.

 

People who have left some drive by snarky comments on here are not helping, but they have their own agendas in life and "helping" is not on the agenda.

 

Definitely accepting ideas on what I can do about the coffee creamer issue! No corn syrup. Can't stand sweetened coffee. Thanks in advance-

 

I have found a Silk Almond milk hazelnut flavored creamer that is delicious!!!

[Seago2]

Been vegan 8.5 years and have cruised many times on RCCL with great success after going vegan and have heard Carnival is even better! Also excited to be going back on Carnival, had fun on them in the past! Now next month we'll be sure to find good options as we are on the Fundraising cruise for Esther the Wonder Pig so we're super excited that it will be easier than usual :) We have 3 vegans, 1 vegetarian and 1 meat eater in the family but only the vegans/vegetarian are going next month (meat-eater has to be back at college).

 

Love these tips!

 

 

 

I wanted to go on that Esther cruise! Timing didn't work out. Have fun. The book is hilarious.

 

 

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[SadieN]

 

I disargree. Everytime I call the special needs department about my dietary requests they always tell me to speak to the dining room once on board

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have found a Silk Almond milk hazelnut flavored creamer that is delicious!!!

 

 

Yep,

Carnival can accommodate a variety of special diets without advanced warning because they do not need special foods, just special preparation.

https://www.carnival.com/about-carnival/special-needs/dietary-needs.aspx

 

***

How do peanut/treenut allergic vegans get enough protein?

Many of the Vegan recipes I see include nut/nut butters.

[happy trailer]

How do peanut/treenut allergic vegans get enough protein?

Many of the Vegan recipes I see include nut/nut butters.

 

Beans, hummus, lentils, tofu, seitan and mushrooms are the most common. You could even try using one of them as a substitute for the nuts in a recipe.

[happy trailer]

Thank you for this topic - I am vegan as well and have been doing a ton of research on this topic. This post has been very helpful!

 

I'm enjoying this thread because it's the first thread I've seen with so many vegan cruisers! Most threads asking about cruising vegan only get a few responses from vegans.

[happy trailer]

I want to cut more dairy but I am working on it...I'm Italian and love all things with cheese :o But that's a work in progress.

 

I had a wonderfully easy time finding vegan food on a visit to Rome- in every restaurant I went to, the waiters were very familiar with the vegan diet, and were happy to make suggestions from the menu and also offered off-menu selections. Yummy vegan gelato was everywhere, too. What a terrific surprise! Later I found out that many Italians are lactose-intolerant so restaurants and even local pizzarias are used to diners requesting no cheese on their entrees!

 

I realize it won't taste the same, especially at first, but there are a lot of great vegan cheeses around- maybe experiment a bit, starting with half regular and half vegan cheese in a recipe, and see if you can get used to the taste?

Edited February 10, 2017 by happy trailer