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Recent vegan/vegetarian cruisers on HAL

soccermom4

By soccermom4,
in Holland America Line

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soccermom4

soccermom4

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My husband and I eat vegan at home - but flex a bit to include some vegetarian items when traveling.  We will be on the Oosterdam for the 32 day cruise from Buenos Aires to FLL in March.  We recently cruised on RCCL - which had a separate vegan menu with rotating items - but it restarted after 7 days.  The sample menu I've seen from HAL had a set selection of items that were vegan and vegetarian (?).  With RCCL it was difficult to identify vegan options in the buffet, so we ate dinner only in the MDR.  I'm thinking that with 32 days, we'll want to mix it up.  I'd appreciate any recent input from vegan/vegetarian cruisers (especially on Vista class ships) about their dining tips.

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0106 "Live from...." Rare

0106

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I’m not a vegan but primarily eat vegetarian.  On the Oosterdam in November, I ate in the Lido for breakfast and lunch.   I was able to find things I really enjoyed in in the Distant Lands section.  I made some unique breakfasts using the Asian choices.  Really liked the miso soup and congee, I would add things like tofu and spinach.  For lunch in addition to the Distant Lands choices, there is also an excellent salad bar and pasta bar.  
 

The Dive In has a portabella mushroom and a Beyond Meat burger.  

 

Don’t be afraid to ask for vegetarian items  off the regular menu in the MDR

at dinner.  If I saw a vegetable or side that I liked on the menu, I ask for a double portion without the meat.  Sometimes I ask for the sides from two different entrees.  I think it helped that we had fixed seating.  On the first night, I told the waiter I did not want any meat.  He often suggested things that could be easily modified.  The service was extraordinary,  he went out of his way to make sure I was well fed.

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YourWorldWithBill

YourWorldWithBill

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6 hours ago, soccermom4 said:

My husband and I eat vegan at home - but flex a bit to include some vegetarian items when traveling.  We will be on the Oosterdam for the 32 day cruise from Buenos Aires to FLL in March.  We recently cruised on RCCL - which had a separate vegan menu with rotating items - but it restarted after 7 days.  The sample menu I've seen from HAL had a set selection of items that were vegan and vegetarian (?).  With RCCL it was difficult to identify vegan options in the buffet, so we ate dinner only in the MDR.  I'm thinking that with 32 days, we'll want to mix it up.  I'd appreciate any recent input from vegan/vegetarian cruisers (especially on Vista class ships) about their dining tips.

We were on the Noordam (Vista class) for a seven day cruise in September. There was a separate one-page vegetarian menu in the MDR that did not change, but not sure if it changes for longer cruises. Some of the items were vegan. I'm about 90% vegan, but strict vegetarian. It was nice having several choices, but (at least on the Noordam) most weren't extremely exciting. 

 

The buffet was a bit disappointing for me, but I could identify some items as clearly vegan. I just wasn't too fond of anything. When choosing from the buffet I was careful to avoid anything with a lot of milk or cheese, but stuck with vegetarian rather than strict vegan. As 0106 said, in the "Dive In" you can get any of their burgers made using a Beyond Burger, so that was a nice option.

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soccermom4

soccermom4

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@YourWorldWithBillSounds like you use the same philosophy we do when traveling.  A little bit of milk/cheese/eggs in dishes is ok but not a lot - and definitely no meat.  Thanks for the info.  I'm sure we won't starve! On RCCL in the buffet at lunch we could usually find an Indian or Asian dish that was at least vegetarian.  Never tried it at dinner - so I was curious if there were good options on HAL in the buffet at dinner that were different from the MDR.  Guess we'll find out - and I know we won't starve...

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PACD_JG

PACD_JG

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I recently booked a cabin for my vegan son (don't blame me) and his girlfriend.  When I made the booking with a big box TA, I checked boxes that state they are both vegan.  So what does HAL do with that information, if they even know?

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rodndonna

rodndonna

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17 hours ago, PACD_JG said:

I recently booked a cabin for my vegan son (don't blame me) and his girlfriend.  When I made the booking with a big box TA, I checked boxes that state they are both vegan.  So what does HAL do with that information, if they even know?

 

My "guess" is that it would be flagged so that whenever they are checking in to enter the MDR, they would automatically be offered the Vegan/Vegetarian menu as defaults over the regular menu. Just a guess though.

 

We are "primarily" vegetarian, but eat seafood when cruising so we generally just use the normal menu. 

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YourWorldWithBill

YourWorldWithBill

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On 12/22/2022 at 9:36 AM, soccermom4 said:

@YourWorldWithBillSounds like you use the same philosophy we do when traveling...

Yep, I suspect that you're right. One additional note: we thought it was easier (and convenient) to use the buffet at breakfast and lunch, but after looking at the menus mentioned by @0106 and online by Roger Jett: 

https://rogerjett-photography.com/specialty-2/hal-regular-and-specialty-restaurants/lido-restaurant-and-manhattan-dining-room-mdr/

 

We will make an effort to eat at some other dining rooms for breakfast and lunch. Lots of options!

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Crew News "Live from...." Rare

Crew News

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52 minutes ago, PACD_JG said:

The link to the menus has made me curious.  I just assumed MDR stood for Main Dining Room - what's the story behind Manhattan?

Be it true or not, I heard that the Nieuw Amsterdam dining room design was to emulate a NY upscale restaurant and so Manhattan Dining Room was chosen.  Subsequent ship builds did not make that design decision.  When I mentioned the Manhattan Dining Room here on CC many years ago, I thought it might be good to have proof and that is why I took the photo of the entrance.

 

https://rogerjett-photography.com/wp-content/gallery/Nieuw-Amsterdam---MDR/IMG_1070.jpg

 

https://rogerjett-photography.com/wp-content/gallery/Nieuw-Amsterdam-On-Board/IMG_1075.jpg

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jimbob22

jimbob22

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On 12/23/2022 at 3:17 PM, Crew News said:

Link to:  Indian Vegetarian Menu

 

I will be updating as many menus that I can next week aboard the Rotterdam.

so is this menu basically available to everyone on every hal cruise? (obviously the menu may have some slightly different items on it from week to week).   Would a diner request this when arriving at the mdr? or does it need to be coordinated ahead of time?  tia,

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Crew News "Live from...." Rare

Crew News

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7 hours ago, jimbob22 said:

so is this menu basically available to everyone on every hal cruise? (obviously the menu may have some slightly different items on it from week to week).   Would a diner request this when arriving at the mdr? or does it need to be coordinated ahead of time?  tia,

You can request the menu but some items may require extended cooking so best to order the night before.  Since many crew members are from India, all of the items may be prepared for that evening service to the crew.  Just need to ask your waiter on the first day.  They will be surprised you know of the menu...an advantage of being here on CC.

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erin78

erin78

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We were on the Nieuw Statendam for a week this past spring. I'm a vegetarian (but I eat dairy) and I have an allergy. We typically ate dinner and breakfast in Club Orange.

There was a separate vegetarian menu with items I could order anytime during the week, but I had to insist a little before staff admitted it existed. (Initially I was told to just order from the main menu.) I made the mistake of giving it back the first time I had it, without taking pictures. 

 

There was also typically one vegetarian option per category on the main menu. It changed daily.

 

I ordered dinner the night before. I was allowed to see the next day's menu in case I wanted something from it, otherwise I ordered something on the vegetarian menu. After the first night, that worked well.

 

There was a vegetarian soup and a vegetarian entree in the Pinnacle Grill and I enjoyed both.The soup had dairy, not sure about the entree.

 

I didn't find the buffet to be as convenient, because it wasn't always clear to me what (if anything) would be available that I could eat before standing in line at a particular station. I did get "New York" pizza a few times, which I enjoyed, and I would guess they could probably make one without cheese.

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