My Full Review: Sailing with Royal Caribbean as a Vegan

[JustinPlusLauren]

Hi everyone! I recently sailed aboard Symphony of the Seas as someone who follows a vegan diet. It was my first time sailing with Royal Caribbean (I've cruised with Princess, HAL, MSC and Carnival in the past) so I was excited to try the vegan and vegetarian offerings.

 

I sailed mid-December on Symphony of the Seas and they were testing out the new menus. The first main thing I noticed was that there wasn't a separate vegan menu. Instead, the vegan options were integrated into the regular menu. There were options for each course, starters, entrees and desserts.

 

We also dined at Johnny Rockets (but didn't venture into any other specialty restaurants as the options were never as good for vegans as the MDR), Windjammer, Solarium Bistro, and El Loco Fresh. 

 

I've taken SO many photos of all the food, the menus, and basically everything I ate over the course of the week. The food was all really delicious, some of the best that I've had on any cruise ship! There were a couple of misses, but overall, it was awesome. 

 

It would be wonderful if the cruise carried vegan cheese for the pizza and had some other vegan options on the specialty restaurant menus. And perhaps a few vegan desserts as grab-and-go options at the cafes. Otherwise, I was really impressed!

It's all shared over on my travel blog if you'd like to take a look! >> Royal Caribbean Vegan Guide on my travel blog.

 

[ShillyShally]

Thanks so  much - I've been vegan since 2008 and sailed many a time and have never starved.  Some cruises were awesome, some more sparse on food options but I'm looking forward to trying the new menus.  I had awesome luck on our last cruise on Indy where we got amazing veggie sushi and had them do vegan nachos at playmakers. 

 

Were the onion rings vegan?  They haven't been in the past but my husband will be thrilled if they now are!

[ShillyShally]

Adding a photo of the veggie sushi we got at Izumi more than one night 🙂  We're hoping we can do this again on upcoming cruises that have Izumi.

[ShillyShally]

And thank you for the info on Coco Cay in your blog - loved all the pics too!  

[Badatz2]

The food looks very delicious and I am glad that you enjoyed it.

Did you happen to ask the staff if the food was cooked in regular pans, fryers, oven etc, or in special vegan dedicated ones?

[firefly333]

1 hour ago, ShillyShally said:

Adding a photo of the veggie sushi we got at Izumi more than one night 🙂  We're hoping we can do this again on upcoming cruises that have Izumi.

Looks like lots of avacado.  Mmmm

[Thisguylikestocruise]

Just got off Wonder, the best vegan food was found in the Indian/Asian section of Windjammer. Specifically the cauliflower “wings” that were breaded and crispy in a light chili sauce. After the crunch of the delicious outside coating, the cauliflower melted in your mouth, and the chili sauce provided a little spice that was perfect. 
 

Veggie burgers were complimentary and available on Wonder upon request in the Windjammer.

Edited February 16, 2023 by Thisguylikestocruise

[JustinPlusLauren]

1 hour ago, Badatz2 said:

The food looks very delicious and I am glad that you enjoyed it.

Did you happen to ask the staff if the food was cooked in regular pans, fryers, oven etc, or in special vegan dedicated ones?

In the main dining room, the vegan options are marked as vegan on the menu, so I'm thinking that they are using dedicated pans and things for them. I never asked though. There weren't any issues of cross-contamination at all, as far as I could tell!

[JustinPlusLauren]

3 hours ago, ShillyShally said:

Thanks so  much - I've been vegan since 2008 and sailed many a time and have never starved.  Some cruises were awesome, some more sparse on food options but I'm looking forward to trying the new menus.  I had awesome luck on our last cruise on Indy where we got amazing veggie sushi and had them do vegan nachos at playmakers. 

 

Were the onion rings vegan?  They haven't been in the past but my husband will be thrilled if they now are!

Wow! Veggie sushi AND vegan nachos, that's awesome! Did they use vegan cheese on the nachos? I couldn't seem to get vegan cheese anywhere that I asked, but I didn't try Playmakers.

 

I actually didn't ask about the onion rings. I made a wrongful assumption that they were vegan, and now that I think about it, they might not have been. Since I can't be certain, I'll make the amendment to my article. Thank you!! Also - Vegan since 2009 here! 🙂 

[JustinPlusLauren]

3 hours ago, ShillyShally said:

Adding a photo of the veggie sushi we got at Izumi more than one night 🙂  We're hoping we can do this again on upcoming cruises that have Izumi.

This looks SO GOOD!

May I ask you a favor...could I use this photo in my blog? I would be happy to give you a shoutout/photo credit if you agree! Please let me know!

[JustinPlusLauren]

1 hour ago, Thisguylikestocruise said:

Just got off Wonder, the best vegan food was found in the Indian/Asian section of Windjammer. Specifically the cauliflower “wings” that were breaded and crispy in a light chili sauce. After the crunch of the delicious outside coating, the cauliflower melted in your mouth, and the chili sauce provided a little spice that was perfect. 
 

Veggie burgers were complimentary and available on Wonder upon request in the Windjammer.

That sounds so good! I didn't see the cauliflower wings when I was there, but it sounds amazing. I also didn't see any veggie burgers on Symphony of the Seas, but I never asked - perhaps they had some upon request as well!

[ShillyShally]

16 hours ago, JustinPlusLauren said:

Wow! Veggie sushi AND vegan nachos, that's awesome! Did they use vegan cheese on the nachos? I couldn't seem to get vegan cheese anywhere that I asked, but I didn't try Playmakers.

No, we just had the chips with quac, tomatoes, salsa, jalapenos, but they did load them up and they were really good! Yep I wish they had a vegan cheese option, mainly for the pizza but I roll with it on a cruise and enjoy the made for me veggie ones 🙂

[ShillyShally]

16 hours ago, JustinPlusLauren said:

This looks SO GOOD!

May I ask you a favor...could I use this photo in my blog? I would be happy to give you a shoutout/photo credit if you agree! Please let me know!

You are welcome to! We went back a few nights and even had my son (who we jokingly call the anti-vegan though he loves what I make and he and his friends all request my pecan pie lol) and his GF who weren't interested in going but when they saw my pics they came too and ordered the veggie sushi too and loved it!  

[JustinPlusLauren]

14 minutes ago, ShillyShally said:

You are welcome to! We went back a few nights and even had my son (who we jokingly call the anti-vegan though he loves what I make and he and his friends all request my pecan pie lol) and his GF who weren't interested in going but when they saw my pics they came too and ordered the veggie sushi too and loved it!  

Thank you so much, that's amazing!! 

 

That's so funny. After seeing that sushi, I don't know how anyone could not want to try it! 

[JustinPlusLauren]

18 minutes ago, ShillyShally said:

No, we just had the chips with quac, tomatoes, salsa, jalapenos, but they did load them up and they were really good! Yep I wish they had a vegan cheese option, mainly for the pizza but I roll with it on a cruise and enjoy the made for me veggie ones 🙂

I roll with it, too. Maybe that's because back when we both went vegan, 2008 / 2009, there weren't that many vegan cheeses out there (maybe Daiya?) and so we were used to going without any haha!

[ShillyShally]

15 minutes ago, JustinPlusLauren said:

I roll with it, too. Maybe that's because back when we both went vegan, 2008 / 2009, there weren't that many vegan cheeses out there (maybe Daiya?) and so we were used to going without any haha!

Ha, so true, it's amazing how many more products are out there now!

[WyKnott]

I'm not vegan, but my best friend is. On previous cruises, she had a selection from the separate vegan menu, now it looks like the choices are fewer. How did that affect your dinners?

Edited February 17, 2023 by WyKnott

[TwoMisfits]

I'm not a vegan, but b/c of my allergies, I tend to eat a lot of vegan foods, especially desserts.  Thanks for the pics and reviews of all the new vegan foods on the menus.  It's helped me immensely!

[JustinPlusLauren]

On 2/17/2023 at 12:34 PM, WyKnott said:

I'm not vegan, but my best friend is. On previous cruises, she had a selection from the separate vegan menu, now it looks like the choices are fewer. How did that affect your dinners?

I never sailed with the previous menu so I can't comment about that, but this didn't affect my dinners at all. I really enjoyed everything that was served. There was one instance where I was able to modify a vegetarian pasta to be vegan quite easily since I didn't want the vegan option that night. I was really happy with the vegan meals!

[JustinPlusLauren]

On 2/17/2023 at 4:21 PM, TwoMisfits said:

I'm not a vegan, but b/c of my allergies, I tend to eat a lot of vegan foods, especially desserts.  Thanks for the pics and reviews of all the new vegan foods on the menus.  It's helped me immensely!

You're welcome!! I loved all of the desserts each night. I only wish they would expand the sweet treats to other areas around the ship, like at the cafes! But, I'm grateful that they're available each evening and it's probably good that I'm only eating dessert once a day anyway 😉 haha

[WyKnott]

17 hours ago, JustinPlusLauren said:

I never sailed with the previous menu so I can't comment about that, but this didn't affect my dinners at all. I really enjoyed everything that was served. There was one instance where I was able to modify a vegetarian pasta to be vegan quite easily since I didn't want the vegan option that night. I was really happy with the vegan meals!

My friend was able to get meals she was happy with at the specialty restaurants, they were more than happy to modify the dishes for her. I used to tease her that only she would dare to eat at the steakhouse as a vegan.

[Jasukkie]

I have a friend who said the changes in the main dining room are not good for vegans. They could only choose the one vegan option and it frequently did not include side vegetables. No more asking for Indian food or a baked potato and veggies. I'm not vegan but I've tried most of the vegan options in the MDR and found many of them lacking in portion size to begin with. I would suggest Windjammer might be the better option for vegans at this point. 

[ShillyShally]

1 hour ago, Jasukkie said:

I have a friend who said the changes in the main dining room are not good for vegans. They could only choose the one vegan option and it frequently did not include side vegetables. No more asking for Indian food or a baked potato and veggies. I'm not vegan but I've tried most of the vegan options in the MDR and found many of them lacking in portion size to begin with. I would suggest Windjammer might be the better option for vegans at this point. 

Interesting, I'll be curious about this. I expect as always, it depends on ship/sailing on what additionally they are willing/able to do!

[Thisguylikestocruise]

2 minutes ago, ShillyShally said:

Interesting, I'll be curious about this. I expect as always, it depends on ship/sailing on what additionally they are willing/able to do!

I’m vegan and had a great experience on Wonder. Got the spaghetti bolognese on Italian night and minestrone soup. Food came quickly and was reasonably portioned so I didn’t leave the table hungry. 

[Jasukkie]

3 hours ago, Thisguylikestocruise said:

I’m vegan and had a great experience on Wonder. Got the spaghetti bolognese on Italian night and minestrone soup. Food came quickly and was reasonably portioned so I didn’t leave the table hungry. 

That one is definitely one of the heartier dishes. The stuffed grilled eggplant is delicious but could be supplemented with additional vegetables. The "tacos" are interesting, not what I was expecting, and not as satisfying. Again, additional steamed vegetables would be helpful. The non-vegan offerings could also use more vegetables. I think Royal does a nice job in preparing vegetables, they don't add much in cost and would fill out the plate more. 

 

That Izumi platter looks amazing! Any other experiences as a vegan in the specialty restaurants?