Carnival Vegan Menu Review w Pictures

[HangryGrl]

A little about us…we are Erik and Tracy, mid-40's both born and raised in Colorado.  We were vegetarian for 7 years and have been vegan for 8 years.  This was our 7th cruise and 3rd on Carnival.  We have also cruise on Royal and Celebrity.  We were on the Carnival Miracle 15 day to Hawaii and back.  After writing this I also now have way more respect for people who write these reviews!  Man it is a lot of work! 😄

 

Long Beach - Day before cruise

The 4th Horseman:  Interesting place!  Horror themed pizza place and dive bar.  We stayed at the Renaissance Long Beach near the convention center and this was in walking distance.

 

Vegan version of Rosemary's Baby.  Good!

 

Garlic knots w/marinara

Edited November 17, 2023 by HangryGrl

[HangryGrl]

Day 1:

Veggie burger (deli).  We found out a couple days later that you can request one from Guys Burgers and they fry it in the deep fryer vs whatever kind of weird reheating method the deli does.  It is much better from Guys and the fries are also significantly better than the deli.

 

Night 1:

We went to see the maitre'd during their open hours once we boarded and were able to order dinner off of the vegan menu for the first night.  We didn't take a pic of that menu though unfortunately.  We did have to order the night before each day for both dinner and breakfast in the MDR.

 

Tomato soup (app).  Fine, nothing special.

Szechwan shrimp (in the background was my entrée and was actually very good.  We liked the "shrimp" when they were cooked much better than raw (we'll get to that in a couple days).  I asked for this again later in the cruise on a night where they didn't have the vegan menu but they made me pick something from the regular menu to "veganize" instead.

 

Spaghetti (app).  Also fine, nothing special.

 

Veggie wellington.  This was pretty good.  The crust was a little weird and we were wondering if maybe it was gluten free.

 

We didn't take pictures of dessert the first night but it was lime sorbet and fruit.  Standard menu items.

[HangryGrl]

Day 2:

This is the standard vegan breakfast menu.  There is also a Sea Day Brunch vegan menu that we did not get a picture of.  It has some fancier items that we tried and I will share down the line.  They did not do the brunch menu every sea day.  I am guessing to help save the staff since the brunch goes until noon and normal breakfast only goes until 10 if I remember correctly.

 

Vegan breakfast sandwich (sourdough, vegan egg, vegan bacon, vegan cheese) and hashbrowns.  We really liked this item and would end up getting it most days for breakfast.

 

Pizza pirate fungi pizza w/vegan cheese.  This was good.  We ended up getting a communication error pizza later in the cruise that didn't have sauce and we actually liked it better.

 

Night 2:

 

Spaghetti w/meatballs (app).  Erik liked this and ended up getting several nights when they didn't have the vegan menu as an option.  They actually did not overcook the pasta which was a nice surprise.

 

Baked potato w/cheese soup (app).  This was ok, a little bland.  Didn't get any cheese flavor but I don't enjoy most vegan cheese so this was fine.  You can probably see in the pic that I added a decent amount of black pepper to it.  Also needed salt.

 

Chicken drumsticks.  These were super good!  I wish we could have had these a few nights!  The "bone" is a little piece of sugar cane.  Mashed potatoes were bland but fine.  Broccoli was broccoli.

 

Indian (Gobi Matar, daal, papadum & rice).  Good but the Indian food on cruises almost always is.

 

Halloween drink.  Can't remember the name but it was good.  Our assistant waiter, Wanwipa, seemed to thoroughly enjoy picking out cocktails for us each night! 🙂

 

Chocolate cake. Good & light

 

[HangryGrl]

Day 3:  This was a Sea Day Brunch day

Biscuits & gravy.  Not good, would not recommend.  The biscuits were very dry and no idea why they put cheese on them.  No words to describe the "gravy".

 

Eggs Benedict.  Again would not recommend.  It was also extremely dry and the vegan ham had a strange texture.

 

Veggie omelet.  This was pretty good and we would get it several more times.  The picture is of it open so you can see what is inside.  Just grilled veggies and vegan cheese.

 

Night 3: 1st elegant night.  We did have the vegan menu for this night I think??  We didn't take a picture though.

Alchemy pre-dinner

 

Martini Seduction.  This was pretty good but we both liked mine (Perfect Storm) better.

 

Perfect Storm.  This was super good!  We got it again later in the cruise, a different bartender made it and it wasn't quite as good.

 

Shrimp cocktail.  We did not enjoy the vegan shrimp "raw".  Though I will say look wise they are quite impressive!  The cocktail sauce was good.  I powered through them but didn't get them again.

 

Egg rolls.  Yes!!  Soo good!  We found them in the buffet also once or twice during lunch.

 

Fettuccine.  Erik really enjoyed this.  It was kind of a ratatouille style pasta.

 

Roasted veggie lasagna.  This was very good.  I would have gotten it again if it had been an option.

 

Peach Margarita.  Very good!

 

Crème Brule.  I will preface this by saying we are not dessert people.  We don't really eat dessert much at home so I am a pretty harsh judge on sweets.  I go with the Prue Leith philosophy that it better be worth the calories.  This was not.  We actually did not order dessert but our waiter got us something anyway. 🙂  I will go more into that in the summary.  This was incredibly sweet and the "custard" texture was weird, more like panna cotta.

[HangryGrl]

Day 4:

Different breakfast sandwich than the day before w/tomatoes & Cucumber.  Kind of strange but still good.  We never received this one again when asking for the breakfast sandwich.

Fries

 

Blue Iguana burrito.  Good, kind of like plain Chipotle which was fine.  It is nice to have the option of here, Pizza Pirate  and Guys because aside from salad there was basically nothing on lunch buffet that we could eat most days.  We got more than enough food at breakfast and dinner that it didn't really matter, lunch was more of a snack.

 

Night 4: No vegan menu for this night, we ordered of the standard the night before.

Some kind of vegetable soup.  I didn't remember what it was by the time we got to dinner.  It was good.  We both got this and salad.  We would order different appetizers but most nights our waiter would bring both of us both options.  I don't eat heavily at home so most nights Erik would end up eating all of his entrée and then finishing half of mine (he doesn't like to waste food).

 

Salad

 

Spaghetti & meatballs (again!)

 

Indian (2 portions of dal).  This was my least favorite Indian food we had on the cruise.

 

Midori sour.  Good!  Been a bit since I had one.

 

Vegan Panna cotta (lemon?).  Again too sweet and weird texture.  The only dessert I enjoyed was the first night.

[HangryGrl]

Day 5: Sea Day Brunch menu

Breakfast bowl.  Interesting…..basically a salad with scrambled vegan eggs.  No dressings or anything on the "salad".  I think because the normal breakfast bowl has an over easy egg which would then serve as the sauce or dressing for the salad.  It was fine but I did not get it again.  

 

Avocado toast w/egg.  This was good and we ended up getting this a lot of mornings also.  Specify with egg when you order the night before though or you just get avocado toast.  Loved the hashbrowns!  Though I think they ran out about halfway through the cruise and switched over to tater tots in the MDR and weird roasted potatoes in the buffet.

 

Mistake pizza!  Fungi pizza 1/2 w/vegan cheese no sauce.  We both enjoyed this mistake and ordered it again!  I liked the side with no vegan cheese.  Kind of like garlic bread with mushrooms. 🙂

 

Night 5:  We did have the vegan menu to order off of for this night.  We just didn't think to take pictures every night.

Cauliflower soup.  Ok, weird texture and kind of bland.  I ate mine and my husbands.

 

Salad

 

Mushrooms w/spinach.  We thought it was going to be more like stuffed mushrooms but was more a salad with mushrooms.  We ate a lot of mushrooms this day. 😄

 

Roasted Cauliflower w/romanesco.  This was super good!  Especially the sauce and the black bean puree!

 

Spicy pineapple martini.  Yummy!

 

Sorbet (lime)

[HangryGrl]

Day 6: Port day (Maui)

Breakfast sandwich, avocado toast, hasbrowns.  I ordered avocado toast and my husband ordered the breakfast sandwich but they gave us both everything.  I ended up scraping the avocado off my toast and putting it on my sandwich which was good.

 

Sausage

 

Mama Arepa in Maui.  This was not our favorite port lunch but it was good.  The portions were huge!  Yes, more mushrooms!  I think it was after this day we did a couple day mushroom detox. 😉

Hongo (mushroom) arepa

 

Vegan hongo sandwich (plantain "bread")

 

Yuca fries

 

Night 6: no vegan menu this night

Corn & poblano soup.  This was super good!

 

Meatballs & polenta.  Also very good!  Wish there had been a little more of the red sauce but would still recommend it.

 

Indian (eggplant & corn)

 

Peach mojito

 

Mango Panna cotta.  Still unimpressed.

 

 

[HangryGrl]

Day 7: Port day - Honolulu

Breakfast sandwich, sausage, hashbrowns

 

Blondies:

This place came highly recommended and did not disappoint!  They do close at 3pm though since they are in a residential building it is apparently some kind of rule.

Tacos w/avocado & lime crema.  Super yummy!  The avocado lime crema really added nicely!

 

Hamburger w/smoked cheddar.  This was amazing!  The smoked cheddar sauce was so good!

 

Samoa bar. Wow!!  My husband does not like coconut but even he loved this!  Really tasted like a girl scout Samoa cookie but better!

 

Night 7:

 

Salad

 

Linguini carbonara.  Ok, this was the worst meal of the trip.  We jokingly started calling it "birthday cake pasta".  It was way too sweet!  I don't think Erik finished this which is pretty unusual.

 

Chicken strips, mashed potatoes, broccoli.  This was plain but honestly really good.  The chick'n strips seemed like Gardein maybe?  I ended up asking for this another night when there wasn't a vegan menu and was able to get it.

 

Sex on the beach

 

No dessert tonight.  I think our waiter finally took us seriously that we were not dessert people!  😉 

 

[HangryGrl]

Day 8: Port Day - Kauai

Breakfast sandwich, sausage, hashbrowns

 

Guys veggie burger (fried, much better than grill), fries

Blue Iguana burrito

 

Night 8: Second Elegant Night

 

Tuna crudo.  This was decent.  There was not very much of the "tuna" but what was there was good  and the other things complimented it nicely.  This was the prettiest dish we got one the ship.

 

Moroccan lentil soup.  Good.  A little more tomato heavy than I was expecting.

 

Garlic shrimp, crab cakes, potatoes, broccoli.  The shrimp were ok, potatoes and broccoli were pretty plain but fine.  Now the crab cake….yikes! Super fishy!  It actually smelled like fish food.  We did not eat this.

 

Grilled tofu steak w/ BBQ sauce, hassleback potatoes.  This was pretty good.  The sauce on the tofu was good.  Potato was kind of weird.  Like a boiled hassleback vs roasted.

 

Blue drink.  Haha!  Neither of us can remmeber what this was. 

[HangryGrl]

Day 9: Port Day - Kona

Breakfast sandwich, sausage, hashbrowns (second verse same as the first!)

 

Journey Cafe: This place was amazing!  Everything we had was amazing and we would go back to Kona just to eat here!

 

Attached vegan ice cream store next door.  We were too full to try anything and had a snorkeling excursion so didn't want to be uncomfortable.

 

Tomato soup.  This was honestly the best tomato soup either of us have ever had, vegan or not!  I actually had a dream about this soup!

 

Foccacia.  Also completely amazing!  Perfect amount of crust to softness.

 

Rainbow falafel.  This was a "sandwich" but it was so full of goodies that there was no way you could pick it up to eat it!  We ate it with knife and fork and each bite we found a new tasty goodie!

 

Garlic knots w /ricotta.  These were great!  The sauce was listed as a ricotta but we thought it was more like a ranch kind of dig.  It is hard to see but there are some little crumbles mixed in that were very flavorful!

 

Night 9: No vegan menu for tonight

Pumpkin soup.  Pretty good.  I didn't think I would like it but was pleasantly surprised.

 

Salad

 

Indian (potato butter chicken, dal).  This was good.  I enjoyed the potato butter "chicken".  Had some spice to it more than a lot of the nights.

 

Erik got pasta with marinara again!

 

Pina colada w/Blue curacao float, lime candy straw.  Drink was good.  Candy straws are terrible and slimy.

[HangryGrl]

Day 10: Port Day - Hilo

Breakfast sandwich, sausage, hashbrowns

Added avocado toast for Erik (stopped taking breakfast pics for the same items)

 

Guys burgers veggie burger & fries.  We don't actually have a picture of the Guy's version of this but as I said at the beginning it was much better than getting it at the deli.  There is something funny about their pickles though.  Way too acidic and I love acid (not that kind!).  When mixed with the mustard it made everything very sour.

 

Night 10: no vegan menu tonight

Stuffed mushrooms.  These look pretty weird but actually tasted good!  The green sauce was a little on the bland side but a little salt and pepper improved it.

 

Poblano corn soup.  We were thinking this would be the same or similar to the corn poblano soup earlier in the cruise but this ended up being the poor cousin of that one.  This tasted heavily of poblano but was also on the bland side.

 

Chicken strips, mashed potatoes, broccoli.  Same as the other night.  It was not on the regular menu but I asked and they were able to do it this time.

 

Spaghetti w/meatballs (again! And no he is not tired of pasta yet)

 

Lemon drop Martini.  Really good!

[HangryGrl]

Day 11:

Breakfast sandwich, sausage, hashbrowns (Erik)

Spinach, mushroom, onion omelet, hashbrowns, sausage

 

Fungi pizza w/vegan cheese and accidental GF crust (gf crust not great, sweet)

Salad

 

Night 11: No vegan menu

Broccoli cheese soup.  Literally pureed broccoli.  Not amazing texture or taste wise.  Bland and chunky.

 

Spaghetti w/meatballs

 

Indian (dal & something spicy).

 

Peach margarita again!  Yum!

[HangryGrl]

Day 12:

Spinach, mushroom, onion omelet, avocado toast w/egg

 

Salads for lunch.  We brought some of our own dressings that we picked up at Safeway the night we were in Long Beach.  Follow Your Heart Ranch for hubby and Makoto Ginger dressing for me.  Overall we were happy with the variety and quality on the salad bar.

 

Night 12: no vegan menu

Soup (vegetable w/green chiles (mostly potatoes).  We didn't get a pic of this one but it was decent.

 

Fideos secos (Spaghetti w/tomato chipotle ragu).  This is still pasta but gave Erik a little variety.

 

Chile rellenos, rice, broccoli, carrots.  This was a huge gamble.  No vegan menu and I told the waiter that I did not want pasta or Indian food again.  He suggested we see if they could do something with the chile rellnos from the regular menu.  I was pretty worried I was going to get a ton of vegan cheese which I don't really like much.  It ended up being a good gamble though! This pepper was huge and filled w/mashed potatoes and some other veggies.  Sauce on the side is good, not spicy.  Only complaint on this one was the carrots were basically raw.

 

Crème Brule.  Same comment as before.

[HangryGrl]

Day 13:

Funghi Pizza

Egg rolls

 

Night 13: No vegan menu

Portuguese kale soup.  This looks like dishwater I know but it was actually really good!

 

Spinach, arugula, strawberry & feta salad.  This was pretty good.  Nice for something different salad wise.

 

Shrimp creole.  This was good but got to be a lot.  Erik did not like the vegan shrimp so we actually ended up leaving some of this one.

 

Indian (smoky eggplant and potato curry).  This was really good.   The eggplant was nice and smoky and the sauce with the potatoes was flavorful.  This was probably my favorite Indian dish.

 

Kiss on the lips.  Good!  Another candy straw though.

[HangryGrl]

Day 14: Sea Day Brunch

Huevos rancheros.  Good!  I really wish we would have tried this earlier!  This was our last sea day brunch and it wasn't an option on the regular vegan breakfast menus.

 

Spicy chickpea and quinoa hash.  This was ok.  Erik enjoyed it more than I did.  It was somehow bland and spicy at the same time.

 

Spinach, mushroom, onion omelet for me with "hashbrowns".  This is the point in the cruise where I think they ran out of the hashbrowns and switched over to tots.  As long as I get fried potatoes I don't care what form they come in!

 

Guys burgers

 

Night 14: Vegan menu!

Chicken strips /sweet chili sauce & Asian slaw.  This was good.  Nice for something different and the sauce was pretty tasty

 

West Indian Pumpkin soup.  Good!

 

Stuffed Portobello mushroom.  This was better than the smaller stuffed mushrooms.  I can't remember what was in the stuffing but everything went together well.

 

Beef lasagna.  This was really good, nice that it was different from the 1st veggie lasagna.  It had a lot of beyond beef though so if you aren't a fan then you might not enjoy this one.

 

Tequila sunrise

I didn't get a pic of this one but it was good.

[HangryGrl]

Day 15: Port Day - Ensenada

Breakfast sandwich, avocado toast

Avocado toast w/egg, hashbrowns

 

Mojk Vegan Tacos:  This place was legit!  Every thing is vegan.  The menu is all in Spanish so if you don't read/speak Spanish plan ahead or google translate the menu if you have cell service.  They also do not speak much English but pointing works.  My Spanish is rusty but I can still read pretty well.  Speaking not so much so there was a lot of pointing at the menu and using my fingers to indicate how many we wanted.  Also they brought everything out one at a time and in the order we ordered.  We didn't mind but got our chips and guac at the end when we were already pretty full.

 

Cauliflower "fish" tacos.  This was amazing!!  Best cauliflower taco we have ever had!

 

Salsa roja and Aji Amarillo (yellow one, so spicy!!!).  I hear her say what the yellow one was when she set it down but it didn't register so when I tried it I was in tears!  Aji Amarillo peppers are ~50,000 Scoville's compared to a jalapeno which is about 7,000.  As soon as I ate it my brain was like "oh she said Aji Amarillo!".  Thanks slow brain!

 

Asada taco (left) Chorizo queso taco (right).  The Asada taco was amazing!  Smoky and yummy!  Would definitely get that one and the cauliflower taco again.  The chorizo one was good too but we both preferred the other.

 

Dorados w/nopales.  The nopales were really good.  We added them to a few things.  Neither of us had ever had them but enjoyed them.  The dorados were good, extremely hot (heat not spice) and stayed that way for a bit!  The pickled onions on top really added some nice flavor.

 

Chips and Guac.  Good!

 

Night 15: Vegan menu for the last night

 

Fried tomatoes w/Remoulade. These were ok.  Kind of bland without the remoulade.  I ate mine and Erik's and he had most of my soup.

 

Minestrone.  This was ok but I wouldn't call it minestrone.  No pasta or beans.  Mostly potatoes and carrots.

 

Enchiladas.  Again these tasted better than they looked.  Erik really enjoyed them.  I am not a huge fan of vegan cheese but the sauces were good.

 

Penne w/roasted tomatoes, broccoli & cream.  This is what it was advertised as but there was no broccoli, they added the vegan shrimp instead.  I would have preferred broccoli.  Otherwise it was fine.  I probably wouldn't get it again.

 

Shots!  Scooby snack and Wanwipa's personal concoction. One had Midori and the other had blue curacao.

[HangryGrl]

Debarkation Day - Morning Nights - Long Beach

We had about 4 hours to kill before we needed to get to the airport and found the Long Beach Exchange online.  There are a ton of different restaurants and stores.  Lots of places to sit even though it was a Sunday.  They even had a little market going on with vendors set up to browse.  It ended up being perfect and really close to the airport.   They also had an Ike's Love and Sandwiches and a couple other places with vegan options.

 

Salt & Pepper Shrooms.  Really good and a huge potion!  These were super crunchy and flavorful!

 

Orange Chicken.  Also really good!  Real orange flavor vs the fake sweet one you get most places.

 

Egg Rolls.  Also very good!  A variety of different veggies in the filling including wood ear mushrooms which gave it a nice texture.

[HolySpearit]

Thanks for this! Looks very interesting! 

[pinto18]

Thanks for the pictures and reviews! Looks like there was a good variety , even with some "misses". I am hoping my two vegan sons will cruise with us so this will help

[DPTexas]

This was so helpful.  During our cruise in September, I was tip-toeing into vegetarian/vegan eating so I tried some vegan menu options and some attempts from the main menu which was encouraging.  I have always enjoyed the food on Carnival so I figured the vegan/vegetarian options would be enjoyable and they were, except the Indian options were too spicy for me.  I've since gone completely vegan so this is helpful for our cruises scheduled for 2024 & later.  I know I can eat on my plan while my family enjoys their regular options.  (I plan to bring my own salad dressing though.)  I realize the menus may change in the new year, but at least this gives me an idea of menu options.  I'll know I'll miss some foods (chocolate panna cotta) but with many vegan options I will be able to enjoy a wonderful dining experience while cruising.  

Again, very much appreciate the time you took to submit the reviews, the menus and photos.

Take care and happy cruising everyone.

[momof3cruisers]

That seems like a lot of great options. I’m not a vegan or even vegetarian but I think it’s really cool that Carnival is doing this. Do other lines offer similar vegan options?

[markwfpb]

Thanks for all the details and pics - Carnival has never been on my radar but we'll definitely consider it now. 

We've had mixed results with vegan meals on NCL and Holland America after talking to the maitre D and servers. Lots of pasta, fake beef and cobbling together salads and sides - you know the story. 

What determines when Carnival offers the vegan menu - meal time, sea days vs port days or something else?

Thanks again! 

 

[jerseygirlinAZ]

Thanks for posting!  I am a vegetarian and looking forward to trying some of these in December (if the Panorama gets fixed in time).

[soccermom4]

Thanks - big change from when we were on the Carnival Pride in Europe this summer.  Had to pre-order and have stuff veganized.  A little weird that some nights they had vegan menu and some nights they didn't (?).

[HangryGrl]

On 11/17/2023 at 7:43 PM, pinto18 said:

Thanks for the pictures and reviews! Looks like there was a good variety , even with some "misses". I am hoping my two vegan sons will cruise with us so this will help

I really hope they have enough interest to keep it around long term!