Food, food everywhere, but what's Vegan?

[josprince]

Thanksgiving family cruise on the Anthem and was disappointed in the option (not options) for vegan meals both in MDR and Wndjammer. One appetizer, one main, and one dessert in MDR. The entree for Thanksgiving dinner was a stuffed bell pepper which was also offered earlier in the week. One evening in the Windjammer, after consulting with the chef, he was only able to identify two vegan items - sourdough bread and couscous casserole. It was frustrating to find that the head chef and the dining staff kept confusing vegan with gluten free. There was vegan cheese for pizza at Sorrentos, but only on gluten free crust. We cancelled reservations at Jamie's when the offering for vegans was limited to rice pasta. Pre cruise conversations with Special Needs resulted in assurance that vegans would be accomodated.

A plant based diet is not unusual, and getting wide acceptance. What's your experience on this topic? Is it peculiar to the Anthem?  

[not-enough-cruising]

Plant based dining on Royal Caribbean (all ships) is nearly non existent.  It is a handful of options recirculated all week; and the culinary staff has absolutely zero idea how to prepare them properly.

[European_CruiseGirl]

1 hour ago, josprince said:

Thanksgiving family cruise on the Anthem and was disappointed in the option (not options) for vegan meals both in MDR and Wndjammer. One appetizer, one main, and one dessert in MDR. The entree for Thanksgiving dinner was a stuffed bell pepper which was also offered earlier in the week. One evening in the Windjammer, after consulting with the chef, he was only able to identify two vegan items - sourdough bread and couscous casserole. It was frustrating to find that the head chef and the dining staff kept confusing vegan with gluten free. There was vegan cheese for pizza at Sorrentos, but only on gluten free crust. We cancelled reservations at Jamie's when the offering for vegans was limited to rice pasta. Pre cruise conversations with Special Needs resulted in assurance that vegans would be accomodated.

A plant based diet is not unusual, and getting wide acceptance. What's your experience on this topic? Is it peculiar to the Anthem?  

Yea many places do that: combine gluten free and vegan (and usually lactose free too). Trust me: it is just as frustrating for gf people to get their gf pizza made with vegan cheese and not normal cheese than it is for vegans to get their vegan pizza with gf crust 😑  But for many restaurants they want to just combine all possible dietary restrictions into one dish...

Edited December 10, 2023 by European_CruiseGirl

[shipgeeks]

My experience, as primarily a vegetarian, was that there were only vegan, but no vegetarian, options. Something vegan in all categories of all MDR dinners, but nothing with real cheese or eggs, for example.  Another case of combining.

[Tatka]

56 minutes ago, shipgeeks said:

My experience, as primarily a vegetarian, was that there were only vegan, but no vegetarian, options. Something vegan in all categories of all MDR dinners, but nothing with real cheese or eggs, for example.  Another case of combining.

Vegan dishes are already vegetarian, no? 

[Mittens101]

We got back from a cruise on the vision on the second. I’m a vegetarian with a n eggplant allergy. They did accommodate my needs in the main dining room one night when the only vegan option had eggplant. One of my frustrations is that the portions are much smaller than normal portions. It’s bad enough that they only give one option but they think because you are a vegan you don’t eat. I’ve been on two rc cruises and lost weight each time. The windjammer had a small veg section with three options sometimes with eggplant in it. Next year we are trying celebrity then the year after back to princess. I don’t mind vegan vs vegetarian but give me some food man! 

[Florida Fan]

My experience is negative too. I don't know why Royal doesn't add some bean options, Thai food, more Indian recipes...the choices are wide. Their food selections are not. Princess could teach them a thing or two.  I've been very disappointed.

[CruiseMomTX]

There is usually a vegetarian Indian dish available each night in the MDR just ask.  We went on the Carnival Dream in August and my husband ate vegetarian in the MDR and they had better & tastier options from what he remembers. 

[Jasukkie]

I've commented on every cruise survey about the size of the vegan portions. I'm not vegan but I generally eat less meat, just my preference. Some of the options are okay taste wise but they are appetizers, not full dinners. Why not a big bowl of pasta/rice with veggies and beans? Just keep it simple. 

 

I'm surprised the Windjammer wasn't better. They usually always have rice and some sort of plain steamed vegetables. Then there are the Indian options which may or may not be vegan. There is a vegan veggie burger that they will cook upon request (at least in the past). There's usually peanut butter. I know this is just scraping by. Other cruise lines do a better job. I'd recommend Virgin Voyages for an all-around better food experience, especially for vegans and vegetarians.

[lovesthebeach2]

They used to have a vegan/vegatarian menu you could request that had a few choices, but unfortunately when they changed the menus this year they took away that menu and only have the 1 choice for each course.  I’m not vegan but I don’t eat meat, and I have mentioned it on every survey after a cruise.  

[smokeybandit]

1 hour ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

They used to have a vegan/vegatarian menu you could request that had a few choices, but unfortunately when they changed the menus this year they took away that menu and only have the 1 choice for each course.  I’m not vegan but I don’t eat meat, and I have mentioned it on every survey after a cruise.  

The fact they took away the separate menu tells me that people rarely ordered off of it. That's why they took away escargot as a nightly item. For as popular as it was among those who like it, those who like it were in a minority.

 

Of course those who want or need a vegan diet are put in a bind, but it's a balance between catering to a small minority vs. having costly inventory just sitting there.

Edited December 11, 2023 by smokeybandit

[Jasukkie]

The inventory isn't costly though. Meat is very expensive. Beans and grains are cheap and shelf stable. I think if they did a better job with meals that just happened to be vegan more people would order them. Ultimately it could save the kitchen money. Maybe people could get their multiple lobsters back with the savings.

[lovesthebeach2]

9 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

The fact they took away the separate menu tells me that people rarely ordered off of it. That's why they took away escargot as a nightly item. For as popular as it was among those who like it, those who like it were in a minority.

 

Of course those who want or need a vegan diet are put in a bind, but it's a balance between catering to a small minority vs. having costly inventory just sitting there.

True, but when I would ask for the vegetarian menu, others at our table of 8 asked to look at it too, and started to order things from that menu.  
So part of the reason that there was wasted  food may have been due to the fact that people that weren’t vegetarian weren’t even aware there was another menu! so it’s too bad it wasn’t included in the main menu.

 

I think it’s harder for vegans to find things than for vegetarians who will eat cheese. I always can find things to eat off the menu

[Mittens101]

12 minutes ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

True, but when I would ask for the vegetarian menu, others at our table of 8 asked to look at it too, and started to order things from that menu.  
So part of the reason that there was wasted  food may have been due to the fact that people that weren’t vegetarian weren’t even aware there was another menu! so it’s too bad it wasn’t included in the main menu.

 

I think it’s harder for vegans to find things than for vegetarians who will eat cheese. I always can find things to eat off the menu

Aw cheese now that’s another issue. A lot of the hard cheeses are made with animal rennet. 

 

9 hours ago, Jasukkie said:

The inventory isn't costly though. Meat is very expensive. Beans and grains are cheap and shelf stable. I think if they did a better job with meals that just happened to be vegan more people would order them. Ultimately it could save the kitchen money. Maybe people could get their multiple lobsters back with the savings.

When I was on the Royal Princess a few sails ago, the buffet was stacked with incredible vegan and vegetarian options. I kept commenting to the crew how great it was. I was told that the chef had a choice what was prepared and he took great care to ensure that there was a lot of plant based recipes used. They said a lot of what is cooked is up to the chef. I can’t say that is true for all cruise lines but I tend to believe that, because even princes was hit or miss back then depending on which ship you were on. Maybe the chefs need to be educated that vegan and vegetarian options can be eaten by non vegetarians as well. 

[Tatka]

Princess is more “foodie” line, although our last cruise (New Year 2020 on Crown) was a bit disappointing in food department. My husband likes to order a steak. Even simple steak was not on daily menu. And other selections were nowhere near of what they offered in the past. 

RCI invests more in amusement.
 

[Mittens101]

5 minutes ago, Tatka said:

Princess is more “foodie” line, although our last cruise (New Year 2020 on Crown) was a bit disappointing in food department. My husband likes to order a steak. Even simple steak was not on daily menu. And other selections were nowhere near of what they offered in the past. 

RCI invests more in amusement.
 

And that’s why we’ve been in search of another cruise line. Tried Royal Caribbean again hubby was happy with the food selection me not so much. We were on sky last year and that wrote Princess’s toe tag for awhile. I’ll find something or maybe by the RC or princess will get straightened out in the kitchen. 

[Tatka]

4 minutes ago, Mittens101 said:

And that’s why we’ve been in search of another cruise line. Tried Royal Caribbean again hubby was happy with the food selection me not so much. We were on sky last year and that wrote Princess’s toe tag for awhile. I’ll find something or maybe by the RC or princess will get straightened out in the kitchen. 

We just finished our #60 cruise. 31 out of which was with other 7 lines. We cruised with 8 up to 2021 when we switched completely to Royal. We know that there are at least 3-4 lines out of our list which offer better food. Princess was our #1 together with Celebrity at some point. They had huge seafood buffets … and overall food was much better.

RCI just works better for us now. Especially as we now cruise 3 times a year during colder season out of Northeast.