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Eating Kosher on NCL


ostro20

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We'll be on Dec 26, 2008 sailing of Jewel with our entire family (18) and plan on kosher food. Anyone else on this cruise doing the same? Any comments on Kosher food service on this ship/line? Anxious to hear of your experiences.

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We'll be on Dec 26, 2008 sailing of Jewel with our entire family (18) and plan on kosher food. Anyone else on this cruise doing the same? Any comments on Kosher food service on this ship/line? Anxious to hear of your experiences.

 

this has come up before, all I can say is, make sure you contact the ship prior to sailing.

 

I think all you have to do is contact the eventscoordinator on the Jewel.

 

Nita

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:D:D:DI am going on #7 for NCL and they do it best, and I have been on many other ships as well. You need to book your meals with your ta or NCL or however you booked when you reserve your cabin. There used to be someone who took care of each ship, but I am sailing 1/18/09 on the jewel and I was told it wasn't taken care of as before. How long is your trip, as they have services on friday nightsled by passengers. I also made sure my ta let NCL know tha I needed to start with lunch and the first thing you do is let the head waiter or maitre"d know that you have the kosher meals (weberman) and you will prebook the next days meals!!!

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:D:D:DI am going on #7 for NCL and they do it best, and I have been on many other ships as well. You need to book your meals with your ta or NCL or however you booked when you reserve your cabin. There used to be someone who took care of each ship, but I am sailing 1/18/09 on the jewel and I was told it wasn't taken care of as before. How long is your trip, as they have services on friday nightsled by passengers. I also made sure my ta let NCL know tha I needed to start with lunch and the first thing you do is let the head waiter or maitre"d know that you have the kosher meals (weberman) and you will prebook the next days meals!!!

 

Wow...great advice and tricks:)

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We'll be on Dec 26, 2008 sailing of Jewel with our entire family (18) and plan on kosher food. Anyone else on this cruise doing the same? Any comments on Kosher food service on this ship/line? Anxious to hear of your experiences.

Our first cruise ever was on the Jewel for a 7 day Caribbean cruise in January 2007. We also eat only kosher. First of all, you must let NCL know that you need kosher for everyone. Call them directly to verify that they have you down for kosher. We were fortunate to hook up with the Maitre"d on the Jewel whose name is Manuel Silva, more commonly known as "Mano" by his fellow crew. He is a short, slim Indian fellow who knows everything about kosher, whether its the packaged Webernan meals or if you will be eating the fish wrapped in foil. I'm not saying you have to do this, but we gave him a nice tip on day 1, and, to show our appreciation for all that he did for us on the ship, we gave him another tip on the last day of the cruise. He authentically appreciated it and kept on saying it wasn't necessary, but, trust me, it made a BIG difference. I am not sure he is still on the Jewel, but last I heard, he was. You will find him in one of the 2 main dining rooms.

We were on the Pearl last year, and they had a huge number of orthodox Jews on board (yeshiva winter break) so they had a special kosher menu with a choice of 5-6 entrees. It was nice and they made you feel like a regular passenger as much as they could. Breakfast, lunch and buffets you could usually find enough to eat between the fruit, cereals, cheeses, yogurts, etc. By the way, the ice cream on board was kosher both on the Jewel and on the Pearl.

Hope this was helpful. Have a great cruise and let me know how it turns out.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 year later...

How to cruise and still keep strictly kosher.

2 Caveats:

I am not a Rabbi, and this is not to be used as the halachic (Jewish religious legal) basis for anything. Everything written here is based on my experience cruising Alaska with on Holland America’s Oosterdam (an amazing experience!) and will probably apply to other cruise lines as well.

We are very strictly kosher, and had no problem with food. Lunch and dinner meals were provided by Weberman caterers are were excellent. The soup and the main course is double wrapped and served hot, desert is cake. We especially enjoyed the veal roulade and the BBQ beef – those two can compete with any restaurant, even after being reheated in a microwave. With a choice of 5 soups and 10 main dishes (each with a main dish and two sides) and seven desserts, supplemented with a box of matza, jar of borscht, jar of gefilte fish and whole uncut vegetables and fresh fruits and berries for an additional dessert, we ate like kings. Some of the sides, such as pasta, did suffer from being microwaved.

Breakfast was not available as pre-packaged, but the Lido buffet had coffee, fresh squeezed orange juice, and kosher boxed cereals. The juice machine took whole, uncut oranges; we asked the buffet server to fill our paper cups directly from the machine, and not from the pitcher (which could have been washed together with non-kosher dishes.)

The first evening there, we had some difficulty explaining to the maitre d that the food must be double wrapped not only when being put into the oven, but must be brought to us double wrapped.

We made it clear to the maitre d, who was very accommodating, that we need:

disposable dishes

disposable cutlery

disposable cups

prepackaged food only, and hot food needs to be double wrapped

whole uncut fresh fruits and vegetables.

I brought along a bottle of wine for shabbos, knife for peeling and cutting, foam cups for coffee and juice, disposable soup bowls for cereal and milk. As we use only Cholov Yisroel, we brought frozen milk with us. It stayed fresh in our room refrigerator. The room refrigerator was full of cash bar items when we came; our steward promptly removed everything.

If disposable dishes, microwaved food, and preparing your own salads is not for you and you want complete luxury and really gourmet food, you may be better off with one of the many kosher cruises offered by Kosherica.com or SLkosher.com.

There are several other issues for observant Jews to be aware of.

Sabbath observance:

The ship has 11 floors. Be prepared to walk stairs.

We ate our shabbos meals in our room, and arranged before shabbos that these meals not be heated.

All cabin door locks are electronic. We did not carry the key, and had the room steward open the door for us as needed. The room stewards were all aware of these Sabbath rules and were very accommodating.

Tznius:

Check the floor plan, and plan your elevator use accordingly. The Lido, buffet restaurant was adjacent to the pool area, and if you want to avoid the sights there, avoid the aft (back) elevators.

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  • 2 months later...

NCL did a super job handling our kosher food on the Dawn. Anil, the maitre d' in the Venetian, was very experienced in dealing with kosher food and his staff was prompt and efficient in bringing it to us correctly heated and with plastic tableware. They had a wide variety of Weberman's frozen items (including breakfast - my kids loved the blintzes).

 

Depending on your level of observance, they can also accomodate you with double wrapped fish, baked potato and steamed vegetables. Anil was knowledgeable as to which non-Webermans items had a hechsher (e.g. ice cream, baked goods, juices etc.) so feel free to discuss with him.

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  • 3 months later...
Hello,

 

Does anyone know if Norwegian Cruise Lines always sail on shabbat and if this is a halachic problem?

 

If the intinerary calls for Saturday sailing, then they obviously do.

 

As to the Halachic issues, I will try to address them. There are two Rabbinic theories on the subject. You can sail on Shabbat as witnessed by everyone who ever sailed the Atlantic before the advent of airplanes.

 

The discussion pertains to when you must board. The mainstream thought is that you have to be on the ship by Wednesday. The theory was that as the ships are unstable in the water and passengers can get seasick, then if you board by Wednesday you will get over any seasickness before Shabbat and there will be no infringement on "Oneg Shabbat", the joy of Shabbat.

 

Over the past few years some Rabbis have stated that as modern ships are equipped with stabilizers and the occurances of seasickess has dropped , then if you feel that this would not be an issue, then you can board even on Friday.

 

There are of course may other issues concerning sailing on Shabbat. Firstly the use of electronic locks on cabin doors. Most lines are acquainted with the issue and the cabin steward will open the door for you.

 

Next comes food preparation and reheating, including the Kosher prepackaged meals. With a little foresight and discussion with the dining room staff as to your requirements you can get around that also.

 

Many Kosher travellers have enjoyed their trip on NCL and other lines and there is no reason why you should not be one of them.

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I'd love to hear experiences from people who have been on these specific kosher cruises, and especially how they would do this on NCL, with the whole NCL experience geared towards the specialty restaurants and not the MDR.

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

 

not being Jewish I can not address some of the issues, but I do know NCL as well as most cruise lines do a great job with porviding Kosher foods as long as they are made aware of the need prior to cruising, just like they do with any special diets. This is a wonderful improvement over about 10 years ago when almost no lines provided much if any Kowher foods.

 

Nita

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Thanks Nita for your response, but I was referring to special Kosher charters that are done (either full ship or partial ship) very frequently during the year on several lines.

 

The organizations that charter the ships bring in their own cooks, rabbis, waiters, supervisory staff, and even entertainment.

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

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Thanks Nita for your response, but I was referring to special Kosher charters that are done (either full ship or partial ship) very frequently during the year on several lines.

 

The organizations that charter the ships bring in their own cooks, rabbis, waiters, supervisory staff, and even entertainment.

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

 

ok, so what you want is to hear from others who have done the chartered cruises? I am sure they are successful. If not we would know it by now. Let's see what kind of a response you get. I wasn't aware NCL or any other line did such cruises"frequently" through out the year.

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ok, so what you want is to hear from others who have done the chartered cruises? I am sure they are successful. If not we would know it by now. Let's see what kind of a response you get. I wasn't aware NCL or any other line did such cruises"frequently" through out the year.

 

The chartered cruises are run by companies such as Kosherica and Suite Life Kosher. They usually have a private dining room or section of the MDR.

 

As mentioned they bring their own supervising chefs, Rabbinical supervisors, other personnel, sometimes entertainers and of course a tremendous amount of Kosher meats and foodstuffs. They board the ship early in the morning of the sailing and prepare or "Kosherize" a part of the kitchen so that they can cook fresh meals during the cruise

 

All this adds considerably to the cost of the cruise and it can sometimes be 100-150% above the regular fare. That is why many travellers prefer to eat the prepackaged Kosher meals which are provided by the cruise lines at no additional cost just like any other special needs diet.

 

Many cruise lines including Celebrity, RCCL, and NCL have done this in the past. In fact the NCL Pearl has 2 cruises this summer to Alaska with Kosherica groups. It is not marketed on the NCL website but only by the organizers.

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Can I do Kosher simply because I like to eat some of the ethnic foods and still hit the buffets for other foods.

 

Yes you can, but you have to preorder your meals from the Special needs department a few weeks before the cruise.

 

Anyone who orders Kosher can partake of any other food they like on the ship. In fact many of the pre prepared foods on the buffet like cereals, bagels, hard ice cream and possibly yogurts and jams may be Kosher certified. And of course there is always fresh fruits and vegetables

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The chartered cruises are run by companies such as Kosherica and Suite Life Kosher. They usually have a private dining room or section of the MDR.

 

As mentioned they bring their own supervising chefs, Rabbinical supervisors, other personnel, sometimes entertainers and of course a tremendous amount of Kosher meats and foodstuffs. They board the ship early in the morning of the sailing and prepare or "Kosherize" a part of the kitchen so that they can cook fresh meals during the cruise

 

All this adds considerably to the cost of the cruise and it can sometimes be 100-150% above the regular fare. That is why many travellers prefer to eat the prepackaged Kosher meals which are provided by the cruise lines at no additional cost just like any other special needs diet.

 

Many cruise lines including Celebrity, RCCL, and NCL have done this in the past. In fact the NCL Pearl has 2 cruises this summer to Alaska with Kosherica groups. It is not marketed on the NCL website but only by the organizers.

ok, that makes sense, I just thought the responder made it sound like it is an everyday occuranace and with my esperience I would have to say, this isn't the case. As for entire cruises being chartered for this, I think that is done rarely and if there is a rabbi, and special chefs aboard, i am a little confused about asking how the food is handled when NCL caters to specialty dining rooms. If there are special chefs aboard wouldn't they be able to handle this. I guess I am just confused. again, thanks for the information you provided.

 

Nita

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I have found this discussion very enlightening.

When we were on the Sun last August there was a very large Israeli group on board and I was fascinated watching them in the dining room.

In spite of freestyle we often time ate in the same area of a dining room about the same time as several of the Jewish families.

 

There meals were brought to them in what appeared to be foil pounches (I was trying to watch but not stare) and they brought several vegetables (seemed like it was usually salad ingredients) and the gentleman at the table unwrapped special utensils and his wife cut the vegetables.

 

The staff appeared as though they were quite comfortable and knowledgeable about the needs of their Kosher passengers.

 

Thank you for sharing the information and if some one feels so inclined, I would like to better understand the tradition for having your vegetables whole.

 

Thanks - and enjoy your cruise, I'm sure they will do their best if they know ahead of time.

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ok, that makes sense, I just thought the responder made it sound like it is an everyday occuranace and with my esperience I would have to say, this isn't the case. As for entire cruises being chartered for this, I think that is done rarely and if there is a rabbi, and special chefs aboard, i am a little confused about asking how the food is handled when NCL caters to specialty dining rooms. If there are special chefs aboard wouldn't they be able to handle this. I guess I am just confused. again, thanks for the information you provided.

 

Nita

 

Usually when there is a chartered organized group aboard with all their attending personnel as described above, they will all eat together either in a seperate room or in part of the MDR. The menu is basically special and fixed for the group. The "Kosher chefs" (one or two) will assist the regular NCL staff in preparing the enormous amount of food that is consumed, making sure that Kosher rules are followed.

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There meals were brought to them in what appeared to be foil pounches (I was trying to watch but not stare) and they brought several vegetables (seemed like it was usually salad ingredients) and the gentleman at the table unwrapped special utensils and his wife cut the vegetables.

 

The staff appeared as though they were quite comfortable and knowledgeable about the needs of their Kosher passengers.

 

Thank you for sharing the information and if some one feels so inclined, I would like to better understand the tradition for having your vegetables whole.

 

Thanks - and enjoy your cruise, I'm sure they will do their best if they know ahead of time.

 

 

Kosher laws are very extensive and include not only the ingredients (no pork, shellfish, kosher slaughtered meats and poultry etc) but also the way it is prepared (meat and dairy separate), the utensils, pots and pans, dishes and cutlery, cooking procedures etc.

 

The idea behind the whole vegetable is that if it is cut in the kitchen then there is a distinct possibilty that the knife that was used was also used to cut unkosher ingredients thus rendering the knife unkosher and any item that was cut by it. This also holds true for the cutting boards, work surfaces etc. and even the fact that it might have been washed together with unkosher utensils would make the knife unkosher.

 

Therefore to solve the problem the vegetables, fruits etc are served whole and are cut by the traveller with his own utensils which he knows is kosher. The Kosher Traveller is very well versed in this type of DIY operation.

 

This is only a very very basic overview of some of the problems of Kosher food preparation. It is much more complicated then what is generally thought of (i.e. no pork or shell fish) but that is out of the scope of this discussion. If you like you could look up "Kosher" on wikipedia to get a good explanation.

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  • 3 weeks later...

My wife and I sailed on the NCL Sky 12/6/10. We preordered our Kosher meals. we were surprised by the variety that was offered. Upon boarding we went to the Crossings DR. The MDR Head waiter, Richard Bul showed us a framed menu with choices of 4 appetizers, 4 soups, 8 or 9 entrées and 4 deserts. We would select the Weberman meals a day in advance. Additionally wrapped fish and a sealed whole glatt kosher chicken, double wrapped in foil was available. He gave us plenty of disposable cutlery, cups and plates. He fussed over us like we were royalty. We will definitely sail NCL again. These meals were available for lunch and supper. he even arranged for kosher meals to be delivered to the private island for lunch.

We did not bother with the breakfast meals, but they were available.:)

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