Box lunches

We are booked on a Regent cruise through SE Asia. My travel partner has a serious fish and seafood allergy and there is a lot of fish sauce used in the places we will be visiting. Wondering if anyone has ever ordered box lunches to be taken off the ship during days in port?

I have not heard of this being done

In some countries it is illegal to take food ashore (you would in effect be importing food products)

Many excursions are short enough that you can still eat on the ship i.e. breakfast on-board, go on a tour, back for lunch

If you are on a long excursion, lunch may be included; in which case you can explain the allergies to Regent and have them make the necessary arrangements with the venue being used; although I would also double-check with the lunch venue when you get there

I would never take a chance with a severe allergy. That being said, Regent provided box lunches in a cute cold pack on an excursion in Alaska to a glacier. It was an all day trip, very remote, and obviously no places to stop for lunch.

If a box lunch is not allowed for some reason, there are various packaged breakfast bars on the pool deck buffet in the morning. You can grab some of them to keep you going until you return to the ship.

In some places, it is illegal to take food off the ship (New Zealand, Australia, and Chile come to mind). This is because of concern about introduction of plant diseases.

I doubt there is any legal issue with taking food off the ship in SE Asian countries. And we have been places were Regent provided a boxed lunch for excursions due to the remoteness of the destination. But if they say lunch is provided in a restaurant, in this part of the world, I would not take any chances with the local food if I had any allergy issues. Too risky.

One option is to order a sandwich from room service. (Don't tell them you are planning to take it off the ship--you just had a hankering for a turkey sandwich at 7 am.) Bring your own ziplock bags for packaging. There are granola bars and fresh fruit readily available on the ship which you could also take, and make your own to-go lunch.

I was on a Pacific Rim cruise on another line earlier this year. Due to agriculture rules, no food can be taken ashore in pretty much any country. So, no box lunches. Alaska is likely different because it's U.S., and the ship likely sourced its food from the U.S.

I just would try that, taking it off ship. We also have some food allergy's that include seafood. However don't miss out on good places to eat, we've always told the waiter the problem, sometime talking to the chef and never had a problem. Just remember make sure it's a place that has a good name, even a hotel. You'll enjoy your trip much more.

In some places, it is illegal to take food off the ship (New Zealand, Australia, and Chile come to mind). This is because of concern about introduction of plant diseases.

One option is to order a sandwich from room service. (Don't tell them you are planning to take it off the ship--you just had a hankering for a turkey sandwich at 7 am.) Bring your own ziplock bags for packaging. There are granola bars and fresh fruit readily available on the ship which you could also take, and make your own to-go lunch.

It sounds like you are contradicting yourself. There is concern about introduction of plant diseases but take fresh fruit ashore.

It sounds like you are contradicting yourself. There is concern about introduction of plant diseases but take fresh fruit ashore.

You definitely can't take fresh fruit off the ship in Australia, New Zealand, and Chile, but the cruise OP is talking about is in SE Asia. I doubt Vietnam or Thailand have any restrictions. We just finished a cruise in Europe, and no restrictions there.

You could take packaged items with you that need no refrigeration. We did that on one cruise because our travelmates did not want to stop to eat in St. Petersburg and we had private tour that went all day. It was far from my preference. I usually take a few protein bars in my carry on for the times you need to have something while in transit and don't want to eat airport fast food.

We cruised this summer...British Isles and Rome-Venice, including Croatia. ALL ports forbad the bringing ashore of any agriculture products. Meats, fruits, etc were all listed.

As others have said, many ports restrict fresh foods brought ashore. They are serious and use dogs to find contraband. Because of the dogs, I do not carry any fresh foods ashore, even when allowed. Smells get infused in the nylon.