Vegan on HAL?

[happy trailer]

Any input regarding vegan (not vegetarian) food on HAL? I've searched the forums, and experience has been mixed; with most vegan cruisers not thrilled (even those who were in touch with HAL pre-cruise, and with the maitre d' on embarkation day); they often wound up subsisting solely on salads and fruit from the Lido. It's not that I'm a demanding foodie, but I'm considering booking a b2b on the Maasdam- the NE/Canada repositioning next April, with the 11 day Southern Caribbean cruise preceding it- and the thought of possibly facing 26 days of plain, cold food is making me hesitate. Fifteen days would be a stretch, but I'd manage, but 26 days....:eek:

 

[For those not quite sure what a vegan is: vegans don't eat anything that comes from an animal- no meat, fowl, or fish, and also no eggs or dairy (no honey as well). No wool, silk, or leather clothing, either. I like to explain it this way: vegetarians don't eat anything with a face, while vegans don't eat anything that comes from something with a face :)]

 

[superoma]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1460246

 

Hi Ruth, check out the above thread. One of the CCr's has posted some of the menus from the MDR and some of the specialty restauants. it will give you some idea of what is served and what you might ask for. HOpe this helps. The menus are from a particular ship but apparently are used fleet wide. Good Luck and enjoy your cruises.

[x lindsay x]

HAL has a limited vegetarian menu that will denote vegan options with a "V". If my memory serves me well there were probably 5 or 6 vegan friendly entrees on the vegetarian menu. In 26 days you would have a lot of repeats from the menu as there won't be too many options from the regular menu - particularly entree wise that are vegan friendly. Unless of course you have a terrific head waiter who wants to take care of you and pull some strings in the kitchen which isn't something you can depend on.

[happy trailer]

Thanks Eva and Lindsay!

 

I think I could manage with lots of repeats, as long as they were varied, hot, and reasonably tasty. It's certainly better than just fruit and salad!

 

I'll take a look at the menus in the link Eva shared to get a 'feel' for possible options, and then try contacting HAL before I book; hopefully I'll manage to reach someone knowledgeable (and in a supervisory position).

[TexasHorseLady]

Any input regarding vegan (not vegetarian) food on HAL? I've searched the forums, and experience has been mixed; with most vegan cruisers not thrilled (even those who were in touch with HAL pre-cruise, and with the maitre d' on embarkation day); they often wound up subsisting solely on salads and fruit from the Lido. It's not that I'm a demanding foodie, but I'm considering booking a b2b on the Maasdam- the NE/Canada repositioning next April, with the 11 day Southern Caribbean cruise preceding it- and the thought of possibly facing 26 days of plain, cold food is making me hesitate. Fifteen days would be a stretch, but I'd manage, but 26 days....:eek:

 

[For those not quite sure what a vegan is: vegans don't eat anything that comes from an animal- no meat, fowl, or fish, and also no eggs or dairy (no honey as well). No wool, silk, or leather clothing, either. I like to explain it this way: vegetarians don't eat anything with a face, while vegans don't eat anything that comes from something with a face :)]

 

 

May I ask why vegans don't wear wool, silk, or eat honey? It isn't hurting the animal...so what is the philosophy behind the decision? I am not being judgemental and I mean no disrespect, I am just genuinely curious!

[happy trailer]

May I ask why vegans don't wear wool, silk, or eat honey? It isn't hurting the animal...so what is the philosophy behind the decision? I am not being judgemental and I mean no disrespect, I am just genuinely curious!

 

I'm always happy to answer q's about veganism, so no worries :).

 

Vegans who choose to be vegans for ethical reasons (rather than just for diet or medical reasons) aren't comfortable with the use (or exploitation) of animals for any reason.

 

Personally, I am vegan firstly for environmental reasons, and mainly for health and diet reasons (I also avoid processed foods as much as possible), but I prefer not to use any animal products at all, so, although I don't avoid them altogether, I try not to wear leather, wool, or silk clothing. I've been a vegetarian for 30 years, and in the past year became vegan, but even as a vegetarian I felt uncomfortable using animal based products, and generally avoided them.

 

As to honey- I've always felt that we were 'stealing' the honey from the bees..

 

Here's the standard definition of a vegan:

 

The term vegan was coined by Donald Watson in 1944 and was defined as follows:

Veganism is a way of living which excludes all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, the animal kingdom, and includes a reverence for life. It applies to the practice of living on the products of the plant kingdom to the exclusion of flesh, fish, fowl, eggs, honey, animal milk and its derivatives, and encourages the use of alternatives for all commodities derived wholly or in part from animals.

 

A good website for info about veganism is Vegan Action:

http://www.vegan.org/about_veganism/index.html

 

HTH!

 

Ruth

[Hlitner]

Well Ruth, you have made a personal decision that does come with some consequences. HA (and the other cruise lines) operate huge "banquet food" operations and have limitations on what they can do to please each and every person on a ship that might have various dietary issues. I believe that the MDR on HA ships always has a vegetarian entree although I am not sure that would meet your tough standards. As DW just pointed out, many of the pre-made salads on ships use mayonnaise in the prep so that does not work for you either. And its not just Vegans that have difficulty on ships. The situation is no better for Kosher Jews or many Muslims who follow similar dietary rules. In the final result you just have to accept the difficult situation (sounds like you have a great attitude) or choose a different vacation or book one of the very few Vegan cruises.

 

Hank

[happy trailer]

Well Ruth, you have made a personal decision that does come with some consequences. HA (and the other cruise lines) operate huge "banquet food" operations and have limitations on what they can do to please each and every person on a ship that might have various dietary issues. I believe that the MDR on HA ships always has a vegetarian entree although I am not sure that would meet your tough standards. As DW just pointed out, many of the pre-made salads on ships use mayonnaise in the prep so that does not work for you either. And its not just Vegans that have difficulty on ships. The situation is no better for Kosher Jews or many Muslims who follow similar dietary rules. In the final result you just have to accept the difficult situation (sounds like you have a great attitude) or choose a different vacation or book one of the very few Vegan cruises.

 

Hank

 

Mmmm..... the only 'consequence' I can think of that comes with choosing to go vegan is a clear conscience, improved health and energy, and the ability to eat plenty of great food all day long without worry of gaining weight :D

 

{But enough of the soapbox! :p}

 

Not really a difficult situation- I usually only eat fruit for breakfast; I'm sure I'll find something for lunch at the Lido buffet (they do have some sort of make your own salad area, with cut up vegetables, etc, yes?), and at the very least I'm sure I'll be able to get steamed vegetables without butter for dinner, so that, along with the nuts and more that I'll make sure to bring onboard with me, and whatever fresh fruit is available, will keep me satisfied.

 

Having some sort of hot meal at dinner would be a lovely bonus (and I'm sure my table mates would be more comfortable), but I'm not cruising for the food!

 

I find traveling as a vegan is incredibly simple- I can just pop into a grocery store or farmer's market and find plenty to delight my taste buds. On a cruise, the Lido (and room service) will become my 'pop into' place- no need to even think about having to book a different sort of vacation!

 

I admit that going 26 days with limited options would be stretching it (but that wouldn't be 26 straight sea days, so there would always be some place in port to pop into for groceries), so for now I've decided to book only the 11 day Maasdam Southern Caribbean cruise; if that goes well then I can look forward to enjoying longer cruises- and TAs :)

[fann1sh]

Happy Trailer - Have used the HAL vegetarian menu. Lindsay has probably seen it more recently than I have, but I remember thinking, "Glad my vegan friend isn't here. Things would be grim."

 

One problem with the printed menus from corporate - each ship's chef takes liberties. I've posted about the Ryndam chef who substituted rosemary for every other herb on the menu. When it comes to vegan foods sometimes the substitutes can be thoughtless and ruin the vegan-ness of the dish. Not intentional - just busy, or a new sous chef, or whatever.

 

Posters who eat everything sometimes appear to think "a little meat stock/butter/egg isn't going to hurt them". In fact, if you're not used to eating these items they can cause - call it "gastrointestinal consequences".

[happy trailer]

Happy Trailer - Have used the HAL vegetarian menu. Lindsay has probably seen it more recently than I have, but I remember thinking, "Glad my vegan friend isn't here. Things would be grim."

 

One problem with the printed menus from corporate - each ship's chef takes liberties. I've posted about the Ryndam chef who substituted rosemary for every other herb on the menu. When it comes to vegan foods sometimes the substitutes can be thoughtless and ruin the vegan-ness of the dish. Not intentional - just busy, or a new sous chef, or whatever.

 

Posters who eat everything sometimes appear to think "a little meat stock/butter/egg isn't going to hurt them". In fact, if you're not used to eating these items they can cause - call it "gastrointestinal consequences".

 

Thanks, Patricia, for the heads up re non-intentional non-vegan ingredient substitutions by the kitchen!

 

Even as a vegetarian, I would never order soups listed as vegetarian in a non-vegetarian restaurant, because of the possbility of 'just a little something' added.

 

I'm going to go on the cruise prepared for the possibility that my food choices may be very, very limited. I'll pack my 'turn to' travel hunger staples- nuts, dried fruit, rice cakes, maybe some thin brown rice noodles- so that no matter what, I will not have to be concerned about having something to eat.

 

That way, I can go about totally enjoying the cruise, and if the kitchen is able to provide me with something hot and tasty, it will a nice addition to a great vacation :)