Vegan/Vegetarian meals?

[LaurieHoffman]

My sister is going on her first Carnival cruise in 3 weeks. They just booked it. I have been on 10 myself and eat 'normal' foods so I can't help her with her questions. She called carnival on the phone - not email - to request vegan meals in the dining room. They told her they don't have any....:mad: I don't think this is correct... Any insight or who do I have her contact? Maybe special needs? They do have vegan meals correct? I remember in the past they did and they looked very good..

[Florissouri]

When it comes to a variety of hot vegetables either on the buffet or in the MDR Carnival is horrible. If she likes cold salads she'll be OK, but whoever writes the menus at Carnival must hate vegetables.

[HawkIVette]

Though I would never be caught dead without eating some kind of high protein (as in big hunk of meat) meal, I seem to remember there being some vegetarian dishes on the MDR menu. Maybe not every night, but some were listed. She could always try salads, pasta, and desserts. There was always a choice every night of something without meat, fish or poultry.

[kristy29]

If she is going on a boat with the old menu, there will be an indian vegetarian meal every night. It is very good, although I'm not sure if it qualifies as vegan. It is always listed the same, as indian vegetarian, but it's different every night.

[larronry]

They always have at least 1 vegetarian dish every night but not all are vegan (they may have cheese). I believe the Indian dishes might be vegan as I cannot recall there being any cheese or egg in them.

 

As for the new menu I did see a vegetarian dish on some if not all but they seem to more frequently contain cheese or some I would have to ask i.e. stuffed mushrooms.

 

If I were on the ship with the new menu and I couldn't order any meal food (a side a vegi's is not a meal) I would have no issue going up to the buffet and putting together something and bringing it down. There may be side dishes from several dishes but they won't/can't bring out just the sides (or they order the whole meals and don't let you see that they just replated the stuff you wanted) and she of course won't eat it.

[LaurieHoffman]

wow - thank you.

When I sailed many years ago on Carnival there was a lady at our table who had requested vegan meals. She never knew what she was going to be brought to eat but every meal looked delicious...

 

My sister is going on the Inspiration - only a 3 night cruise but I would think they would have something to accommodate special requests.. Many of the indian dishes are vegetarian and many are not. I will hope for the best...

[joeyancho]

Speak to the maitre de (sp?) when you first get on the ship. I am sure they will work something out. Alot of people eat vegan nowadays. The buffet is always an option. Also check the kiddie menu, I think they have spaghetti marinara.

Edited December 22, 2013 by joeyancho

[Sammycupcaker]

Good Luck! I hope she is able to find something. As a vegetarian, I've never had issues but think I with the new menu I will have more issues since I don't eat mushrooms.

[Colorado Kat]

I hope she is not going on a ship with the new menus. As a vegetarian, (not vegan) I see very little available for me.

 

For the current menus, she will have some choices. There will be a salad nightly, though some have meat in them, or cheese. The Indian Vegetarian meals are vegan, as I recall, but that will go away with the new menus. The hot soups have either chicken or beef bases. She can have the fruit soups.

 

There is a nightly vegetarian choice. Sometimes it is Vegan. She will always be able to order plain pasta.

 

The dinner buffet as a choice for vegetarian/vegan is terrible. Even most of the side dishes are cooked in chicken stock.

 

For dinner in the dining room I often order a salad, fruit soup, and another appetizer, skipping the entree.

[SadieN]

Even the new menus have vegetarian option in every category. Almost all have dairy in them.

 

Vegan is a bit difficult but can be done.

 

The Indian Dinner in the MDR is vegetarian, some of the meals are dairy. The ships with the Tandoor have meat and vegetarian options. The tandoor is open for lunch.

Edited December 22, 2013 by SadieN

[RuthlessBoss]

I hope she is not going on a ship with the new menus. As a vegetarian, (not vegan) I see very little available for me.

 

For the current menus, she will have some choices. There will be a salad nightly, though some have meat in them, or cheese. The Indian Vegetarian meals are vegan, as I recall, but that will go away with the new menus. The hot soups have either chicken or beef bases. She can have the fruit soups.

 

There is a nightly vegetarian choice. Sometimes it is Vegan. She will always be able to order plain pasta.

 

The dinner buffet as a choice for vegetarian/vegan is terrible. Even most of the side dishes are cooked in chicken stock.

 

For dinner in the dining room I often order a salad, fruit soup, and another appetizer, skipping the entree.

 

OP stated 3 nighter on Inspiration.

[iron9er]

Speak to the maitre de (sp?) when you first get on the ship. I am sure they will work something out. Alot of people eat vegan nowadays. The buffet is always an option. Also check the kiddie menu, I think they have spaghetti marinara.

 

I second this. My wife is basically vegan as she rarely eats dishes with cheese, but when we went on Carnival Fascination a couple years ago, we told them the very first day in the MDR, and they did a great job taking care of her. They looked for her when she first entered the dining room and were very friendly about it. Of course, as it is a very limited diet anyways, you can't be too picky about what they offer to provide, but overall my wife was happy.

[Boof80]

My sister is going on her first Carnival cruise in 3 weeks. They just booked it. I have been on 10 myself and eat 'normal' foods so I can't help her with her questions. She called carnival on the phone - not email - to request vegan meals in the dining room. They told her they don't have any....:mad: I don't think this is correct... Any insight or who do I have her contact? Maybe special needs? They do have vegan meals correct? I remember in the past they did and they looked very good..

 

Warn your sister to be wary of the soups. Most, even vegetable ones, are made with an animal stock (usually chicken). This is what guests services at carnival advised my wife.

Also a lot of the salad have animal products in them (anchovies, ham/bacon and the dressings). So advise her to be careful.

[LaurieHoffman]

thank you again.. I am worried about her liking the food but she will have to decide that.. I know she will eat cheese but no meat products.. She has done it all vegetarian, vegan, raw etc.. :) I am sure she will find enough food to eat and it will be interesting what she thinks of the food..

[irishnyc]

If she eats cheese, then she's not vegan. ;)

[OCruisers]

Most vegetarians seem to find it fairly easy to order from the regular menu. Much harder for vegans.

 

LuLu

~~~~

[Cmildenb]

I am going on the Breeze in a few weeks. I emailed the special needs dept and requested vegan meals. They replied that they could do this. I will check in with the MDR the first night to ensure they got my info. Good luck!

[Colorado Kat]

thank you again.. I am worried about her liking the food but she will have to decide that.. I know she will eat cheese but no meat products.. She has done it all vegetarian, vegan, raw etc.. :) I am sure she will find enough food to eat and it will be interesting what she thinks of the food..

 

If she eats cheese she will have a much easier time of it. On the dessert menu, they have a cheese plate. I often get that as part of my dinner, so I have protein.

[blubonnet]

My hubby has been a vegan for almost five years. It can be hard to find a truly vegan meal as most people don't understand butter, sugar, and honey are an issue. We've had success with telling our waiters he's lactose intolerant, and vegetarian. This seems to work fairly well. And we've learned to cobble together meals of french fries, fruits, lettuce, and carrots.

 

On a RCCL ship last March we actually had amazing meals made especially for us by the staff. Our waiter understood completely which made things super-easy. We'd come into the MDR and find tofu scrambles, sweet and sour chick'n, and great Indian meals. Good Luck!

[HawkIVette]

....... as most people don't understand butter, sugar, and honey are an issue.

 

Sorry and I don't mean to start something off topic, but why sugar not part of a Vegan diet?

[blubonnet]

Many Vegans are very strict about "refined" sugar. Part of the refining process is sifting the sugar through charred animal bones. Some believe (my Hubby among them) that the sugar contacts the bones and essentially has been contaminated. It is possible to find Vegan sugar- but I would doubt it would be popular and cost-effective enough to be used widely by the cruise lines. :D

[skittl1321]

And we've learned to cobble together meals of french fries

 

Can they ensure they have not fried in the same oil as an animal product? If he's worried about sugar, I would think this would be a big concern as well.

 

 

 

 

To the OP: when we talked with Carnival's special needs department they said they can guarantee vegetarian meals, but they do not guarantee vegan meals. So "cobble together" may be the best a vegan can do. But i'd guess many vegans are pretty used to that when eating out with non-vegans.

[happy trailer]

I've been cruising vegan successfully for several years, and I love the way Carnival takes care of me! Among several Carnival cruises, I was on last year's 16 day Breeze Trans Atlantic, and I was incredibly well fed :)

 

I've posted this previously on Cruise Critic, and hope it helps!:

 

 

I've had great success as a vegan on Celebrity, Royal, and Carnival.

 

Here's what you need to do, in order to be very well fed on any cruise line:

 

- Before your cruise, contact your cruise line's special needs department, and let them know you are a vegetarian (or vegan). Most lines ask that you notify them 30-60 days in advance, but I've given less notice for a last-minute booking. If you used a travel agent, then they can make this contact for you. (I've only just run into being told (by Royal) that they no longer have a designation for 'vegan', but even though I'll be doing 23 days b2b I'm not worried because I know the dining staff want to make sure everyone is happy).

 

- On the day of embarkation, meet with the maitre d'. He or she should have your name on a special list, and will let you know how they will be taking care of you. On Celebrity, I was told that they had already selected the first night's meal for me, and that I would be brought a vegetarian menu to order the next night's dinner for each subsequent night; on Carnival I was brought the regular menu for the next night and the asst maitre d reviewed it with me, letting me know which items could be prepared vegan; Royal kind of winged it- the maitre d asked me what kind of food I liked, and they prepared a special dinner each night based on my preferences. (I like Carnival's method best, because I ate similar food to my table mate's each night, and I felt I had a nice set of choices for each course. Carnival also offered to show me lunch menus in case I wanted to have lunch in the dining room.)

 

- Anytime you eat at the buffets- for any meal- identify yourself as a vegan to either the maitre d on duty or to any of the station chefs, and ask what you can eat. On every line, I found the chefs practically tripping over themselves to make me something special! Between that and the salad bar (where there is usually at least one bean dish) and fruit selections (where you can also find nuts), I had more than plenty to eat. I was on the Carnival Breeze Trans Atlantic in November, and found the chefs at almost all the stations vegan knowledgeable and friendly, and they usually took out clean cutting boards and knives before I had a chance to ask them to. (Note that at the Mongolian grill, you should ask them to sauté your selection in water, as otherwise they use broth; also only the soy sauce is vegetarian.)

 

Also- don't assume that a station will have nothing that matches your diet. I had a great sandwich prepared for me at Carnival's deli: a thick giabatta stuffed with all sorts of fresh and pickled vegetables. And, of course, the pizzeria will be happy to prepare a cheeseless pizza topped with vegetables.

 

- My usual breakfast is fruit and nuts, but on a cruise I treat myself to bread and sometimes peanut butter or jelly. The chefs were happy to tell me which breads were vegan.

 

In addition to being vegan, I also prefer to avoid sugar and excess fats, and those needs have always been met. I have a standing request to start each meal with a plate of cut vegetables -I ask for tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and olives, but you could ask for any favorites (this is in addition to my appetizer), and to end it with melon and berries.

 

I've been served all sorts of great appetizers and entrees, from Greek to Chinese to Italian to Middle Eastern to Indian- and even American. I've been urged to let the chef prepare a dessert for me, but, except for an occasional baked apple, I prefer to end my meal with fresh fruit.

 

I know I sound like a cheerleader, but what I'm really trying to say is that with some pre-cruise preparation, and a bit of creativity (and ingenuity) during the cruise, you'll find that the maitre d and the chefs really want to see that you are contentedly well fed - and they are happy to make sure you are.

 

HTH!

 

Ruth