NCL Star - Vegan options

[Ampjiii]

Our family includes two vegans - anyone have experience cruising on the NCL Star and the vegan dining options? Were they accommodating? Any tips? Thanks!:D

[amygutman]

There have been prior threads on this subject - as a vegan, I can tell you some of the best vegan food I have had has been on NCL. Never been on the Star, but I am thinking that the options are similar as they have been on the Gem, Escape and Breakaway.

 

The buffet is always a great bet - especially the Indian section. The salad bar is somewhat limited, but always has amazingly fresh veggies and beans. Some of the rolls / breads are vegan (especially the sourdough rolls) as are the sorbets (coconut is to die for). My favorite dessert is berries in grand mariner - amazingly good.

 

I never had a problem at a sit-down meal getting something cooked to order - they can even make veggie broth soup for you if you let your maitre d' know prior to your meal. A go-to is always a big salad and tell them to just throw in every veggie. Vegan staples like pasta are a great go to, as are grilled veggies and baked potatoes.

 

Don't be afraid to ask for special items in advance prior to boarding through your travel agent or NCL - soy milk, coconut milk and almond mild are widely available but they will often put aside a container for you.

 

You will have a great time - and be able to stick to a healthier diet than the rest of the passengers!

 

Amy

[newcruiser1956]

Boy that was not my experience for food at all on NCL. There were vegetarian dishes swimming in oil, There was fruit that was out of season, you could not get bananas. Their veggie burger is vegan. I struggled to eat on there. Caveat, I only ate the buffets, I did look at the menus for the MDR and did not see a thing I would be willing to eat. For the record, I am a plant based vegan.

[WestfieldTraveler]

Boy that was not my experience for food at all on NCL. There were vegetarian dishes swimming in oil, There was fruit that was out of season, you could not get bananas. Their veggie burger is vegan. I struggled to eat on there. Caveat, I only ate the buffets, I did look at the menus for the MDR and did not see a thing I would be willing to eat. For the record, I am a plant based vegan.

 

Our daughter is a vegan and after traveling on several different cruise lines our learned experience is that the more staff (front of restaurants/buffet manager) you speak to on the first day will turn up a few who can help customize meals. Always confirm prior to the meal exactly what you are expecting, and don't be shy about asking them to combine available ingredients.

[wdsted]

Contact the special needs desk prior to your cruise. You won’t have to live in the buffet and they’ll take good care of you in the dining rooms and speciality dining venues.

 

 

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[PTC DAWG]

Salads are nice.

[hal2008]

Wow.

Just completed a cruise on this ship.

 

In vgeterian food category, this was the worst cruise in about 30 years of cruising with several mainstrean cruise companies and their various ships.

 

Somehow this ship thinks that if you are vegeterian, you are either into goat food (salads mainly containing leaves) or into Indian food (albeit not that good). Hence, buffet does have those options but after a few days of lunches and dinners, you may get tired of same bland buffet food.

 

I miss those old stuffy days when vegeterian/vegan was considered too exotic to be available in MDR and after going hungry first night, staff will bring up really yummy authentic vegeterian food from crew galley (not expensive steak or lobster kind but solid good authentic food that crew make for themseleves).

 

Nowadays, many mainstream cruise companies offer alternate vegeterian menu of say 5 to 9 standardized dishes that you can order from.

 

In Norwegian Star, almost every staff member outside of MDR claimed that, you should be able to pre-order something routine for the next day except that staff in MDR steadfastly refused to take pre-requests (for anything they want to make). It seems that new policy is that you can make special order for allergy or religious diet purpose by paying a fee of 3.99 USD per person but vegeterian requests are not honored. Of course, given this is cruise industry, after enough escalation, they will bend their own internal rules to try to make you happy.

 

Wish NCL make it transparent whatever their rules are so that expectations are set appropriately.

 

There is a pasta dish that is repeated every day and daily section also have a choice marked V on most nights (not all) but quality of that dish tend to be not so great.

 

Again, you may do ok if you are happy with green salad. You certainly will not go hungry but dont set expectations too high. Vegeterian options are not in same league as those on mainstream competitors.

 

Also, specifically on NCL Star, there is unusually large portion of staff (even for NCL) is from Phillipines and there is constant internal friction between philipino and non-philipino staff. You might get better treatment if you can get attention of non-philipino mid-level staff who is too eager to go out of his/her way to make you happy. That might be an easier way to get good vegan/vegeterian food.

 

Of course, better option is to avoid NCL Star if alternative is available.

[Martini Mom]

We told NCL that 3 of the 5 of us are vegan and he made a note. Hope we have some options onboard. 🙂

[chicchic325]

Just wondering if anyone has any updated 2 years later?

[valleyvillage]

I was on the Star for two weeks and never had a problem getting Vegan (or Vegetarian if I was in a cheatin' mood!) and never ate at the buffet, only specialty restaurants. At every meal they verified their information (supplied by the access desk) and asked if I had any other concerns. And the food was delicious!

[dumbth]

The buffet used to offer delightful variety for us meat avoiders, but self service is to be phased out. It won't be the same with the crew scooping the food. How can they maintain a hundred varieties, and how can you communicate that you for example want a huge dose of what is normally a little side dish or vice versa in all unconventional proportions... I predict it will be awkward and backed up with lines, but doable.