OCEANIA-REGATTA VEGAN SELECTIONS?

[vegantrippin]

Hi- I am almost certain I will be booking a Tahitian cruise for March 2020 but I want to know what to expect in terms of dining options as I am a strict vegan (no dairy, meat, animal products. I DO EAT GLUTEN). Has anyone recently cruised the Regatta? If so did you take notice of the vegan selections? Are service and kitchen staff willing to accommodate specific dietary needs? There is a very short and basic vegan menu listed on Oceania's site but only for the main dining room. I reached out to customer service three times for more specific offerings but they keep referring and reiterating the sites sample vegan menu, which isn't very exciting. Not one customer service rep has said "the chefs will accommodate you". Allegedly Oceania's slogan is "whatever you want whenever you want".  Do they live up to that?

Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

[Mura]

I'm not in your situation but many people have posted similar questions and answers.  The first question is:  do you have a TA?

 

If you do, it's simpler is all.  The general advice is to notify the ship well in advance of your needs.  This also applies to people who have food allergies or other problems, not just vegetarians and vegans.

 

From what I recall, they will provide you with menus daily so that you can see what is available to you.  They definitely are willing to accommodate your specific needs.  Try doing a search on this subject -- you should come up with lots of information.

 

If you don't have a TA, then you would simply notify the ship of your needs.

 

Good luck.

 

Mura

[Hawaiidan]

All I can say is good luck..... I agree that a travel Agent is  your best contact, as always.

However I have take that ship many times and to Tahiti... and to be frank, they will always have something. each day  from a rather restricted menu. It will be, minimal as the ship caters to foodies and those who  want a large range of foods that you wont  eat.    You can all but rule out the specialties.       Seriously, I would look at a cheaper mass market line where your not missing the dining features that are so much a part of O's experience

Thats my honest opinion Id look at another option that is not so much food focused as O.

As Regatta is a smaller ship, the ability to craft special meals for a few passengers will be very limited.   I have seen very few vegans  sail with O.

Edited June 5, 2019 by Hawaiidan

[LHT28]

I would  ask that your dietary requirements are noted on your file

they do have vegetarian  dishes on the menu daily  

for the buffet & other dining venues you may need to speak to the CHEF

I thought they had a Vegan menu but we never asked to see it  so not sure  what was on it

 

they recently announced  plant based option will that work for you

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/media/2019/OCEANIA+CRUISES+INTRODUCES+NEW+PLANT-BASED+CUISINE+-+The+Finest+Cuisine+at+Sea™+Unveils+Expansion+of+Healthy%2c+Innovative+Dishes/ 

 

[LoryAnn]

On 6/5/2019 at 11:01 AM, vegantrippin said:

Hi- I am almost certain I will be booking a Tahitian cruise for March 2020 but I want to know what to expect in terms of dining options as I am a strict vegan (no dairy, meat, animal products. I DO EAT GLUTEN). Has anyone recently cruised the Regatta? If so did you take notice of the vegan selections? Are service and kitchen staff willing to accommodate specific dietary needs? There is a very short and basic vegan menu listed on Oceania's site but only for the main dining room. I reached out to customer service three times for more specific offerings but they keep referring and reiterating the sites sample vegan menu, which isn't very exciting. Not one customer service rep has said "the chefs will accommodate you". Allegedly Oceania's slogan is "whatever you want whenever you want".  Do they live up to that?

Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

Hi, we are also plant based (vegans) and we found these two links from Oceania which indicate extensive options will be available on all their ships by the end of 2019. We just returned from another cruise line whereby we had very few options despite arranging with the cruise line (not Oceania) via our TA and followed up by myself months in advance, however the options were non existent which is why we are excited to see Oceania is forward thinking on this subject.

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/media/2017/OCEANIA+CRUISES+ROLLS+OUT+NEW+VEGAN+MENUS++The+Finest+Cuisine+at+Sea+Now+Includes+an+Expansive+Array+of+Plant-Based+Options/

 

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/oceania-experience/post/finest-cuisine-seatm/new-plant-based-menus-aboard-our-ships?fbclid=IwAR2UTMuWX5U9wBSzE7COIz-Qu3zwjRKwp8soHCsWeCLfPnBe-C-9mQYMFpU

 

[Rob the Cruiser]

On our most recent cruise aboard Marina, the hostess told us that the new vegan option must be arranged prior to sailing. This procedure is fleet-wide.

[ORV]

If you do a search you will find a post by a self styled author and "vegan expert" that went on an Oceania cruise expecting to be accommodated. They were very unhappy. 

 

They have recently had a big push toward vegan and plant based menus. 

[CruiseLibra]

There is an interesting thread on the Oceania Facebook group on this topic. There you will find up-to-date information on the current plant based offerings. We recently started cruising and chose Oceania specifically for the line's interest in catering to this community. My husband is vegan for health reasons, I am not. On our Baltic cruise on the Marina in July our TA notified management of his special diet. It worked well. He chose his menu the day before at the service desk and his meals were served in the GDR or delivered to the specialty restaurants, including Polo. He rated the meals from "just so-so" to fabulous. At the time there were no plant based offerings at the Terrace Cafe (outside of salads). But, on the Marina, the morning smoothie bar in Waves is totally plant based and excellent. And if you are traveling on a ship with Red Ginger you will have ample choices off the standard menu. No need to order in advance. In October, Oceania launched a further outreach to plant based customers and the Facebook page reports several ships offering plant based selections at the Terrace Cafe and on the standard menus. This eliminates the need to manage your menu in advance. As reccommended here, have your TA confirm the situation on your ship in advance. We appreciate Oceania's interest in catering to this growing community and it is one reason that we will probably stay with the line as opposed to upscaling to any of the luxury lines who appear to just "tolerate" plant based travelers. 

[LoryAnn]

Thank you for the responses everyone!

[veggieonboard]

On 6/5/2019 at 6:27 PM, Hawaiidan said:

As Regatta is a smaller ship, the ability to craft special meals for a few passengers will be very limited.   I have seen very few vegans  sail with O.

We sailed with O on Regatta in 2018 I am strict vegetarian and have an allergy to mushrooms and do not eat whole eggs, or things like quiche, they could not do enough for me, I was asked to choose from the main menu or veggie/vegan but they were happy to change things and even let me change my mind at last minute on more than one occasion, just let them know the speciality restaurants also catered for me very well.  Hope this policy has not changed as sailing with them again march 2021.

Edited March 2, 2020 by veggieonboard
spelling

[Issyalex]

I’m not disrespecting Vegans but my husband is diabetic and nowhere seems to cater for him. Yes Oceania has a ‘no sugar added’ dessert menu but it still has sugar, fat and carbs. There’s no sugar added but no diabetic ice cream. Diabetics are not allowed unlimited fruit so he cannot have fruit for every breakfast, lunch and dinner. All Cereals, except wheetabix and porridge, are high in sugar. Sauces/gravy etc all have sugar and fats added. The list goes on and on and on.........

 

his diet is a must not a lifestyle choice.

Edited March 5, 2020 by Issyalex

[LoryAnn]

3 minutes ago, Issyalex said:

I’m not disrespecting Vegans but my husband is diabetic and nowhere seems to cater for him. Yes Oceania has a ‘no sugar added’ dessert menu but it still has sugar, fat and carbs. There’s no sugar added but no diabetic ice cream. Diabetics are not allowed unlimited fruit so he cannot have fruit for every breakfast, lunch and dinner. All Cereals, except wheetabix and porridge, are high in sugar. Sauces/gravy etc all have sugar and fats added. The list goes on and on and on.........

 

his diet is a must not a lifestyle choice.

It can be a challenge for those with medical dietary needs ~ for me, it is a medical and lifestyle choice to be plant based (vegan).

[vegantrippin]

I've been reassured by Oceania that we will have vegan options at every meal, and a note has been made in my reservation. I'll give an update after we return. 

 

[sfvoyage]

On 2/8/2020 at 10:41 AM, ORV said:

If you do a search you will find a post by a self styled author and "vegan expert" that went on an Oceania cruise expecting to be accommodated. They were very unhappy. 

 

They have recently had a big push toward vegan and plant based menus. 

 

Almost 2 years ago, I was following their new vegan menu rollout, which piqued my interest a great deal.  However, there has been no more mention of anything vegan, plant-based, or vegetarian in any of their brochures or marketing copies lately.

 

Have they retracted all those plant-based dishes?  Does anyone have current information and menus regarding their vegan/vegetarian dishes at the various dining venues?

[CruiseLibra]

Prior to Covid Oceania was very clear that they were introducing more plant-based options in the Terrace Cafe and occasionally in the GDR. However, with the ships sailing partially full I am not optimistic that these options will be available.  And I assume that they won't be until things go back to a more normal passenger capacity. We are assuming that special plant-based meals will need to be arranged in advance by our TA and with the food service team when we are onboard the Riviera in November. This worked out fine for my husband when we sailed in 2019. 

[AMHuntFerry]

Well, I won't be able to answer until late December when we're on Riviera (knock on wood), but the "Cooking Fresh And Healthy Kitchen" culinary class is scheduled to be taught. Here is the description: "A healthy diet doesn’t need to sacrifice flavor. Learn the techniques and ingredients to maintain a healthy, fresh and flavorful kitchen with recipes inspired by two of the world’s most revered chefs – Michael Solomonov and Yotam Ottolenghi. With plant-based cuisine dominating our most requested recipes, we share the favorite recipes of our chefs and guests for eating well, keeping a healthy kitchen and enjoying a healthy life."

Also, the sample menus on the website still include a bunch of plant-based options. I think I saw some marketing about new recipes/dishes that were worked on during "the pause", but it may have been a video.

[CruiseLibra]

We sailed on the Riviera in November. The vegan options were mainstreamed into the main dining room and Terrace menus. In the MDR the options were limited but my husband indicated that they were very good. Also, the Terrace had several plant based selections including a plant based daily ice cream flavor. The daily Power Bowl appeared to be very popular. There were no plant based options in Toscana, Polo, or Jacques so you will need to arrange in advance to have a meal delivered if you are dining in those restaurants. 

[GeezerCouple]

Let "Special Needs" know what your constraints are. 

Hopefully, there will be someone already planning to help you with menus the evening before each day, with any changes that you feel necessary.  If they can "do that", they will or you could choose something else.  If you have specific needs, depending upon the preparations needed, you might need to plan a more precise dining time so the meal can be ready in good form.

 

Also, be sure to mention this to any wait staff as you arrive in each dining location for each meal.

 

We've found everyone extremely helpful making sure that dietary needs were accommodated whenever possible.  But some things, such as a low- or no-salt added soup, would need advance planning, as it's not something that is just thrown together at the time of preparation; it may have been simmering for hours in advance, etc.

 

GC

[AMHuntFerry]

We were on the Dec 13th Riviera sailing and the plant-based and vegetarian menus were fully available. The Terrace, GDR, and Red Ginger are the best places, along with the "Healthy Mornings" option at Waves. Waves also has a limited selection; on days where we wanted a late, light lunch we had salad from Waves (spouse also had french fries and I had ice cream 😄 ). My vegetarian spouse managed to find things he liked at Toscana and Jacques, but I recommend looking at the online menus first, especially if a strict vegan; they were both a lovely dining experience, but did not have a great selection for non-meat eaters. As the spouse of a vegetarian, I would have been happy on a 10-day cruise with 2 dinner reservations in Red Ginger (which we had) and the remaining dinners in either the GDR or Terrace; between the regular menu offerings and the daily specials, these two offer a lot more for non-meat eaters and kept this meat eater very happy. If you really want to go to all of the restaurants, there are work arounds (e.g., order veg-meal early, order double-appetizer/salads/desserts(!), eat a large lunch, stop by Terrace before/after). Oh, and the room service menu had some good selections such as a hummus, babaganoush, etc. platter. Enjoy your travels; you won't go hungry!

[MEFIowa]

Having been on the same 12/13 Riviera cruise also with a partial vegetarian (she'll eat some fish), I think AMHuntFerry nailed it for that ship and cruise. My wife always found something to eat at every meal and throughout the day at the various locations. She loved 3 of the specialty restaurants (we did the Sea Bass for 2 at Jacques, for example) but she disliked Red Ginger, because she just couldn't handle the spices. She is rather Plain Vanila in that regard on spiciness. She loved the breakfasts in Waves (Muselix, fruit, yogurt, Smoothies) and we never even went to the Grand Dining Room, always eating at the Terrace Cafe in the evenings except the specialty restaurant nights. (I did find her a great Vegan Restaurant in Belize City, "Martha's", along the river south of the pier, where we ate a nice lunch that Sunday.)

[mauibabes]

We have traveled with Vegan friends and Oceania was apprised of their menu needs so everyday they received the following days menu so they could order their meals in advance. The same can be said for guests who require Vegetarian, Gluten Free, Low Sodium, etc. dining.  We ate together in all the Specialty restaurants and they had more food to eat than any of us at the table.  Yes, he cheated and ate the Miso glazed Chilean Sea Bass but he could not help himself, as Flip Wilson always said, “the devil made me do it”. 
Just notify your TA of your dining requirements and if you do not have a TA, call Oceania directly and they will add it to your file. The same way we get Pepsi in our stateroom rather than Coke, we asked and it has been in our refrigerator on every cruise.

Cruise on,

Mauibabes