Vegan Specialty Dining?

[cuccumella]

I'm considering getting the unlimited dining option because my parents love going to different restaurants, and my brother could probably eat enough burgers from johnny rockets to make the package worth it in and of himself. The rest of my family is omnivores, but I'm vegan. I've heard specialty restaurants will create something custom for you.

 

Has anyone have any experience doing so? If you have which specialty dining did you try and what did you end up eating?

[cruisegirl1]

I am sorry I don’t have the answer to your question. However, I am responding to let you know that the new vegan menu in the main dining room is fantastic! I am not vegan, but the offerings were absolutely delicious. 
 

I had an offering from the appetizer or main course portion of the menu every night on a four night mariner cruise. I didn’t have any of the desserts. 

 

enjoy 

M

 

[cuccumella]

@cruisegirl1 thanks for letting me know!! I've heard some mixed reviews. Maybe it has to do with the ship/chefs?

[Tee & Chilli]

Try searching for reviews by catlady or similar name. She’s had first hand experience. Sorry I cannot recall the exact name.

[Clarea]

3 hours ago, cuccumella said:

I'm considering getting the unlimited dining option because my parents love going to different restaurants, and my brother could probably eat enough burgers from johnny rockets to make the package worth it in and of himself. The rest of my family is omnivores, but I'm vegan. I've heard specialty restaurants will create something custom for you.

 

Has anyone have any experience doing so? If you have which specialty dining did you try and what did you end up eating?

 

You might also want to notify special_needs@rccl.com of your dietary restrictions.

[cuccumella]

1 hour ago, Tee & Chilli said:

Try searching for reviews by catlady or similar name. She’s had first hand experience. Sorry I cannot recall the exact name.

Thanks for the recommendation! I read through her thread and while she's vegetarian not vegan it was still very interesting to read about her experience getting her gluten intolerance accommodated

[cuccumella]

@Host Clarea Thank you will do!

[Tee & Chilli]

here's a thread if you have not already read this one.

 

 

[cuccumella]

Yeah I read through that one before but thanks for looking out for me!!

[GSRDPM]

We were on the Anthem for NYE last year and my daughter was strictly on a Vegan diet during that time.  We did notify RCCL about her dietary restrictions via email and got back a generic letter saying that (at the time) there was no special menu for her but that we could ask on board for assistance in the MDR.  On our first night, the headwaiter came up to us, introduced himself and confirmed that my daughter was needing vegan options for dinner.  He introduced her to a chef that would be preparing her meals for the next 8 evenings and while that first nights dinner was a simple pasta with marinara sauce, he asked about her preferences and prepared EXCELLENT meals for her on subsequent nights. Feedback and even preferences for repeats were solicited each evening for subsequent meals.  It was a terrific experience.   As far as specialty restaurants, we only at at Jamie's Italian and I believe she had Gnocchi, but otherwise there were limited options. 

[cuccumella]

@GSRDPM thank you for sharing your family's experience!

[Thisguylikestocruise]

Vegan menu for RC, just ask for it

Edited January 6, 2020 by Thisguylikestocruise

[Florida Fan]

Wow, the vegan menu looks fabulous!  I'm a vegetarian with high cholesterol, so this new menu is just perfect.  I'm going on Serenade of the Seas in about 4 weeks.  Do you know if the menu is available on Serenade?

[cuccumella]

@Florida Fan it should be available!! According to Royal it was implemented on every ship on their first turnover day following August 1st. You do have to specifically request it though!

 

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, Florida Fan said:

Do you know if the menu is available on Serenade?

Take a look in the app -the vegan menu should be after the desserts.

[cruisegirl1]

The menu on Mariner was slightly different. There was a separate menu page each evening and a few more choices. Each night had 2 appetizer choices, 2 entree choices, and 1 dessert choice. 
 

The menu was available on the app.  
 

M

Edited January 7, 2020 by cruisegirl1

[shoshona2]

We were on the Symphony of the Seas in July and my son and daughter-in-law were very happy with the vegan choices.  We told our waiter and he called over the appropriate person in his section who oversees the choice of food.  My grandson has an allergy to fish and nuts, also.  We were wowed by the service and attention our table of six received.  By the way, when we are happy with the food we always tip in addition to the tips which are paid up front on our cruise bill.

 

Sheila

[cuccumella]

On 1/6/2020 at 10:04 PM, cruisegirl1 said:

The menu on Mariner was slightly different. There was a separate menu page each evening and a few more choices. Each night had 2 appetizer choices, 2 entree choices, and 1 dessert choice. 
 

The menu was available on the app.  
 

M

If you don't mind me asking, when was that?

[CatLadyFemme]

That's me! And holy cow those tacos were good (strange, but good).  In specialty dining, they will make up something special if you have your head waiter reach out in advance, but I'd recommend having a good idea of the type of thing you want. Example; at Sabor, I just showed up and was told it would be fine, and got some really sad, not even warmed, awkward vegan tacos. At Giovanni's table, my H.W. let them know in advance, and they had a vegan minestrone for me, a beet and goat cheese salad, and a gorgonzola pasta, which I had asked for. 150 Central Park has a TON of vegan options if you are going on Allure (or another ship that has one). What I've found with "special" food needs (in my case, GF/veggie/egg free) is that the more you can help them with ideas (i.e., "I'd like a salad with ___ in it" or "pasta, tofu, mushrooms, and red sauce"), the better your luck is. If you just happen to say "I'd like something vegan" you might be disappointed (my first cruise after my celiac DX, I ended up with only berries for dessert the whole week. My next cruise, I had a vegan H.W. [Belic -  if he is on your ship, ask for him!] who totally got it, and he had the chefs make little vegan GF chocolate fudge cakes for me nightly.  Good luck and please do report back!

[cruisegirl1]

20 hours ago, cuccumella said:

If you don't mind me asking, when was that?

December 13, 16, and 20 cruises.   The vegan choices were showing on the app
 

m

[cuccumella]

 

1 hour ago, CatLadyFemme said:

I'd recommend having a good idea of the type of thing you want. Example; at Sabor, I just showed up and was told it would be fine, and got some really sad, not even warmed, awkward vegan tacos. At Giovanni's table, my H.W. let them know in advance, and they had a vegan minestrone for me, a beet and goat cheese salad, and a gorgonzola pasta, which I had asked for.

Oh man that's amazing advice that I hadn't considered at all! 

 

Thank you so much for your review btw! I had a suspicion LGBT+ meet ups would be mostly cis gay men and I appreciate having that confirmed.

[MsADQ]

Reviving this one - wondering if anyone has had any good experiences with vegan meals in specialty restaurants?

 

We had very good experiences for all courses and desserts too in the main dining room on Empress and Independence last January, our headwaiter on Empress even arranged a fantastic stir-fry for me in the buffet a couple of times.  Just didn't want to push my luck and find out the "vegan option" in a specialty restaurant was going to be fries and some steamed broccoli or something.

[Biker19]

[GSRDPM]

On 8/5/2021 at 7:31 AM, Biker19 said:

Nice...note my Avatar...

[TSC]

I am a vegetarian. The main dining room has gotten much better but the specialty restaurants are not so great. However, we enjoy going to different restaruants so I splurge and buy the unlimited every now and then. I find something to eat and enjoy the ambiance and the service even if it's not always great vegetarian food. For example, when we went on Ovation in August and ate at Chops, I told them I was vegetarian and they offered me up a pasta dish. It was the burrata dish from Jaimie's. Chops really had nothing. I've had Chops put together vegetable platters and they can do that but they don't really "make" you something. In Wonderland they ended up giving me a large serving of the vegetable garden thing which was really good, but it was difficult to order something from each season. I enjoy it but be prepared for limited choices.