No vegetarian menu on harmony

[Merion_Mom]

5 hours ago, White123 said:

She said that in windjammer she gets the salad and she says no meat on it and they don’t listen.    And so she can’t eat it,      Her husband and son are enjoying 

everything.  I feel so badly for her. I told her that there was a veg menu.  I suggested that the maître d could give her next days menu.  And she could circle parts of dishes that she could eat and make it up for her.   He said not possible.

I have cruised on many different cruise lines and they were always very cooperative.   Evidently Royal doesn’t do this.  I haven’t cruised Royal since pandemic started.   I was just on holland america. I have special needs ( not veg)

and got the menu the day before and had No problem,

 

I don't understand this.  In the Windjammer, you make your own salad.

[c-leg5]

14 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

I don't understand this.  In the Windjammer, you make your own salad.

I had a problem with that too, I guess unless there is noro?

Edited January 26, 2023 by c-leg5

[sgmn]

14 hours ago, White123 said:

Daughter there now.   One choice only on daily menu.  Maître d says no longer available.

I'm really surprised that the choice is now worse for vegetarians/vegans.  More and more people are eating these diets now. 

[cruisegirl1]

13 hours ago, Tulsacoker said:

One word .... Windjammer 

Suggesting going to a  buffet, is not a viable solution to those who expect  to eat in the dining room.

 

m

[schlimazel_traveler]

I have combed through the menus from the past 12 days and can report a few vegetarian (not vegan) entrees did appear sporadically. A fettuccine Alfredo one night, a pesto tagliatelle one night. 

 

The menu no longer features identifiers to designate the presence of milk or to flag meat-free items, so it's anyone's guess whether the mushroom risotto is made with vegetable broth or chicken broth, and I prefer a don't ask, don't tell approach in this situation for my own choices, so I haven't inquired.

 

My daughter who doesn't eat meat does eat fish (not shellfish), but would be very disappointed by the lack of salmon. Lots of tilapia!

 

BTW, vegan moussaka is just AWFUL.

 

Edited January 26, 2023 by schlimazel_traveler

[DaKahuna]

3 hours ago, cruisegirl1 said:

Suggesting going to a  buffet, is not a viable solution to those who expect  to eat in the dining room.

 

 I have, but it has been a few years, ordered a simple salad in the main dining room.  

 

 I have sat at a shared table in the main dining room and observed a table mate order the main entree but ask for only. the vegetables without sauce. 

 

I have ordered on numerous occasions eggs, scrambled or fried, and omelets that contained only eggs, spinach, onions, bell peppers, and cheese.   

 

Vegetarian meals are possible but they do not all have to be on the menu.    If Royal is only offering three or four entree's that have meat or fish, I do not see one vegan/vegetarian entree as being out of reason.  There is simply no way to customize a cruise ship menu to accommodate everyone's personal choices. 

 

My recommendation, ask for the maitre'd the first night and explain that you are vegan / vegetarian and I am sure they will work with you to see that you have what you need, as best they can accommodate, each night thereafter.   

 

[Ret MP]

Back in the mid-80s, while on my second tour of duty in Germany, my boss, who became a very good friend, was a Vegan.  However, I don't remember that term being used back then.  He invited us, my wife and I, over for diner. The dishes served were great tasting meat (looked almost like stew meat) and gravy, mashed potatoes and gravy and peas or some kind of vegetable, can't remember exactly what.  We really enjoyed it and they ate it too.  So, in the middle of the meal, I said, "Damn Don, I though you two were vegetarians".  His answer, "We are!"  "Than why are you eating meat", "We aren't".  He laughed, went to the kitchen and brough out a can of vegetarian meat and gravy.  I was very surprised at how good it was.  HOWEVER, he did tell us that they had to take some kind of supplements to maintain the nutrients the human body needs. 

 

Him and his wife would not eat anything that was cooked in a pan or utensils that had meat touching them.  So, they didn't get out much.  Germany, at the time, didn't have a lot of Vegan restaurants LOL.  

 

That was it for me.  If I can't get my nutrients from the food I prefer, I will eat the food that will.  I will take supplements if medically necessary because of a medical issue.  Like I self inject B-12 because of my bariatric/gastric sleeve surgery.      

[lovesthebeach2]

I’m not vegan and I’m not 100% vegetarian, but I don’t eat much meat and I have been ordering mostly from the vegan menu for awhile and I agree that royal made an error in the new menus which are very limiting for vegetarians.  Oddly they think that all their customers are meat lovers with perfect cholesterol.

 

I’ll make do, but they will find a lot of waste with me, I may end up ordering two entrees so I can pick things that I can eat. 

You would think it saves them money for those that don’t want meat. I think everyone that’s affected needs to voice this in their post cruise survey or else nothing will change,

[gometros]

46 minutes ago, schlimazel_traveler said:

I have combed through the menus from the past 12 days and can report a few vegetarian (not vegan) entrees did appear sporadically. A fettuccine Alfredo one night, a pesto tagliatelle one night. 

 

The menu no longer features identifiers to designate the presence of milk or to flag meat-free items, so it's anyone's guess whether the mushroom risotto is made with vegetable broth or chicken broth, and I prefer a don't ask, don't tell approach in this situation for my own choices, so I haven't inquired.

 

My daughter who doesn't eat meat does eat fish (not shellfish), but would be very disappointed by the lack of salmon. Lots of tilapia!

 

BTW, vegan moussaka is just AWFUL.

 

 

You're daughter is like my wife. She won't eat meat out, but will eat fish, just not shellfish. She lives on salmon when we eat out. This could be a huge problem for us.

[Ret MP]

23 minutes ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

You would think it saves them money for those that don’t want meat. I think everyone that’s affected needs to voice this in their post cruise survey or else nothing will change,

Yep, thanks for the reinforcement!   See post #24

[Ret MP]

11 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

I don't understand this.  In the Windjammer, you make your own salad.

Yep, but only if you are alone or with somebody.

[shipgeeks]

 

The new menus came out one cruise ago on my preferred ship (Enchantment). I have read complaints, but only re "we couldn't order three entrees at one time" and "at day 8 they repeated the day 1 menu". I believe the introduction of the new menus is a work in progress, with refinements to come in the months ahead.

As a vegetarian but not a vegan, I'm not worried, but I guess I will find out in March.

[shipgeeks]

11 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

I don't understand this.  In the Windjammer, you make your own salad.

Exactly.  And if, for some reason, an inappropriate element is added, you just give it back or leave it, and start again. It sounds to me like something was lost in translation.  Did daughter try again, or just give up eating?  Is she an adult who can make her own requests?  I'm just not getting the picture here.

[jbrinkm]

1 hour ago, DaKahuna said:

 I have, but it has been a few years, ordered a simple salad in the main dining room.  

 

 I have sat at a shared table in the main dining room and observed a table mate order the main entree but ask for only. the vegetables without sauce. 

 

I have ordered on numerous occasions eggs, scrambled or fried, and omelets that contained only eggs, spinach, onions, bell peppers, and cheese.   

 

Vegetarian meals are possible but they do not all have to be on the menu.    If Royal is only offering three or four entree's that have meat or fish, I do not see one vegan/vegetarian entree as being out of reason.  There is simply no way to customize a cruise ship menu to accommodate everyone's personal choices. 

 

My recommendation, ask for the maitre'd the first night and explain that you are vegan / vegetarian and I am sure they will work with you to see that you have what you need, as best they can accommodate, each night thereafter.  

 

What many are complaining about is that with the new menus, there have been some reports that no alterations or substitutions are allowed any more. That the point of the new menus is to simplicy in order speed things up which means no customization. 

 

Of course there is no way to customize a cruise ship menu to accommodate everyone's personal choices but the biggest complaint of vegetarians is that there may be nights when we don't even have 1 good option (yes, there is a vegan choice but there should also be a vegetarian choice for all the reasons already listed above). Our biggest complaint is that they are lumping vegan and vegetarian together and they are two very different eating lifestyles. And I will say that the ships did a decent job before of accommodating personal choices - it's just that now they are eliminating it. 

 

I don't know if anyone said this - but it seems to me like they are using these menus to respond to the problems they have with My Time Dining. Get the early diners out faster so more tables open up sooner for MTD?

[HappyTexan44]

Seems like their big mistake was doing both limited menu AND no changes.   
When I looked at the menu it was with the old, "Can make modifications," and I thought I could be happy with the menu (sometimes with modifications).  I could also have been happy (and I think most people also) with no modifications but 3x the entree selections.