Question about food onbaord and allergies. Thinking about Northern Lights cruise

[mommykim]

I am seriously considering doing a Northern Lights cruise in March but I have a question about the food onboard. I know it is locally sourced but I have a severe seafood allergy. Basically if it lives in the ocean I cannot eat it. Too much iodine. I am also not a very good vegetarian. Will there be enough for me to eat on a 14 day cruise? I do not need fancy, just edible.

[CDNPolar]

3 hours ago, mommykim said:

I am seriously considering doing a Northern Lights cruise in March but I have a question about the food onboard. I know it is locally sourced but I have a severe seafood allergy. Basically if it lives in the ocean I cannot eat it. Too much iodine. I am also not a very good vegetarian. Will there be enough for me to eat on a 14 day cruise? I do not need fancy, just edible.

we were impressed with the food on Hurtigruten especially the selection on the buffet - I think you would be ok. 

[grayjay]

The food on Hurtigruten's ( or Havila's)  coastal trips is excellent, but it being a cruise along the the Norwegian coast, seafood of any kind will be heavy on the menu, of course. You should definitely find enough on the buffets during breakfast and lunch, for dinners you should contact the ship you have chosen to tell them of your allergies so that they can adapt, as in the evenings there is a set dinner menu. As I don't like crustaceans and simply hate cheese I wrote to the ship before our last coastal journey and it was no difficulty.They always found an alternative. As Havila doesn't offer buffets, it would be more difficult to avoid seafood, in my opinion.

[oakridger]

2 hours ago, grayjay said:

As Havila doesn't offer buffets, it would be more difficult to avoid seafood, in my opinion.

 

Just to clarify for anyone interested, Havila has several non-seafood alternatives at every meal. They don't serve buffet style, so all selections are a la carte.   Here is a link to their sample menus.

 

Havila Food Stories - Havila Voyages

 

~Nancy

[CDNPolar]

I think that I may have been too quick with my answer, and did not ask this...

 

If seafood is an allergy and seafood is a major part of the Hurtigruten menu, does that mean that you cannot have food that is prepared close by or cooked in the same pan?

 

I know people with various levels of seafood allergy and some have to be guaranteed that seafood has never touched anything they will eat, vs. some that are only if they chew and swallow the seafood.

 

Depending on the level of the allergy, contact Hurtigruten before you book.

[GeezerCouple]

On 8/26/2023 at 7:23 AM, CDNPolar said:

I think that I may have been too quick with my answer, and did not ask this...

 

If seafood is an allergy and seafood is a major part of the Hurtigruten menu, does that mean that you cannot have food that is prepared close by or cooked in the same pan?

 

I know people with various levels of seafood allergy and some have to be guaranteed that seafood has never touched anything they will eat, vs. some that are only if they chew and swallow the seafood.

 

Depending on the level of the allergy, contact Hurtigruten before you book.

Sorry for the delay!

CDNPolar's question is very important:  Is "cross-contamination" a concern, or, especially, a serious danger?  We'd be far more worried in general if this was the situation, and also, probably specifically with this type of cruise.

 

Assuming you are *not* at risk of anaphylactic shock from cross-contamination, then I think you'll be fine, but DO tell Hurtigruten well in advance. We always have our travel agent make note of such important details at the time of reservation.  He then double checks later.  AND then, we also double check about a week before sailing.  AND THEN again, almost immediately upon arriving on the ship.  (That could be with a special dietary liaison person, or even the executive chef, depending upon ship, etc.)

 

We found Hurtigruten (we were on the Trollfjord for a RT Coastal Cruise) about 2 years pre-Covid.  We each had a [different] dietary restriction.  They were terrific about all of it.

Lunch was a buffet, and since minimal cross-contamination is not a problem for either of us, that went well of course.

For dinner, they asked about substitutions, and if something arrived that was a problem (or even something "disliked"), they offered other choices and were very quick to return with it.  We were very impressed.

 

As with any dining out, we ALWAYS double check when food is served:  "This IS the <whatever version> of X, correct?"  if that is relevant.

 

Not everything was seafood.  There were always other choices, and of course, by arranging in advance, such as earlier in the day, they were happy to provide "something else" that would be preferred.

However, we'll never forget the one night there was a buffet with unlimited king crab legs.  They kept bringing more.  And more.  And yet more! 😁

 

It was one of our favorite cruises ever!

 

Enjoy!

 

GC

[doobieb]

Thank you for this info!

We will be on the Trollfjord in November for the Polar Express. Two traveling companions do not eat seafood and are very concerned. I shared your reply and hope they will reach out to the appropriate ship staff to plan other options. I think they are in good hands and feel somewhat  relieved.For my DH and myself, bring on the King Crab!

[CDNPolar]

17 hours ago, doobieb said:

Thank you for this info!

We will be on the Trollfjord in November for the Polar Express. Two traveling companions do not eat seafood and are very concerned. I shared your reply and hope they will reach out to the appropriate ship staff to plan other options. I think they are in good hands and feel somewhat  relieved.For my DH and myself, bring on the King Crab!

 

It is great to come here to CC and ask questions, but especially for a situation like this, where there could be serious health issues, reaching out directly to the ship or Hurtigruten is key.  

 

I am certain that Hurtigruten can work with serious food allergies, but I am sure that your travelling companions know that if at a buffet there could be a fish dish beside a beef dish and someone in the lineup may have used the spoon or tongs that were with the beef to serve some fish...  

[Gretchendz]

On 10/30/2023 at 11:51 AM, doobieb said:

Thank you for this info!

We will be on the Trollfjord in November for the Polar Express. Two traveling companions do not eat seafood and are very concerned. I shared your reply and hope they will reach out to the appropriate ship staff to plan other options. I think they are in good hands and feel somewhat  relieved.For my DH and myself, bring on the King Crab!

 

Are you one the Nov 10 Coastal; Express? Our family will be there!

 

More to the point my husband hates seafood (not an allergy). I keep promising to pack him a suitcase of power bars:)  I have researched and there will be non-seafood items at each meal.  I believe you can discuss with the chef, at lunch, about dinner choices if there is a special need or request.

[doobieb]

No😕!

We are on the Nov 23 sailing.  Sure hope you can post some comments during your trip. I hope you have a fabulous experience!  Let us know if you discover anything we mght appreciate knowing.  Do you plan to visit any Christmas markets?

 

What kind of cabin will you have? We are a group of 3 couples who have each been buying gloves, insulated underwear,  wool socks, heavy parkas…..😜. Living in the south does not prepare us to have any of the correct clothes.We will be on deck 7 in an Arctic superior cabin. Right now we are just hoping we are ready for the cold outdoors. Can’t wait!

[CDNPolar]

9 hours ago, Gretchendz said:

 

Are you one the Nov 10 Coastal; Express? Our family will be there!

 

More to the point my husband hates seafood (not an allergy). I keep promising to pack him a suitcase of power bars:)  I have researched and there will be non-seafood items at each meal.  I believe you can discuss with the chef, at lunch, about dinner choices if there is a special need or request.

 

Don't worry - there are LOTS of choices other than seafood.  Don't think that the menu is seafood centric - it is not.

[Gretchendz]

On 10/31/2023 at 8:17 PM, doobieb said:

No😕!

We are on the Nov 23 sailing.  Sure hope you can post some comments during your trip. I hope you have a fabulous experience!  Let us know if you discover anything we mght appreciate knowing.  Do you plan to visit any Christmas markets?

 

What kind of cabin will you have? We are a group of 3 couples who have each been buying gloves, insulated underwear,  wool socks, heavy parkas…..😜. Living in the south does not prepare us to have any of the correct clothes.We will be on deck 7 in an Arctic superior cabin. Right now we are just hoping we are ready for the cold outdoors. Can’t wait!

 

Hi-I'll try to remember to post a bit. We are staying in Oslo for a couple nights right near the main Christmas market because I am obssessed with them!

And I looked at the menus-they look fabulous!

We have an Arctic Superior, an Inside and a Polar Outside.

 

As to clothes, we are doing the same. However, we live in Michigan so I suspect we are a bit better prepared than you might be @doobieb   Don't forget a swimsuit for the sauna.  Also, I understand they keep the ship quite warm.

[Gretchendz]

Also to OP @mommykim  I found these menus on the Hurtigruten. site: https://www.hurtigruten.com/norways-coastal-kitchen/svalbard-expressnorth-cape-express-restaurants/

[doobieb]

@Gretchendz Thanks for all the info! Good to look at the menus. We are looking forward to the interesting foods. And it is good to know they keep the ship warm. We rarely need heavy winter clothing here, and just recently donated all of our heavy coats, hiking boots, extra warm hats…..Evidently I need to keep things much longer than 10 years without using.😜 But now we are as prepared as possible clothing-wise.

We will be in Oslo 2 days before our trip and 2 days in Bergen after.  Friends in Bergen said locals enjoy the Christmas markets as much as visitors. 

 

Do you plan to do any excursions? We have booked a sleigh ride with a private company while we are in Alta.

[Gretchendz]

Have not booked it yet but some of group wants to ice fish. Others want dog sledding 🙂

[doobieb]

@Gretchendz I would like to see ice fishing but not actually do it.  We are tossing around the possibility of the snowmobile ride to the North Cape. It may depend on if we survive 5e cold on the sleigh ride.❄️❄️❄️❄️

[doobieb]

@Gretchendz What excursions did you decide to do from the ship?  We walked in every port and really did not have enough time to explore each of the towns. We loved walking and watching and just seeing how beautiful everything looked. It did not make a difference to us if it was dark because of all the lights. We could have stayed on board for a B2B and still not had enough time to take it all in.