Farewell Princess - No Trust in Accommodating Dietary Needs

[iankh]

I had a Hawaii cruise booked on Princess that I canceled today. I wrote to them on four separate occasions about the crucial need for my husband to have vegan or vegetarian food, and to my dismay, did not receive a single reply to any of my emails (I believe waiting three months for a reply is more than reasonable). We had a previous experience, about 5 years ago, when we took our first cruise with Princess. The 'vegetarian' options on the menu contained parmesan cheese, which is made with rennet, an enzyme taken from the stomachs of cows or sheep. The kitchen did try to accommodate us, but since they could not disclose the ingredients, it led to a very distressing week. When I returned home I wrote to Princess and received a reply from customer service that was both unsettling and alarming. I was informed that they offer what they consider to be vegetarian food and that passengers consume the food they offer at their own risk. I should emphasize that my husband has a condition that could potentially lead to hospitalization, as it had done in the past, so the concern about meeting dietary needs was not trivial.

 

I looked at Princess again and thought that perhaps after five years, things had changed. To be proactive, I wrote to Princess explaining his physical condition and our past cruise experience with them. Silence. There was no response to my initial email or the three follow-up emails.

 

I recently booked a Holland America cruise to Hawaii and specified the dietary restrictions. I received an email back with the email address of their special needs department. To my pleasant surprise, within 24 hours, I received a personalized, detailed response outlining exactly what they would do to accommodate the diet and who I should speak to when we boarded the ship. They assured me that they take dietary needs very seriously, a stark contrast to my experience with Princess Cruises.

 

I know that many people here have had wonderful experiences with Princess. Our friends are very loyal to Princess. I'm also sure that others with dietary needs have had excellent experiences with Princess. But as they say, "Once burned, twice cautious."  It could have been a redeemable situation had they responded to my emails.

 

This posting is not about the merits of Princess vs. Holland America. I did not cancel our Princess booking because" cruise line—they're not. They're a very good cruise line in all respects except for this. This posting is about listening and responsiveness to needs. I canceled based on personal experience and their lack of response to me. I canceled because, for our needs, I simply don't trust them.

[memoak]

If you search this board there are several people who have posted pictures of the Princess vegan menu. You might want to look before you leap

[Teechur]

I have seen examples of Princess' Vegan menu posted on CC so I'm sure they COULD accommodate you. Sorry you weren't treated better, and I'm glad that you were able to find a suitable alternative in Holland America. 🙂

[reedprincess]

Did you write to special needs at sea for Princess? Or generic customer service?

Either way, Princess most definitely has a vegan menu....and has had for a while... unfortunate you didn't get a response from whatever address you wrote to. Glad Holland has met.your needs..

 

Thread from 2021 and forward on Vegan on Princess: 

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2812038-vegan-food-on-princess/

 

Newer vegan menus also introduced last fall posted below...  For future reference...

 

Hope you enjoy Holland America! .

 

[iankh]

1 hour ago, memoak said:

If you search this board there are several people who have posted pictures of the Princess vegan menu. You might want to look before you leap

That may well be, but in fairness to me, they should have responded to one of the four emails I sent them. As a paying passenger, I should not have to go digging on message boards to get answers to my questions. I am not disputing that others have had different experiences. However, we all make choices based on our personal experience, and if serious inquiries that state potential health risks go unanswered, then for me and us, the choice was to not pursue the relationship.  If they had failed to respond once, that I could excuse, but to fail to respond to the subsequent three inquiries, well, then I made the decision best for us.

[Paula_MacFan]

I'm no vegan/vegetarian expert by any means, but on both of our recent Princess cruises we saw a separate section of the buffet area marked 'vegetarian options'.  

 

Edit to say I just did a Google search for 'Princess vegetarian options' and this popped up immediately.   

 

https://www.princess.com/en-us/news/news-releases/2023/10/princess-cruises-introduces-expansive-vegan-menus-for-plant-based-cruisers

Edited April 7 by Paula_MacFan

[iankh]

7 minutes ago, reedprincess said:

Did you write to special needs at sea for Princess? Or generic customer service?

Either way, Princess most definitely has a vegan menu....and has had for a while... unfortunate you didn't get a response from whatever address you wrote to. Glad Holland has met.your needs..

 

Thread from 2021 and forward on Vegan on Princess: 

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2812038-vegan-food-on-princess/

 

Newer vegan menus also introduced last fall posted below...  For future reference...

 

Hope you enjoy Holland America! .

 

 

I wrote to customer service four times, which was four opportunities for them to respond and provide the email address for whom to contact. I fully acknowledge that the onus is on the passengers to be honest about their needs. That I did four times. The onus is then on the cruise line to respond to those inquiries. In this case, silence spoke volumes. It's very important that my previous experience with being told to "eat at your own risk" created the initial framing of my distrust. The lack of a response to four inquiries, simply built on that distrust and solidified it.

 

I posted on the board today because a friend, who is a very loyal Platinum Princess member, urged me to do so. I know that he loves Princess and always raves about their cruises. It was he who convinced me to try Princess again. He thought it was an experience I should share.

[iankh]

8 minutes ago, Paula_MacFan said:

I'm no vegan/vegetarian expert by any means, but on both of our recent Princess cruises we saw a separate section of the buffet area marked 'vegetarian options'.  

 

Edit to say I just did a Google search for 'Princess vegetarian options' and this popped up immediately.   

 

https://www.princess.com/en-us/news/news-releases/2023/10/princess-cruises-introduces-expansive-vegan-menus-for-plant-based-cruisers

 

I am sharing my personal experience of Princess not responding to my concerns. They had four opportunities to do so and they didn't. It's important to realize that this isn't merely a lifestyle choice but a medical need, and not being met could result in hospitalization.  Either by mistake four times, or by intent four times, my concerns were not responded to. 

[ChutChut]

42 minutes ago, iankh said:

 

I am sharing my personal experience of Princess not responding to my concerns. They had four opportunities to do so and they didn't. It's important to realize that this isn't merely a lifestyle choice but a medical need, and not being met could result in hospitalization.  Either by mistake four times, or by intent four times, my concerns were not responded to. 

I absolutely agree Princess should have responded to you in a timely fashion. there's no excuse for that and I would be irritated, too.

[Arizona Wildcat]

2 hours ago, iankh said:

I had a Hawaii cruise booked on Princess that I canceled today. I wrote to them on four separate occasions about the crucial need for my husband to have vegan or vegetarian food, and to my dismay, did not receive a single reply to any of my emails (I believe waiting three months for a reply is more than reasonable). We had a previous experience, about 5 years ago, when we took our first cruise with Princess. The 'vegetarian' options on the menu contained parmesan cheese, which is made with rennet, an enzyme taken from the stomachs of cows or sheep. The kitchen did try to accommodate us, but since they could not disclose the ingredients, it led to a very distressing week. When I returned home I wrote to Princess and received a reply from customer service that was both unsettling and alarming. I was informed that they offer what they consider to be vegetarian food and that passengers consume the food they offer at their own risk. I should emphasize that my husband has a condition that could potentially lead to hospitalization, as it had done in the past, so the concern about meeting dietary needs was not trivial.

 

I looked at Princess again and thought that perhaps after five years, things had changed. To be proactive, I wrote to Princess explaining his physical condition and our past cruise experience with them. Silence. There was no response to my initial email or the three follow-up emails.

 

I recently booked a Holland America cruise to Hawaii and specified the dietary restrictions. I received an email back with the email address of their special needs department. To my pleasant surprise, within 24 hours, I received a personalized, detailed response outlining exactly what they would do to accommodate the diet and who I should speak to when we boarded the ship. They assured me that they take dietary needs very seriously, a stark contrast to my experience with Princess Cruises.

 

I know that many people here have had wonderful experiences with Princess. Our friends are very loyal to Princess. I'm also sure that others with dietary needs have had excellent experiences with Princess. But as they say, "Once burned, twice cautious."  It could have been a redeemable situation had they responded to my emails.

 

This posting is not about the merits of Princess vs. Holland America. I did not cancel our Princess booking because" cruise line—they're not. They're a very good cruise line in all respects except for this. This posting is about listening and responsiveness to needs. I canceled based on personal experience and their lack of response to me. I canceled because, for our needs, I simply don't trust them.

Actually your post is exactly about the merits of HAL answering your emails when Princess did not.  I do not care who you cruise with or if you cruise.  

I do know that we gave had problems with Princess, HAL and Celebrity not always answering emails.  Found often that my messages were sent to the wrong address from Cruise Critic.  Now have ability to connect rapidly (often requires a phone call).  I also know that Actually having my dietary needs met requires asking at every meal as all 3 have failed at times.

[kywildcatfanone]

They have lots of vegan options.  If you read anything on this board it's that they provide options every dietary request 

[DrSea]

2 hours ago, iankh said:

 

I wrote to customer service four times, which was four opportunities for them to respond and provide the email address for whom to contact. I fully acknowledge that the onus is on the passengers to be honest about their needs. That I did four times. The onus is then on the cruise line to respond to those inquiries. In this case, silence spoke volumes. It's very important that my previous experience with being told to "eat at your own risk" created the initial framing of my distrust. The lack of a response to four inquiries, simply built on that distrust and solidified it.

 

I posted on the board today because a friend, who is a very loyal Platinum Princess member, urged me to do so. I know that he loves Princess and always raves about their cruises. It was he who convinced me to try Princess again. He thought it was an experience I should share.

I would go with HAL. Why give Princess money to have them ignore you? 

 

Hate HAL, but ymmv

 

[memoak]

2 minutes ago, DrSea said:

I would go with HAL. Why give Princess money to have them ignore you? 

 

Hate HAL, but ymmv

 

HAL. Be prepared to go to sleep at 8:00

[DrSea]

2 minutes ago, memoak said:

HAL. Be prepared to go to sleep at 8:00

7 if you want to tell the youths to get off your lawn.

 

Jk

 

@ OP, the MDR is bustling at 530. Just thought you should know 

[cr8tiv1]

I am sorry to hear of your dissatisfaction with the lack of response you received from Princess.  HAL seems like a better option for this cruise.  

 

I travel with a vegetarian room mate.  After many cruises, this was suggested to us by another friend.  Provide a list of the foods you would like to/can eat.  Hand it to your Assistant Manager on the First night.  He/she will work menus around your needs.  Surprised at how well that worked for a 13 night cruise.  She was very happy with the Assistant Manager's recommendations.  We rarely used the buffet and found enough to eat at the IC and MDR.

[nasa1974]

@iankh Sorry to hear that Princess didn't respond. Just curious who you wrote to at Princess.

The end of this month I will be cruising with my youngest daughter and her family. My three-year-old granddaughter has an egg allergy. I sent Princess an email, subject was food allergy and in the main part of the email was our sail date, ship, cabin number, passengers name and age and what the dietary request was. I had a response the same day.

Here is the email address: dietaryrequest@princesscruises.com

Edited April 8 by nasa1974

[Gail & Dan]

This post is not about the menu at all ?

it’s one person not getting the response they should have ! Perhaps had they asked here they could have confirmed or got a email that would have solved there problem . They chose to resend to I assume the same Email ?Time and time again , We have no idea if they called as well or just sent an email 

there here to vent that’s all 

Dan 

Edited April 8 by Gail & Dan

[charliedalrymple]

5 hours ago, iankh said:

parmesan cheese, which is made with rennet, an enzyme taken from the stomachs of cows or sheep.

 

Aside from the lack of response:  Perhaps I'm alone here, but I had no idea that parmesan cheese was made with animal products, and I would have considered a dish with parmesan to be vegetarian.  Is this widely known in the food service industry?

[iankh]

Just now, charliedalrymple said:

 

Aside from the lack of response:  Perhaps I'm alone here, but I had no idea that parmesan cheese was made with animal products, and I would have considered a dish with parmesan to be vegetarian.  Is this widely known in the food service industry?

In fairness, probably not. Milk based vegetarian cheeses are made with plant/bacteria based enzymes. Ingredient lists will usually say vegetarian rennet or vegetarian enzymes.

 

 

[JimmyVWine]

Right on the website it says that you can note your dietary needs in your profile on the app. 
 

Dietary Requirements – Inform us of any food allergies or dietary requirements such as gluten-free, lactose-free and vegetarian.

 

And you have to know that a cruise line that is as big and mass market as Princess can accommodate vegetarian and vegan restrictions. And you knew that you could start a chat with a representative from Princess on their website instead of holding out for a response to an email. And you knew that you could search for menus on line. And you knew that you could ask questions and seek advice on this board. (You knew enough to complain here.). So your only complaint is that you didn’t get a customized, personalized email response. If that “insult” is enough to cause you to abandon ship, that is your prerogative. Seems like throwing the baby out with the bath water. But that’s up to you. 

[karatemom2]

1 hour ago, memoak said:

HAL. Be prepared to go to sleep at 8:00

This made my chuckle! On our one and only HAL cruise that we chose in Alaska for the great itinerary, at 8:30 pm when we would walk down the hall to our cabin for a quick refresh after dinner, everywhere you looked the breakfast order cards were already hanging on the doors because people had turned in for the night. It was the  most low key nightlife we have ever experienced on any ship. Thank goodness for the wonderful piano bar performer who kept us and one other couple our age entertained each evening. 

[ladychater]

I'm sitting on a Princess cruise right now and it is not a good place to be a vegetarian/vegan.  It's day 2 of the cruise.  Last night we only got the vegan menu because I told the waiter that I was sure there was a vegan menu, he then asked someone else and they brought it. It had 1 starter and 1 entree. In the MDR, menus have a symbol meaning vegetarian that they put beside the foods.  But what you see on the menu and what you see on the app don't match, so which is right?  I would think the Caesar salad isn't vegetarian, but the menu says it is.  In the Dining room I was told that the miso soup wasn't vegetarian.  In the buffet, a server told me it is.  Does anyone working here know or care???  There's no marking in the buffet to let you know if food is vegetarian or not.  You have to guess or ask a server who just looks at it and guesses.  It's awful.  Princess clearly doesn't care.  And on this ship (Diamond) you get a different table and waiter every night, so please don't tell me to work it out with the waiter.

Edited April 8 by ladychater
Typo

[cr8tiv1]

1.  You don’t “work it out” with the waiter.  Ask to speak to the Assistant Manager of the section you are seated in.  Request that you be in his/her section every night.  He/she will take your order the night before.

 

2.  Most, if not all, miso soups have some sort of fish base.  Not sure the ship would have vegetarian miso onboard, but worth asking.

 

What is the difference between vegan miso and miso?  

 

Most miso stock is dashi, a Japanese broth made from dried fish, kelp, and shiitake mushrooms. Japanese versions of vegan miso stock use dashi that only contains mushrooms and kelp. Miso stock in the United States may use vegetable, chicken, or Western-style fish stock instead of dashi.Oct 29, 2021

 

3.  The Assistant Maitre d’ can always be found in the buffet.  Ask him/her who you should ask about your concerns.  
 

4.  When I was on the Diamond, I was given a choice from a few, more Asian, vegetables.  

[BamaVol]

12 hours ago, iankh said:

That may well be, but in fairness to me, they should have responded to one of the four emails I sent them. As a paying passenger, I should not have to go digging on message boards to get answers to my questions. I am not disputing that others have had different experiences. However, we all make choices based on our personal experience, and if serious inquiries that state potential health risks go unanswered, then for me and us, the choice was to not pursue the relationship.  If they had failed to respond once, that I could excuse, but to fail to respond to the subsequent three inquiries, well, then I made the decision best for us.

Maybe your emails went to their spam folder. 

[dog]

IMO- Princess does not follow through very well anymore. You need to speak to the staff in the dining rooms each day.

 

you are probably making the right decision, however on my last HAL-  cruise, I and a few others could not eat much of the meals in the dining room- poor quality food and few vegetables.