Eating Kosher on NCL

[baruchgershom]

I agree, PG can be a slave to his inventory list. Also, those lists are often faulty. I heard that the Pearl once had 60 or more kosher guests and ran out of the frozen meals on Day 1. Make the head waiter physically look for the meals or go over his head.

[mdchesner]

My wife and I just booked the NCL Star for the 8/26/12 trip from NYC to Bermuda. We will be accompanied by our kids , boys age 15 and 12.

 

We keep kosher and are shomer shabbat and have had excellent experience with NCL on prior cruises with regard to kosher meals.

 

Are there any other sabbath/kosher observers on this cruise ? My last NCL out of NY there were around 100 and we even had a room provided for minyanim!!

(coolest view out the window of any shule Iv'e ever seen)

 

Thanks

[LadyShiva]

My wife and I just booked the NCL Star for the 8/26/12 trip from NYC to Bermuda. We will be accompanied by our kids , boys age 15 and 12.

 

We keep kosher and are shomer shabbat and have had excellent experience with NCL on prior cruises with regard to kosher meals.

 

Are there any other sabbath/kosher observers on this cruise ? My last NCL out of NY there were around 100 and we even had a room provided for minyanim!!

(coolest view out the window of any shule Iv'e ever seen)

 

Thanks

 

Here's the roll call for that cruise: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1561069

[pris993]

My husband is a spherdic jew, from Europe and keeps kosher. I am not jewish but have lived with a jew for nearly 30 years, so typically eat kosher as well. We always special order the night before on all cruises, with the Matre'd and head waiter, generally eat fish. We have found it is fairly easy to maintain our typical eating habits while traveling. We cruise twice a year. Will be on the Jade next year on a trip to Israel. We cruise on Princess, Celebrity, HAL and Cunard.

 

The only time we order kosher meals in advance is while flying.

[donaldsc]

How to cruise and still keep strictly kosher.

2 Caveats:

All cabin door locks are electronic. We did not carry the key, and had the room steward open the door for us as needed. The room stewards were all aware of these Sabbath rules and were very accommodating./QUOTE]

[dwjoe]

My wife and I just booked the NCL Star for the 8/26/12 trip from NYC to Bermuda. We will be accompanied by our kids , boys age 15 and 12.

 

We keep kosher and are shomer shabbat and have had excellent experience with NCL on prior cruises with regard to kosher meals.

 

Are there any other sabbath/kosher observers on this cruise ? My last NCL out of NY there were around 100 and we even had a room provided for minyanim!!

(coolest view out the window of any shule Iv'e ever seen)

 

Thanks

I did Bermuda out of NY on the Dawn in August 2010. There were a bunch of kosher cruisers on that sailing, probably around 50-60. Like you, I found that NCL does a great job with kosher food.

 

You can try posting on the roll call to connect with other kosher cruisers but your best bet may be once you get on board.

 

On one cruise, one guy brought a siddur with a compass in it... came in handy trying to figure out which way was East for davening. :)

[jdough789]

My wife and I just booked the NCL Star for the 8/26/12 trip from NYC to Bermuda. We will be accompanied by our kids , boys age 15 and 12.

 

We keep kosher and are shomer shabbat and have had excellent experience with NCL on prior cruises with regard to kosher meals.

 

Are there any other sabbath/kosher observers on this cruise ? My last NCL out of NY there were around 100 and we even had a room provided for minyanim!!

(coolest view out the window of any shule Iv'e ever seen)

 

Thanks

Sorry, were going a week after you.:eek:

[Barb Nahoumi]

Hi,

 

I have a technical question. Can you be Shomer Shabbat on a ship which might be in motion on Shabbat?

 

I thought that riding is forbidden on shabbat, and most cruises are 7 days.

[dwjoe]

You should consult with a Rabbi you are comfortable with for an authoritative explanation.

 

In short, Sabbath observers can go on a cruise so long as you board on Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday. If the cruise is for purposes of a mitzvah (good deed) you can even board on Friday. The prohibition of travelling in excess of 2000 cubits (approx 3000-4000 feet) on Sabbath generally does not apply at sea.

 

100-200 years ago, sea travel overlapping Sabbath was a fairly common practice as journeys by sea often took over 7 days. There is thus an established body of Jewish law dealing with the subject. A Rabbi will be able to advise you further on specifics.

 

The Star-K, an orthodox kosher organization, has more details here.

[Barb Nahoumi]

You should consult with a Rabbi you are comfortable with for an authoritative explanation.

 

In short, Sabbath observers can go on a cruise so long as you board on Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday. If the cruise is for purposes of a mitzvah (good deed) you can even board on Friday. The prohibition of travelling in excess of 2000 cubits (approx 3000-4000 feet) on Sabbath generally does not apply at sea.

 

100-200 years ago, sea travel overlapping Sabbath was a fairly common practice as journeys by sea often took over 7 days. There is thus an established body of Jewish law dealing with the subject. A Rabbi will be able to advise you further on specifics.

 

The Star-K, an orthodox kosher organization, has more details here.

 

Thank you.

[baruchgershom]

How to cruise and still keep strictly kosher.

2 Caveats:

All cabin door locks are electronic. We did not carry the key, and had the room steward open the door for us as needed. The room stewards were all aware of these Sabbath rules and were very accommodating./QUOTE]

 

I would suggest to people that they should not assume that they will find a steward when they need one to open the door. It is best to talk to the steward before Shabbat and find out the times they will be easily found. Some people tape their doors open when they're out and, before Shabbat, make sure that all valuables are locked in the safe. Of course, they explain this to the steward so he won't remove the tape.

[baruchgershom]

I did Bermuda out of NY on the Dawn in August 2010. There were a bunch of kosher cruisers on that sailing, probably around 50-60. Like you, I found that NCL does a great job with kosher food.

 

You can try posting on the roll call to connect with other kosher cruisers but your best bet may be once you get on board.

 

On one cruise, one guy brought a siddur with a compass in it... came in handy trying to figure out which way was East for davening. :)

 

A neighbor of mine was on the Jewel out of Miami one week a year or two ago when it was the week that yeshivas typically take a break. Sixty frum families were onboard and the ship had not stored enough kosher meals. They ran out on the first day. Fortunately, they had a large number of Empire kosher whole cornish hens (do you think NCL gets these at Costco like we do?). My friend, an experienced mashgiach, worked with the chef to kasher some equipment and prepare meals for the hungry Yidden. That saved the day, but what a disaster. I worry that one day again NCL will have a large number of kosher meal requests and not be prepared.

[baruchgershom]

You should consult with a Rabbi you are comfortable with for an authoritative explanation.

 

In short, Sabbath observers can go on a cruise so long as you board on Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday. If the cruise is for purposes of a mitzvah (good deed) you can even board on Friday. The prohibition of travelling in excess of 2000 cubits (approx 3000-4000 feet) on Sabbath generally does not apply at sea.

 

100-200 years ago, sea travel overlapping Sabbath was a fairly common practice as journeys by sea often took over 7 days. There is thus an established body of Jewish law dealing with the subject. A Rabbi will be able to advise you further on specifics.

 

The Star-K, an orthodox kosher organization, has more details here.

 

I am pleased to see that the Star-K recently revised the article you posted a link to. The original article, which I have a hard-copy of, had numerous misstatements [as nice of a word as I can come up with] that have been corrected here. If I recall the original correctly, the biggest difference is that the original version suggested that it might be possible to go ashore from a ship on Shabbat under certain circumstances, completely overlooking the fact that NCL and immigration authorities requre passenters to take their electronic passenger key to get on or off the ship, which isn't possible for a shomer shabbat because it is muktsa.The revised version makes note of that problem. For those who remember the original article, please disregard what it said and read the revised version.

[dwjoe]

A neighbor of mine was on the Jewel out of Miami one week a year or two ago when it was the week that yeshivas typically take a break. Sixty frum families were onboard and the ship had not stored enough kosher meals. They ran out on the first day. Fortunately, they had a large number of Empire kosher whole cornish hens (do you think NCL gets these at Costco like we do?). My friend, an experienced mashgiach, worked with the chef to kasher some equipment and prepare meals for the hungry Yidden. That saved the day, but what a disaster. I worry that one day again NCL will have a large number of kosher meal requests and not be prepared.

That is disappointing. Since NCL asks for 30 days notice for special meal requests, they should be able to estimate how much they will need for a particular sailing.

 

Someone recently wrote a letter to kashrus magazine about this or a similar occurrence. http://www.kashrusmagazine.com/magazine.php?do=160 (about 1/3 of the way down)

 

It's a good idea to bring along your own food in reserve... I usually bring a 6 pack of bagels, peanut butter, jam, and cookies ... but it would not be practical to to bring enough for an entire 7 day cruise.

[dwjoe]

I came across these videos an NCL cruiser made about his kosher experiences aboard. Includes videos of all the kosher meals.

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/yonaharyehsapir

[tokidoki]

Hi, we are sailing on the Jewel in October, and had only one unfortunate experience with ample meals last year, due to several hurricanes!:mad::mad: However we hope for the best this time! I did check out the videos, for breakfast and I saw fresh lox, not weberman in his plate:confused::confused: Just wondering where it was from and how he knew it was kosher?

[dwjoe]

He doesn't say, but I'm assuming he inquired on board about the lox. That's something that may change from sailing to sailing though.

 

Just FYI, NCL did offer weberman's breakfast items as well on our sailing.

[tokidoki]

we love their breakfast items, just wondered about the lox! We always start with lunch, even though we have to wait, it is certainly worth it!:cool::cool:

[Brighton Line]

I came across these videos an NCL cruiser made about his kosher experiences aboard. Includes videos of all the kosher meals.

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/yonaharyehsapir

 

Thanks to all, you brought back memories of my childhood and my Orthodox Grandfather (almost Ultra Orthodox) though I was raised Reformed.

 

As a kid I remember even the two refrigerators and boy did I get in trouble for putting the Milk back in the wrong one, and low and behold below the Hebrew sign for Milk there was one in English :)

 

Our Meet and Greet asked for and got a gallery tour, on it we were told that all breads/rolls/bagels were baked on board with the exception of rye bread.

 

FWIW, and thanks for the trip back to my childhood and Grandma cooking Kosher.

[baruchgershom]

Hi, we are sailing on the Jewel in October, and had only one unfortunate experience with ample meals last year, due to several hurricanes!:mad::mad: However we hope for the best this time! I did check out the videos, for breakfast and I saw fresh lox, not weberman in his plate:confused::confused: Just wondering where it was from and how he knew it was kosher?

 

I think the best thing to do is to get the staff to go into the kitchens and the store rooms and take photos of the packaging and show you if the packages of particular foods have a hechsher you trust.

[Bubby6]

A group of us will be on HAL Veendam August 26, 12 to Bermuda. We are 5 for a minyan, and hope that we will find another 5 to join us.

 

If we definitely have 10, we can bring along a Sefer Torah as well!