Vegans and HAL - Nope

[Twickenham]

Not to be contrary, but fish is a meat?:confused:

 

From the Oxford Dictionary of English - Meat: the flesh of an animal or bird as food.

I know one thing for sure. I could never eat duck. Reminds me too much of Donald and Daisy.

 

I once stayed on a sheep farm during lambing season. That was it for me and lamb... :rolleyes:

[pipedreams62]

If you eat anything with a face, you are NOT a Vegetarian.

 

 

 

 

[mudscraper]

Brother Racoon

 

I thought of Mr. P.H. right away.

And he showed up.:)

 

 

Rich

[pipedreams62]

Brother Racoon

 

I thought of Mr. P.H. right away.

And he showed up.:)

 

 

Rich

 

 

My Grand High Exalted Mystic Ruler... Brother of all racoondom.

[mudscraper]

My Grand High Exalted Mystic Ruler... Brother of all racoondom.

aka..Morris Fink

 

p.s Love the 3 coon tails.

Rich

[suse]

I'm wicked confused now. Fish as meat? Semi versus complete? What are we talking about here?:confused: I just thought vegetarians ate alot of lettuce. It got very complicated. I like the rice and beans notion though.

[pipedreams62]

These hot dogs aren't vegan?:eek:

 

 

[JoKen1]

On HAL's web page it clearly says that Vegan is not something that they provide.

 

My first cruise with HAL was wonderful! One of the main things was how great the food was.

 

Then I turned into a vegetarian and found that the food was sometimes good and sometimes not so good. It was hit and miss.

 

So now I know. When I cruise it is NOT for the food. I figure I'll be able to find a few things to eat and then as long as I am not hungry I'll be fine.

 

There are so many great things about going on a cruise that to be upset over the food is not worth it in my book.

 

While I think Vegan is a wonderful choice and you have all right to not eat certain foods you also have to agree that most people don't understand the difference between Vegan and Vegetarian. Heck many people don't get that Vegetarian means no flesh. No meat, no fish and no fowl.

 

Many people can't understand why someone would not eat meat let alone milk, cheese and eggs.

 

So next cruise, just enjoy it. Know you will most likely be eating a lot of salads or steamed veggies and rice. Just accept it....food is not the main reason for a Vegan to cruise.

 

That all being said, I fully understand your disappointment as I was also disappointed when I went on my first cruise as a vegetarian.

[whogo]

On HAL's web page it clearly says that Vegan is not something that they provide.

Can you provide the link? A search for vegan turned up this one hit: http://www.hollandamerica.com/news/NewsRelease.action?newsReleaseId=715

[mamaofami]

HAL's best dessert is in The Pinnacle and is cholate volcano. It's very special. If it's cooked one minute too long or one minute too little, it doesn't come out right; cake like on the outside and soft and creamy inside.I remember that dessert has a double s because if I could, I would always want doubles.:D

[suse]

Wow! Chocolate volcano. Now we're talking! Although, I never eat sweets. So, that's ok. Good for you! It's vegetarian too.

[MadManOfBethesda]

I just thought vegetarians ate alot of lettuce.

 

 

 

Oh........

 

 

My........

 

 

God.

[JoKen1]

Special Diets and Meals: Kosher*, Passover Seder dinner,

gluten-free, salt-free, fat-free, baby food, diabetic and other

special dietary needs can be accommodated only with advance

notification. For special meal arrangements, please contact the

Ship Services Department at 1-800-541-1576 at least 90 days

prior to departure.

While we try to fulfill all requests, it may not always be feasible.

Holland America Line reserves the right to substitute products

when specified brands are not available. An additional charge

may be applied. Reconfirm any special requests with the

Dining Room Manager after you board.

*Kosher meals are prepared off the ship in a kosher kitchen,

frozen and brought to the table sealed in their original

containers. There is no kosher kitchen on board, nor do we have

kosher dishes, utensils, pots or pans on the ship. Cooking facilities

onboard are not considered kosher.

 

I found the above but it doesn't clearly say anything about Vegan. However, I know there was somewhere I found they do not provide Vegan. I'll keep looking.

 

The above does say they need to know at least 90 days before you sail of any special needs though.

[CowPrincess]

Oh........

 

 

My........

 

 

God.

 

LOL :D Thanks for that, MMoB!

[kyriecat]

Found this on the website:

 

Special dietary needs, such as vegetarian, diabetic or gluten-free meals, are easily accommodated with advance requests. Kosher meals and a Health Conscious Dining option are also available. To arrange special meals, please contact the Ship Services Department at 800-541-1576 at least 60 days prior to departure.

http://www.hollandamerica.com/cruise-vacation-onboard/Dining.action

 

That makes it sound like vegetarian meals must be ordered in advance. It doesn't say anything about vegan but HAL might consider that part of vegetarian or "Health Conscious Dining". I haven't a clue what "Health Conscious Dining" means. Anybody care to provide enlightenment?

[suse]

You know, I really love kosher food. Hebrew National has the best hot dogs. You can get them fat-free too. I don't want alot of additives.

I think I will try to become a vegetarian now, after reading all of this. But, with fish in my diet. You really need protein to have some energy.

[JoKen1]

You can get protein in lots of ways, beans, cheese, eggs plus there are all the "fake" meat products that provide you with protein too. Soy is also good.

 

You do not have to eat anything that is a living creature to get protein. To me, if it has eyes, tongue, lungs, a mouth or a nose I won't eat it. YUCK!

[kyriecat]

You can get protein in lots of ways, beans, cheese, eggs plus there are all the "fake" meat products that provide you with protein too. Soy is also good.

 

You do not have to eat anything that is a living creature to get protein. To me, if it has eyes, tongue, lungs, a mouth or a nose I won't eat it. YUCK!

So, no potatoes? ;)

[JoKen1]

LOL Now that REALLY made me laugh. I'll have to use that one someday.

 

Sounds like something my sister would say to me....she doesn't get the veggie thing. LOL

 

I used to say I wouldn't eat anything that was alive but then people give me the whole "well veggies are alive and how do you know they don't have feelings."

 

Maybe I should just say anything with flesh. LOL

[wander]

And then there are the categories of Lacto-vegetarian and Ovo-lacto vegetarian. I realize that Vegans may not consider these folks true vegetarians, but they certainly outnumber Vegans in American society.

[suse]

Wow. What are they? Remember when Chelsea Clinton became a vegetarian! What a stir it caused!

[CroneWynd]

Update:

After some discussion with HAL, where they told me that yes, they WILL accommodate special dietary requests, and gave me the 'chain of command' to consult should I run into difficulties, we have now booked a second HAL cruise.

 

I have full expectations of eating in the Lido a lot... but, that's okay, as long as I KNOW that I won't have the sort of dining experience that Princess provided (still the best, as far as I'm concerned, for Vegans), I won't feel quite so disappointed... it will just be more like my normal, everyday life of working with what restaurants offer.

 

We will have a great time, regardless :)

[cruisesR4me]

Just a heads up. I am practically a vegan as I am a vegetarian that is lactose intolerant. My very best options for eating dinners were on RCCL. Their windjammer buffet at night had an Indian/oriental station that had the most delicious vegan dishes and plenty of choices. I have sailed on almost all the mass market cruise lines and I would rate that buffet as the best for vegan choices. I do like HAL's vegetarian menu in their main dining room but it can get a little boring after so many nights (and me being limited by the lactose thing)!! I was not so happy on Princess. It was always "the chef will make you something special" I don't like surprises, so that did not go over well with me. I would rather have the option of ordering off a menu or choosing from a buffet. I hope you have a better cruise this time on HAL. If it does not work out, I would recommend trying RCCL. I still dream about that great Indian food!!! You gotta figure it is authenic as they have tons of workers they have to feed it to.

[3dashers]

As I understand.. this is viewed as a dietary choice and is somewhat standard language. We as a family fall into this bucket..and it is a diet of choice. We have never asked to have a cruise line/hotel/resort accomidate (sp?) us. We eat organic.. I bake our bread and so on. We are on vacation so well we are on vacation ;) Actually it is quilty pleasure..ahh the desserts.

 

The search I found on HAL site.. they will accomidate (ap?) ANY diet for medical reasons, with notice. I do think they offer the 'low fat' or 'healthy heart' items without a request.

[Arwen]

Very interesting thread and some great comments (minus the rude ones!)

 

Hubby and I will be taking our 7th HAL cruise on Jan. 4th for a loooong 33 days.

 

I am gluten intolerant or "celiac". HAL does an adequate job. Note, I said adequate. I never starve, but then I don't gain weight either like the other cruisers! The first night's dinner on a cruise is very bland. They know I am gluten free, but they always say that first night that they can only offer meat and potato. It is ok, and I survive :p I understand that the kitchen crew is very busy that first night just trying to get all those meals out to people. But, my meal request menu for GF has always been submitted 90 days prior to the cruise as HAL requires. So, it is a mystery why they cannot come up with something a little better. No big deal, though.

 

Every night thereafter for dinner, the head waiter brings me a menu for the next night's dinner and I circle the menu choices. The chef then prepares that meal gluten free for me. However, it almost takes an act of G-d to get all the menus I need for breakfast and lunch. It can be done, but with great effort on my part. I really believe that at dinner that HAL should hand out the breakfast and lunch menus, too. You see, if you are on a special diet, HAL will only accommodate your dietary needs only when you eat in the main DR. On all of our cruises, I have had to "chase around" to get these other menus.

 

Overall, I am mostly pleased with the food. One of HAL's gf desserts is a chocolate cake that is so decadent!!! However, on my last cruise, there were several nights where only jello was available. No big deal. I found that having a decaf coffee with cream and Splenda to be a fine and calorie free dessert many nights. :)

 

I realize that HAL has a big job accommodating so many different special dietary needs. Serving so many and maintaining quality is a challenge, for sure. But, I have made suggestions numerous times to HAL to make things easier for folks like me.....and for others....and for them, too. My suggestions have fallen on deaf ears.

 

1. I suggested that having a fixed or somewhat fixed menu would be so easy to do. If I were allowed to fill out my menus even a month or several weeks ahead of time and I would know and they would know far in advance of what they need to have on hand and I would know that they would be able to easily accommodate. You see, on nights when I was unable to make it to the DR for dinner because of a later shore excursion or other reason, HAL did not make it easy for me to obtain the dinner menu to fill out for the next night. I was able to, on our last cruise, with MUCH explanation and a lot of hassle, arrange to have all dinner menus delivered to my cabin each evening. I could fill it out and hand it in ahead of time to the front desk (who in turn gave it to the chef).

 

2. I always pack some of my own food items: Blue Diamond gf crackers (to go with the copious amounts of smoked salmon offered on HAL.) Gluten free cereal, snack bars, nuts, and gf cookies). In other words I cooperate knowing I am on a special diet. HAL does not go out of their way to offer anything extra special, other than at dinner time (dessert) to make my meals extra special. I take the time to make myself feel special.:rolleyes:

 

3. It would be nice if HAL offered for purchase (and I would gladly buy it) a gluten free food basket that could be delivered to my cabin by the second night of the cruise. Sure, it would be expensive, but then HAL could make a little extra money and I could forget cramming my suitcase with food, too.

 

And lastly, dietary mistakes were made on occasion and will continue, but I survived. For someone who has severe allergies though, I am not so sure I would trust HAL. I wish they could or would try to improve in this area, but with so many pax, not sure it would is possible. I, for one, would be more than willing to pay an extra fee or surcharge to get that extra care, concern, and pampering re: my dietary needs, that would make my trip more enjoyable.