Vegan at Sea

I wasn’t the best blogger on my past cruise. I took advantage of not having to carry anything- which meant my camera slept back at the room most of the time and missed out on all the food! Luckily sweet Stephanie from CookinFanatic saved my day- she went on the same cruise (a few weeks earlier) and is letting me borrow some of her food photos!

I might not have many photos, but I do have words!

Is it possible to eat vegan on a cruise ship?

I tried calling Royal Caribbean in advance to notify them of my dietary restrictions, but as it turns out I was told to just notify my waiter at dinner. It was hysterical after I explained to him that I don’t eat meat or dairy or any animal products at all, he suggested three dishes for me: shrimp scampi, chicken and a mozzarella calzone. They couldn’t understand what it was that I didn’t eat. It was so funny every night when they’d discuss what I was having and try to throw chicken on there!

I must say, our waiter and head waiter tried harder to accommodate me and were more respectful about my choices than I could have ever asked for. The head waiter (who is over the entire dining room) knew my name and would talk to me each night about what they would make for me the next evening.

There were so many people handling the food that it is pretty difficult to know exactly what is in the food. I had to assume the wheat and sourdough breads didn’t contain milk or eggs. I had to assume the Indian dishes only had the vegan ingredients I’ve had in past.

Even though our waiters were phenomenal in how hard they tried, the dining room was the hardest place to get good vegan food. Like the second night: we discussed a yummy dish of lentils, grilled veggies and a potato.. they served me a small plate of seasonless steamed carrots, broccoli and asparagus. I loaded up on bread to fill my belly. The first night my salad consisted on romaine lettuce and olive oil + vinegar. I didn’t understand why I couldn’t have other ingredients on my plates since I saw them on other’s dishes.

Summary: You can certainly eat vegan on a cruise ship, but maybe not 100%. And if you’re vegan, plan on raw fruit being the only dessert you’ll have. Although the dining room did serve me vegan dishes, they were plain. I enjoy the process of eating and when looking at everyone’s gorgeous dishes, I was really unsatisfied by my plain steamed veggies. (I had seen many vegan options at the buffet downstairs so I knew they had more interesting vegan food in the kitchen). If I went on a cruise again I would bring some larabars and such to bulk up my diet.

 

What I Ate

Breakfast: I loaded my plate with fresh fruit. In addition I’d grab a little pancake and piece of waffle. I had some oatmeal, too!

Lunch: The salad bar had lots of veggie choices. The only non-creamy dressing was a raspberry vin. or oil + vinegar. I;d have a huge salad with beans, bread and whatever other veggies I found around the buffet.

 Dinner: Dinner was the hardest. We were dressed up in a dining room so there was no buffet where I could create my own balanced meal. There was one amazing dish I had the first night (after a plate of plain romaine lettuce). It was a biryani dish of yellow rice and curried veggies (just like the photos above but without the cream sauce). That was good- and the one dish they really struck out on. The rest of the time I ate plain veggies. By the last night David and I ditched the dining room and grabbed some delish Indian food and other veggies from the buffet downstairs.

Fourth Meal: Dessert! None vegan, none that tasty. I tried a little bit of everything (which would add up to a big plate every night!).

Because I really don’t like animal products anymore, it was really easy to walk right by those options. I didn’t want any animal products straight like I used to eat: yogurt, the cheese bar, milk or ice cream. I did, however, seize up the opportunity to try special items that had animal products somewhere in them. The funny thing is that my vegan options tasted (and left me feeling better) than all the food with animal products I ate. I think I would have felt better if I stuck with all vegan foods, but I did enjoy all the foods I ate. It’s not often that I have platters of yummy food out in front of me like that, so I seized the opportunity in my own kind of way.

 

If you’re interested in David’s food, here are a few more of Stephanie’s photos that are also exactly what David had in the dining room!  

A lobster bisque and a fancy beef dish…

…and an alfredo pasta with mushrooms.

Do you change your eating habits on a cruise? Have you ever cruised while following an alternative diet?