Cruising with Dietary Preferences and Needs

On a cruise, onboard restaurants cater to a variety of dietary preferences and needs, whether you’re lactose intolerant, sensitive to gluten, or looking for vegan options.  Celebrity Cruises is one line that is particularly favorable for vegetarian and vegan cruisers. Vegan cruise food can be found in nearly all onboard restaurants—if you know how to look for it.

Let Wait Staff Know Your Needs

If you have any dietary requirements, including food allergies, be sure to let your travel advisor know so that they can annotate it on your reservation.   For the best experience, you may want to select a traditional dining option so that you have the same wait staff for your meals.  However, you aren't locked into only eating in the main dining room.    The buffet is one of the best places to find vegetarian and vegan choices as well as other dietary choices. 

Check the Menu's Legend

Restaurants around the world, including those on cruise lines, are becoming more sensitive to diners'

needs by offering appropriate menu selections.  Many menus have a legend at the bottom of the page that makes it easier for diners to find what they’re looking for.

click image to enlarge menu

For example, on Celebrity Cruises, vegetarian menu options are noted with a leaf, and lactose-free choices are marked with a small blue cow with a line through it. If a menu item is designated with both a leaf and a blue cow, it’s most likely vegan. However, you should always check with your server to make sure there are no egg-based products in the meal.

Notice the legend in the menu above.  There are two vegetarian dishes, one of which is also vegan. Caprese is a vegetarian starter which could be ordered as a main dish as well.  Dal is a vegetarian dish that is vegan, since it has the blue cow and leaf designation.

If you’re on a cruise with ever-changing menus, the wait staff will be your greatest resource. Before each meal, let your waiter or maître d’ know you’re looking for vegan options on the cruise ship. They are well versed in the day’s offerings, the way food is prepared, and the ingredients used in each dish, so they will be your go-to experts to satisfy your dietary needs. Waiters have direct access to the kitchen, so if you have a specific question, they can get answers right from the source. We always ask them for their recommendations.

Find Your Choices on the Buffet

There are no menus on the buffet line, but there are signs by each food selection.  Many of them have the same symbols found on the bottom of dinner menus to help you determine how the dish is prepared and if it meets your dietary needs.   If you still aren't sure an item works for your diet, ask one of the servers.  If they don't know, they can get you an answer.

 

For example, many vegan cruisers find that the buffet is the easiest way to enjoy a meal without meat or animal by-products.  You could build your own salad at the salad bar, load up on vegetables at the deli, or fill your plate with an assortment of fresh fruits.

This Grilled Tilapia with Creamy White Wine Sauce is both vegetarian and vegan.   

For vegans, start with the vegetarian selections and explore further to see if it is something you can eat.

Whether you have food allergies or specific food preferences, cruise lines are committed to provide a culinary experience to meet your needs.  The staff are trained to  meet your requirements.  We've even seen executive chefs sit down at the table with guests to discuss menu options with them.  Don't be afraid to cruise fearing that you won't be able to satisfy your requirements.

Connect With Us On

Sign-up for Exclusive Email Offers

I recently completed extensive training and have become Travel Safety Verified. As your dedicated Travel Advisor, your safety is our priority, and it's our job to ensure you have the necessary information you need to give you confidence and peace of mind when making your future travel plans. Click the link to review our Travel Safety program with valuable resources that will answer many of your questions.

Where have you explored? 

Gather your travel and food pics and join us every Wednesday afternoon at 4 PM Eastern for the latest installment of #FoodTravelChat

What's for Dinner

October is National Plan a Cruise Month

When you think of a cruise, what's the first thing that comes to mind? 

We are betting one of your first thoughts includes eating some great food - and perhaps a lot of it during your cruise vacation.

Cruising is all about choices, and when it comes to food, the cruise lines have taken things up a notch or so lately. 

Do you eat dinner at home at the same time every night?    Do you eat early or late?   

When you go out for dinner do you like fast food, buffets, or fine dining? Perhaps you like all three?

When booking your cruise, you'll be able to make some of the same choices that you do at home.  The choices vary by cruise line and ship.    Let's take a look at some of the choices.

Traditional Dining

At the time of booking, you select early or late dining and the table size that suits your style.   Every night you have a table waiting for you in the main dining room with the same dining staff waiting there to serve you.  The meal consists of several courses with a menu that typically changes each night.   Often there is a theme to the menu. Select one or more appetizer, soup or salad, your main course, and your dessert.   Can't make up your mind?  No problem, select as many as you want.

With this form of dining, your wait staff gets to know you, your likes, and dislikes.  Imagine sitting down for dinner and not even having to ask for the glass of ice tea that you like to have with your meal. You may also make some new friends with passengers if you select a larger table size.

Open Seating

A variation of traditional dining is open seating which has different names depending on the cruise line.   With this arrangement, you don't select a dining time in advance and are not assigned a table.    A portion of the main dining room, or perhaps the entire dining room is devoted to this option. The menu is the same as with the traditional dining consisting of several courses. You arrive at the dining room during specified times, and tell the maître d’ about your dining preferences, such as table size.

The main difference between this and traditional dining is that you won't have the same wait staff and most likely will be dining with different passengers if you select a larger table size than your party.  If you find wait staff that you really like, you can request to be seated in their section, so this can be a hybrid of traditional dining if you request it.

Buffet

For those that want a more casual dinner experience, you can select cafeteria style dining in the ship's buffet.  Here you can select from several different serving stations and return as many times as you like for more food.  Arrive any time you want during specified dining hours and stay as long as you like.

On some ships, there may also be an alternative dining option in the buffet where you still make reservations. This can be a great option if you return to the ship late from a shore excursion and just want to quickly dine before starting your evening entertainment.

(Updated 10/11/2021)

Dining Post-COVID

As we had anticipated, there are some changes in dining post-COVID.  The most dramatic change will be with buffets.   One might have thought they'd be eliminated, but happily they remain open. The self-serve option is replaced by friendly staff serving you instead.  That typically occurred  pre-COVID as well when there was a Norovirus outbreak, so this is nothing new to the industry.   It's also possible that the buffet will also become an alternative venue for the traditional sit-down meal to allow for more social distancing and to accommodate all passengers at their desired dining time.

We also suspect that dining tables will not be full, allowing for social distancing, while still keeping the socialization aspect of dining.  Dining times my be staggered as well, allowing for the accommodation of all passengers at their desired dining times.

What we've heard from disembarking passengers from recent voyages is that the cruise experience feels normal.  They are quite happy with the changes around dining.   In fact, the cruise lines are getting higher marks than before from passengers.

Specialty Dining

Some ships have dining venues that require reservations and offer an upscale dining experience much like fine dining back home.   There is an additional gratuity charged to your onboard account for the special service provided.   On some ships, there may only be one specialty restaurant while on others, there may be several specialty options.   The specialty cuisine might include steaks, chops, seafood, Italian, Asian, Japanese and other cultural dishes.

Often the dinner is served with a flair, such as flaming entrées and desserts made table side with the food be presented at once to the entire table.   Expect to be dining for several hours in most specialty restaurants.   This is an optional dining experience that you may want to incorporate into your cruise, especially if you are celebrating a special occasion during the cruise.

Room Service

Don't feel like leaving your cabin tonight?   Pick up the phone and phone in your order.   You can select from the same dinner options that you would have in the main dining room.  Imagine a romantic dinner on your balcony as you sail to your next port of call.   On most ships, room service is included in the price of your cruise and available 24 hours a day.   Some ships have recently added a surcharge for late night dining due to the unfortunate waste of food they have been experiencing from guests that probably need coffee instead of food.

Pizza, Burgers, and Other Treats

You return to the ship from a fun day in port and you just don't feel like a sit down meal.  Instead, you have a taste for your favorite comfort food like pizza or burgers.    Many ships offer pizza all day long and some have even added specialty burger restaurants, such as Johnny Rockets, where you can get a burger and fries complete with your favorite flavor milk shake.

Don't forget some soft-serve ice cream to put the finishing touches on your comfort meal. You'll typically find these dining options near the main pool area or the promenade on ships that have them.  In some cases, there may be an extra charge, but many are included in your cruise price.

Dine Where You Want / When You Want

Regardless of the dining option you select at the time of booking, you'll find several dining options available once you are onboard.   Just like you might at home, there are nights when you want a fancy meal and others where you are quite content to have a slice of pizza and your favorite beverage.

In recent years, the cruise lines have begun to add more and more options to their dining repertoire.   Guests have told the cruise lines that while on vacation they don't want to be told what to wear, when to eat, and where to eat.   The cruise lines have listened.

Norwegian Cruise Line introduced "Freestyle Dining" over 20 years ago and have continued to refine the program.   One thing you need to realize is that you will be paying the surcharges we mentioned for specialty restaurants for the freedom of choice.   The fees won't break the bank, but you need to include them in your vacation budget.    We've written about Freestyle Dining many times before - just do a search to read more.

You don't need to eat at the same restaurant every night of your cruise, unless you want to.   Try some of the alternative dining options on your next cruise - you may find a new favorite.  Also, this is a good place to try new foods.   The waiter will be glad to bring you something else if you don't like your first choice.

Bon Appétit

 

Click the banner above for the latest cruise promotions

 

Cruise lines are offering special promotions and pricing on popular cruises to encourage consumers to plan their next cruise vacation now. We'll be featuring promotions on our website and social media.

Choose Cruise Month (click for mini-series)

Connect With Us On

    
    

Sign-up for Exclusive Email Offers

I recently completed extensive training and have become Travel Safety Verified. As your dedicated Travel Advisor, your safety is our priority, and it's our job to ensure you have the necessary information you need to give you confidence and peace of mind when making your future travel plans. Click the link to review our Travel Safety program with valuable resources that will answer many of your questions.

Where have you explored? 

Gather your travel and food pics and join us every Wednesday afternoon at 4 PM Eastern for the latest installment of #FoodTravelChat

Greetings From Stanley Bear

click images to enlarge

Welcome Aboard 

Majestic Princess 

Our home for the next week was Cabin A241, a balcony cabin on Aloha deck (deck 12) starboard side. 

This mid-forward cabin is in a great location with just a short distance to the elevator lobby. After dropping off our hand luggage, we took a few pictures of the cabin, before it would become "lived in", and then headed to get some lunch.

Here is the view of Melbourne, Australia from our balcony and a few pictures from our buffet lunch.  Since this was our second time on Majestic Princess, we already knew our way around the ship.  Normally we would explore the ship after lunch, but this time we could just relax.

For more images of our embarkation day, see our Welcome Aboard Lunch photo album.

We'll talk more about our first day in Melbourne in another post.  For more images, see our Shutterfly Photo Page.
Hopefully, you've followed us live on our social media channels as well.  Don't worry if you didn't, as our anchor post will tie everything together for you.  Just click the image (left) to our diary post.

Connect With Us On

        

Sign-up for Exclusive Email Offers


Where have you explored? 

Gather your travel and food pics and join us every Wednesday night for the latest installment of #FoodTravelChat  

Each week we post images from our trips and participate in several travel chats on Twitter.

Take advantage of these resources to assist in you in planning your dream vacations.  Of course, we are always available to answer any questions you might have about travel and the industry.