Vegetarian menu?

[letterhead]

 

Hi, all,

 

I'm wondering if anyone has been on a HAL ship lately and ordered from the vegetarian menu—if they still have one. I know they have vegetarian offerings on the regular menu, but legend has it that there is a separate vegetarian menu as well. Many thanks.

 

Liz

[alcpa1]

There is a separate vegetarian menu available. The menu was available each evening for the next day's dinner. You might check with the maitre 'd upon boarding to see if this is still the protocol on your specific ship.

FYI, our waiter was reluctant to do this for our veggie dinner mate so she just ordered from the main menu and had them leave the meat off the plate. She was not thrilled to say the least.

[Juanita462]

I tried the vegetarian menu on our last cruise and was not particularly

impressed. The meals I ordered were poor quality and lukewarm - so just ordered off the main menu and asked for steamed vegies and a baked potato - their usual vegetarian dish on the main menu always included pasta which is not a good choice for me - my tablemate that

ordered it said it was cold every single time.

 

The meat eaters were very happy with their meals and DH got his steak done to order every time -which hasn't always happened - he was very pleased.

 

I don't think they had changed the vegetarian menu for a long time as it was really stained and grubby - I think the steward was embarrassed at handing it over and seemed very relieved when I said I would just order off the main menu.

[Gablin]

I am not a complete vegetarian - since I eat seafood, I am a pescetarian.

On my last HAL cruise, I tried to choose the vegetarian option each night, either in the main dining room or on the night that we ate in the Pinnacle Grill. The vegetarian option in the Pinnacle Grill does not remain in my mind, but I do remember that it sounded awful. I chose the salmon, which turned out to be an enormous filet, way too large for one person to eat.

 

I did not choose to use the exclusively vegetarian menu in the MDR, as I do not like to choose the following night's meal while just finishing that night's dinner. HAL is the same as other cruise lines (Royal Caribbean, etc.) in this respect.

 

I would not recommend the chili rellenos, if the Veendam rendition is the same for other HAL ships. What was set in front of me that night was a green pepper half, stuffed with rice and mild cheese, with a tiny bit of garlic and cayenne.

 

Vegetarian options for lunch and breakfast in the Lido were OK - nothing to be excited about, but no terribly scary stuff either.

 

It was easy to get extra vegetables or starch at dinner, if I wanted.

 

I never went hungry, but I did feel that HAL could do a bit better in vegetarian options in the MDR and in the Lido.

[V and S]

Our waiter in the Pinnacle had the chef make me something special for dinner. It was very nice. I never thought to ask for a vegetarian menu at any other time, and always found lots of things to eat. (Oosterdam and Noordam)

[Desdemona01]

for years HAL had the best vegetarian options around. In recent times they have downsized their vegetarian menu and it's much less appealing. On our last cruise the server seemed very reluctant to bring me the veggie menu to pre-order my entree the night before in order to be served when the rest of my table was served. Each time my entree was at least 15 minutes later than the others, despite being pre-ordered. I finally gave up and ordered the single veggie option on the main menu. Disappointing, because I always enjoyed the variety of options previously offered.

[bcnvcanada]

Along with the other posters, vegetarians have a hard time on HAL. Steamed veggies, and a baked potato are okay, but get tiresome. I ate

at ports, had good luck with food there. Lido had good cheese choices, if you do that. Didn't need to lose wieght, but lost seven pounds. Good luck.

[dockrocker]

It's a little frustrating that cruise lines are so behind the curve on this. Apart from the growing number of vegetarians, there's an ever-increasing proportion of people who limit their meat consumption and don't want it at every meal. It's always much harder to find veg options onboard than it is on land, but I live in a large city and perhaps I'm spoiled in terms of restaurateur enlightenment on this topic. And of course the overall cruising demographic tends to be older and more traditional/conservative in its eating habits, so the cruise lines are catering to that majority.*

 

*Hope the boldface heads off the "I'm 87 and a very adventurous vegetarian!" responses. ;)

[kkorman]

I chose the vegetarian option on the main menu most nights (though it was not labeled). I asked to make sure there were no animals in it. :)

 

Some were really good others so so.

 

Buffet was not very good for vegetarians.

[letterhead]

. . . because now I'm prepared to be underwhelmed! I had heard that HAL was ahead of the curve, but it appears they have, if anything, taken a step backward. I am ovo-lacto, as are my daughters, but they'll be happy with pizza, salad, and dessert. My husband tends to order vegetarian, also. Still, the soups and salads sound good, and I'll try to be judicious with my other selections. It sounds as if ordering off the main menu will get me the best service.

 

Thanks for all of your responses. I'm not going just for the food—it's a port-intensive Med cruise, so there will be much to enjoy.

 

Liz

[celle]

I chose the vegetarian option on the main menu most nights (though it was not labeled). I asked to make sure there were no animals in it. :)

 

Some were really good others so so.

 

Buffet was not very good for vegetarians.

 

Just an aside, for laughs:

 

On a recent cruise, not fancying the pasta dish, I asked our waiter for some suggestions for vegetarian, saying "I don't eat meat."

 

His reply: "Why don't you try the chicken then, Madam?" :D