Shameful vegan experience on Rhapsody

[ryano]

I asked a question and posted a couple times in this thread and was the only one jumped on :rolleyes: Maybe I came off as harsh but I'm not trying to be mean, nasty, mean spirited nor do I have a "self involved character" and I'll be damned if I'll be vilified here. Especially when some were MUCH worse than I feel I was. :rolleyes:

 

OP, can I staRt over please? Of course we can shake hands and clear the air. I am truly truly sorry you have had a miserable dining experience on this cruise. I mean that and my apologies to you if I offended you in anyway. I'm FAR from a cruise line cheerleader and maybe I took you post totally the wrong way but yes it certainly did come off as one of entitlement. Again, my bad. That's all I know to say here and will be removing myself from this thread now. Y'all can carry on if you wish.

 

Everything goes out the window as far as my diet goes when I cruise. I don't eat right and tend to eat things I never eat on land. I guess vegans just can't be as flexible because of very limited options and that's ok. I truly hope you can enjoy the rest of your cruise.

Edited November 6, 2015 by ryano

[aloha43]

We will TRY to accommodate to the best of our ability.

 

Based on that, my expectation is to absolutely be accommodated if I contacted them within that time frame.

 

 

It clearly states "We will TRY to accommodate to their best of their ability"

 

That shouldn't mean ones expectation is to ABSOLUTELY be accommodated.

[happy trailer]

First of all, to the OP I am sorry it has not been a great cruise for you, but wanted to congratulate you on becoming Diamond!!!

 

Thank you :)

 

Anyway, it is very unfortunate that they can not accommodate you as being vegan is not at all rare or unusual.

 

Have you tried to meet with the Food and Beverage manager or the Guest Services manager about this? It is certainly something that is important to you and should be resolved at least for future cruises at this point.

 

A quick update, which I expressed in the following message to a friend with whom I spent a month cruising last fall. Please note that today is day 8 of this cruise. Please also note that this morning I again went to Guest Services to ask to meet with the Food & Beverage Manager; I was assured that they would contact him to set up a meeting:

 

'1:20 pm: just got a call from the head waiter. Too many frustrating details to write now, but it is clear that they are trying to keep me from meeting with the F&B manager. Enjoyment of this cruise is now affected. Bad display of PR, customer service, etc etc etc. MDR staff nervous about consequences if I succeed in meeting with F&B? Or has Guest Services been trained to keep passengers away from him, no matter what?'

 

Question for all: Is it common to not be able to meet with the Food & Beverage manager? Is it unreasonable of me to ask to meet with him? I've already spoken with waiter, asst head waiter, head waiter, asst maitre d', and maitre d' with no success.

 

Be assured that at no time in any of my meetings or requests did I raise my voice even slightly, and I spoke only with respect- in fact, if anything, I likely was verging on tears in one or two of those meetings (I guess I tend to get a bit emotional after a few days of not being fed?).

[Cabansail]

That is terrible PR. I can feel your frustration. I do not think your requests are in any way unreasonable. Your diet is not mainstream but it is hardly revolutionary. You have every right to be very annoyed and it's a credit to you that you have not even raised your voice.

 

Can you see someone above the F&B Manager?

[USNUZULOOSE]

Oh my, OP if you are having this much trouble, I don't want think about how much more difficult my meals would be. I can't have so many things. Dairy, yeast, sugar, certain oils. Cheese's. Most of my meals now are very bland.

I can do with out the sugar. I can't have normal coffee or tea. Anything with caffeine or acids.

 

OP I hope your next cruise you can get accommodated better.

[NorbertsNiece]

OP.

 

The response to this thread is one reason why I seldom hang out on this board any more. Really unpleasant and so unsupportive in the main..... kudos to those who actually read the original post and 'got it'.

 

Ask to speak to 'Junior'. He's the chef I dealt with earlier this year with regard to my GF diet. I also had the most wonderful waiter in the MDR MTD section 'Jackie' who went above and beyond for me. By all means mention 'Miss Linda' on the Suez canal transit cruise.

[wild0826]

A quick update, which I expressed in the following message to a friend with whom I spent a month cruising last fall. Please note that today is day 8 of this cruise. Please also note that this morning I again went to Guest Services to ask to meet with the Food & Beverage Manager; I was assured that they would contact him to set up a meeting:

 

'1:20 pm: just got a call from the head waiter. Too many frustrating details to write now, but it is clear that they are trying to keep me from meeting with the F&B manager. Enjoyment of this cruise is now affected. Bad display of PR, customer service, etc etc etc. MDR staff nervous about consequences if I succeed in meeting with F&B? Or has Guest Services been trained to keep passengers away from him, no matter what?'

 

Question for all: Is it common to not be able to meet with the Food & Beverage manager? Is it unreasonable of me to ask to meet with him? I've already spoken with waiter, asst head waiter, head waiter, asst maitre d', and maitre d' with no success.

 

Be assured that at no time in any of my meetings or requests did I raise my voice even slightly, and I spoke only with respect- in fact, if anything, I likely was verging on tears in one or two of those meetings (I guess I tend to get a bit emotional after a few days of not being fed?).

 

Happy Trailer I have been following this post since the beginning. It has taken me until now to say something because I didnt want to get in the back and forth. Your last post compelled me to say something. First I have to say that you have shown more patience than I would. I am so sorry for what your cruise has turned out to be. No one should feel powerless because I feel that is exactly the position the wait and dining room staff has put you in at this moment. There is absoloutely no excuse for it. I would have been on the verge of tears also but raising my voice at the same time. I am sorry that I cannot tell you how to rectify the situation since I have never been in that situation myself, but I didnt have to be in that situation to understand your frustration. Second I want to say I am sorry how you have been treated by some of these self rightous posters. They have the right to an opinion, but in no way should they bash you and accuse you of self entitlement when thats exactly how they are acting. I can only compare them to faceless bullies that hide behind computers, smart phones, and tablets to bash people that do not fit into their micro bubble. I for one read your entire first and following posts completey. I never felt you were in the wrong. You were assured a vegan meal and they didnt deliver. Not once, not twice, but everyday for a week. That is not a mistake, that is incompetance. OMG let me watch out for the cheerleaders to come out for what I just said. Sorry but now I am ranting. I am not a vegan by any means, but like a human being I can empathize with you. Please come back when you can and let us know how it turned out. Hope you prevail in some way. I know your cruise is almost over and there's nothing that can be done about the poor excuses for meals you have eaten already, but hopefully you can speak to someone that can help this from happening again to another future vegan cruising on that ship. Rant over . Flamers have at it. This should be a good one for you. Have fun.

[poncho1973]

Are you a straight and true member of the Steakandbeeratarian Church or do you just show-up on the holidays?

 

I'm a devotee, not just a Sunday Steaker.

 

 

 

On a serious note, I once knew a girl who was an Extreme Vegan.

 

She ate NOTHING that came from an animal, ate no nightshade veggies (potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, etc.), wore no clothing that even used cotton ("COTTON IS THE REAL DEVIL IN THE WORLD!!!!!") or petroleum products, blah, blah, blah, blah.

 

She looked like death warmed over and rarely seemed to move much. How could she? She was a walking skeleton and looked like the most abused homeless person you ever met.

 

She wouldn't ride in cars or use public transportation and thought breastfeeding was abusing mothers like animals... which made zero sense to me. I think she made a living making vegan soap for flea markets? That's what I remember.

 

At some point she moved to California and I've never heard of or about her again. I'm guessing she either died or gave up some of that in order to not do so.

[happy trailer]

OP.

 

The response to this thread is one reason why I seldom hang out on this board any more. Really unpleasant and so unsupportive in the main..... kudos to those who actually read the original post and 'got it'.

 

Ask to speak to 'Junior'. He's the chef I dealt with earlier this year with regard to my GF diet. I also had the most wonderful waiter in the MDR MTD section 'Jackie' who went above and beyond for me. By all means mention 'Miss Linda' on the Suez canal transit cruise.

 

Thanks, Linda :-) Funny thing is- dining staff keeps telling me that they have a selection of GF food available (I even had two different chefs in WJ walk me over to their GF area) and seem taken aback and lost when I point out that I'm not GF..

 

Makes me want to meet with the F&B manager even more, to see if it's lack of training, education, or communication that's causing my issue.

[NIATPAC29]

The op can vacation other ways. Vegans probably represent less than 1% of passengers. Why should the cruise line spend all the extra $ on food to accomadate those few?

[spookwife]

 

'1:20 pm: just got a call from the head waiter. Too many frustrating details to write now, but it is clear that they are trying to keep me from meeting with the F&B manager. Enjoyment of this cruise is now affected. Bad display of PR, customer service, etc etc etc. MDR staff nervous about consequences if I succeed in meeting with F&B? Or has Guest Services been trained to keep passengers away from him, no matter what? My Personal opinion is it is the other way around: the F&B manager is too afraid to sit down and deal with you because they KNOW it is a major Charlie Foxtrot

 

Question for all: Is it common to not be able to meet with the Food & Beverage manager? Is it unreasonable of me to ask to meet with him? I've already spoken with waiter, asst head waiter, head waiter, asst maitre d', and maitre d' with no success. common> no. Unreasonable to request, again, no. I say demand to speak to the HOTEL DIRECTOR

 

Be assured that at no time in any of my meetings or requests did I raise my voice even slightly, and I spoke only with respect- in fact, if anything, I likely was verging on tears in one or two of those meetings (I guess I tend to get a bit emotional after a few days of not being fed?).

 

Ya know, I think I was too harsh on your as well. re reading the original post, I see where you were told one thing by a chef( I will make you something nice every night, no need to order ahead of time) and the maitre D( you must pre order every night for the next day)

 

is it possible that the chef is NOT actually the one cooking any more? or maybe that they forgot their promise? or there is one hell of a miscommunication somewhere along the line? or the chef who may have promised that has never actually been informed you sat down at all> or he found that it was impossible to make something up on the fly after all?

 

Look, I'll be honest, I don't get why people choose to eat this way outside of medical necessity so it is hard to have even a little bit of empathy here. But the run around you are getting definitely NOT in line with what most of us have experienced with Royal. I mean hell, once , in the CL one evening the HD stopped by for a chat and our couch mates( who happened to be in the cabin next to us) made the comment that he was not exactly thrilled about being woken up at 0730 every morning by lounge chairs being dragged hither and yon above our heads. that evening all of our cabins had a letter of apology from the HD offering us 25% off our next cruise( to be used within a year).

 

at the very least they need to comp you your Izumi meals since you were unable to get satisfaction in the MDR. and yes you do need to follow up when you get back

[Diplomacy]

A quick update, which I expressed in the following message to a friend with whom I spent a month cruising last fall. Please note that today is day 8 of this cruise. Please also note that this morning I again went to Guest Services to ask to meet with the Food & Beverage Manager; I was assured that they would contact him to set up a meeting:

 

'1:20 pm: just got a call from the head waiter. Too many frustrating details to write now, but it is clear that they are trying to keep me from meeting with the F&B manager. Enjoyment of this cruise is now affected. Bad display of PR, customer service, etc etc etc. MDR staff nervous about consequences if I succeed in meeting with F&B? Or has Guest Services been trained to keep passengers away from him, no matter what?'

 

Question for all: Is it common to not be able to meet with the Food & Beverage manager? Is it unreasonable of me to ask to meet with him? I've already spoken with waiter, asst head waiter, head waiter, asst maitre d', and maitre d' with no success.

 

Be assured that at no time in any of my meetings or requests did I raise my voice even slightly, and I spoke only with respect- in fact, if anything, I likely was verging on tears in one or two of those meetings (I guess I tend to get a bit emotional after a few days of not being fed?).

 

I think it's weird that on day 8 you say "enjoyment of the cruise has now been affected." Clearly you weren't enjoying the restauraunt service up to this point, so I would think that you crossed that bridge on day 1. Otherwise, if you mean general enjoyment of the cruise, then I think you are investing too much time into this problem.

 

Just let it go and try to enjoy the rest of the cruise. Yes, RCCL is in the wrong, but if you let them ruin your cruise over a lack of chickpeas, then you'll be in the wrong aswell. The fact is that this whole situation should have been resolved by day 3 at the latest, and I'm honestly not all that surprised that, given that the situation has lasted for 8 days and the sailing is almost over that they are getting into the leg of the cruise where they just won't be motivated to help anyone.

 

I know you've received a lot of advice in this thread about how to "get your problem resolved" about who you should talk to and what you need to do in advance of the cruise, but here is my, more pragmatic advice.

 

1) Figure out something that they can make for you that meets your dietary requirements. That "something" can be anything from a simple veggie salad (olive oil/ vinegar) to a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

2) Find someone who will make that thing for you, and order it.

3) Laugh about it.

 

Yeah, it won't be a roasted squash hash, or a vegan pasta, but they will "find the time" to make it for you, because it's easy, and at least you'll have food. Also consider cutting your grats, since 3/4ths of that goes to restaurant services.

 

Forget for a moment about "what you are owed" or how they "should" be running their restaurant and just compromise for the sake of your vacation and your sanity.

[happy trailer]

I'm a devotee, not just a Sunday Steaker.

 

 

 

On a serious note, I once knew a girl who was an Extreme Vegan.

 

She ate NOTHING that came from an animal, ate no nightshade veggies (potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, etc.), wore no clothing that even used cotton ("COTTON IS THE REAL DEVIL IN THE WORLD!!!!!") or petroleum products, blah, blah, blah, blah.

 

She looked like death warmed over and rarely seemed to move much. How could she? She was a walking skeleton and looked like the most abused homeless person you ever met.

 

She wouldn't ride in cars or use public transportation and thought breastfeeding was abusing mothers like animals... which made zero sense to me. I think she made a living making vegan soap for flea markets? That's what I remember.

 

At some point she moved to California and I've never heard of or about her again. I'm guessing she either died or gave up some of that in order to not do so.

 

Your friend was not an 'Extreme Vegan.' She was simply an extremist.

 

Vegans neither eat nor use anything that comes from an animal. That means eating no animal products at all, including honey, and also no use of silk, wool, or leather. All the other things you describe about your friend have little to do with veganism, aside that most vegans are also environmentally aware. I personally put off learning how to drive until my mid-twenties, and to this day choose walking or public transportation over private cars whenever possible.

 

Not sure why you felt the need to mention her? But, I can assure you that at the present time I do not at all resemble a skeleton :p. Oh, BTW, I know many who avoid nightshades, including one of my uncles who was one of the healthiest and happiest people I've known. Many nutritionists and naturopaths advocate abstaining from nightshades.

[spookwife]

The op can vacation other ways. Vegans probably represent less than 1% of passengers. Why should the cruise line spend all the extra $ on food to accomadate those few?

 

okay this is a bit stupid. first of all, it is NOT spending 'a lot of extra money' whatsoever. all the stuff that decorates the plate of dead cow flesh is vegan or vegetarian. those steamed carrots, the broccoli, the polenta and even the evil brussel sprouts. it is NOT that big a deal to make a batch of mashed potatoes without milk or butter to accommodate not only the dairy allergy peeps, but the vegans as well.

 

its not like if a head of cabbage was sitting next to a crate of eggs in the walk in fridge it creates some major faux pas.

 

as I stepped back from my knee jerk reaction, I came to realize that a plate of carrots and broccoli does NOT a meal make. I KNOW that tofu is everywhere on board. the curries almost always are full of it. so that's protein right there that can be seasoned and cooked to be something other than a mushy unappealing mess. stir fry is also easily made vegan. Fried rice. the list goes on.

[legaljen1969]

The op can vacation other ways. Vegans probably represent less than 1% of passengers. Why should the cruise line spend all the extra $ on food to accomadate those few?

 

The cruise line really would not have to spend a lot of extra money to accommodate a vegan.

 

More and more people are "choosing" to be vegans all the time. For whatever reason- be it health or personal choices and convictions. It is NOT unreasonable to think that the chef could make a vegan meal. Some people seem to act like the cruise line is going to have to build a whole separate kitchen just to make vegan meals.

 

And the attitude "The OP can vacation other ways...." That's just ridiculous. They shouldn't have to choose not to cruise just because you think they shouldn't have a vegan diet. Would you say that to someone who needs a diabetic diet? Kosher meals? You don't know why they are vegan. It could very well be for health reasons. Granted, they could choose to vacation elsewhere if their needs are not met, but they should not be forbidden from cruising.

[happy trailer]

 

1) Figure out something that they can make for you that meets your dietary requirements. That "something" can be anything from a simple veggie salad (olive oil/ vinegar) to a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

2) Find someone who will make that thing for you, and order it.

3) Laugh about it.

 

Do you really think I haven't been eating anything at all?!?! I've been mainly managing on food I've picked up in ports- as an experienced vegan, I'm pretty good at finding something to eat no matter where I am.

 

At the same time, can you tell me honestly that you would be satisfied with eating a P&B sandwhich for dinner? Or that it wouldn't make your table mates uncomfortable? Oh- BTW- there is NO vegan bread on this ship! I have been told that by everyone I've met with. So the sandwhich would be out anyway :p

 

Forget for a moment about "what you are owed" or how they "should" be running their restaurant and just compromise for the sake of your vacation and your sanity.

 

Where have I ever mentioned being 'owed' anything?!?!?!

 

As to the rest of your post - yes, my enjoyment has been affected, but I am still enjoying this cruise. As MerionMom pointed out in her post, I am very easy going. I'd think you might have picked that up by the fact that I haven't raised my voice to anyone on the ship.:

 

---

Edited November 6, 2015 by happy trailer

[Diplomacy]

is it possible that the chef is NOT actually the one cooking any more? or maybe that they forgot their promise? or there is one hell of a miscommunication somewhere along the line? or the chef who may have promised that has never actually been informed you sat down at all> or he found that it was impossible to make something up on the fly after all?

No. I don't accept that it is "impossible." Cooking Vegan can be tricky, but the recipes aren't complicated, and they have the ingredients, so it is clearly a possibility. I'm not a vegan, but I could do it with just the ingredients availible/on display in the WJ... And I could make it taste better than anything else you would be served all cruise long. Guaranteed.

 

Look, I'll be honest, I don't get why people choose to eat this way outside of medical necessity so it is hard to have even a little bit of empathy here.

To be honest, I don't either.

But then again, I also don't get why people act like it's a big deal. Vegan food can be really, really good. I would gladly go vegan for a week, just because I like the food (when it's cooked by a chef, and not a line cook). I just also happen to like meat/fat.

Veganism isn't any weirder than the paleo diet, or atkins, or southbeach, or whatever and the food is a heck of a lot better than some of them. Granted a lot of vegans aren't motivated by weight loss specifically, but it's really irrelevant to the discussion at hand. Dietary choices are concepts that we are all familiar with.

 

 

But the run around you are getting definitely NOT in line with what most of us have experienced with Royal.

 

Oh, yes it is. This is the only attitude I have ever gotten from RCCL about anything. When the service is great, then great. When it's lousy, then its usually wholely and completely and thoroughly lousy. Even on these boards, the most common person to resolve a guests problem is not the activities director or the hotel services director or whomever, it's their cabin steward, which demonstrates 2 things. 1) cabin stewards are powerful beings most likely descended from the gods of ancient Greece themselves, and 2) the run around is the default position.

Edited November 6, 2015 by Diplomacy

[Cindy]

OP.

 

The response to this thread is one reason why I seldom hang out on this board any more. Really unpleasant and so unsupportive in the main..... kudos to those who actually read the original post and 'got it'.

 

Well said, Linda!

 

To the OP, I think you've been incredibly patient when you didn't receive the food/service you believed you had arranged. It seems like the Rhapsody really dropped the ball. Good luck the rest of the way, and I would be interested in learning what RCI's response is to your experience after the cruise is over.

[Diplomacy]

1) Figure out something that they can make for you that meets your dietary requirements. That "something" can be anything from a simple veggie salad (olive oil/ vinegar) to a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

2) Find someone who will make that thing for you, and order it.

3) Laugh about it.

 

Do you really think I haven't been eating anything at all?!?! I've been mainly managing on food I've picked up in ports- as an experienced vegan, I'm pretty good at finding something to eat no matter where I am.

 

At the same time, can you tell me honestly that you would be satisfied with eating a P&B sandwhich for dinner? Or that it wouldn't make your table mates uncomfortable?

No, I probably would not, but I would be full. And I would find something positive to invest my time into aside from complaining to every person within earshot with the ultimate goal of just getting ONE single dinner service where they didn't screw it up. (that is where you are at now, is it not?)

 

Oh, and actually the point of the PB&J was specifically to make your table mates uncomfortable... and your servers... and the chef... Passive aggressive is my bread and, errrrr, olive oil ^_)^

 

Oh- BTW- there is NO vegan bread on this ship! I have been told that by everyone I've met with. So the sandwhich would be out anyway :p

They have : FLOUR! lol, just kidding. You are still missing my point though.

Forget for a moment about "what you are owed" or how they "should" be running their restaurant and just compromise for the sake of your vacation and your sanity.

 

Where have I ever mentioned being 'owed' anything?!?!?!

 

As to the rest of your post - yes, my enjoyment has been affected, but I am still enjoying this cruise. As MerionMom pointed out in her post, I am very easy going. I'd think you might have picked that up by the fact that I haven't raised my voice to anyone on the ship.:

Well, you are fighting. You might be the kill'em with kindness type, but you clearly are hoping for some resolution that is wholly greater than what you have gotten up to this point.

 

I'm glad you are enjoying the parts of your vacation which aren't being spent chasing down various suits and complaining to them while they make superficial gestures of agreement and understanding while ultimately doing nothing to assist you or actually SOLVE THE PROBLEM. I'm just saying they've had their chance. Now it is on you to make the best of a bad and clearly not getting any better situation.

Edited November 6, 2015 by Diplomacy

[Paul65]

As far as OP's expectations, they were inline with 1.previous experience 2. RCI's online statements. A simple google search brings me here:

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/customersupport/faq/details.do?pagename=frequently_asked_questions&faqId=322&faqSubjectId=335

 

This page clearly states :

 

Special meal requests that are received less than 45 days of sailing (90 days for European/South American itineraries) are dependent on the ship's product availability. We will try to accommodate to the best of our ability.

 

Actually, the online section you linked to mentions several things they will accommodate, but vegan is not among them. But, as you say, the OP's past experience has been better. And, if she contacted them at least 45 days in advance, and they said they would accommodate her, then she certainly should expect it.

[Paul65]

There are a lot of words in the rant above, and not a lot of specifics. Still, I agree with you that broccoli and carrots aren't dinner(especially vegan broccoli eugh). They shouldn't be serving that to anyone and expecting them to be happy with it.

 

What's the difference between vegan broccoli and regular broccoli? I think most of the broccoli I eat at home would qualify as "vegan." (Perhaps it's what you add to it, but I'm not much on using things like cheese sauce, and if I saute', I'd tend to use olive oil over butter.)

[happy trailer]

More and more people are "choosing" to be vegans all the time. For whatever reason- be it health or personal choices and convictions.

 

You don't know why they are vegan. It could very well be for health reasons..

 

There have been several posts on this thread which touched on speculating on why I might be vegan, so I thought that perhaps I should share some personal info on why I follow a vegan diet.

 

I started thinking of vegetarianism while in elementary school, and adopted the diet almost 40 years ago. I have been a vegan for the last 6 years. Even while I was a vegetarian I did what I could to abstain from using any animal products.

 

While my original attraction to vegetarianism involved moral and ethical reasons, the issue that made me take the actual step to become a vegetarian was health related. But over the years, as I primarily identified more and more as a vegetarian, the moral facets of the lifestyle became more and more important to me.

 

I do not lecture; I do not judge, and I certainly hope I do not come off with a 'higher than thou' attitude!! My husband began eating meat again a few years ago, and while we maintain a vegan household (at his insistence, btw), I have no issues with dining at restaurants where he can enjoy a meat meal (interestingly, he says he is finding that wants to eat meat less and less lately). We never insisted that our son follow our vegetarianism, and his household and family are very much dedicated meat eaters.

 

I will say this regarding the health benefits of being vegan, as they are a reason why my friends and family encourage my lifestyle:

 

I was born into a family with a lousy history of heart disease- my father and his brothers all died before 50 because of it, and my brothers and I were told to expect the same for most of us. Last year my doctors decided I should undergo an angiogram, and to their surprise and delight my arteries were completely clear. The cardiology team very strongly stated that it must be due to my diet choices. So, I'd say that being vegan is not really a choice for me- even though the moral and ethical reasons for veganism are still primary for me.

 

I have to say that, contrary to what many here seem to think, I find following a vegan diet, especially when traveling, is very easy. More and more restaurants and cafes around the world provide vegan options or adjustments on their menus (we spent several days in Rome pre-cruise, and I had no problem eating in restaurants - or even finding vegan gelato :).). If I can't find a cafe where I can have a meal, there's always a grocery or farmer's market where I can find plenty to eat. On this trip I used a handy little book called 'The Vegan Passport' which has a page for pretty much any language, which describes my diet. I used that book to go into bakeries and cafes on our port stops to find food to take back to the ship. (I can now steer you toward some very tasty breads on the Greek Isles :-))

 

We live in Israel, which has the fastest growing vegan population in the world. It's rare to find a restaurant or cafe which doesn't offer vegan options, and it's common for an establishment to offer a separate full vegan menu. Vegan restaurants abound in Tel Aviv especially, and the latest trend is for established omnivore restaurants to switch to exclusively vegan menus.

 

That availability has not spoiled me- I am very aware that not all places in the world will provide such an abundance of vegan options. But that has not stopped me from travel! As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm very good at finding things to eat wherever I travel.

 

Issues can arise on a cruise, and those can impact the enjoyment of a cruise because let's face it- eating well is a part of the attraction of cruising. For me, cruising is my 'relaxing travel', and on cruises I look forward to- and yes expect- (with reasonable expectations) to be fed at least satisfactorily.

 

Phew!! I think I covered all the bases?!?!? Hopefully in an informative, but not lecturing way? Sometimes I have a bit of difficulty expressing myself in English, and can come off sounding stiffer than I intended.

[garnetpalmetto]

What's the difference between vegan broccoli and regular broccoli? I think most of the broccoli I eat at home would qualify as "vegan." (Perhaps it's what you add to it, but I'm not much on using things like cheese sauce, and if I saute', I'd tend to use olive oil over butter.)

 

You nailed it. It's what you'd add to it or cook it in. For instance you could sautee it in olive oil, but not butter. You couldn't top it with cheese, etc.

[Paul65]

You nailed it. It's what you'd add to it or cook it in. For instance you could sautee it in olive oil, but not butter. You couldn't top it with cheese, etc.

 

I know. I was just a bit surprised by the reaction to the idea of "vegan broccoli." I guess the reaction makes sense, though, if you don't really like broccoli, and you have to have cover it in cheese sauce to make it palatable. I'm definitely not a vegan, but I tend to like my veggies pretty natural.

[NJcruisenewbie]

The op can vacation other ways. Vegans probably represent less than 1% of passengers. Why should the cruise line spend all the extra $ on food to accomadate those few?

 

There isn't extra money involved in vegan food. An easy and simple meal could consist of stir fry vegetables with rice. The ship has all of food necessary to accommodate a vegan - grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, plant based fats.

 

I'll add that I'm not vegan but do often eat vegan meals. I don't care for the taste of meat or dairy at all. I'd be vegan if it weren't for my love of fish and seafood.

Edited November 6, 2015 by NJcruisenewbie