Kosher Meals Available? (Alaska)

[slidergirl]

18 hours ago, pris993 said:

...  When we go to Israel, we stay at the Dan Hotel chain that is kosher, it has a separate meat and dairy restaurants.     So there are various ways one can follow their religious believes.  Jews just like Catholics  have made adjustments... I grew up not eating meat on Fridays, rarely Catholics do that today.  

 

We have cruised on Passover, we take our own matoz by the way.  Cruise lines will provide items for a Seder.  We usually do not attend because my dh is Sephardic and it has different traditions.  

I have stayed at the Dan Tel Aviv.  A wonderful hotel.  And, it had the best breakfast buffet!   All the cheeses, the vegetables, the different yogurts - vegetarian heaven!  During Shabat, they set out the juice squeezer so those not observing could squeeze their own instead of employees doing it.   And, across the street there was a yummy Glatt Kosher Chinese restaurant!!

 

I am glad people are asking questions about the availability and type of Kosher food available on cruises.  It is one of many different specialized diets that cruises cater to now.   It is good to know that they can be accommodated for whatever level of observance they do.  It would be a boring place if only those who could eat whatever was put on the table and excluded anyone else!  

[donaldsc]

On 4/16/2019 at 4:55 PM, slidergirl said:

 

Not totally true....

It has to do with the level of "kosher" someone adheres to for their diet.  Some eat "kosher" by avoiding those food products proscribed by the religion, like shellfish, pork (cloven hoven animals).  Some eat "kosher" by requiring a "kosherized" kitchen, where a rabbi has blessed the kitchen and approved of the kitchen's usage of separate cookery, utensils, and ovens, etc., for the food prep and service.  Some also take it so far as to eat in restaurants which, in addition to the "kosherized" kitchen, have a rabbi on-staff who inspects the incoming meat and produce and dairy daily (I worked at a luxury hotel which had the only glatt kosher fine dining restaurant in N. America and it had the whole kitchen and rabbi).  At another hotel I worked at, we had families who would book two suites and have our local Orthodox rabbi come in and kosherize the kitchen of one of them (there was some process that included sterilizing cookware/dishes/glasses and superheating the oven for a certain period of time).  

 

I would imagine that for someone who is very strict adherer to a Kosher lifestyle will get those pre-ordered meals ordered in advance just for them by a cruiseline - yes, they look like the one-plate TV dinner in aluminum pans and you are given single-use plates, cutlery and glasses.  

 

I had a nice young woman at the hotel this weekend for a conference.  She was an Orthodox Jew.  She asked for assistance for Kosher meals, which we got for her from the local Kosher Kitchen - they were just like I discribed above.  She also wanted to observe Shabbat as strictly as she could; I changed her room to one on the second floor (which had stairs to in the lobby), and arranged for her locks to be disabled.  I gave her some candles to use.  I made sure the staff knew she was observing Shabbat so they could graciously and quietly assist her if needed.  

 

How did she light the candles?  Did they burn for 24 hours?

 

DON

[CruisingAlong4Now]

Kosher-lite or kosher-style cuisine is when a person eats regular cruise food, but not meat or seafood. He mentally picks items that would be kosher if prepared in a kosher kitchen. Hence, vegetarian meals, fish, and dairy.  No shrimp scampi or chicken parm.  And definitely no meat.  A truly observant Jewish person would not eat from dishes that were used to serve non-kosher food (including non-kosher meat, or used for both meat and dairy meals.)  

[lenquixote66]

I have often wondered why an Orthodox jew would be on a cruise on the Sabbath because it is a moving vehicle. It was explained to me that  it is there home away from home.Does anyone else have a better explanation ?.

[slidergirl]

On 4/17/2019 at 6:00 PM, donaldsc said:

 

How did she light the candles?  Did they burn for 24 hours?

 

DON

 

She lit the candles just before it became dark.  I lit a candle and she lit a match from that candle.  They were just tea candles we use at the hotel on the dinner tables and she was very thankful that I gave them to her to use.  We did what we could for her.  I know they burned for hours - every time I went past where she was sitting in the lobby, they were still burning.   A Shabbat candle doesn't need to burn for 24 hours, but long enough into the night for prayers to be said and for time for reflection.   A Hannukah candle should be turned until it is gone (for those, I had my guest do their menorah in front of where I stand at the Front Desk so I could watch the candles as most hotel really don't want guests lighting candles in their rooms).