Vegan Eating on NCL

[nawlagal]

Booked on an NCL cruise out of New Orleans 11/20/22. This will be our second cruise (first was NCL, too). We have not cruised since changing our diet to vegan and low fat/no added oils. This is due to health issues; not a political thing. 

 

Anyway, the first time we cruised, we were not eating the way we do today. We certainly are not expecting low- or no-oil like we eat at home, but how difficult is it to eat vegan on NCL, especially at the specialty restaurants?  Of course, we can pick and choose things at buffets, but we hate buffet-style eating.

 

Thank you in advance!

 

 

[YVRteacher]

Hi.  I just tagged you in another thread about being vegetarian on NCL.

I am a vegetarian and find it easy to eat well on NCL.  
Your first day on board, ask at the guest services desk or in the room they are using for restaurant reservations to meet with the special diets coordinator.  They will have a list of meals that can be made vegan.  
 

If your ship has Ocean Blue, order the cauliflower entree.  It is amazing!

 

If you want to eat at Teppanyaki, they will cook your food in the back and will make it without butter and chicken stock.

 

In La Cucina they have a salad with mixed lettuce, carrots, artichoke hearts, carrots and tomatoes.  You can order it without the bocconcini.  It’s delicious (but the artichoke hearts are marinated.)

 

The salad bar at Moderno makes for a terrific vegan meal.  Bean salad.  Chick pea salad.  Tabouleh.  Asparagus spears. Hummus.  Cucumber rolls.  Mixed greens and veggies.

 

In the main dining rooms I often order three appetizers instead of an entree.  The chefs will be able to create vegan entrees for you though.  If you like Indian food that is always an option.  Yum!

 

Sometimes I bring my own protein powder on board just to ensure I get enough protein.

 

Please let me know if you have more questions.

[nawlagal]

YVRTeacher, I cannot thank you enough for all the detailed info you have given me! 😁  Can't wait to eat my way thru the cruise! 😆

[YVRteacher]

Best wishes for an amazing cruise!!

[nawlagal]

Also, I recall Moderna from sailing on the Dawn. I was not vegan then, but have never been a huge meat-eater. I filled up at the awesome salad bar and was so full that I could barely get through one order of meat. (I can't even recall what it was because the salad bar was THAT GOOD!)

 

ETA: Will bring protein powder for my hubby as he has higher caloric needs than I. Easy to pack, too!

Edited June 9, 2022 by nawlagal

[YVRteacher]

Moderno salad bar is the best!!

[casofilia]

We would agree; the salad bar in the Moderno WAS the best; it was only "second" best after they changed it somewhat.   However it was still extremely good especially if you are getting it free as a perk.   Paying for it; I don't know!!

[casofilia]

I hope you don't get too many negative comments about what you will or won't eat.   One daughter is Vegan and she provides wonderful Vegan meals whenever we visit and we are real meat lovers.   She has even written Vegan cookbooks that have been published.

[pupntaco]

Long-time vegan here who has cruised on NCL, Disney, Carnival, Princess, and Holland America multiple times and I can honestly say that I've never been wanting for food. As mentioned, you can either note your needs in advance with the cruise line or once you get on board with the maitre d' and they will hook you up. On some cruises we were assigned a special 'dietary agent' in the main dining room who would tell us all available options for the following day. More often, they would tell us as they handed us the menus what could be made vegan. Some items were obviously easier for them to adapt and others absolutely could not.

 

I've also been on cruises where they would make sure to have some individual portions of food waiting for us at the buffet for breakfast and lunch. I wouldn't automatically poo-poo that option either. I've also found at the buffet that they could typically verify if a certain dish was vegan or not (e.g. whether the rice was cooked in chicken stock). Otherwise, they have always been very quick to go check.

 

Overall, I think you will be pleasantly surprised to see how accommodating the cruise lines will be to  meet your dietary needs.

 

Oh yeah, there have been many occasions in which none of the dining room menu items could easily be made vegan, in which case, the chef was given carte blanche to 'whip something up' and they rarely failed to amaze. I'll be on NCL in a few weeks and I'll report back on how things went. 

 

 

[Yesimapirate]

I think many guests and even tbr authorities would look down on you for eating a fellow passenger, be that passenger vegan or not!  P

There's plenty of food available on the ship.  Please don't eat a vegan 😉

[nawlagal]

On 6/8/2022 at 10:35 PM, casofilia said:

I hope you don't get too many negative comments about what you will or won't eat.   One daughter is Vegan and she provides wonderful Vegan meals whenever we visit and we are real meat lovers.   She has even written Vegan cookbooks that have been published.

Thanks for you helpful reply! This is a great community. Very good to know about your daughter. Working on  cookbook myself! 

[dumbth]

On 6/8/2022 at 4:50 PM, YVRteacher said:

I bring my own protein powder on board

No veggie/vegan has the slightest need to boost protein, and that can even be harmful. The reason is that every food except fruit has abundant protein PER CALORIE even if it is small per weight. For example if you only eat iceburg lettuce, you can't help but ravenously eat the large amount needed for daily caloric needs and thus plenty of protein comes along. Protein deficiency is super rare, but if it was a concern then lentils give more protein density than meat.

[YVRteacher]

1 hour ago, dumbth said:

No veggie/vegan has the slightest need to boost protein, and that can even be harmful. The reason is that every food except fruit has abundant protein PER CALORIE even if it is small per weight. For example if you only eat iceburg lettuce, you can't help but ravenously eat the large amount needed for daily caloric needs and thus plenty of protein comes along. Protein deficiency is super rare, but if it was a concern then lentils give more protein density than meat.

You are incorrect and you do not know my situation. I work extensively with a dietician.  Do not give unsolicited health advice on these boards.

[CleverUserNameHere]

I did not eat vegan on this cruise but have been vegetarian in the past, and in every restaurant they asked as we sat down and ordered if we had any dietary restrictions. I would caution against eating any of the prepared food in the buffet because rarely is anything labeled with ingredients or allergens and the people serving usually have no idea what is in each dish.

[YVRteacher]

When at the buffet, there are always chefs and restaurant managers who are out and about and highly visible.  If a server does not know the ingredients, they will find someone who does know and will ask them.  I love the Garden Cafe and eat there frequently.  I ask a lot of questions and they are always answered.

[phillygwm]

Reading this with interest as I'll be scheduling a cruise with my (vegetarian, not vegan) niece soon.  Also have a cousin who is (sorta) vegan whom I'm trying to convince to go.  For her, something like the rice in chicken stock wouldn't be a hard no but no actual meat dishes or dairy.  I'm a carnivore.  Was wondering what they can order in Cagneys 🙂

 

We usually go full specialty dining.  I totally agree about Moderno's salad bar but if we do a newer ship that won't be an option.

[YVRteacher]

I travel with my dad who is not a vegetarian.  He loves Cagney’s.  Cagney’s is not very vegetarian friendly as they have removed the tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich appetizer.  They do have a wedge salad that you can order without the bacon but that doesn’t appeal to me.  So, before dining in Cagney’s I meet with the maître d and arrange to have the Moderno salad bar for both my appetizer and my entree.  I usually order 4 sides from Cagney’s as well.  They never charge for any of this.

[kylenyc]

Agree with others Moderno salad bar is great. Many have wished they would offer a salad bar only option there and offer it for lunch.

 

Also agree that the Garden Cafe has some nice options. Check with the restaurant manager/chef. I recall every day there is a hearty salad (couscous, bean, etc.), plenty of fruit, and vegetable entrees. Sometimes I see some of the items from Moderno's salad bar there like artichoke and asparagus.

[Wansbrough]

We have just come back from Norwegian Jade and as my wife is vegan, I have dedicated an area on my blog to record our observations on how we managed while onboard. Link below to view it.

 

https://www.wansbroughs-cruise-blog.me.uk/our-vegan-cruise-reviews/2023-vegan-options-on-norwegian-jade-17-26-apr/

 

 

I read an earlier post about the speciality restaurants and we did manage to eat in Teppanyaki on one night but would not say it was worth $49 per head, fortunately, we used up some dining package credits that came when we booked so it cost us nothing.