Recent vegan/vegetarian cruisers on HAL

[Real NHDOC]

I give HAL credit for trying to accommodate special dietary requirements and requests. The fact that they offer special vegetarian/vegan and Indian menus in the MDR in addition to at least one daily vegetarian offering on the regular menu seems to be pretty reasonable. You can also ask them to leave the various objectionable ingredients out of salads (like the excellent lunch cob w/o bacon or quinoa salad bowl without added protein options that can make them vegetarian too). While I am neither vegetarian nor vegan I have tried the various offerings just for variety’s  sake.
 

Today, for example, they had a delicious vegan dish with stir fried tofu, green beans and shiitake mushrooms on the lido at lunch and they always offer a vegan meat chili which is indistinguishable from animal meat chili in my opinion. All nice things that have been added in the past couple of years. 

Edited March 15, 2023 by Real NHDOC

[soccermom4]

Currently on the Oosterdam. The MDR was so chaotic for My Time Dining that we are glad we decided that we’d be pescatarian for this 30 day cruise. Not sure we could have gotten the separate menu. Have had some tasty vegan stuff in the Lido. Usually 1 vegan option at lunch and other items can be put together for a vegan meal. We won’t starve. 

[debdiva]

Being a vegetarian used to be challenging on HAL, but our last two cruises have been good in that regard, even on our last cruise where I wound up in COVID jail. We do fixed seating and make friends with our table stewards immediately. I've found they take goo care of us, even offering both the normal menu and the vegetarian menu and letting  us order bits and pieces from both. I did find mousse on the vegetarian menu made with gelatin, so those little things miss them.

[YourWorldWithBill]

Just another note because of all the comments about Beyond Meat. I've been a vegetarian for 50 years, and a (90%) vegan for about the last 10 of those. I eat a Beyond Meat burger at home for lunch about once a week, and I was thrilled to find out on my last cruise that in the Dive In by the pool, those Beyond burgers could be substituted for any of those on the menu.

I agree with what many said: I usually avoid imitation meat, but make this one exception. So, although I don't want the Beyond meat in my other dishes, I'm happy about the burgers at the Dive In!