Vegan Cruising INFO! UPDATING 2/24/13

[sambycat]

VEGAN/VEGETARIAN UPDATES - NEW & CLASSIC SHIPS:
- As with ALL special diets, call DCL and/or note on reservation (via TA or online) that you are vegan. Upon arrival, you can reconfirm your dining needs wherever the dining reservations on embarkation day are being made. Usually, your server on the first night will reconfirm dining requests and needs at the first meal in the MDR. People have reported varying degrees of attention the first night ranging from the chef coming and speaking to with you to no one having heard of your dining requests (not always, but it can happen). Also, despite your best efforts and DCL’s continuing improvements, not every server knows really what vegan means, people have been offered non-vegan items, etc.. The information here are suggestions and tips gleaned form trip reports, experiences.
- MDR on all ships seem to currently have at least one vegan offering per night in addition to vegetarian offerings
- Rice Cream type non dairy dessert seems to be available upon request
- Soy milk seems currently to be available upon request in MDRs and in buffets
- Most pastas and vegetables in the buffets seem to be cooked in butter, seemed to be more accurate labeling (and choices) on the newer ships (Cabanas)
- Poolside dining does offer veggie burgers/black bean type burgers (sometimes not on the menu)
- Palo can accommodate Vegan Dining
- Remy seems to do best at vegetarian dining, although some have had success with vegan dining there - you may need to press further than the reservations/serving persons before your dining experience, not all the reservations people are as well versed in veganism as I would expect most of the chefs are
- Remy Vegan & Gluten Free review
- Recent Magic Dis-er Vegan trip report
- Raw Vegan Dining on DCL Video Blog



i know this isnt a brand new topic, but ive recently made the jump to veganism and was trepidatious (did i just make that word up?!?) about how/when/whether to categorize myself with DCL - should i call now? wait till on board? never tell anyone?!

well, i asked DH to call and gather some info from DCL (while i was searching around elsewhere) and of course i come home from work and he has DCL on the phone - his information gathering consisted of saying hello. my wife is vegan. thank you. click. ). i was annoyed, but after searching out stuff this weekend, im glad he was brave for me because i would have just picked and chosen thru stuff and been to afraid my choices would be narrowed for me by DCl (i dont know. i am weird). my main concern was we have remy booked. i was eager to try as a vegetarian, but i was afraid that simply the cost benefit ratio would not be there as a vegan (oh, how i want more cheese plate!!!) will i have to tell myself a story that these are all happy, artisinal, free roaming cows??!!) . in any event, im actually super excited now having finally done some specific research - in particular, there is a vegan/gluten free menu/experience posted on the blogosphere that looks intriguing. and since gluten is NOT an issue for me, i think this can work! there is even a guy (raw vegan?!) who is (duh) a raw vegan and posted a video blog of his dream cruise experience and it looked cool.

so if anyone has any more recent experiences as a vegan (last 6 months?), id love to hear? this is still new for me (its been about 3 months now), but i am continually surprised and really gratified that its not as hard as i feared.

thanks!

also, am i the only person on earth who actually GAINED 6 pounds going dairy free????? i call myself the obese vegan aka obegan"

 

[blessedmomofboys]

My whole family is vegetarian for only 4 months. I'm nervous about future travels. What is the blog you found? We switched right after our last cruise so I'm very interested in hearing how others did while cruising!!

 

[disneyholic family]

i'm not vegan - i practically live on milk - but i am a vegetarian...
does remy have a menu that can accomodate vegetarians?

i was going to book remy (when my booking window opened last week), but decided not to because of the vegetarian thing....my mom and sister are carnivores, but i was worried it would be a waste of money for me..

 

[Linda67]

I ate an entirely vegetarian menu at Remy on The Fantasy in May and from start to finish it was amazing

Seriously, do not hesitate to book this restaurant as a vegetarian

I was telephoned in our stateroom the day before we were dining at Remy to ask if I would like to run through the menu with the chef in advance but I said that I trusted him and would prefer to be surpirsed

I am fairly sure that most of my dishes were probably vegan as well but make sure you get DCL to note that you are vegan on your reservation and the chefs will happily work with you

 

[disneyholic family]

I ate an entirely vegetarian menu at Remy on The Fantasy in May and from start to finish it was amazing

Seriously, do not hesitate to book this restaurant as a vegetarian

I was telephoned in our stateroom the day before we were dining at Remy to ask if I would like to run through the menu with the chef in advance but I said that I trusted him and would prefer to be surpirsed

I am fairly sure that most of my dishes were probably vegan as well but make sure you get DCL to note that you are vegan on your reservation and the chefs will happily work with you

did you tell them in advance that you're vegetarian? was it marked on your reservation in some way?

 

[mgrebenc]

We cruised the Dream in March w/DD, vegan. She just mentioned it to our Head guy and he brought her out a vegan dessert every night. It was the same dessert, a chocolate cake and Rice Dream, but she did have a dessert every night. They made her vegan waffles at the sit down breakfasts, even brought her the package out to show her that it said vegan. They have Silk at the buffets, just ask if its not out. At Castaway Cay they offer a very good veggie burger if you just ask. And at the lunch buffets there was almost always some kind of tofu.

 

[marshmellow86]

I would recommend you call and have DCL note it on your reservation. By doing this, your server will be aware ahead of time and will be prepared to discuss the various options with you. It should also reduce the time they need to ensure they serve you only vegan options.

My DD is gluten free and we note it on the reservation and have had good experiences.

Enjoy!

 

[disneyholic family]

We cruised the Dream in March w/DD, vegan. She just mentioned it to our Head guy and he brought her out a vegan dessert every night. It was the same dessert, a chocolate cake and Rice Dream, but she did have a dessert every night. They made her vegan waffles at the sit down breakfasts, even brought her the package out to show her that it said vegan. They have Silk at the buffets, just ask if its not out. At Castaway Cay they offer a very good veggie burger if you just ask. And at the lunch buffets there was almost always some kind of tofu.

unfortunately, i'm not permitted any kind of soy, which includes tofu....

so that eliminates a lot of food options right there (and think about how many things are made with derivatives of soy, including soy sauce - just about everything there is)...
this is the reason i live on milk!

i suppose i'll be eating my regular restricted diet when i'm on board...
not much i can do about it.
i think i'll skip remy - i can't imagine how they can make anything without resorting to soy of some sort...
oh well.. worse things in the world than having a few food restrictions..

 

[rani8600]

i know this isn’t a brand new topic, but i’ve recently made the jump to veganism and was trepidatious (did i just make that word up?!?) about how/when/whether to categorize myself with DCL - should i call now? wait till on board? never tell anyone?!

well, i asked DH to call and gather some info from DCL (while i was searching around elsewhere) and of course i come home from work and he has DCL on the phone - his “information gathering” consisted of saying “hello. my wife is vegan. thank you. click. ). i was annoyed, but after searching out stuff this weekend, i’m glad he was brave for me because i would have just picked and chosen thru stuff and been to afraid my choices would be narrowed for me by DCl (i don’t know. i am weird). my main concern was we have remy booked. i was eager to try as a vegetarian, but i was afraid that simply the cost benefit ratio would not be there as a vegan (oh, how i want more cheese plate!!!) will i have to tell myself a story that these are all happy, artisinal, free roaming cows??!!) . in any event, i’m actually super excited now having finally done some specific research - in particular, there is a vegan/gluten free menu/experience posted on the blogosphere that looks intriguing. and since gluten is NOT an issue for me, i think this can work! there is even a guy (raw vegan?!) who is (duh) a raw vegan and posted a video blog of his dream cruise experience and it looked cool.

so if anyone has any more recent experiences as a vegan (last 6 months?), i’d love to hear? this is still new for me (it’s been about 3 months now), but i am continually surprised and really gratified that it’s not as “hard” as i feared.

thanks!

also, am i the only person on earth who actually GAINED 6 pounds going dairy free????? i call myself the “obese vegan” aka “obegan"

I was on the disney Dream as a vegan. you will have a third waiter involved in the process. the head waiter will take care of your ordering specifically and the rest of your table will be handled by the other two. They can either veganize something on the menu or make something else for you. Your will have to order all of your meals the night before with the exception being the first night. i always had a dessert, but for my app it was always salad. this was fine as i like salad, but if you like dressing bring some from home as all they will be able to provide is oil and vinegar. you also have the option of pre ordering you breakfasts and lunches as well. i didnt do this as we were never quite sure when and where we would be eating.

as for remy, i didnt dine there myself, but i have heard not to even try. that it is not worth the price or hassle as the menu is fixed. They have a vegetarian menu, but most is not vegan containing some form of dairy. To be honest i got some amazing food in the regular resturants suited to my liking and you may find that it is much better than having them try to veganize a specific menu.

Whatever you decide im sure you are going to have a great time and you will not go hungry

 

[Cagirl767]

Does anyone know if the milk alternative is Silk soy or Rice Dream? Same issues here, I'd rather not drink soy, but can't drink Rice Dream, so Silk would be great if they have that. Or I'll have to do non-dairy creamer in cereal or oatmeal. Hopefully they have that.

 

[sambycat]

first off, thanks everyone for their thoughts and commentary! super helpful! here are a few links to things i’ve found concerning veganism and DCL that you might like -
raw vegan

remy - vegan and gluten free

vegan cruise dining

these have me feeling more optimistic. i believe vegetarian to be pretty straightforward and easy to do - i’m positive a vegetarian meal especially at remy is to die!! so for those of you that are ovo/lacto veggie, i don’t think you’ll have any problem. i’ll let you all know if i find any other things and report back later as well!

thanks for all these ideas and “food” for thought!

 

[sambycat]

Whatever you decide im sure you are going to have a great time and you will not go hungry

thanks for this! yes, i doubt i will go hungry!! as i said, i’ve gained weight over the last 2 months! your experience sounds like what i’ve read about, i’ll be excited to have my “food team” waiting for me. it sounds like the best tip truly is to note all this ahead of time and that my idea of just picking things on my own would have been bad bad bad

i’ve done remy before, so although i agree that i’m not at all convinced they are going to provide a VEGAN meal worth the upcharge (although i totally believe the vegetarian meal would be worth the money!), i’m going to try it. that was my big concern. i was thinking i would “just” eat vegetarian (ovo/lacto) at remy and tough out vegan choices on my own. it doesn’t seem right to make all these CMs jump through hoops and then chow down on the cheese plate at remy so i didn’t want to be a flip flopper.

the food at remy will be my only real temptation.

 

[Linda67]

did you tell them in advance that you're vegetarian? was it marked on your reservation in some way?

I would recommend you call and have DCL note it on your reservation. By doing this, your server will be aware ahead of time and will be prepared to discuss the various options with you. It should also reduce the time they need to ensure they serve you only vegan options.

My DD is gluten free and we note it on the reservation and have had good experiences.

Enjoy!

I made sure that it was noted on my reservation and Remy called the night before to ask if I wanted them to run though the menu with me

unfortunately, i'm not permitted any kind of soy, which includes tofu....

so that eliminates a lot of food options right there (and think about how many things are made with derivatives of soy, including soy sauce - just about everything there is)...
this is the reason i live on milk!

i suppose i'll be eating my regular restricted diet when i'm on board...
not much i can do about it.
i think i'll skip remy - i can't imagine how they can make anything without resorting to soy of some sort...
oh well.. worse things in the world than having a few food restrictions..

I don't remember having anything that was soy based at Remy, certainly no tofu

 

[rani8600]

thanks for this! yes, i doubt i will go hungry!! as i said, i’ve gained weight over the last 2 months! your experience sounds like what i’ve read about, i’ll be excited to have my “food team” waiting for me. it sounds like the best tip truly is to note all this ahead of time and that my idea of just picking things on my own would have been bad bad bad

i’ve done remy before, so although i agree that i’m not at all convinced they are going to provide a VEGAN meal worth the upcharge (although i totally believe the vegetarian meal would be worth the money!), i’m going to try it. that was my big concern. i was thinking i would “just” eat vegetarian (ovo/lacto) at remy and tough out vegan choices on my own. it doesn’t seem right to make all these CMs jump through hoops and then chow down on the cheese plate at remy so i didn’t want to be a flip flopper.

the food at remy will be my only real temptation.

just be careful if you do this. being vegan for a few months already means it is possible that eating dairy will make you really sick. I speak from personal experience a few years ago i went almost completely off dairy when i was living abroad. I came back here and started eating normally and everytime i would eat dairy i got really sick. I have heard this from many others as well...shows just how bad dairy is for us if once we get ride of it our bodies never want it back. I would just be nervous about doing this on vacation, i wouldnt want to be sick if i could avoid it.

feel free to PM me if you ever need to chat about transitioning. i have only been vegan for about a year and a half, but i have learned a lot of good information and found great resources in that time.

 

[cruisecrasher]

I'll second this. I accidentally had a pasta sauce that had Parmesan in it. Ouch. A lot.

 

[bumbershoot]

just be careful if you do this. being vegan for a few months already means it is possible that eating dairy will make you really sick.

I totally agree.

I'm not vegan, but I was for awhile. For me, going vegan doesn't change my stomach, but my environmental allergy levels. I was doing beautifully, wasn't even craving dairy at all. The dark circles under my eyes were almost gone (those circles are an effect of dairy in some people), I didn't have allergies...

Then I was eating black bean dip one day and started a wild, huge sneezing attack. Once I could breathe and see again, I read the ingredients. Whey. Just that tiny amount, tiny ingredient, brought it all back in force.



So be careful. Might not be such a great idea to try cheese while on vacation... And, for me, as ovo lacto vegetarian, fancy cheese platters aren't fun for me anyway, because there's no ingredient label to check the rennet-status. (I deal with the rennet possibility with normal cheese-containing foods, but a cheese plate is different for me)



Oh, and since going veggie I've slowly and steadily gained weight. Going vegan I lost, but that's b/c the foods I have problems with, in terms of portion-control, are all ovo and lacto containing items! Vegan chocolate cake, for instance, isn't so good that I eat half a cake, but egg-containing cake IS. For me, it comes down to portion control.

 

[sambycat]

agreed with all of you and thanks for the experiences! i agree that devouring a cheese plate at remy would probably make me WISH i had sea sickness instead!

i’m really glad my hubby just told them that and i’m excited! i hope the breakfasting goes well, i’d definitely be interested in trying out the cooked breakfast items, but i’m more of a morning brunch at cabanas gal...

now that i think about it, as far as food “amounts” or choices, the palo brunch is going to be more the challenge....

and i’m not worried i’m going to go hungry - thank goodness i’m NOT worried about being hungry!!

 

[vmb123]

One suggestion...I have found this out the hard way...make sure you clarify VEGANS can not eat eggs...or butter, I had to return dishes when they arrived even after specifing VEGAN...Some times it gets lost in translation...2 cruises ago we had great servers, whos english was "improving" but they really had NO IDEA what vegan was....and suggest items that clearly were not for me. Wondering if anyone has confirmation if the Black Bean cakes are vegan or are made with egg. I recently saw a post stating they were made with egg...

 

[sambycat]

Yes there seemed to be confusion as to what vegan meant on my most recent (well all) cruise(s). I was often recommended vegetarian items by servers, but not by the chefs (at palo for example).

The dinner (mdr) menus had wgat appeared to be a vegan item on menu each night. I missed the thread about confusion if there were eggs? We have booked another cruise (not until next year) so I've got time to see what happens menu wise over the next year. It does seen like generally things jeep improving for the plant based set!

 

[lilpooh108]

just be careful if you do this. being vegan for a few months already means it is possible that eating dairy will make you really sick.

OMG I second this. I cut out dairy for a few months after an allergy test, then one night had pasta alfredo. It was a LONG ride home.

My body literally could not process it at all.

I've found that veggie choices on the ships are easy to come by, but not so much vegan.

I'd love it if we can do a thread with Post #1 listing updated vegan options (instead of perusing through pages and pages of stuff). Almost like a "wiki."