A Vegan Dream

[rani8600]

Hi everyone!!!!

This is my first trip report (or major post really) so I ask for you patience. I wasn’t quite sure where the best place to post this would be so im going to post it here and see how it goes. This trip report will start in WDW and continues onto the Disney Dream. This is my first cruise and im soooo excited to experience the Dream

I guess I should start with a little bit about myself and my group. My family is a major Disney (mostly WDW) family and has been going to WDW since I can remember. I have been fortunate to go 20 plus times and this year we decided this time to mix it up and go on the cruise rather than stay the whole time at the world. When we go down for the summer trip a larger group of family goes as well and this cruise is no exception. There will be 14 of us this time, and if you can believe it we are leaving ppl home…haha. But the major players though will be my immediate family with some others thrown in for fun.

Me- Im am a 24 (will be turning 25 mid cruise!) year old who loves all things Disney and traveling. No coincidence that Epcot is my favorite park. I am also a vegan. It is one of the reasons that I have decided to write this report, I haven’t come across a lot of information on being vegan on the Disney cruise. Last summer I was a vegetarian in WDW for the first time and had no issues, though I planed and knew where and what I should/could eat…gotta love those hidden ingredients, chicken stock in the veggies, really?! Ah well what can you do. This is the first time that I am going to be there as a vegan. As the title indicates, much of this report is going to focus on vegan dining.

My mom- lover of WDW and goes down 3-5 times a year. Note, we live in NJ not nearby. Has been having fun planning this trip for us all. Hates to have her picture taken so there probably won’t be too many of her.

My sister- 21, goes as often as my mom due to her still being in college and not having to worry about silly things like a real job and vacation days yet...must be nice.

My father- Not so into the Disney thing, but we make him come anyway…lol. Had a stroke a few years back and therefore will have some insight about cruising with a handicap. My mom and dad will be staying in one of the handicap rooms that are available on the Dream. They are supposed to be designed a little differently making it easier to get a wheelchair in and around.

We are arriving the Friday night before the cruise to enjoy the day before in WDW. Four parks in one day…will we make it?

6 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[PyxiiDustt]

Hi everyone!! I'm the sister and will be randomly hijacking this trip report to post my own little bits about the trip as well. Just wanted to introduce myself!

 

[rani8600]

Hey,

So i thought i would post a little about some of the prep for the cruise. Since we are first time cruisers we feel into last place to get reservations for everything. We called on the first day that was available to book our excursions and our spa appointments. Unfortunately, by the time we were able to book all the spa appointments were taken. We were able to get our snokeling excusion on the first Castaway Cay day like we wanted so we were pretty happy

As far as meals are concerned, in preparation for the cruise we had to notify the cruise line about my dietary restrictions. Since we are vacation club members this was done through the vacation club phone line, but im sure that the process is much the same for the regular Disney cruise line number. We filled out the form and sent it in, though when the form was filled out I was just a vegetarian so that was the note. I switched to vegan almost five months ago so we needed to make the change on the res. It was so easy, we simply called the DVC number and they made the change to the notes for our reservation no additional form required.

Since I still had a few questions about the process and wasn’t able to find the information online back to the phone we went. The first question I had was about my birthday. It falls in the middle of the cruise and while I am usually not picky about what they can offer for dessert I was hoping that I would be able to have something a little nicer than fruit for my b-day. Unfortunately they cannot do anything about this in advance and told us to speak with our head waiter once we were onboard. So I’m crossing my fingers on this one

My next question for them was about Castaway Cay. Since we are going to be there twice during our five day cruise I was curious to know the offerings. I did my research about the food in the different areas and discovered that it is very meat heavy (burgers, ribs and seafood). They told us to speak with the head waiter and if I didn’t like/wasn’t able to eat what was available on the island they would arrange to have a lunch box made for me to take with. Note: this is only available on CC days not at Nassau or any other ports. As far as I can tell from conversations with Disney anyone with dietary restrictions or allergies noted on their reservations has this option available to them.

4 days!!!!!!!!

 

[MelanieC]

Hi there - Can't wait to read your report. I'm vegan too, so I can't wait to see what yummy stuff they create for you.

 

[jenifred]

Have fun! Looking forward to reading your report!

 

[rustytss]

Can't wait to read more of your post. I have a daughter with egg, milk, nuts and sesame allergies, so I will be interested to see how easy it is for you with dietary restrictions. We will be on the Dream next summer.

 

[rani8600]

Hey,

So excited...we are leaving for the cruise today. We did yesterday in disney world, fun was had. Can't wait to tell you all about it when we get back!!!

 

[spacecanada]

Hurrah for vegans! We're vegan too and have cruised DCL twice with our special diet (along with severe nut allergies). It's been great both times, with the wait staff, servers, and head waiter all being excellent. On Castaway Cay we had veggie burgers that were vegan, so I'm hoping they still have them there. They had special vegan buns too, which were surprisingly good. We ordered them at dinner the night before (as we did for our meals every day) and they had our meal set aside to cook when we asked for it. It took a little while, as they had to clean the grill and what not, but it was a nice treat. Not sure what they have at Cookies Too, but your head waiter should let you know what your options are the night before when you pre-order your meals.

If you would like a cake on your birthday, my best suggestion for you is to go to the dining preferences/changes station on embarkation day and ask them if they could prepare you a vegan cake. It doesn't hurt if you provide them with your favourite recipe, as they may not have a vegan recipe already onboard. It depends on the chef; the first chef we had made us a new vegan (and awesome!) dessert every day; the second cruise we weren't as lucky, but they did make us something other than fruit some days. Your head server will pass along notes to the kitchen for you and you can place requests in advance, such as tofu chocolate pudding or vegan cookies or sorbet or even a Tofutti or Rice Dream ice cream sundae! (The non-dairy ice creams may contain nuts, but they are fine for other vegans!)

Hmm... what other vegan tips can I think of... the buffet isn't very vegan friendly because there is dairy in just about everything. However, the chefs there will walk you through the buffet and let you know what you can have. We opted for steamed veggies and rice with sauce most days - simple. The veggie burgers and fries were good too, as was the pizza made without cheese - you'll have to special order a whole pizza for yourself, but you can always keep the leftovers in your stateroom fridge for later.

That's all I can think of for now. I am very much looking forward to your trip report and reading what tips and experiences you have to share. Have a wonderful trip and keep us all up to date.

 

[cruisecrasher]

Looking forward to your TR because, although I cruised last year, I wasn't vegan (just strongly vegetarian) and am at a loss as to what and where we can eat. Well me, really. My DH will be fine eating everything.
It really doesn't help that when people ask about veganism on the threads eyre basically told there's fruit and salad and veggies available.
Looking forward to your details and or pics of food!

 

[mommy2allgirls]

Looking forward to your TR because, although I cruised last year, I wasn't vegan (just strongly vegetarian) and am at a loss as to what and where we can eat. Well me, really. My DH will be fine eating everything.
It really doesn't help that when people ask about veganism on the threads eyre basically told there's fruit and salad and veggies available.
Looking forward to your details and or pics of food!

sorry to hijack the thread. First to OP I'm looking forward to your trip report no Lori, you can mark all of your reservations stating that you are vegan. This will have a chef come talk to you that way a meal will be prepared that fits to your dietary needs. If you transfer to my services I can add it or you can call and add it to your reservations yourself. Just thought I would let you know.

 

[cruisecrasher]

sorry to hijack the thread. First to OP I'm looking forward to your trip report no Lori, you can mark all of your reservations stating that you are vegan. This will have a chef come talk to you that way a meal will be prepared that fits to your dietary needs. If you transfer to my services I can add it or you can call and add it to your reservations yourself. Just thought I would let you know.

Ive already done that.

It's quick service and buffet I'm concerned about. BTW, need to send you my ressie # through fb or is there another way you do reservation transfers?

 

[rani8600]

Hey all,

We just got back and this was such a good trip. Im organizing all my pictures and notes now. So much to go through, it feels like we were gone ten days instead of five. Hopefully i should have something for you tomorrow night . As expected cruising as a vegan has a huge learning curve, but i had some really yummy food and great times so it was all worth it

ttys!

 

[cruisecrasher]

Hey all,

We just got back and this was such a good trip. Im organizing all my pictures and notes now. So much to go through, it feels like we were gone ten days instead of five. Hopefully i should have something for you tomorrow night . As expected cruising as a vegan has a huge learning curve, but i had some really yummy food and great times so it was all worth it

ttys!

Looking forward to your TR and learning from you.

 

[jenifred]

Welcome back! Glad you had a good time. Can't wait to read your report!

 

[Snowecru]

I'm so glad that you enjoyed yourself and can't wait to read your trip report!

organic

 

[cannp123165]

Glad you had a good time!

 

[rani8600]

Departure Day

Ok, so I’ll try to keep this one short. Our flight was supposed to be at 6:20 on Friday night. Because it was a late flight and we didn’t have to leave until the afternoon my mother and I both got up and went to work that morning. Not such a fun way to start a vacation, but why waste the vacation day I was able to leave work a little before noon to start the adventure that was getting ready to leave. I drove straight to my parents’ house, dropped my luggage, ran to the nail place for a quick mani/pedi (absolutely essential for vacation ), ran back to my parents’ house just in time for the car service to arrive.

For this vacation we decided to take a car service to the airport rather than drive or take the train like we usually do. My mom was able to get a price that was nearly the same as for the four of us to take the train or to park the car as it was to have the service come and drop us off and pick us up. This was a great way to start (and sadly end) our vacation. It was nice not to have to worry about all the hassle that comes with going to and from the airport.

We arrived at the airport right when we wanted to around 4:45. We checked our bags curbside and headed for security. The lines were not bad at all and we were at our gate with plenty of time to kill. In the airport there is not a lot of vegan food available, but there was a salad/sandwich place not too far from our gate so with my mother and sister, I went to investigate. They had a Hummus and veggie flatbread. I asked the manager if this was vegan…

*Oh yes of course it is

#So it doesn’t contain and dairy or eggs?

*Oh, not sure about that let me check

He went to check the big book-o-ingredients and told me that it was ok, so I was able to order that for dinner. I don’t have a picture of it though. I would like to take this time to apologize for the intermittent food pics. I tried to remember, by sometimes I forgot or it was just that boring.

So pre-flight excitement. After dinner we were just sitting by the gate waiting to board and a pigeon just walked right up to us…it didn’t even seem fazed by all the people. He just walked around for a bit wondering around the terminal. I was able to get a picture, but not until he was a little further away. The way he was walking around you half expected him to find his gate and board a plane.

We boarded the flight a little delayed since the weather was bad. Once we boarded we waited….and waited…. and waited some more. Turns out that we were really far back in line due to the weather conditions and once we were close to leaving someone on the flight got sick and needed to be let off so we lost our place and had to go back to the back of the line. We waited to leave the gate for about an hour and half. Good thing it was one of the flights with free entertainment and movies. I got to catch up on the movies that I never got to see; Transforms 1 (I figured it was time as there is a third one now…lol) and Battle Los Angeles. Random I know, but they kept my mind off the flight as I am not a good flier…can’t hear the plane noises with all the explosions

Once we touched down in Orlando, we grabbed our bags and got our rental car. Watching my parents argue over how to get to Disney even though we have been there how many times was interesting. Eventually we made it to our destination, Animal Kingdom Lodge. We got in late, but were able to check into the room quickly...of course our room was crazy far away from the lobby. We joked that it felt, especially after a long day and travel, like we were walking all the way to the real Africa (yes we do realize that there would be swimming involve if this was the case…lol).

I guess keeping this short didn’t work out to well. I have a feeling that this is going to be a trend for this report. There was so much going on that each day felt like two or three days.

 

[cruisecrasher]

Yay thanks for starting this!

 

[Wonder2008]

Hi,

I'm lactose intollerant so I'm eager to read how you were accommodated in all the restaurants.

Robert

 

[rani8600]

Today was to be both our first and last day in Disney World for this trip anyway. I know that for most people Magic Kingdom is the place you must go first. Now I understand that MK is where it all started and where the magic lives, but for me and my sister we like to be different and usually head straight for Epcot. This trip was no exception.

So funny story about waking up that morning (or no so funny depending on how I choose to remember it). Our alarms were set to go off at 7:15 Saturday morning as it was a 9 am open for Epcot. I was having trouble sleeping that night and finally got up when the bedside clock showed that it was a little after 7. I got up and grabbed all my things out of my suitcase, put all the needed items in the shower, got my clothes all ready. Since I was going to be the first in the shower I grabbed my phone to turn off the alarm so that my sister could sleep a few minutes longer. I look down at it and what do I see…5:52 am!!!!!!! What?! Turns out that my dad had unplugged the clock by accident before he went to bed and it reset the time. Great now im all up and awake. I tried to go back to sleep and was able to sleep for a little while longer waking up when the alarms went off at the real 7:15.

Somehow my sister and I were able to get ourselves together in time to leave the room by 8 am. On our way to the bus stops we made a quick stop at Mara to grab breakfast. I grabbed a fruit cup and a soymilk.

We took our breakfast with us and ate it while waiting for the bus. We waited for the bus for about 10 minutes then we were off to Epcot. We are used to staying at the Epcot resorts so it had been a while since I used the main entrance with the crowds. It wasn’t too bad though because most of the ppl in line had already been let into the fountain area. We made it to the fountain with about two minutes to spare, then we were off.

We headed for the land to pick up our fast passes to Soarin. Of course my sisters park pass chose this as the opportune time to stop working so we had to flag down the attendant to get hers. Both of our passes ended up being for a little after ten so everything was good so far.

Once we had our passes we made our way to the opposite side of the park to do Mission Space. We usually do Mission Space then Test Track single rider, but on our way we noticed that there was no one on Test Track so we took a detour and decided to go through the main line. We pretty much walked straight on, the longest part for the line was the stop to watch the intro film. I think this is the first time that any of us have sat the in same car let alone next to each other in forever….lol.

Once we were done playing test dummies we decide it was time to take our trip to Mars. It was difficult, but we were able to land our shuttle just in time. You would think we would be better at that after all our practice.

With two of the three major rides done and a fast pass for the third we slowed down a bit and took some time in innoventions. We decided to brush up on our physics on the Sum of all Thrills. My sister is always in charge of building the coaster when I ride with her and she pushes the designs as far as they go. She was able to open a new turn for our last thrill and we were upside down for so long that we both though we might fall straight out, a first for that ride. Even with the near disaster it was a great ride that is best left for the virtual setting.

Finally it was time to make our way back to the Land to use our Soarin fast passes. As we walked of we couldn’t help but comment on how few people that we have seen the whole morning. Surprising for a Saturday in July. On our trip to CA we were lucky enough to share our journey with a Brazilian tour group. They seemed to really enjoy they experience as they clapped and cheered every time the scene changed .

After we enjoyed the sights and smells of California we decided it was time for lunch. My sister doesn’t really care for Sunshine Seasons, but it is one of my favorite counter services in Disney World. I, like most vegans, made a bee line for the Asian section. I asked the woman behind the counter about the vegetarian platter which is not on the menu as I was not in the mood for soup (way too hot out). Before I could even make another sound she had made me a platter with white rice, noodles, steamed broccoli and veggies. Since she didn’t give me a chance before she made it I asked now if I could have one of them replace for the tofu. She told be no, if I wanted tofu I could only have two things. Hmmm, no fun. Im sure that I didn’t make her to happy, but I changed my order to the Noodle bowl without the broth. If you order it as the noodle bowl you get three things not two; the tofu, the noodles and the veggies. It was sooo yummy as always.My sister just ordered a chocolate croissant as she was saving room for pizza from the counter service in Italy.

Even though we only have one day in Disney no trip to Epcot would be complete without a quick walk through the countries. We started in Mexico and worked our way around, we moved rather quickly as we did not want to waste time knowing that we would be back for the Food and Wine Festival in October. I didn’t realize in China that they had reworked the whole store. Most of the items are the same, but the layout is very different.

Finally we found ourselves in Italy and my sisters lunch…or so we though. The counter service location was nowhere in sight. Im note sure if it is permanently gone or if it is just done for a little while, but the door that used to connect it to the main restaurant is blocked. With that we continued to make our way around. My sister decided to make a quick stop in America to drown her pizza sorrows in a glass of Sam Adams (Summer Ale I believe).

We found ourselves in the UK around 1 and decided to hangout to see the World Showcase Players. We always pass them, seeing bits and pieces, but I had never seen the whole show before. It was really funny. If you haven’t seen it you should. We had high hopes of powering through the day, but it was just too hot. Around 2 we headed back to AKL to swim and cool off.