Kosher on DCL

[zakdavid]

Has anyone traveled on DCL keeping kosher? Is it standard frozen meals? How easy was it to get them etc... Thanks!

 

[HiStitch626]

Kosher in the Kingdom has good information about cruising - https://kosherinthekingdom.com/kosher-disney-cruising-part-1-overview/

DCL special request page - https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/guest-services/special-dietary-requests/

 

[disneyholic family]

Has anyone traveled on DCL keeping kosher? Is it standard frozen meals? How easy was it to get them etc... Thanks!

yes, we've eaten kosher on DCL on many cruises.
However, our last cruise was in 2019, though i doubt much has changed since then.

and yes, it's your standard (pretty awful) frozen TV dinner.
But there's lots of other food you can eat on board in addition to the kosher food (which you need to tell them in advance that you'll need).

Since it's disney, they have a very complete ingredients book (allergy book) of all food on board, so you can check the book to see what else is kosher.
In addition, many of the head people in food service on board are aware of kosher requirements and so are familiar with what's possible.

For example, on our very first DCL cruise way back in 2001, when we boarded, we went to the sit down restaurant for lunch (not the buffet).
When we walked in, we told the waiter that we eat kosher, so he called the head waiter.
It turned out he wasn't our assigned head waiter (hard to explain the whole DCL dining system, but it doesn't matter for this answer)
Anyway, he first called the chef to come out to speak with us.
Since the kosher meals would take a long time to heat, he offered to prepare us something from scratch that we would be able to eat.
Normally, you'll order the special kosher meals for each meal a day in advance, so they know to have it ready for your meal, but for boarding it's not possible.
He was willing to heat the kosher meals, but said they'd take a long time.
So instead he specially prepared for us salads, sandwiches (tuna) etc.

ok. Now getting back to the head waiter who was sitting with us throughout that conversation.
I can't remember his name, but he moved up through the company, i think ultimately becoming an executive.
But anyway - he's australian i should add (that might jog people's memory).
Ok so he brings out this massive ingredients book, but first asked us "how kosher are you?"
we laughed and asked him what he meant.
So he said he knew some people had to have everything plastic including plastic cups and utensils.
And that they have to open all the kosher food themselves to make sure it's unopened. Some could eat regular food that was prepared in certain ways etc.

So we explained exactly where we fit in that spectrum.

And then he proceeded to take us through the ingredient book.

He was hilarious. Not jewish, but knew a ton more than the average jew about what is kosher and what isnt.

He said, this is made all by itself in a special machine that nothing else touches and here are the ingredients - all of which in that case were OU.
We were laughing so hard by this point. This guy could have been a mashgiach.

Anyway, he took us through everything so we knew absolutely everything we could eat on that ship, including the soft serve ice cream served up on deck thank god!!!

that was a very long story.

But the main food is definitely frozen and horrible.

Though may times they've offered to make us fish - and they even know they need to double wrap it to cook it in the oven.
We had probably the best bass we've even had on that ship.
It was on the regular menu the first night, prepared in a way that was ok for us to eat.
We fell in love with it and even though it was in one of the restaurants, the head waiter brought it to us each night, regardless of where we were eating.

Bottom line, DCL will go above and beyond if they can.

but again, you have to make sure it's on your reservation.
Also, i called their special dietary requirements number to confirm we were listed and to also request they make sure certain food our grandkids like is on board (one of the kosher meals that they particularly like). The guy i spoke with was super super super super super nice!!!

But yes, the main kosher food is the awful frozen tv dinner kind.

 

[disforce31]

yes, we've eaten kosher on DCL on many cruises.
However, our last cruise was in 2019, though i doubt much has changed since then.

and yes, it's your standard (pretty awful) frozen TV dinner.
But there's lots of other food you can eat on board in addition to the kosher food (which you need to tell them in advance that you'll need).

Since it's disney, they have a very complete ingredients book (allergy book) of all food on board, so you can check the book to see what else is kosher.
In addition, many of the head people in food service on board are aware of kosher requirements and so are familiar with what's possible.

For example, on our very first DCL cruise way back in 2001, when we boarded, we went to the sit down restaurant for lunch (not the buffet).
When we walked in, we told the waiter that we eat kosher, so he called the head waiter.
It turned out he wasn't our assigned head waiter (hard to explain the whole DCL dining system, but it doesn't matter for this answer)
Anyway, he first called the chef to come out to speak with us.
Since the kosher meals would take a long time to heat, he offered to prepare us something from scratch that we would be able to eat.
Normally, you'll order the special kosher meals for each meal a day in advance, so they know to have it ready for your meal, but for boarding it's not possible.
He was willing to heat the kosher meals, but said they'd take a long time.
So instead he specially prepared for us salads, sandwiches (tuna) etc.

ok. Now getting back to the head waiter who was sitting with us throughout that conversation.
I can't remember his name, but he moved up through the company, i think ultimately becoming an executive.
But anyway - he's australian i should add (that might jog people's memory).
Ok so he brings out this massive ingredients book, but first asked us "how kosher are you?"
we laughed and asked him what he meant.
So he said he knew some people had to have everything plastic including plastic cups and utensils.
And that they have to open all the kosher food themselves to make sure it's unopened. Some could eat regular food that was prepared in certain ways etc.

So we explained exactly where we fit in that spectrum.

And then he proceeded to take us through the ingredient book.

He was hilarious. Not jewish, but knew a ton more than the average jew about what is kosher and what isnt.

He said, this is made all by itself in a special machine that nothing else touches and here are the ingredients - all of which in that case were OU.
We were laughing so hard by this point. This guy could have been a mashgiach.

Anyway, he took us through everything so we knew absolutely everything we could eat on that ship, including the soft serve ice cream served up on deck thank god!!!

that was a very long story.

But the main food is definitely frozen and horrible.

Though may times they've offered to make us fish - and they even know they need to double wrap it to cook it in the oven.
We had probably the best bass we've even had on that ship.
It was on the regular menu the first night, prepared in a way that was ok for us to eat.
We fell in love with it and even though it was in one of the restaurants, the head waiter brought it to us each night, regardless of where we were eating.

Bottom line, DCL will go above and beyond if they can.

but again, you have to make sure it's on your reservation.
Also, i called their special dietary requirements number to confirm we were listed and to also request they make sure certain food our grandkids like is on board (one of the kosher meals that they particularly like). The guy i spoke with was super super super super super nice!!!

But yes, the main kosher food is the awful frozen tv dinner kind.

Can you speak to whether you were able to request for the food packages to be unopened so that the prepared food could be brought into port? Hoping to do that in a few weeks in Alaska but not sure we'll be able to. Thanks!

 

[disneyholic family]

Can you speak to whether you were able to request for the food packages to be unopened so that the prepared food could be brought into port? Hoping to do that in a few weeks in Alaska but not sure we'll be able to. Thanks!

it's my understanding you're not supposed to take any food off the ship at ports.
Despite that, we did take boxes of cereal from breakfast and also bagels that we'd brought with us onto the ship at the start of the cruise.
there is nothing in the specifically kosher food that you can take off the ship - it's frozen tv dinners. How would you heat it up?

but again, we weren't even supposed to take what we did off the ship, but we did anyway for the grandkids.
The adults didn't eat until we were back on the ship.

 

[disforce31]

it's my understanding you're not supposed to take any food off the ship at ports.
Despite that, we did take boxes of cereal from breakfast and also bagels that we'd brought with us onto the ship at the start of the cruise.
there is nothing in the specifically kosher food that you can take off the ship - it's frozen tv dinners. How would you heat it up?

but again, we weren't even supposed to take what we did off the ship, but we did anyway for the grandkids.
The adults didn't eat until we were back on the ship.

Good question for sure, and thanks! Since I'm pregnant I feel like I qualify as one of the kids, I'm just not sure about my legal status in that regard, haha! Something I'm considering is requesting an extra frozen meal at dinner that we could keep packaged but let it thaw overnight before eating it at port. We have a pretty low bar for eating standards, but I don't think cereal is going to be enough for me at this stage. Have you been to any Alaska ports?

 

[disneyholic family]

Good question for sure, and thanks! Since I'm pregnant I feel like I qualify as one of the kids, I'm just not sure about my legal status in that regard, haha! Something I'm considering is requesting an extra frozen meal at dinner that we could keep packaged but let it thaw overnight before eating it at port. We have a pretty low bar for eating standards, but I don't think cereal is going to be enough for me at this stage. Have you been to any Alaska ports?

what excursions have you booked? usually the excursions are only a few hours long and then you can go back on the ship for lunch.

 

[disneyholic family]

if you really have to eat off the ship, why don't you bring crackers with you from home together with a can of tuna fish or a jar of peanut butter. Both will get the job done.

 

[disforce31]

of you really have to eat off the ship, why don't you bring crackers with you from home together with a can of tuna fish or a jar of peanut butter. Both will get the job done.

I liked your bagels idea. We're driving a car from Skagway to Yukon, so getting back on the ship that day is not an option. It'll be less of a problem the other day.