Question/Concern about Vegan Food Onboard

[nicholas]

First off, let me just say I am VERY excited to take my first cruise ever with Disney for the Seven Night Eastern on Oct 27. Can't wait!

But I'm a little concerned about the food since I'm vegan. No meat, fish, dairy, eggs, honey, etc.

I've read from other people in other posts on here that I can call in advance and have this noted on my reservation and everything should be fine. But I just got off of the phone with them, and the lady I spoke to, while very nice and helpful with other questions I had, was really of no help to me on this issue.

Right now I am listed as vegetarian because it's the closest category they have to label someone's diet with. She said there was nothing else she could notate and I just need to speak to the head server when I get to dinner on my first night and let him/her know of the special needs and all would be taken care of.

I guess I'm just worried that if nobody knows I'm vegan until after I am on the boat and we've set sail, that if they don't already have alternative meal options for me, then it is obviously too late for anyone onboard to have ingredients and items available to prepare meals for me and I'll be stuck eating fruit and garden salads for an entire week.

Does anyone have any information that can put me at ease or have any other Vegans on this forum been through this first hand that can offer some advice or assurance?

Thanks in advance, and seriously, I'm so extremely excited to be taking my first Disney cruise!

 

[professorandmom]

There have been many posts from vegetarians on DIS boards saying they were pleased with the choices. I would encourage you to call back and modify your reservation to include non-dairy restrictions as well since that too describes your preferences.

You should plan on speaking with the restaurant manager each evening and going over the menu to hear how the veggie choices can be adapted for you.

I suspect you will be far more satisfied that in your typical dining establishment.

Hopefully some vegans will respond with their experiences

Have a great cruise
Barb

PS - Let me add that the candy restrictions (gelatin for those unaware of vegan/veggie restrictions) shouldn't be a problem because it is one thing that isn't free onboard

 

[atinkerbellmom]

This was just posted about two weeks ago and went nowhere. I will look up the thread, but it was posted by a frequent DISer whom has just changed her lifestyle. She got many replies for the Vegetarian part, but not the vegan part. Everyone kept coming back with differnt pastas etc. I personally do not think it is a lot of Vegan choices personally. When we cruised with my DD and she had a milk and egg allergy (thank goodness the milk one is mild now), we had slim picking, but we actually could do meat. I wonder about your protien. I like Vegan threads, but IMO they have never gone anywhere, hopefully this time it will.

 

[pfishgirl]

Best Thing to do is Call Ahead and let DCL know you are a Strict Vegan and Not just a Vegetarian.. Alot of people don't understand the difference.

 

[Ham Ham]

Call DCL with your reservation number. Also ask to be put in e-mail contact with the head of food and beverages on the ship. I'm sure they're accustom to dealing with many dietary needs.

 

[disneyholic family]

i don't think that they guarantee food for vegans....
but yes, get the email address and make contact..

also when you board the ship, do NOT wait for dinner....
go to parrot cay for lunch and immediately ask to speak with the head waiter on duty (the head waiter - not the servers, but the one head waiter who is running the restaurant)...

explain to the head waiter that you are a vegan and explain EXACTLY what that means.....most will probably know but do not assume that they all will...
he/she will already need to help you at lunch, to know what you can eat...
you will also need to see the ingredients book of the onboard food to have an idea of what you can eat during the cruise....
at lunch you will probably be able to order already for dinner...
and then at dinner you will order for dinner the next night...

the head waiter at parrot cay should give an advance warning to the head waiter of your rotation.....your head waiter of your first dinner will be your head waiter for dinner throughout your cruise (the restaurant staff moves with the rotation through the different dining rooms, so you have your same waiter and head waiter)..

your head waiter can bring food from other restaurants if there is something on that menu that is more appropriate for you...

our head waiters on both of our cruises brought food from one of the restaurants to the others, since that was the dish that best suited us..

just to give you an idea of how important our head waiter was to us, on our 3 day cruise, when we should have tipped the head waiter a total of $10 ($2.50 per person for 4 people), we tipped him $100.....he made the cruise for us....he completely went out of his way for us..

the same was true on our second cruise....

by the way, it's possible that the veggie burgers that are served on board are ok for you...
i'm not a vegan, just a vegetarian....but i'm very careful about the way things are cooked (i won't eat a veggie burger that has been cooked on a regular grill for example).....on the disney ship they cook the veggie burgers on dedicated grills (this is also available on castaway cay - but you have to ask for the veggie burger - it's not out on display), so that should be ok for you, assuming the ingredients of the veggie burger are ok for you.....probably they are, but you'll have to check....and for example, the french fries are cooked in special french fry cookers with only vegetable oil....nothing else comes into contact with the french fry cookers.....
and the head waiter on my first cruise was able to help me with this info....
but this is the sort of thing you'll probably have to find out that first day....

i just thought of another thing....the head waiter on that first cruise also informed us which bread was dairy and which wasn't....he told us the ingredients of the various breads.....so you can find that out too...
as i said, there's an ingredients book of everything on the ship....he brought it out to show to us, but he actually knew everything by heart.....he was on the wonder then, but i think he works on the magic now, but i can't remember his name....from australia i think....

 

[yndygo]

(cut)
by the way, it's possible that the veggie burgers that are served on board are ok for you...
i'm not a vegan, just a vegetarian....but i'm very careful about the way things are cooked (i won't eat a veggie burger that has been cooked on a regular grill for example).....on the disney ship they cook the veggie burgers on dedicated grills (this is also available on castaway cay - but you have to ask for the veggie burger - it's not out on display),
(cut)

Out of curiosity, do you know what type of veggie burgers they are? My DD at 4 is rather a self-imposed vegetarian... the closest she gets to meat is chicken soup broth once in a blue moon... But she's a die-hard fan of Boca burgers... I didn't know if DCL has them on board, we didn't ask last time - but I was getting concerned about the next time around...

Are they Boca or more like Gardenburgers?

Thanks!!

 

[disneyholic family]

Out of curiosity, do you know what type of veggie burgers they are? My DD at 4 is rather a self-imposed vegetarian... the closest she gets to meat is chicken soup broth once in a blue moon... But she's a die-hard fan of Boca burgers... I didn't know if DCL has them on board, we didn't ask last time - but I was getting concerned about the next time around...

Are they Boca or more like Gardenburgers?

Thanks!!

sorry i haven't a clue....i don't know what boca or gardenburgers are...
i can tell you that they're very tasty....
they have them at the bar-b-que on castaway cay (but you have to request them, they're not on display), and i hear that they also have them at that goofy's snack bar place up on the 9th deck (or whatever that place is called that serves burgers up there)....i never tried it there, but someone else posted they have them...

and i bet you can request them at other places as well....

 

[cherylp3]

the last time I tried one it was hard as a rock. it was from goofy's not CC.

To the OP if you can have your doctor sign the medical form stating that you are vegan and send it into them special services will contact you.

 

[disneyholic family]

the last time I tried one it was hard as a rock. it was from goofy's not CC.

To the OP if you can have your doctor sign the medical form stating that you are vegan and send it into them special services will contact you.

will a doctor sign a form like that? kind of a strange thing for a doctor to sign.

 

[cherylp3]

I was told by DCL that the medical form is the only way special services will contact you. I might call back and see if I can get that email address.

As for if the Doctor would sign the form, I'm not sure. Its worth a try.

 

[nicholas]

Thanks for everyone's input. I went ahead and sent them a letter via the online contact form as well as faxed a note to them. Hopefully, one of those will get me a bit further in talking directly with someone who can assist me.

Good to know that there are veggie burgers in a worst case scenario sort of thing, so at least I won't starve for a week, lol.

If anyone has anything further they can provide, I would still be quite appreciative to hear it.

Thanks guys! Can't wait for this cruise!

 

[disneyholic family]

Thanks for everyone's input. I went ahead and sent them a letter via the online contact form as well as faxed a note to them. Hopefully, one of those will get me a bit further in talking directly with someone who can assist me.

Good to know that there are veggie burgers in a worst case scenario sort of thing, so at least I won't starve for a week, lol.

If anyone has anything further they can provide, I would still be quite appreciative to hear it.

Thanks guys! Can't wait for this cruise!

they never contacted us in advance, but it still was fine - the head servers were great...
so if they don't contact you, it might still be ok..

i'm trying to remember which bread it was that's only made with flour and water...(no milk).....i can't remember....but the ingredients book will have the information (as will the chefs on board)..

by the way, lunch on boarding day, in parrot cay, even though it's a buffet, the chef specially prepared our food for us (since there really wasn't anything we could eat from the buffet - other than fruit....but no 'real' food)...

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Out of curiosity, do you know what type of veggie burgers they are? My DD at 4 is rather a self-imposed vegetarian... the closest she gets to meat is chicken soup broth once in a blue moon... But she's a die-hard fan of Boca burgers... I didn't know if DCL has them on board, we didn't ask last time - but I was getting concerned about the next time around...

Are they Boca or more like Gardenburgers?

Thanks!!

They are Boca-style so they are vegan. But I cannot guarantee they are made vegan-like. After speaking with dietary over the phone pre-cruise, I would suggest you also go to speak with someone when you get onboard. I am lacto-ovo and know the vegetarian dishes are not always vegan. I know for sure you can get soy milk (I was even able to get this for my coffee daily through the dining room).

Oh, one thing to remember: On Castaway Cay, they will grill your veggie burger with the meats and the potato salad has bacon in it. I will either not eat those selections (just eat fruit or something) or perhaps you can pack something from onboard and take it on the island with you. I've complained about this grilling method before but nothing seems to have changed about this. It's disheartening. They really should know better.

 

[disneyholic family]

They are Boca-style so they are vegan. But I cannot guarantee they are made vegan-like. After speaking with dietary over the phone pre-cruise, I would suggest you also go to speak with someone when you get onboard. I am lacto-ovo and know the vegetarian dishes are not always vegan. I know for sure you can get soy milk (I was even able to get this for my coffee daily through the dining room).

Oh, one thing to remember: On Castaway Cay, they will grill your veggie burger with the meats and the potato salad has bacon in it. I will either not eat those selections (just eat fruit or something) or perhaps you can pack something from onboard and take it on the island with you. I've complained about this grilling method before but nothing seems to have changed about this. It's disheartening. They really should know better.

no, on castaway cay there is a specially dedicated pan just for the veggie burger....they are not supposed to grill it with the meat and you can make sure that they don't....
we were told this on boarding by the head server (Ricky?)...he told us there is a special pan for the veggie burgers and that we can request it...

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Well, they didn't do that for us the last two times. Did they use the same spatula that they used for the hamburgers? They did that, too.

 

[disneyholic family]

Well, they didn't do that for us the last two times. Did they use the same spatula that they used for the hamburgers? They did that, too.

nope, they used separate everything.....i reminded them they were supposed to and watched to make sure they did...
i was told in advance that i could do this...

 

[professorandmom]

The serving utensil/pan concerns does bring up an important point....vegan cooking dishes have the same contamination issues for kosher (well, a bit stricter for Kosher but still similar) - and kosher food is delivered to the ship frozen...DCL doesn't try to maintain separate cooking utensils, etc for Kosher dishes. I think it is possible that the cross contamination issue for vegan dishes may be a problem that can be difficult to maintain a separate grill, pans and cooking pots.

Barb

 

[atinkerbellmom]

They are Boca-style so they are vegan. But I cannot guarantee they are made vegan-like. After speaking with dietary over the phone pre-cruise, I would suggest you also go to speak with someone when you get onboard. I am lacto-ovo and know the vegetarian dishes are not always vegan. I know for sure you can get soy milk (I was even able to get this for my coffee daily through the dining room).

Oh, one thing to remember: On Castaway Cay, they will grill your veggie burger with the meats and the potato salad has bacon in it. I will either not eat those selections (just eat fruit or something) or perhaps you can pack something from onboard and take it on the island with you. I've complained about this grilling method before but nothing seems to have changed about this. It's disheartening. They really should know better.

Potato salad is not vegan anyway. It is made with mayo and therefore has eggs in it. See the Vegan challenge everyone?????

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Potato salad is not vegan anyway. It is made with mayo and therefore has eggs in it. See the Vegan challenge everyone?????

I didn't say I was vegan. I said I was lacto ovo. I wasn't stating the info about the potato salad just for the OP, I was stating it for any other vegetarians that might be interested in this information.

disneyholic family - Thanks for that info. I'll be sure to be specific next time when I ask for veggie burgers. I've always been too timid to say anything about it.