Read on to explore our top tips to make your holiday as stress free as possible and find our highest-rated cruise lines for plant-based diets.
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Top tips
- If you're unsure of anything, there's no harm in contacting your cruise line to ask before you book or set sail. They'll answer any questions you have and provide you with peace of mind before you get on board.
- Explain your dietary requirements to your server each night. They'll be able to guide you towards the vegan options if it's not completly clear.
- Buffets are an easy option as different foods are usually kept separate so you can create your own dish out of the plant-based products. Many cruise lines also have stations where meals are independently prepared so you can choose the exact ingredients.
- Pack any condiments you can't live without. These are great for spicing up the buffet options if necessary.
- Same with snacks - sometimes there's nothing better than a familiar treat in the afternoon without the need to hunt for something vegan.
- If you are buying packaged snacks onboard, download the Animal-Free app, where you can scan the barcode to check the ingredients.
Best cruise lines for vegans
The most important choice you need to make is which cruise company you sail with as there's a wide disparity between their vegan offerings. Below, we've listed our top cruise lines for vegan diets.
Oceania
Oceania market themselves as having the ‘finest cuisine at sea’ and this extends to their vegan options too. They have some of the most expansive menus and also the only vegan raw juice bars (on select ships) at sea, where juices and smoothies feature their in-house pressed cashew milk and energy bowls have nourishing ingredients such as chia and acai.
Bob Binder, President & CEO of Oceania Cruises boasts, "Whether guests are looking for a healthy and invigorating start to their day or a refreshing and rejuvenating mid-day pick-up, the Raw Juice & Smoothie Bar has something to delight every palate."
In the main restaurant, there are nine main and side dishes to pick from at breakfast, including savoury tortillas and vanilla waffles. At dinner, there's an evolving five course vegan menu featuring dishes such as parsnip and truffle soup, red Thai curry and strawberry sable.
Disney
It's unsurprising that Disney, who are known for their excellent service, are eager to cater to vegans onboard. It's advised to ring the cruise line once you've booked and they'll make sure the crew know your preferences. Once onboard, you can pre-order vegan meals or choose from the main offering. The Cabanas buffet has great breakfast and lunch options and each restaurant can ensure vegan plates for dinner (the Indian dishes come highly recommended). Disney operate a rotation system where you have the same server each night in a different restaurant. This gives great variety to your dining experiences and ensures that you don't have to constantly give your dietary requirements to different servers.
Virgin Voyages
You can relax on a Virgin ship knowing they have an option for vegans in each one of their twenty restaurants. These include well-known brands such as Impossible burgers and Beyond Meat sausages. Top recommendations are the salads at the Daily Mix where the chef will prepare a dish to your tastes and the variety of Japanese options at Gumbae. Virgin do not have the classic buffet-style cruise restaurants, favouring intimate spaces instead and with vegan options in them all, everyone can enjoy the variety of experiences onboard.
Royal Caribbean
There's no need to go hungry on Royal Caribbean with so many vegan options. Onboard each ship is a Windjammer buffet where there's a huge selection of plant-based food on offer, including live cooking stations, where you can create your own stir fry or pasta. In the main dining restaurant, there's a changing menu with two options for most courses. The choices here are exciting, with examples such as crunchy tofu salad, butternut squash curry and tahini banana soft serve. There are also vegan options in each of the speciality restaurants so you can indulge in Persian, Italian and sushi with ease.
Princess Cruises
In 2023, Princess overhauled their vegan offering with brand new menus in the main dining rooms. The menu changes each night, but will need to be reserved prior to the cruise through the Princess app or by phoning. A representative from the company explained that they're looking to take guests on a ‘culinary journey’ with these innovative menus. Expect exciting dishes such as baja-style cauliflower tacos as well as takes on the classics like shepard’s pie. The main buffet restaurant also has a number of vegan options and the speciality restaurants have a good reputation for adapting dishes where possible.
Sami Kohen, Princess Cruises Vice President of Food and Beverage explains, “Our new plant-based dinner menus offer our vegan guests an extraordinary culinary journey while providing reassurance and peace of mind with dishes they know meet their lifestyle preferences.”
Holland America
The US based cruise line are keen to incorporate vegan dishes into their menus.
“Cruising offers the perfect venue for guests who are more traditional eaters to sample different options such as vegetarian and vegan dishes, and we are sure they will be pleasantly surprised at the breadth of flavours,” said Steve Kirsch, Holland America Line’s director of culinary operations
In the main dining room, Holland America have a 22 dish menu for vegetarian and vegan diets with classics such as pad Thai and jambalaya, as well as dishes like spicy lentil and garbanzo salad and Asian noodle soup. Other restaurants onboard all have vegetarian options on their menus. It's best to check ahead of time to see if these can be modified to plant-based.
GET.cruises will help you find the best cruise deals. Search for your perfect vegan cruise holiday and compare prices from all the major travel agents.
