By Taffy Gonzalez
We just went on a Carnival Cruise (Triumph). The Dining Room staff was amazing. They created a custom vegan meal for our son every night, using such things as tofu and quinoa. It seemed like the chef used it for creative freedom, rather than a burden. The vegan dinners were always very pretty and tasty. Our waiter was very knowledgeable and supportive of our son being vegan…gave him a big hug at the end rather than treating him like he created more work!
For lunch aboard the ship our son hit the Mexican place mainly and had black bean burritos. Since meals are pre-paid, he would eat a few burritos as a vegan teenage boy eats a lot! There was also a stir-fry place that had tofu. For breakfast there were plenty of vegan items to get by.
As for the tours, one of our tours was very supportive and we didn’t even have to tell them he was vegan as there was so much to eat and there were plenty of options. The other tour was not understanding of vegan folks, but our family and another veggie family talked to the Carnival Cruise Director and they were so appalled by this that they refunded money and let us know all of the senior people at Carnival who would be looking into this. He was genuine with his concern.
All in all, our son who was extremely worried he would starve; however, he ate very well each day. Be sure to tell the head waiter as soon as you board the ship of your vegan needs. We did and as a result had a vegan dinner for us that first night.