Living Vegan For Dummies - Alexandra Jamieson [112]
Seemingly built to serve your every desire, today’s cruise ships are like enormous floating mall-spas. Most ships offer a huge variety of food made available around the clock. Certain cruise packages may be more vegan friendly, so if you have the opportunity, do your research and find a boat that will cater more specifically to you and your vacation dreams.
In this day and age any cruise ship will be familiar with and offer many vegetarian options. Talk with the travel agent or your cruise contact well in advance about your special food needs. This will give them time to come up with better and more varied options for you. These professionals may be able to provide you with sample menus and standard examples of what’s available.
When you first arrive on the ship, ask to speak to someone from the kitchen. Tell them you’re a vegan, and explain what that means. Ask if there are any items in their kitchen that may not be on the regular menu, like veggie burgers, bean burritos, or tofu dishes. Similarly, if you decide to enjoy a special meal in one of the boat’s restaurants, notify that establishment ahead of time. Just like landlocked eateries, most will put something nice together for you if you don’t spring it on them during a rush.
Don’t be ashamed to take leftovers back to your cabin. If your meal was great but you couldn’t finish eating it, you can take it with you and have it for lunch or a snack the next day. Just remember to bring a washable container in your luggage so you have somewhere to store it. When you book your cruise, be sure to ask whether your cabin has a small refrigerator. If not, find out about renting one for the trip. This will allow you a lot more flexibility.
Even if you were somehow plunked down on a cruise ship with no warning, you would certainly be able to find pasta dishes, beans and grains, and lots of fruits and veggies. Again, just ask for what you need and make a meal out of several side dishes if you have to.
Tagging along with a tour group offers the comfort of friendly company and built-in support for many travelers. Vegans will want to talk to the tour leader before signing up for a group tour, because most of the meals will either be ordered ahead of time or scheduled for a specific restaurant along the way. Find out whether the group menu will be preset or whether you’ll be able to ask the server for a vegan version. If you’re traveling to a country where you don’t speak the language, be sure to talk with the tour operator about the likelihood of finding a vegan option. (Tour operators usually frequent the same destinations over and over, so they’re knowledgeable and the ones to ask.)
Do your research on the predetermined tour route and search out vegan-friendly restaurants near the group stops. The Internet is full of information on international vegan dining spots. To better communicate with waiters and clerks in foreign lands, get yourself a copy of the Vegan Passport by George Rodger (Vegan Society Ltd.), which is detailed in the sidebar “Lost in translation.”
Culture-Clash: Staying Vegan in Other Countries
Traveling abroad comes with a special set of considerations. For example, do you speak the language of the country you’re going to visit? Do you know anything about the local cuisine? Where will you be staying? But, when you’re a vegan, you also have to consider what meals and snacks will be available for you. Most major international and domestic cities will have at least one vegan restaurant, and a few cities are known for being vegan meccas. Portland, Oregon, New York City, London, and Vancouver, British Columbia, are great places to visit as a vegan.
Here are some simple ways to ensure a bon voyage:
Use the Internet or look through vegetarian travel books before leaving home. These resources offer you ideas for vegan restaurants and health food stores. Don’t forget to search out farmer’s markets, too.
Make a list of restaurants and health food stores for each country or city you’re traveling to. Compile the address, a small printable map, written