Final Day: Vegan Eats on Holland America Cruise Advice

With one more day of being vegan on Holland America’s Oosterdam, I made sure to try everything I could for you, dear blog. And because I would have loved to been able to know this vegan intel prior to boarding, I’m going to lay it all down here on this page. Hopefully it can help other traveling vegans and Holland America, as I plan to share my praises and criticisms on their guest survey—for the greater good. [It is important to reiterate that these details pertain to the Oosterdam ship.]

Lido Restaurant (casual, buffet style dining serving breakfast, lunch and dinner):
Though a buffet can help you carefully craft complete a meal that fills you up, I had a bit more of a difficulty crafting complete protein/starch/vegetable meals that were yummy enough for the effort. Vegan offerings are not labeled in the Lido Restaurant, during any meal service. It would help tremendously if vegan eats were labeled. The majority Indonesian staff is very skilled in communicating in English within certain parameters of their trained specialty, but I think a “vegan” is too far and few in between. Labeling would be an easy fix that vegans, vegetarians, gluten-free, the health conscious, and those with allergies would all appreciate.

Breakfast:
Breakfasts at Lido only offer very bare bones vegan options. There are a variety of breads, jams, (hydrogenated-style) peanut butter, cut fruit, and juices (O.J. is freshly squeezed). As far as hot food, there are usually potatoes that are vegan. They are served by Lido crew along with a variety of other, often very popular, non-vegan items. So you’ll have to wait in line with the folks who are getting more complicated dishes put together to ask for your small pile of potatoes, which can be annoying depending on how hungry you are. There is also a minimal selection of other vegetable-based sides. Like this tomato.

For a bit of a breakfast, I used Room Service (see below) most days. My advice would be, though, to bring your own enhancements, like the chia I brought above. I might consider buying a travel size container set to fill with nutritional yeast, Earth Balance, good nut butter, a quality dressing, etc. Is that crazy? Isn’t what you put in your body even more important than the many toiletries available in travel sizes? Heck, they’d fit beautifully in the mini fridge.

Lunch:
Lunch at Lido can be vegan friendly depending on what they are featuring on a specific day. Of course, the Asian options are more often plant-based, but not always. They are catering to the masses after all. The best lunch at the Lido was when they had a Vietnamese theme going. I got a glass noodle stirfry and Vietnamese summer rolls. There is a salad section that can always make a pleasing salad and often features grain salads and pilafs (quinoa, lentil, cous cous, etc). Like breakfast, it takes a bit of creativity to eat a proper meal.

I don’t recommend eating dinner at the Lido. This is when you’ll be eating your special vegan meal request (See Vista Dining Room below).

There is a taco bar on the Lido Deck where you can make a tasty taco with black beans, guacamole, pineapple salsa, lettuce, chopped onion, and pico de gallo.

Right next to the taco bar on Lido is…
Dive-In at the Terrace Grill:
This is the boat’s burger counter spot. They serve burgers, fries and franks. They do have a vegetarian option, which can be made vegan with some effort. First, order their Freestyle Portobello “burger” without the cheese and special sauce, which is egg based. This vegetarian burger option is not a patty but a big Portobello mushroom cap. Here comes a bit of creativity. The bun is likely not vegan, having a clear egg wash on its top. I brought a vegan bun in from the Lido and switched its contents into it: the mushroom, the guacamole and lettuce/tomato. I also threw in some chopped onion from the taco bar. It was pretty delicious!

Room Service:
Breakfast:
I enjoyed waking up to breakfast in bed: a big ol’ pot of coffee, glasses of soymilk, cereal, fruit, has browns, orange juice… it is a great way to start the day. Plus, the folks in the Room Service department know the v-word. And they took the time to track down whether or not the “Veggie Links” selection on the breakfast menu was vegan or not (It’s not.)
Lunch:
Holland has a vegan option on their room service menu that is pretty darn good! It’s the Thai Vegetarian Wrap: eggplant, bamboo shoot, bean sprouts and cilantro blended with rice and a green curry sauce stuffed into a wrap with a peanut-y hummus spread on top. It didn’t look that scrumptious but it was.

There is also a Penne Primavera on the In-room dining menu that I order with no cheese. But the marinara was a bit too orange for me to trust. My marinara is red. Orange usually =’s cream or cheese addition.

There is also a basket in your stateroom that can be filled with fruit of your selecting. I appreciate that. Though fruit was a bit beat up, it was a very welcome addition.

Vista Dining Room:
Dinner:
Dinner in main dining (Vista) is when you’ll eat your pre-selected vegan dinner courses. You select your meal (appetizer, soup, and main) for the evening after. The wait staff will present you with the Vegetarian/Vegan Menu, along with the regular menu for the next evening. Be sure to scan the regular menu as several choices during the course of the trip were vegan (or easily veganized). That way, you don’t have to repeat a meal once! But appetizers and salads might have to be repeated, as with my Mezze plate below. (I got it three times!) The system works well, except for the first evening. Even with submitting a special dietary request form, I had to eat green beans and carrots as a dinner entrée without having the opportunity to pre-select a meal. It was a bit disappointing as I made a call to Holland prior to the trip inquiring specifically about the first evening’s meal and was told I had nothing to worry about. My only other constructive feedback on their vegan dining options would be with consistency with descriptions on the menu. Often a garnish or other component was missing that would have elevated the meal a great deal, making it feel less like a substitution. Overall, I am so very grateful for the vegan menu selections. It has made me more open to cruising, a trip experience that is often attraction and considered a value because of meals. Here is my final meal:
Mezze plate, for the 3rd time

Asian noodle soup

Vegetable curry with forbidden rice

Tropical fruit sprinkled with coconut
And finally, internet. I was a bit taken aback by how costly wireless fees were for the cruise. I don’t know what I expected, but this seemed high. I’m curious if this is industry standard? I also thought that these prices should have been posted somewhere on Holland’s website. So I am posting it for them.

Current Position:
50° 30.28’ N
126° 29.96’ W