Kosher cruise vs. kosher meals on reg cruise

amother

Navy

Thu, Oct 08 2015, 5:55 pm

Our family is considering taking a cruise and ideally, we would love a kosher cruise but the prices are significantly more than regular cruises.

I've heard you can get kosher food on a regular cruise. Has anyone ever done this? We were thinking Alaska so bathing suits/beaches etc aren't really an issue.

Just wondering if it's really worth the price for a special kosher cruise?

Anon because I've been asking a lot of people about this

TIA

ra_mom

Thu, Oct 08 2015, 6:00 pm

It really depends on your personality.

Cruises are all about the food. There are numerous meals and snacks throughout the day, in huge dining rooms throughout the ship, spread out as huge smorgasbords. So... if you're on a Kosher cruise, you'll get to join in on the food fun. If you're on a regular cruise, you'll get microwaved airline meals (as many as you want) while everyone else is choosing and chomping down on fancy fair.

I know two people who went on regular cruises. One knew what she was getting into. This type of thing is no problem for her and she had a blast. The other was terribly disappointed and felt like she was left out of the entire program and was very unhappy with the food options available to her.

So it depends on you Smile

Last edited by ra_mom on Thu, Oct 08 2015, 6:01 pm; edited 1 time in total

causemommysaid

Thu, Oct 08 2015, 6:01 pm

We did a regular cruise and got the packaged kosher meals. While we had fun we felt ripped off. Imagine a full week watching everyone around you eating 4 course steak dinners for free while u eat a dinky tv dinner. Not really all that enjoyable. Plus most of what u pay for in a cruise is the food so not being able to eat anything means you are overpaying anyway. Either do a kosher cruise or don't do a cruise at all. Just my opinion.

shlomki

Thu, Oct 08 2015, 6:21 pm

My in laws just got back from a regular cruise... My mother in law is quite particular with her food and she said it was surprisingly good. With a regular cruise you can pay around 3,000/ couple while a kosher cruise can set you back at least 8,000!
Considering you live in the trust ate area- kosher cruises only depart from places you would have to fly to.
There's a lot of good entertainment so if you can get past the food thing you're saving a lot of money..
However, a kosher cruise does have guaranteed minyanim,kosher entertainment, and separate swimming...

amother

Periwinkle

Thu, Oct 08 2015, 6:26 pm

I have done both. On the non kosher cruise we went on they had kosher bagels, cream cheese, lox, Frozen yogurt and ice cream, yogurt, cereal and fruit. Some members of my family ate double wrapped salmon and baked potatoes and others ate sashimi and fresh baked baguettes. They gave us lots of freshly cut vegetables. We also got la gondola ( a restaurant in Los Angeles) to deliver some frozen meals that the cruise line froze and heated for us ( doublewrapped). I'm sure that wasn't cheap, but was cheaper than a kosher cruise. We brought cheese and tortillas that we kept in the small fridge in our room. We brought grape juice boxes since they didn't allow wine or glass bottles. We had a lot of fun! I prefer not to be in trips with lots of Orthodox Jews so that's another personal preference to keep in mind.

cnc

Thu, Oct 08 2015, 6:40 pm

A close relative went on a non kosher cruise to Alaska.
The food was inedible. Warmed up airline meals. They lived on cereal and sardines and whatever other packaged things they bought along.
They said next time they would only do Kosher.
The food was a very major part of the cruise. It's in your face all the time.

mille

Fri, Oct 09 2015, 7:27 am

Kosher cruises are so not worth the money. As someone who has been on cruises and eaten "all" the food. Tongue Out

In my experience the major commercial cruise lines are very happy to double wrap salmon and veggies and go above and beyond to accommodate your needs. The kosher meals are generally just fine, especially cruises sailing out of Florida (they are weberman's meals, they defrost them at lunch to reheat for dinner and are quite tasty). I think many people are still comfortable enough to eat salad and you can always always always ask a lot of questions about things. They were totally happy to show me packages and serve me dressing from the bottle rather than the bain marie at the buffet, the bagels ended up being thomas's (OU), and they were happy to give me uncut untoasted ones. You just need to ask. Most cruise lines I am familiar with have kosher soft serve which is nice. And fruit, there's always cut and uncut fruit in the buffet. Bring a few snacks if you are worried, but the snacks have always gone uneaten on my cruises.

Spend the money you'd save on either a better stateroom, awesome excursions, or both. And still have more leftover to pad your savings account!

amother

Red

Fri, Oct 09 2015, 7:42 am

shlomki wrote:

Are you sure it has kosher entertainment and separate swimming.
DH was asked to be the "scholar in residence" a few times on the Alaska cruise. Every time he declined because he didn't want to compromise on the environment. He was told only the food was kosher, not the environment.

amother

Black

Fri, Oct 09 2015, 7:52 am

Kosher cruises do not have seperate swimming. The kosherica song festival which is going to western caribbian has its own entertainment it's the one that attracts the most people from all the cruises they do. This year is Avraham Fried, Duddu Fisher, Benny Friedman, some chazonim and Rabbi Manis Friedman. As far as I know they always have a scholar in residence, but not separate entertainment

amother

Red

Fri, Oct 09 2015, 7:59 am

amother wrote:

How does the scholar in residence, or Rabbi Manis Freidman and the Freid/man family handle such a situation. I would love to go, especially if it's free, but I won't compromise on my hashkafot, not for 1billion dollars.

cnc

Fri, Oct 09 2015, 8:06 am

amother wrote:

This.
Kosher cruises are part of a much larger non kosher one.
You get kosher food but it's the same shows as the regular cruise.

amother

Black

Fri, Oct 09 2015, 8:09 am

Why do you think its free?? It's a lot of money. Minimum around $5000per couple for the cruise without other expenses. I don't know how they do it without compromising their standards. Maybe they don't go around a lot on the ship and only stay within the jewish dining area and don't walk around much

cnc

Fri, Oct 09 2015, 8:12 am

amother wrote:

She wrote that her dh was offered a job to be the scholar in residence, which means that she would get a free vacation.

amother

Black

Fri, Oct 09 2015, 8:12 am

You don't have to go to the shows or join in the entertainment offered by the ship. You can use the ship as you would a regular hotel, going out by day and staying in at night. Days at sea are more of an issue, different cruises have varying amount of days at sea

amother

Red

Fri, Oct 09 2015, 9:14 am

cnc wrote:

She wrote that her dh was offered a job to be the scholar in residence, which means that she would get a free vacation.

Exactly. We know the person that runs KOSHERICA. He offered my DH the job and it included for me to tag along for free.

smilingmom

Fri, Oct 09 2015, 9:52 am

I have done both.
I definitely prefer the regular cruise with kosher packaged food.
Kosher cruise on Norwegian from Seattle to Alaska, great trip, great food, but only able to eat at set times and one dining room and limited choice of food. The cost is prohibitive.

Last minute cruise on Norwegian from NY to Bermuda. (less thank $400 for balcony room).
Maitre d gave me a single spaced 8 pages of available foods. I was able to choose any foods, eat any place on ship at any time.

The atmosphere on a regular cruise is not shabbosdig, but the library on Norwegian is converted to shul for services. You can also tape your door unlocked so you don't have to use electronic key.

ValleyMom

Fri, Oct 09 2015, 10:38 am

On Holland America I boarded early and sat with the head of dining room and he showed me a HUGE photo album of every food wrapper/hechsher/ingredient and nutrition list.

I chose all the foods we could eat and he arranged everything to be served on paper plates.

The kosher food was fine. Always a four course meal- appetizer, hot soup, main, sides and dessert.

I was thrilled I don't gain 10-14 pounds in a week eating 24/7.

blondebubby

Fri, Oct 09 2015, 12:19 pm

I went to Alaska two years ago. It was fabulous. It was not a kosher cruise. There was plenty of packaged food, and food that the maître d' showed us which had reliable hechsherim. Alaska itself is phenomenal and the food is really secondary. The ships have great things to do while on board. If money is an issue (the kosher cruises are prohibitive) then absolutely go for it! I'd do it again in a sec.