Regular Cruises with kosher (ordered)

[SuperFlyer]

Anyone has experience with the regular cruises where kosher food can be requested?

What cruise did you use?

Where did you travel?

How long before did you have to order kosher, etc.

Anything else I need to know.

[Yossi.]

Anyone has experience with the regular cruises where kosher food can be requested?

What cruise did you use?

Where did you travel?

How long before did you have to order kosher, etc.

Anything else I need to know.

I personally cruised twice with Royal Caribbean (one to west caribbean and once to east caribbean... jamaica, haiti, puerto rico, mexico, bahamas, virgin island, st marten, cayman islands... 7 days each). It was really an amazing experience. For the food I simply ordered a couple of weeks in advance and as expected we received airplane food... but we also ate lots of salads, we also sometimes asked for fish grilled in aluminum foil. How it works is that in the evening you request your menu for the dinner the next day.... (It s kind of a bummer when u see everyone else ordering on their huge foot long menu and you are with the small piece of paper, printed menu... but that's the cost when you want to go on the largest cruiseships in the world with the best amenities and not have to pay triple the price for kosher...)

Every cruise is different but a quick google search will tell you for each cruises what are the requirements to request special meals for the entire length of the cruise.

Make sure to choose a cruise that has as many stops as possible... you don't want to spend 5 or 7 days at sea... even if there is a lot to do and even 2 cruises will not give you enough time to do whatever there is to do on the boat... You cannot beat waking up every morning and seeing a new landscape, new island, new mountain... that's just the greatest feeling!

[Chaikel]

I personally cruised twice with Royal Caribbean (one to west caribbean and once to east caribbean... jamaica, haiti, puerto rico, mexico, bahamas, virgin island, st marten, cayman islands... 7 days each). It was really an amazing experience. For the food I simply ordered a couple of weeks in advance and as expected we received airplane food... but we also ate lots of salads, we also sometimes asked for fish grilled in aluminum foil. How it works is that in the evening you request your menu for the dinner the next day.... (It s kind of a bummer when u see everyone else ordering on their huge foot long menu and you are with the small piece of paper, printed menu... but that's the cost when you want to go on the largest cruiseships in the world with the best amenities and not have to pay triple the price for kosher...)

Every cruise is different but a quick google search will tell you for each cruises what are the requirements to request special meals for the entire length of the cruise.

Make sure to choose a cruise that has as many stops as possible... you don't want to spend 5 or 7 days at sea... even if there is a lot to do and even 2 cruises will not give you enough time to do whatever there is to do on the boat... You cannot beat waking up every morning and seeing a new landscape, new island, new mountain... that's just the greatest feeling!

What do you do about shabbos?

[SuperFlyer]

What do you do about shabbos?

Great question, people told me, stay on the boat.

In the mishna brure it says if you leave up to Wednesday its okay (I assume they mean without stops).

Lidvar mitsve its for sure allowed.

[Yossi.]

Great question, people told me, stay on the boat.

In the mishna brure it says if you leave up to Wednesday its okay (I assume they mean without stops).

Lidvar mitsve its for sure allowed.

Great question indeed. For my first cruise we were anyway at sea during shabbos so that was fine. But u know what, I heard some rabbis that said that the boat should be idle on shabbos and not travel towards a destination... so u know YMMV Strangely enough we even had a minyan... And not a small one: 100-120 people!

For the second cruise we stopped in bahamas on shabbos morning. I previously asked my Rav and he said it was fine but the truth is i cannot remember the halahic reason he gave me, that was 5 yrs ago.. The other problem was that u have to scan your room's card everytime u leave and then come back on board the ship... Thats the way they count who is in the ship and who is missing... We simply handed the card to the crew and they took care of it. Another point where we were lucky was that we didnt have to take a small boat to get to the shore. Sometimes the ships are too big or the docks are already full of cruiseships so they have to drop the anchor far from the islands and then board every single passengers aboard small ships in order to get them to the island... But that u can never know in advance...

[Chaikel]

Great question indeed. For my first cruise we were anyway at sea during shabbos so that was fine. But u know what, I heard some rabbis that said that the boat should be idle on shabbos and not travel towards a destination... so u know YMMV Strangely enough we even had a minyan... And not a small one: 100-120 people!

For the second cruise we stopped in bahamas on shabbos morning. I previously asked my Rav and he said it was fine but the truth is i cannot remember the halahic reason he gave me, that was 5 yrs ago.. The other problem was that u have to scan your room's card everytime u leave and then come back on board the ship... Thats the way they count who is in the ship and who is missing... We simply handed the card to the crew and they took care of it. Another point where we were lucky was that we didnt have to take a small boat to get to the shore. Sometimes the ships are too big or the docks are already full of cruiseships so they have to drop the anchor far from the islands and then board every single passengers aboard small ships in order to get them to the island... But that u can never know in advance...

I'm not a halachic authority, but from the little I know, there are many issues with the above. One should check with a LOR (as I know you said you did)

[JEWDA]

I wouldn't Mind Being On This Cruise

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[Yossi.]

I wouldn't Mind Being On This Cruise

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Yeah! And like i said:

even 2 cruises will not give you enough time to do whatever there is to do on the boat...

And u can easily find a 7-day cruise on that one or its sister ship the Allure of the Seas for $700-$800 for an inside cabin or even an oceanview one on an upper deck

[mercaz1]

ridiculous

[SuperFlyer]

ridiculous

What are you refering too?

[mercaz1]

What are you refering too?

sorry

the size of that ship
its crazy

[ruru1000]

been on 4 cruises - 1 royal caribbean and 3 carnival

 kosher food was pretty good, although kinda get sick of it after the 4th day. Just make sure to let them know that you are going to eat like a beast and you want prepared 3 meals per person per meal.

[Yossi.]

been on 4 cruises - 1 royal caribbean and 3 carnival

 kosher food was pretty good, although kinda get sick of it after the 4th day. Just make sure to let them know that you are going to eat like a beast and you want prepared 3 meals per person per meal.

that's actually a pretty good idea. never thought about that. But did u have that much diversification in the menu to be able to have 3 different meals every evening? or u were asking for 3 identical meals per dinner?

[mercaz1]

been on 4 cruises - 1 royal caribbean and 3 carnival

 kosher food was pretty good, although kinda get sick of it after the 4th day. Just make sure to let them know that you are going to eat like a beast and you want prepared 3 meals per person per meal.

will they allow you to have doubles

[BrooklynCPA]

We've been on 2 cruises both leaving from Manhattan. Norwegian to Bermuda and Carnival to St. Thomas, San Juan and Turks and Caicos. It was amazing to leave from a local port and not have to fly. I would definitely recommend it as you get the best value for the buck and very little planning involved. There is nothing more relaxing then waking up and having your coffee over the seas.

The first time we had airline style meals which wasn't that bad but gets boring after a few days. We supplemented it with salads and dips that we brought. The 2nd cruise we brought our own meals prepared by a caterer and they heated them up for us every night. They were very accommodating happily provided us with anything we needed. There is also plenty of kosher food you can have on the breakfast and lunch buffets, especially if you eat Chalav Stam. There was even a 24 hour  frozen yogurt station and both the yogurt mix and the cones had an OU.

The Kosher cruises are about 3-4 times the price for the same exact cruise don't think their food no matter how good is worth $2000+ per person!!!

We hope to go on a Royal Caribbean Oasis or Allure of the seas soon!!

[Yossi.]

We've been on 2 cruises both leaving from Manhattan. Norwegian to Bermuda and Carnival to St. Thomas, San Juan and Turks and Caicos. It was amazing to leave from a local port and not have to fly. I would definitely recommend it as you get the best value for the buck and very little planning involved. There is nothing more relaxing then waking up and having your coffee over the seas.

The first time we had airline style meals which wasn't that bad but gets boring after a few days. We supplemented it with salads and dips that we brought. The 2nd cruise we brought our own meals prepared by a caterer and they heated them up for us every night. They were very accommodating happily provided us with anything we needed. There is also plenty of kosher food you can have on the breakfast and lunch buffets, especially if you eat Chalav Stam. There was even a 24 hour  frozen yogurt station and both the yogurt mix and the cones had an OU.

The Kosher cruises are about 3-4 times the price for the same exact cruise don't think their food no matter how good is worth $2000+ per person!!!

We hope to go on a Royal Caribbean Oasis or Allure of the seas soon!!

I also looked at the ones leaving from NY... My two only problems were that they were a bit more expensive and most significant problem was that you have to be 2 days at sea to go to the caribbean and then 2 days for the way back minimum... I just love doing the most islands possible (4 on each cruise) to see different landscapes and do different activities...

[Deal Guy]

I wouldn't Mind Being On This Cruise

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I can't believe I actually watched the entire clip. Nice!

[JEWDA]

I can't believe I actually watched the entire clip. Nice!

I also did, it's prety cool!

[YudiG]

Food aside, how is the atmosphere on such a cruise for a frum jew?

[BrooklynCPA]

I also looked at the ones leaving from NY... My two only problems were that they were a bit more expensive and most significant problem was that you have to be 2 days at sea to go to the caribbean and then 2 days for the way back minimum... I just love doing the most islands possible (4 on each cruise) to see different landscapes and do different activities...

They might be a little more expensive but you save on airfare and don't kill a minimum half day for flights each way!!! Also, I personally don't mind spending more time on the Ship as that is a bit part of what a cruise is all about. Our 2nd cruise was 8 days which allowed plenty of time for both. The really large high end ships usually do not leave from NY, so for that you will have to fly. Also, if you plan on going in the winter you want to leave from a warm climate.