The hassle of the plane rides was completely worth it…
(Mom, sister, and me in Monaco. Note the castle in the background!)
To cruise all night and wake up in such exotic locations as Greece, Italy, Croatia… it was unreal. Over the twelve days, we stopped in Monte Carlo (Monaco), Marseille (France), Barcelona (Spain), Livorno/Florence (Italy), Civitavecchia/Rome (Italy), Sorrento (Italy), Corfu (Greece), Dubrovnik (Croatia), and Venice (Italy). From an early-morning run through the streets of Monte Carlo to late-night Flamenco dancing in Barcelona, from exploring the walled fortresses of Dubrovnik to taking in the museums of Rome, from shopping in Sorrento to splashing at the clear beach of Corfu, I definitely packed in a full schedule. I took so many pictures and walked so much that I’m surprised my camera and feet held up!
But putting aside the wonders of the excursions, even just being on the boat was an amazing experience. For anyone ever thinking of taking a cruise, I can’t recommend the Crystal Cruise line highly enough. The boat was so well-staffed it was almost as if there were more attendants than guests. Everywhere you looked, there was a friendly face eager to help, no matter your request. And each family was assigned personal waiters, so the staff really got to know us, and they were always greeting us by name. (Ugh I probably sound so Paris Hilton-ish right now– personal waiters?!– but I swear I am not usually this spoiled. I always felt badly about asking the staff to get things for me, and more than once they had to scold me for trying to clear my own breakfast dishes… or for trying to help our maid–who was so sweet– make the bed.)
I could write an entire book about the past twelve days. But since this is a food blog, I guess I’ll try to keep the posts pertinent to food and. (Plus, I really don’t think you all want to read a whole book about my adventures.)
I’ve always heard that cruises are nightmares for one’s diet. (I was conjuring up images of deep-fried chicken strips, milkshakes, and double cheeseburgers.) But I was easily able to eat a healthy diet on this cruise. The chefs were accomodating beyond my wildest dreams. It was like having an entire teaam of personal chefs! They offered almost every variety of vegetable one could imagine (which they were happy to steam up sans butter), a never-ending salad bar (so many varieties of beans, greens, and nuts), and a fruit bar with some of the most succulent fresh fruits I’ve ever tasted– figs, cantaloupe, honeydew, grapefruit, oranges, plums, kiwi, and on and on. Plus, they had brown rice, whole wheat pasta, oatmeal, barley, and bulgur! And there was a first-class sushi restaurant on board (run by the famous Chef Nobu, with whom everyone in Hollywood seems to be obsessed), so this meant lots of piping-hot miso soup (they had no problem leaving out the bonito flakes), soba noodles, seaweed salad, and edamame.
Above, soba soup with fresh bok choy
And if somehow I couldn’t make do with “only” this, the chefs assured me that they would be thrilled if I challenged them to make special vegan meals– every night if I so desired. (I told you the hospitality was incredible.) Some of the wonderful meals they made me included watermelon gazpacho, regular gazpacho, a portabella mushroom salad, vegetable soup, homemade tomato sauce for my whole wheat pasta (ingredients: tomatoes, basil, garlic, oregano, salt, pepper, onion powder, and that’s it!), and one day they even cooked up some spelt berries that I bought in Italy!
But I’m not finished yet! There was also an ice cream bar on board that offered at least one flavor of sorbet each day (0ne day, the flavor was Sangria. Talk about exotic!). Now, sorbet is not my favorite thing in the world… but I do love smoothies, and the ice cream station was equipped with a milkshake/smoothie-maker. The ice cream man (who told me I was his favorite customer) let me store my soymilk and almond milk (I brought some from home) in his fridge. Whenever I wanted a smoothie, all I had to do was bring him the ingredients and he’d blend them up for me. A perfect smoothie and no mess to clean up? What could be better?!
Even the bathroom amenities were vegan-friendly.
Thank you so much, Grandma, for giving us this trip of a lifetime. And congratulations to everyone who made it to the end of my interminable post!
Caitlin says
That sounds amazing! Thanks for blogging about your food on the cruise–did you eat off the ship at all? (I’m wondering about vegan food in Greece, Italy, Croatia, etc…maybe that’s coming up in a future post! :)) It’s WONDERFUL that the cruise ship staff was so accomodating! The smoothie station sounds amazing!!
Becca says
Wow! It looks like you guys had SO much fun! I’m so jealous! Going to check out the cruise line right now…
ChocolateCoveredVegan says
Anonymous and Sara—
Aww, thanks guys… I am nowhere near tall enough to be a model, though (I’m only 5’5).
Andrea—
Wow, thank you so so much for leaving such a sweet comment!
Caitlin—
We never got to spend more than one day in any given city, so I never became extremely knowledgeable about how vegan-friendly any of the cities were. And most of the days, we would eat breakfast on the boat, go out into the cities, and then be back on the boat for dinner. I always packed a lunch and snack to bring into the cities (except in Italy, since I KNEW I’d find vegan options there). In Greece, we stopped at a café near the beach that was very UN-vegan-friendly. It seemed lamb was their specialty. The only vegan thing on the menu was hummus. So I was VERY glad I had a packed meal. In Croatia, we stopped at a pizza place (I had a salad and some stuff I brought). And in Barcelona, we stopped at a tapas bar (once again, heavy on the meat). I’m sure if I’d researched the cities beforehand, I could’ve found some vegan-friendly restaurants… but I didn’t have time to do that, and plus, I didn’t want our excursion time to be taken up looking for vegan foods.
ChocolateCoveredVegan says
wambalus–
Wow, what a great law! I wish they had a law like that here in the US.
And hopefully I WILL get to go back to the UK soon. I really wished I could’ve gotten out of the airport to experience London, as I haven’t been there since I was five (I was born there).
The Vegan Snorkeler says
Thanks so much for sharing your cruise food with us! I always wonder what kind of vegan food you’d really get on a cruise, it looks like they took good care of you.
It was a great idea to bring Chocolate Green SuperFood with you. Great travel food!
Vaala says
Vegan bathroom amenities? Now that is impressive.
Rural Vegan says
Wow, I am so glad to hear how accommodating your cruise was! We’re planning on cruising soon but I wasn’t keen on eating iceberg lettuce and baked potatoes for a week. So glad you had an amazing trip!
Vegetation says
Wow! I’m so glad you had such a great time and what an awesome place to holiday (aboard the ship included!) Yay for vegan friendly holidays!
WB says
You say you are skinny due to genetics, but from these pictures, it doesn’t seem genetic (not saying your family is large). You seem to have lost quite a bit of weight since your initial blogs, too. Which is strange because your blog name is “how to gain weight on a vegan diet”
Josie says
I’ve heard the food is the best part of a cruise! Personally, I would prefer the touring of the foreign countries, but that’s just me 😉
Btw, you are really pretty!
ChocolateCoveredVegan says
WB—
I take after my maternal grandmother who to this day is still a beanpole LOL. And please be assured that I have definitely not “lost quite a bit of weight since [my] initial blogs”.
Josie—
Your comment gave me a HUGE smile. Thank you sooo much!!!
Robin says
I already thought you were extremely cultured for having lived outside of the U.S. before, but you visited so many different cities! I’m so glad the cruise ship staff took such good care of our CCV, and the list of food supplies you brought to “prepare” yourself for the cruise is quite impressive. (And I really like the Chocolate Green SuperFood powder too — I got a lot free when I used to work at a smoothie place. It’s sooo good mixed in steamed chocolate non-dairy milk with a shot of espresso.
Still Life in South America says
Hi Katie, I just started reading your blog recently, so I missed this post in August. What a wonderful experience. I can’t imagine being totally free of responsibilities for that time and to see so many different cities. And it makes me smile to think you could trust in the chefs and the staff to provide gourmet vegan food for you every day.
Thanks for sharing. Your family is beautiful. 🙂