I Was Served Meat & Dairy as a Vegan on a Carnival Cruise

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TL;DR I went on a Carnival Cruise as a vegan and had multiple horrifying experiences. One Example: I was served a chicken breast at dinner (and unfortunately took a bite) when I was told prior that it was a vegan meat substitute. My family around me (who are all not vegan) confirmed it was indeed chicken. I told my server, she brought it back to the chef (or who knows where) and then brought a new dish back that looked and tasted entirely different, confirming that my first plate was indeed real chicken. She gaslighted me and actually said the first plate she gave me was vegan. Please beware. Full Story: I just returned from a Carnival cruise and I wanted to share the many issues I encountered as being a vegan. If you are a vegan reading this, please beware of what you are served on your next Carnival cruise or simply just don’t go at all. My apologies in advance for this being a long one. This trip was a 4 day Carnival cruise out of Long Beach, CA stopping for 1 day in Ensenada, Mexico. I have been a vegan for 4 years, since fall of 2020. Before the trip, I did my research to figure out all the vegan food options. I was hopeful and very thrilled when I saw online that the ship I was on (Carnival Radiance) had a vegan menu in the main dining hall. I squealed as I told my husband many weeks before the trip. I had already been on a few carnival cruise ships within the past 10+ years, so I knew there would be some kind of buffet in addition to the other specialty restaurants. Because of this, I knew there would be some simple sides that I could make into meals with fruit, vegetables, some breads, potatoes, etc. Let’s get into the details. Day 1: We arrived on board and it was time for lunch around 1pm. I had a plate of buffet food: a piece of bread, some spicy Szechuan green beans, and plain broccoli. Our dinner time in the main dining hall was at 7:45pm in the Sunrise restaurant. I was ecstatic and hungry! The vegan menu had similar options to the regular menu and was excited to see the quality and taste of their vegan cooking. My server arrives and I immediately let her know I am vegan. I asked “Is everything on the vegan menu… vegan?” for reassurance. She said “Yes.” I proceeded to order the Vegan Cesar Salad (appetizer), the Vegan Vegetable Wellington (entree), and the Vegan Melting Cake (dessert). They brought out each dish one at a time and I was really surprised at the quality of the vegan versions. The salad tasted just like the real thing. It wasn’t that great, but I was impressed that they could closely mimic the taste of actual Cesar salad. The Wellington was brought out and it was packed with lots of veggies packed in a puff pastry and was delicious. The melting cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream tasted really great and I thought they had gotten the flavors and texture really closely to the actual thing! I was very happy with dinner. But on Day 2, I was about to learn that everything I was served on Day 1 was actually NOT vegan. Day 2: The night before I had found out there was also a whole vegan menu in the other main dining hall, the Sunset restaurant. My husband and I arrived at the restaurant for breakfast and saw that they had a Vegan Biscuits & Gravy! This was a nostalgic meal for me as I had it for breakfast frequently when I was a kid. The server comes to the table and my husband and I both order the Vegan Biscuits and Gravy with a side of Veggie Sausage. The server asked “Did you preorder this yesterday?” I was surprised and answered “No.” because how was I supposed to know this? My server on Day 1 for dinner definitely didn’t tell me that. He said “We could make it but it would be a 30 minute wait.” We were like “that’s fine, we will wait, no worries!” as we weren’t in a rush and wanted to try it as the buffet didn’t have substantial vegan options. Our 30 minutes had passed and the server brings out the meal. My husband and I looked at each other after we saw what appeared to be 2 bricks of tofu on the plate as they were set down in front of us. I couldn’t believe what I was looking at so I had to take a picture. The gravy and the sausage were both just okay, bland. The biscuit they served was not the flaky biscuit you’d expect. These “biscuits” had the same taste and consistency as a shortbread cookie and they were cold. It was like eating cardboard with gravy on top. I ate them because I didn’t want to go to waste and also at that point we had been awake for a couple hours and were hungry. My husband ate one bite of his and then left it alone. As we were getting up to leave, the server approached us and told me I needed to preorder my vegan dinner. I was like “Okay, no problem.” I sat down, looked at the dinner menu on my Carnival app, I let him know that I wanted the Veggie Spring Rolls, the Vegan Chicken Cordon Bleu, and the Vegan Melting Cake. He put my order in the system and we left. After this, we went to the buffet to get potatoes as I was still hungry. For lunch, my husband and I went to the sushi restaurant onboard that wasn’t included, one where you have to pay extra to dine at. I had a small salad, noodle salad, and miso soup. The salad and the miso soup there were the best things I ate on the cruise. Dinner rolled around at 7:45pm again. It was formal night. The server gets to me and says “I already have your order, Lindsay.” I was like “Awesome! Thank you!” The appetizer I ordered came out, the spring rolls. Simple enough. They were just okay. The entree, my Vegan Chicken Cordon bleu, came out next. It was entirely breaded and served with a few potato slices and a few broccolis. I cut a piece of the chicken, took a bite, and as I was chewing it, I immediately knew it was real chicken. I looked at someone across the table from me who got the regular chicken plate and it looked the same. It was bland and had those pull-apart fibers that chicken does. Some vegan meats like seitan have pull-apart fibers too so I was hopeful it was just seitan. I started to dissect the whole breast with my fork and my table had noticed. The realization set in that I had just taken a bite of real chicken. The look on my husband, sister, and brother-in-law’s faces and their words confirmed it was real chicken. My eyes started to swell and I was holding back every tear in my body because we were at dinner and I did not want to cause a scene. I am not a confrontational person and am usually the type of person that doesn’t say anything when something is wrong, but this time I had to say something. It was truly f’d up and I felt entirely horrible and disgusted. My ethics were broken. I waited as everyone else finished their entrees as I gulped my water to help me not cry. The server came back and I handed her my plate and all I could spit out to her was “This is real chicken.” She replied “no it’s not, it’s the vegan one.” I said it again - “This is real chicken.” She replied “It’s the vegan one but I’ll take it back to the chef…” I sat there shaking and gulping more water as more family members started to notice. The server eventually came back with a NEW PLATE and said “The first plate was vegan also.” I looked at the plate in disbelief as it was set down in front of me on the table. The second plate of breaded chicken breast looked entirely different than the one on my first plate, this one was smaller size and had different color breading. My family members concurred. I cut it, looked at it. It looked entirely different inside. This time I definitely knew it wasn’t chicken. I ate a couple bites. It had the soy, uniform consistency that I’m familiar with. I left it barely touched as I accepted defeat. If the first plate actually was vegan, why would Carnival buy two different brands of Vegan Chicken Cordon Bleu? It didn’t make sense. Dessert came out (the same option I had eaten the night before) and this time it was served in a different looking bowl with a side of a fruit sorbet, and it not vanilla like the night before. This was the moment I realized that everything I had been served on Day 1 was not vegan. I couldn’t eat anymore as I was just disgusted, in disbelief, and very sad. I was frustrated at the server and entirely furious at the Carnival and the Carnival Chef that they chose to double down and gaslight me. They knew they f’d up and they tried hiding it. They had the opportunity to do the right thing and own up to their mistake, but they chose to lie to me thinking I was stupid enough to not believe my own eyes and taste buds. It was insulting and infuriating. Day 3: Our ship had arrived at the port in Ensenada this day. For breakfast I had fruit, a bagel, and toast with peanut butter from the buffet. While in Ensenada, I had a fruit plate and some chips with guac. When we arrived back at the ship, I had a veggie burger and fries at the sandwich place onboard near the buffet. For dinner that night, I played it safe and just got the Vegan Minestrone (appetizer), Vegan Indian-Style dish (entree), no dessert. The soup was decent. I love all vegan Indian food so the entree was fine and satisfying. Day 4: For breakfast that morning before we departed the ship, I had potatoes, fruit, and a bagel with peanut butter. I just wanted to type this out and share my experience to inform other Carnival cruise travelers who are vegan or who have food allergies. Please beware if you have a life-threatening food allergy. Someone could’ve really been hurt or possibly even died if they had a serious food allergy. Thankfully that was not the case for me, as I am a vegan by choice - for the animals. Thanks for listening.