Brand new P&O vegan menu is here!
In the last three short years that I have been vegan, supermarket provision has grown exponentially. The availability of vegan options has expanded, not only in shops, but in high street restaurants & pub chains too. Brands are responding to the increasing consumer demand for plantbased meals. Yet, if you are a vegan and choose to cruise on your holiday, you normally need to resort to amending existing dishes the night before. Or often your only option is the “chef’s choice” surprise dish. Vegan desserts can be lacking too, consisting of fruit or sorbet – so uninventive, and so very 90s. But to my delight, I have discovered that P&O have stepped up. They have been very accommodating in the last few years based on feedback from other vegan cruisers. But I’m excited to tell you that P&O Cruises now offer separate vegan menu options – including desserts! You can cruise with P&O and select your vegan meals effortlessly off a menu, how fabulous is that?
(Do note the following applies to P&O Cruises UK only, not the Australian arm of the company)
P&O vegan menu availability
The new main dining room (MDR) menus are now available across all of the P&O Cruises fleet, with the exception of Oriana. The Vegetarian & Vegan menu is on a 28-day menu cycle. This is fantastic news to anyone on a sailing that is longer than a week or fortnight. You won’t need to order from the same menu again on the second week.
There is no need to pre-order your meals the night before, like in the past. This separate MDR Vegetarian & Vegan menu is available at both lunch & dinner, consisting of a minimum of two vegan starters, main courses and desserts to choose from.
I obtained a list of examples from the P&O PR team – how amazing do the following vegan menu options sound?
P&O vegan menu – savoury examples
Salad of palm hearts, spring onions, cucumber, tomato and garden greens with dill dressing
Spiced quorn fajita wrap with avocado, alfafa sprouts and salsa
Roasted cauliflower with baby gem, carrot, broccoli and potato crisp
Roasted Jerusalem artichoke with truffle, radiccio, orange and preserved lemon
Sweet beetroot and candied walnut risotto with celery, fennel, and green apple salad and pickled onions
Sweet potato soup with edamame beans, onion ash and nori
Poached kohlrabi, baby gem and samphire with vegetable jus
Selection of vegetable futomaki sushi roll with sushi ginger, tamari dip and wasabi
Wild mushroom risotto cake with rocket, sicilian lemon and tomato dressing
Maple parsnip, carrot and lentil pate with ruby slaw, spelt toast and lightly smoked tofu mayonnaise
Miso grilled aubergine with sticky rice and pickled cucumber kimchi
Pumpkin and silky tofu with lemon gremolata
Pearl barley with cheese and portobello mushroom gratin and green leaf salad
Spiced lentil and bean chilli with jasmine rice and guacamole
Tempura of cauliflower, broccoli, and baby corn, tomato and quinoa with summer herb dip
P&O vegan menu – dessert options
Dark chocolate and olive oil marquise with orange sorbet, candied orange and spiced syrup
Chickpea meringue with strawberry compote, jelly and strawberry pearls
Chocolate brownie with raspberries, raspberry sorbet and violet crystals
Rosemary roasted pineapple with mango and pink peppercorn sorbet and banana jam
Tofu, banana and pecan pancakes with maple syrup
Steamed pear pudding with blackberry sorbet
Glazed almond rice pudding with amarena cherries and almond praline
Summer pudding with raspberry gel and yoghurt
Tomorrow night’s menus on @pandocruises Aurora..clearly labelled #vegan options..but I can veganise other dishes on the menu if it’s possible @CambriaCeltica @6milesup #Govegan #Vegancruiser #veganfoodshare 😋👌🌱💚🚢👍 pic.twitter.com/8qOuKcqaT9
— Vegan OliveⓋ (@VeganOlive1) April 27, 2019
Buffet dining onboard P&O ships will we improved with designated buffet counters and dietary trained staff who should be able to help guests with their dietary questions regarding meal provision (vegetarian, gluten-free, low sugar etc). In the past, I have already seen excellent separate buffet counters with dairy-free plant milk, cheese, and yoghurt suitable for vegans and those with dairy allergy/intolerance (see Veganolive1 blog post here for more images from a buffet onboard).
Vegan wine list onboard P&O ships
Whilst the P&O website no longer contains a list of vegan wines, by contacting customer services I was able to easily obtain one. As most cruise lines struggle to highlight even vegetarian wines, it is excellent to see P&O being proactive in detailing vegan wines on their ships. I am not expecting this to be an exclusive list either – do let me know if you know of any more wines on the standard wine list that should be highlighted as vegan-friendly. Wines start from an affordable £4.15 per 175ml glass, champagne for £7.85 and bottles of wine from £16.50. These are prices from January 2019 so are subject to change and availability.
| Descriptor |
Guide
|
Dietary^ |
Bottle
|
250ml
|
175ml
|
125ml
|
| The Bon Viveur White |
2
|
Vegan |
£16.50
|
£5.65
|
£4.15
|
|
| The Bon Viveur Rosé |
3
|
Vegan |
£16.50
|
£5.65
|
£4.15
|
|
| The Bon Viveur Red |
D
|
Vegan |
£16.50
|
£5.65
|
£4.15
|
|
| Taittinger Brut Réserve NV |
2
|
Vegan |
£39.95
|
£7.85
|
||
| Taittinger Brut Prestige Rosé NV |
2
|
Vegan |
£43.75
|
£8.10
|
||
| Taittinger Nocturne Sec NV |
4
|
Vegan |
£44.95
|
£8.25
|
||
| Taittinger Brut Vintage |
2
|
Vegan |
£49.95
|
|||
| Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut Vintage |
2
|
Vegan |
£110.00
|
|||
| Corney & Barrow Claret, Maison Sichel |
E
|
Vegan |
£17.75
|
£5.95
|
£4.50
|
|
| The Holy Snail Sauvignon Blanc, Domaine Joel Delaunay |
2
|
Vegan |
£17.95
|
£6.50
|
£4.75
|
|
| Vinha Grande, Casa Ferreirinha, Douro |
D
|
Vegan |
£18.95
|
£6.75
|
£4.95
|
|
| Unwooded Chardonnay, Devlin’s Mount, South Australia |
2
|
Vegan |
£17.75
|
£5.95
|
£4.50
|
|
| Penfolds Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz, Barossa Valley |
E
|
Vegan |
£37.50
|
|||
| Merlot, Panul, Viñedos Marchiguë, Colchagua Valley |
C
|
Vegan |
£16.95
|
£5.95
|
£4.50
|
|
| Malbec, Kaiken Reserve, Mendoza |
D
|
Vegan |
£18.95
|
£6.75
|
£4.95
|
|
| Kung Fu Girl Riesling, Charles Smith, Washington State | Vegan |
£22.95
|
£7.50
|
£5.50
|
||
| Velvet Devil Merlot, Charles Smith, Walla Walla |
C
|
Vegan |
£22.95
|
£7.50
|
£5.50
|
Overall I am super excited for the new menu, not having been able to order off a menu for the last three years of cruising on mainstream cruise lines. This new P&O vegan menu offers convenience most do not and I am sure this is greatly welcomed by those who opt for vegan options, be it for ethical or allergen reasons.
Curious about P&O now? Do have a look at their website for sailings that might take your fancy! Clicking on the brand image below will link you their site.
[It is an affiliate link and may earn me commission at no extra cost to you]
For readers in the US wanting to book via a travel agent, I have been advised by Sean & Stef IRL (fellow cruise bloggers with a fabulous Youtube Channel) that the only US-based agent to sell P&O is VTG. Sean and Stef have fantastic Azura and Ventura videos on their channel for you to see.
If you sail on P&O Cruises UK and enjoy the menu, please do share your vegan dish photos and holiday experience with me and my blog readers! Do come back to find out how Alison, who sailed vegan on P&O Britannia last summer & over Easter 2018.
For general P&O insider knowledge, I can heartily recommend you the Holidays at Sea blog whose lovely authors Gav & Luke provided a selection of P&O photos for this post.
My thanks to P&O PR team for information on the new menu and photo of the Moroccan lentil dish.
This is great news, Sanna! I’ve cruised in the past (not with P&O) and managed by taking along a range of vegan food with me. I’ve reached a stage where I expect a bit more. I’ve been thinking about the Norwegian fjords cruise advertised by P&O but had decided to look at the exclusively vegan cruises, however, this does not suit my omnie friend who wants to cruise with me. This news has just put P&O back in the running!
The all-vegan cruises are amazing, shame your omni friend wouldn’t join you. On our river cruise we had a large group of Americans with only one vegan, few veggies but majority family were omnis who were happy to dine vegan onboard and then had their omni options once off the boat. Italian Costa (sister brand to P&O) has an even more extensive vegan menu… and actual vegan menu, not just vegan options on the veggie menu like on P&O. So that might work for you & your friend too 🙂
I really would like to do an all-vegan river cruise one day. Before they started I looked at Viking but they, point blank,were not interested in catering for vegans. This might be changing now of course. I’ll have a look at Italian Costa but I’d really rather support the all-vegan cruises. 🙂
Wonderful to see vegan options that are imaginative and delicious-sounding! When everything else about a cruise is relaxing and fun, it would be a huge let down to have meals that were cobbled together…
Sometimes it can feel our vegan meals were just thrown together but am hoping with this menu that will no longer be the case. The miso aubergine sounds delish – so glad I don’t see hummus & falafel on this menu 😉
Wow, this is amazing! Great to see that P&O are moving into the 21st century with such great vegan options!
It’s fab to have options at least. Think we’re spoilt here in the UK with such wide range of vegan menu options in our restaurants and the ships are taking a while to adapt to the growing trend.