Indian Food On Cruises

[cmph]

It's a valid question, and I can understand the curiosity around it. I grew up in the midwest US and did not taste Indian food for the first time until I was a freshman in college on the east coast in the late 90s. I had never even seen an Indian restaurant until then. College friends had to tell me what I should order. Now, it's a big favorite, and I cook it all the time, so I wouldn't consider it a treat per se - but if I have a choice between Indian dishes and a boring "American" thing like a burger or mac and cheese, I'm definitely going for Indian.

FWIW, I had the exact same thought about the upcharge Mexican restaurant on NCL earlier this year. I have many Mexican restaurants within a few miles of where I live in the southwest, though! I had to remind myself that many of the cruisers come from places where Mexican food is uncommon. Incidentally, I have exactly 1 Indian restaurant 5mi away (and a small chain at that), and I'd have to pass by like 10 Mexican restaurants to get to it.

 

[anricat]

I don't often ask for it, but I'll just echo that if you're plant-based, you basically have like one, maybe two options each night. If you think the menus get boring as a meat-eater, they get old doubly fast when you don't have as many choices.

And while we eat Indian food a lot at home, the Indian food on the ships is very good and it's nice to mix it up a bit.

I mean, I could make the same argument about the main food on the menus. Why do you go on a Disney cruise only to order a steak that you could get in any steakhouse in town?

 

[MnkyGirl]

I live in the Indian part of town (literally... my house is next to the temple) and I still love getting the Indian food on our cruises. But I will admit, that I have another reason... I have food allergies and Indian food is generally a very safe, flavorful option with actual TEXTURE!

 

[Darren1969]

Regularly order a curry. Had vegetable curry, prawn curry, chicken curry, lamb curry. Huge pile of paratha, naan etc.
I'm sure the chefs get a kick out of people ordering one and get to show their local speciality.

 

[Karin1984]

On my transatlantic cruise I was seated with other solo travellers and one platinum level couple. For one night they ordered the Indian food for the entire table. It was delicious, I only wish the servers or the couple told us that it is a lot. There was no need to also order a main course. And maybe also not a starter.

My tip: when you get the Indian food, do not order anything else before you are done with the Indian food.

 

[dina444444]

We order Indian food for pirate night on the wbpc on the magic. We also ordered appetizers off the pirate night menu. The Indian food was served family style.

 

[CarolynFH]

Are most of the Indian dishes burning-spicy, or are some simply well-seasoned as opposed to hot? Most curries are too hot for me, but I love tandoori!

 

[Darren1969]

Are most of the Indian dishes burning-spicy, or are some simply well-seasoned as opposed to hot? Most curries are too hot for me, but I love tandoori!

If you want spicy, they’ll make it spicy. If you want mild, they’ll make it mild. It’s an authentic curry so you’ll get bags of flavour but not flaming before and after…

 

[Pixie Dust Believer]

For us, we tend to do long cruises or b2b2b. Even if it is a long cruise and no menu is repeated, the food/flavors tend to feel repetitive. The Indian dishes change every night and offer something different, so we normally start to order those.

 

[pachy25]

It's a valid question, and I can understand the curiosity around it. I grew up in the midwest US and did not taste Indian food for the first time until I was a freshman in college on the east coast in the late 90s. I had never even seen an Indian restaurant until then. College friends had to tell me what I should order. Now, it's a big favorite, and I cook it all the time, so I wouldn't consider it a treat per se - but if I have a choice between Indian dishes and a boring "American" thing like a burger or mac and cheese, I'm definitely going for Indian.

FWIW, I had the exact same thought about the upcharge Mexican restaurant on NCL earlier this year. I have many Mexican restaurants within a few miles of where I live in the southwest, though! I had to remind myself that many of the cruisers come from places where Mexican food is uncommon. Incidentally, I have exactly 1 Indian restaurant 5mi away (and a small chain at that), and I'd have to pass by like 10 Mexican restaurants to get to it.

While we are suggesting, how about Thai food?