Kosher breakfast on a cruise

I spent quiet a bit of time in my last post discussing your lunch/dinner options, but breakfast is an entirely different ballgame as rarely do cruise lines offer kosher specific breakfasts.

Where to eat

When it comes to breakfast you have two options of where to eat it. Typically there is an all you can eat buffet or waiter service in one of the main dining halls. Whichever your preference, I suggest on your first day swing by the buffet first, as this will give you a good idea of what they have. 

Everything is available in either place, but the sit down dining will be less hectic, and you can order everything the night before, so there won’t be too much of a wait.

What to eat

There are so many options typically on a cruise to eat for breakfast, but every cruise and every cruise line will be different, so investigating heavily on that first morning is key. Here are some options I have found available in the past.

Bagels – Pretty much, every cruise I have been on has offered packaged bagels. Think lenders or other similar products. They might not be the best quality, but they come with a hechsher. The cream cheese is pretty much always a huge block Philadelphia, so you are good with that. The lox as well is typically kosher. They will warm up your bagels for you double wrapped in the oven, cut you a few generous slices of cream cheese with a plastic knife, and give you more lox than you could possible eat.

Yogurt – Unfortunately, yogurt appears to be more miss than hit. Most cruises I have taken do not have kosher yogurt. They are normally not a name brand and are not kosher, but on a nicer cruise line, where customers expect more, you will have a better chance of getting a name brand, that is kosher.

Cereal – The cereal selection is really pretty expansive on cruises. Typically, you see the little single serve boxes of cereal along with single serving of milk/chocolate milk. Not every cereal is kosher, but there always are several which are.

Waffles – You might not think of this but often times there are frozen waffles, like Eggo Waffles, and these come with a hechsher. The crew will gladly warm these up for you double wrapped in the oven. They might not be as crisp as a toaster, but better than nothing. There single serve packages of syrup are typically kosher as well.

Eggs – Eggs are obviously a tricky thing and not something you would expect to find on a cruise. Since cooking eggs would be a Bishul Akum issue, the crew cannot make these for you. I have however had hardboiled eggs on a cruise. Some of them have apparently mastered the ability to bake a hardboiled egg. You just need to put it in the oven yourself, and let them do the rest.