Cruise Lines

I have to award full marks to Princess Cruises for the huge choice of vegetarian dishes they offer at each dinner in the dining room.

On the first evening on this New England cruise on Caribbean Princess there were 10 dishes, the next nine. Admittedly that included the fruit and cheese plates, but it's still an impressive choice.

It's not something I've ever really taken much notice of until recently, when my daughter became a vegetarian.

She was thrilled with the choice on Princess, especially after struggling on Holland America's Veendam a couple of weeks ago, when there was just one veggie main course each evening in the dining room.

Thy did have a very tasty minestrone soup in Canaletto, Veendam's Italian specialty restaurant, but on the third night we went there the chef decided it would be better if there were bacon bits in it.

The waiter was mortified. "No no it can't be meat, it's a vegetarian soup," he proclaimed as he took the bowl back to the kitchen. He arrived with another. Again it had meat in it, again he was sure it couldn't be. He returned armed with a salad and apologising profusely on behalf of the chef. "He's new," he explained.

Happily, when they served minestrone on Caribbean Princess it wasn't just been meat-free, but also cheese free (they automatically put cheese in it on Holland America - actually they put cheese on almost everything, which I find a problem - rather than offering it at the table, as I believe is more correct).

Where Holland America did score was in the Pinnacle Grill steakhouse, where there was a veggie option. In the Crown Grill on Caribbean Princess, my daughter had to make up a main course with a selection of side orders.

And before anyone points it out, I know it's not the best eating venue for a veggie but I like the steaks and didn't want to eat alone.