The move, stewarded by the American - National Health Association (NHA) has come as a result of close discussions with the Windstar Cruise company, which operates a small fleet of luxury vessels in various exotic global locations.
Source: Windstar's Flagship - Windspirit Stay-Sail Motor Yacht permanently in Tahiti waters until 2024.
What started as a special offering for vegan groups and charters has morphed into a Windstar fleet-wide initiative and training of its culinary team on the new vegan menu is well underway ahead of the June roll out.
“The National Health Association points out vegetarian and vegan diets are not always healthy, and for meals to be truly health-promoting, they also need to be minimally processed and prepared,” says Windstar’s Director of Hotel Operations Peter Tobler, who oversees food and beverage operations.
“We’ve seen an increased demand for whole-food, plant-based dishes from our customers, and we’re really excited to work with the NHA to bring them something that’s nutritious and delicious. As a side benefit, plant-based foods also reduce our environmental footprint – a major goal of Windstar’s – allowing us to tread more lightly on this planet.”
Source: Facebook - Pictured Wanda Huberman, Exec, Director, NHA & Lisa McCarl, NHA Travel Co-ordinator meeting with on-board hotel executives and Chefs.
The NHA inspired program is designed to attract vegan travellers to the Windstar vessels and now with fully vegan whole food plant-based additions to the ships menu's it believes lobbying with the line's management has paid off.
Wanda Huberman, Executive Director of the National Health Association, worked closely with the Windstar culinary team to share NHA expertise and ensure Windstar-developed recipes meet the organisation’s standards for an exclusive whole-plant food diet and lifestyle.
“The Windstar culinary team has knocked it out of the park in executing the specific requirements of our meals,” Huberman says.
“Every meal is absolutely delicious and served in a beautiful presentation with so much variety that no one will leave a meal feeling hungry or less than satisfied.”
Source: NHA - Samples of some of the new Windstar vegan menu options.
The menu evolved out of hosting several plant-based groups, which have grown significantly in popularity over the last few years. Lisa McCarl, a former open heart recovery nurse turned travel advisor, has booked several plant-based groups on Windstar and says there is a huge demand for healthy travel going forward.
“More people are changing the way they eat to prevent and reverse diet-related disease. Why not make it easy for them to continue that healthy lifestyle while sailing on the trip of a lifetime? Windstar is doing a phenomenal job in making healthy cruising a reality", says Lisa McCarl.
NHA also hosts vegan tours and charters on the Lindblad lines vessels into far flung destinations such as the Antarctic.
To find out more about the NHA sponsored vegan cruises CLICK HERE.
About Windstar Cruises :
Windstar Cruises operates a fleet of six boutique all-suite and sailing yachts carrying 148-342 guests. Small ship cruises sail throughout Europe; the Caribbean; Costa Rica and the Panama Canal; Asia; Alaska and British Columbia; New England and Eastern Canada; the U.S. West Coast and Mexico; Arabia, and the South Pacific, including a ship year-round in Tahiti.For more details on Windstar Cruises, visit https://www.windstarcruises.com.
About National Health Association:
The National Health Association (NHA) is a non-profit organisation that promotes the benefits of a whole-food, plant-exclusive diet. The Association provides an advertisement-free quarterly magazine sent to its members titled Health Science, educational materials, educational events, and services to thousands of people around the world. More at https://www.healthscience.org/.
Thank you for sharing this great news for plant-based travel,