Am I the only one that's bothered by this?

I wrote a blog awhile back, (click here to read it), explaining how P&O were offering Kosher meals onboard their cruise ships but not Halal. For those who aren’t sure of the difference kosher food is a staple of the Jewish diet whereas Halal is the staple of a Muslim diet. Call me naïve if you want but I was quite offended by the idea that a cruise line would specifically cater for one religious group but not another. Several months down the line it turns out that the situation wasn’t quite as simple as I first thought.
It turns out their isn’t any cruise lines, (that I can find), that will specifically cater for Halal food. You can order kosher food, diabetic food, nut free diets, wheat free food and gluten free food but not Halal. At the time the explanation I was given was that because the food had to be prepared in a certain way, and because it couldn’t be prepared/stored with certain other food stuffs it would be too complicated to offer both.


However after a conversation with Royal Caribbean today, (who by the way also don’t do Halal meals), it turns out the situation isn’t that cut and dry. I had rang up to add some Kosher meals to a booking I had made yesterday at the request of the client. When speaking to the lady on the phone, I requested the meals and her comment was

“Are you sure? There not very nice.”

It turns out that the meals are pre-packaged, the example RCCL used was a bit like an

 “airline meal or a TV Dinner”.

They are frozen, stored on the ship and then just microwaved if someone orders one. I asked if they would be the same quality as the rest of the food served and the answer I was given was;

“Nowhere near.”

So here’s my questions;
With cruise ships getting bigger and bigger why can’t a small area of the kitchen be put aside for speciality diets? Are the demographics just not there? Or are the cruise lines missing out on an untapped market?
But more importantly
If the Kosher meals are all microwaved ready meals, why can’t the cruise lines stock Halal ready meals?
So what do you think? Does this situation seem slightly strange to anyone else or is it just me?

And as always – Happy Cruising.