RedSox5

I posted a gluten-free question on a seperate thread, but I'm hoping maybe you guys and girls may be able to help?

This is the link to my question (if it works):

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1379925

 

If you need more info, check out my "Gluten Free Tips" thread on the Cruise Foodies board..

 

Bon Voyage and

Bon GF Appitite

How/where can I find that?

I hope this isn't too silly of a question, but we will be sailing on the Gem in a month or so (booking it tomorrow), and this thread is super helpful! Just wondering how do they track me down as the "gluten free one" if it's free style cruising? We haven't sailed NCL before, and I'm used to sitting in the same seat at the same table each night for dinner with the same waiter. But, since it's freestyle, will I have to tell each new waiter and each meal that I can't have gluten? How exactly does this work?

Sailed Celebrity last year expecting for the gluten-issues to be handled 100% and they totally and completely dropped the ball (and I'm a HUGE fan of Celebrity). Hoping for a better experience this time around.

We just got back from a week on Solstice. They had a basket of Gluten Free bread on the bread table in the cafe every day (and night). Nice.

WOW! That's awesome... hope Summit has it! :D

Yes it is open seating. Everything went very smoothly. When I sat down, I told them I had an allergy and asked to see a manager. The manager was aware of everything because our head waiter told him the night before when we talked about it. And the kitchen was already prepared for it. Everything was taken care of very smoothly and easily. No issues whatsoever. My son got his GF pancakes, and the rest of us go whatever else we ordered off the menu. No problems, very enjoyable. All serverd together without much wait.

 

I don't know exactly how it is all communicated, but it works. In fact, one morning we missed breakfast and that night at dinner our head waiter asked us what happened. So they must all communicate well. He offered then to us that if we think we might miss breakfast, that he would have it delivered from room service if we wanted. That worked well also.

 

Like I said at the beginning. This was all handled and coordinated by our head waiter. They are your key contact. Treat them well and they will be good to you. (At least ours was.) Every night at dinner, talk with them to plan your next day's meals and they will do the rest.

Thanks for your responses, Craig. I am still fairly new to this whole gluten-free world, and I have this huge hesitation about being a pain in the neck. I know that I just need to get over it so that I can fully enjoy my week, but I hate calling attention to myself/my food allergy. As I said, I know I just need to suck it up so that I can enjoy my meals! Thanks so much for your help- I'm sure I'll be just fine! ;)

Most, if not all, cruiselines offer gluten-free diets on all of their sailings...just contact the special needs dept. before you sail...plenty of folks with Celiacs disease cruise all the time!

I know they do, and it's great... but I'm talking a cruise where the only food on the ship is gluten-free. A cruise where people that can't have gluten don't have to be the "odd balls" and require specialized meals, etc. A cruise where people that can't have gluten can just go to the buffet and get what looks good to them without researching which options are "safe." A cruise where people that can't have gluten can have 7 days without having to even think for 5 seconds about what they're putting in their mouth! :D

Hey RedSox5. Don't worry, YOU ARE GOING ON A CRUISE! I was the same way a few months back before my cruise, worrying about dealing with my son's Celiac (and I was just also diagnosed a month ago). I can honestly tell you that there was no need to worry, everything went better than expected, and we had a great time. No lables to read, nothing to cook, no shopping to do, etc. They took care of everything for us better than we could have hoped for.

 

As I said before, befriend your HEAD WAITER. Tip them well and be very gracious. They have the ability to help you a lot and take away your worries. We always spoke to the Head Waiter during dinner about our meal plans for the next day and then they would coordinate and make sure we were taken care of. For example, they would make sure we had GF breakfast in the dining room, or even to coordinate a GF breakfast and a "regular" breakfast to be delivered to our room together. And they always took and arranged our next night's dinner for us in advance (GF bread each night, dessert, etc.)

 

I know you said you like the buffets for breakfast and lunch, but I would recommend that you are open to other options if possible. I was also a buffet person before Celiac, but this last cruise we really enjoyed being served breakfast in the dining room. Sit down, order, and get served what you want. No lines to wait in, no trays to carry, etc. Very relaxing. And the dining room staff always knew to expect us and thus had GF pancakes for my son each morning!

 

I found that the staff at the buffets was not of the same calibur as that of the dining room and I was not comfortable enough to risk eating there. There was also the possibility of cross-contamination with utensils. For lunch once we found a carry-out salad option at one of the other restaurants, we kept it simple and stuck with that each day. We just made sure to get dressing that came in packets. We carried out and ate at the pool

 

Let me know if I can help in any way. I know what you are going through.

Craig- As far as breakfast or lunch in the dining room, isn't it open seating (that's what I've always experienced in the past at breakfast/lunch.)? If so, am I going to have to go into the whole "I can't have gluten" thing each meal?? :( If not, how will they know? Is my photo in the back with a big sign that says "do not serve this passenger gluten!" :eek: (just kidding!!;):D)

Sorry for all the questions- I appreciate your help very much!

Thanks, Craig.

I'm getting so worried about the cruise! We always eat breakfast and lunch at the buffet, and since this is my first cruise since being gluten-free, I'm really worried about it. I'm nervous that there won't be enough food that I KNOW is safe that I can eat! :(

Sorry, guys... I have another question! :rolleyes:

Anyone know if the fried items are ok to eat (french fries, for example)? I know they aren't fried in their own separate oil, but did anyone have any issues with this?

Anyone ever hear of a gluten-free cruise? I haven't, but boy would I love it! It would be a dream come true for anyone that can't have gluten :D One week out of the year where all available food is gluten-free... oh to be "normal" again and not have to do research just to have a meal :p

Thanks.

 

Someone asked about lunch. We almost always ate @ the buffet. Salads were great. (croutonless of course). And I was told dressings were gluten free. But stayed away from asain ones due to soy sauce. Which often contains wheat. I had asked the servers @the buffet what was gluten free &they would often get the chef 2 direct me. The indianfood was often gluten free. I would go to the pasta station @ times & get everything butthe pasta like a primavera without pasta but would skip the whitesauces as they may have flour. There were a few times when not much was available or appetizing on the hot side but I always enjoyed a big salad cesear style with lots of shrimp. I haveread on the boards that someone had crepes made for them gluten free @bistro on five but I have not been on S class ships yet. Just don't be afraid to ask for things. Sorry about the typos. This was done on my iPod

Thanks! So you were told that all of the salad dressings were gluten free? I'm SO nervous about getting sick while on vacation! :(

If the celebrity higher ups ( administrative types) are out there reading this I have had an idea since the last cruise. If they can label the common allergens in their buffets (ie. things like wheat, rye, barley, soy, nuts, fish, seafood, corn etc. ) when they list what the food is (they can use symbols and have the legend in the daily or posted at the buffet) than that would cut down on people asking the servers what is in the food and help prevent problems with people who have different sensitivites. Just a thought. Celebrity, are you listening? I hope I am making myself clear. Some people don't like to bother those who are working to ask and may accidentally eat the wrong thing (like I did yesterday. Went to a restaurent that has a gluten free menu, forgot to look at it, ordered cheese fries, today I have a migraine, went on the website to find out it is not gluten free. Sometimes I need that to prove to myself I need to stay away from it as I have never been tested but discovered it own my own). deb

I like that idea- a small symbol so it wouldn't be "annoying" to other guests (I can hear it now:mad:) would be perfect. That's a great idea!! :D

My son and I both have Celiac and were recently on a Royal Caribbean cruise. My advice, regardless of the cruise line, is make good friends with your HEAD WAITER in the dining room. If you let the cruise line know of your restriction when you booked, the head waiter will certainly be aware of your needs. I also found that the same head waiter was wonderful at coordinating GF breakfast for us each morning and any other requests we had. The maitre'd did not do anything to help. It was all the head waiter.

 

I suggest you give your head waiter a very generous tip AT THE BEGINNING of the cruise. We just told him thank you very much in advance, we know it is a lot of extra work, and we really appreciate your help for us. Maybe it was not exactly necessary, but I can tell you for sure that our particular head waiter absolutely made our cruise the wonderful experience it was for us and my kids.

 

Lunch was not quite as easy, but once we found a few workable options, we pretty much stuck with the same thing each day to keep it simple.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions. I know my experience was based on RCCL, but I am sure it must be similar to Celebrity as well. I'm reading this board however since we will be on the Summit next February.

You said lunch was not as easy, but you found options- can you share what some of those options were? ;)

Thanks, Anne. Celebrity is already aware of my gluten-free requirement and I plan on speaking with the maitre'd when we get on board.

Thanks for the piece of mind ;)

Hi-

I have found a great deal of helpful information on the boards about eating gluten free while cruising, and particularly while cruising on a Celebrity ship. This will be my 8th cruise, but my first since finding out that I must eat a gluten-free diet.

I know the general information- that the cruise line prepares special gluten-free meals in the dining room, but that at the buffet I'm on my own and must pick and choose carefully (which I'm ok with).

Just wondering if anyone that has to eat gluten free has any recent experiences on Celebrity and can offer me greater detail about your specific experience? I suppose I'm just curious in general what it's like. ;)

Thanks in advance!

Like many of you, I cruise because I always did growing up, and when my Mom passed away when I was 20, I realized that my parents probably could have chosen to have a Mercedez instead of a minivan, but right now that wouldn't do me any good, as I have memories of 5 cruises with my Mom that I will have for the rest of my life...