paulinestoker

I assume you have celiac disease. In that case, I would always eat in the mdr and make sure the wait staff know of your condition. I have seen staff in the buffet handle bread and then some other food item, so cross contamination is always possible, but realistically you cannot cater for celiacs in a buffet environment .

Unfortunately, when you are trying to feed 3000+ passengers, cross contamination is always an issue.

 

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Thanks for that. I think I was secretly hoping the buffet would be better on P&O than on Princess. At least on Princess the salad bar felt safe to me. Port day plans make the buffet a necessary evil for me. Maybe I'll drink my lunch in the bar! Thatcher's Gold is just apples right?:evilsmile:

Hi we were on Britannia at the end of last year with my daughter who has a cows milk allergy. My mum is Coeliac so im used to checking for cross contamination.

Personally I wouldn't eat from the buffet, there was an allergy section of cold desserts but they were all next to each other and didn't have any covers on them.

Nothing else was labelld with ingredients and to be honest most of the staff didn't understand my daughter couldn' t have lactose free products.

The main dinning rooms and speciality restaurants were a different thing, they took requests the day before and were great, I never had any worries.

The chips I'm not sure about, they did have fried chicken there but I'm not sure if they were cooked together. But they were very happy to do my daughter a burger without the bun which they cooked as I waited.

I will try and remember anything else which might be helpful.

Thank you. I will try to avoid the buffet, but on some port days we will want to be first off the ship which means early morning in the buffet. On Princess I would make a yogurt parfait sort of thing so that's why I asked about that. If we don't make it back from port in time for dining room lunch which is a for sure thing in Venice and Dubrovnik and a maybe on some of the other ports, our dinner time is 8:30 so I was looking for something else in between. I have located and included in our plans gluten free gelato in Venice and Sorrento, a Despar convenience store with a gluten free section in Venice, but nothing in Dubrovnik that I would totally trust to be gluten free. Guess I'll be living on Lara bars/Nakd bars.

Thanks for telling me about the fried chicken at the burger place- I won't count on being able to have chips from there (on Princess I could as well as gluten free pizza made on request). Plain burger patty sounds like a possibility as long as they don't grill the buns on the same surface. I have planned to pack gf snacks and maybe will have to consider taking more than what I originally planned.

On the first morning of the cruise you can meet with diet experts to ask questions. There is a specific gluten free section in the buffet. Cross contamination is anyone’s guess.

 

 

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Thank you. I will try to find the diet expert on the first morning.:)

I have read all I can find in all the old threads on this board about eating gluten free on P&O, so thank you to everyone who has already contributed. I know I can order dinner and dining room lunch the night before with a (head?) waiter just like on Princess so I am glad about that. As an obsessive worrier, I have a few more questions I'd like to throw out...

I'm booked on Oriana in May, and we have chosen fixed dining at 8:30 pm in case it matters!

When eating gluten free on P&O...

Were the fries at the burger bar on deck gluten free and safe from any cross contamination in the fryer? Just asking about the fries not the burgers as maybe an afternoon snack or after a long day in port if we are not back in time to have lunch in the dining room.

Lunch time in the dining room is listed as 12-1:30. Will we be allowed in if we rock up at say 1:25? Quite a few of our port stops will be shorter visits and I think we can make it back by then but could be cutting it close on some of them.

Were any hot meals in the buffet (lunch time) gluten free?

Did the salad bar in the buffet feel safe from cross contamination to you? What salad dressing options were gluten free?

Did you have trouble finding an appropriate person in the buffet to help identify what might or might not be gluten free? (mainly breakfast/lunch times)

Would I be able to make a "parfait" in the breakfast buffet - yogurt, nuts, seeds, jam, honey, dried fruit?

For afternoon tea in the main dining room, did you need to request gluten free items the day before and what were they able to provide for you?

I have seen sample dinner menus on the P&O website with gluten free marked (linked from the FAQ section) and some where nothing was marked (linked directly from the Oriana page). Do the current dining room menus have choices marked as gf or was I looking at old ones? Does it vary by ship?

Oh dear - didn't realize all my queries would be that long typed out - sorry! Still really looking forward to my first P&O cruise. Thanks again for any help.

When boarding in Southampton I buy a 24 pack of 500ml for £5 from a farm foods shop and stick a cabin number on it and send it with the suitcases. It lasts us a fortnight and it's the same bottled water they use on Celebrity,

Thank you for sharing what you do, sounds great! I didn't know we could send stuff like that with the suitcases. Noted!

From memory they are 1.5 litre. Outrageously expensive. We took 6 small bottles on board, and replenished them from the bathroom, or from the water fountains in the buffet - using jugs before anyone comments! When ashore we would occasionally buy extra bottles at supermarkets.

There is absolutely no need whatsoever to pay for water on board - save your money for wine.

 

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OK, thank you for explaining. Princess does a really good deal on cases of small bottles for a few bucks if you pre-order before the cruise and I was hoping P&O did something similar. We will probably do what you have done. Thanks again!

Could someone expand a little bit on the water bottles purchased from cabin steward? How big are the 6 bottles for 10 pounds? If I just ask the steward for 6 bottles for 10 pounds will he know what I am talking about? Have any of you used these bottles to fill smaller ones for going ashore?

Looking forward to my first P&O cruise in May!

Don't remember plumbing problems, but I've not had a noisy cabin on P&O yet. Enjoy

Yay! It was a really old thread that came up when I searched C142. Anyway I'm very pleased I don't need to worry about noise ( I am prone to worrying).

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I am very excited about my first P&O cruise!:)

We have that cabin booked for April 2018. It has bedrooms above and below. The white area is just a crew area I think. It should be quiet and is one deck above the coffee lounge and two above the promenade deck where they have the lovely padded recliners to while your sea days away.

Thank you for your reply! Have a great time on your trip. We will be there after you on May23.:cool:

Hi!

I was wondering if anyone has experience with this cabin or nearby ones on Oriana. My main concern is the white area above which I think might be crew laundry or something like that. Wondering about noise during the night when we are trying to sleep.

Jeanlyon - don't know if you might see this, but I believe you posted a few years ago about this cabin and plumbing problems. Not asking about the plumbing really, more concerned if you happen to remember noise at night.

Thanks so much. Very much looking forward to my first cruise on P&O! I'm sure I will have some more silly questions as the trip gets closer.:D

Desdichado62,

Thank you for all of your helpful advice. We are arriving on the Crown Princess on July 13 at Frihamnen. I see there is a sales point for travel cards right at the end of Frihamnen (thanks to your link). Do you think we will be able to buy two 24 hour travel cards with cash (Swedish Krona)? Thanks for your help!

We used one on the Emerald last summer, and I will be bringing it with me on the Crown in July. It kept us organized and made getting ready so much easier for us. I got mine at Walmart in the aisle with other storage items. Didn't cost much, but worked a treat!

I wonder if this is just specific to alla? I have a tour booked with SPB and it was priced in dollars so I have already got my dollars to pay for it . Will be a bit annoyed if they can't accept them.

 

 

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I have emailed SPB Tours to ask if they no longer accept $. Here is the response:

This is unfortunately the case. Due to recent changes in the regulations concerning transactions with foreign currency, we are no longer able to accept foreign cash on site. This has caused a very recent change to our payment policy. A mass announcement will be forthcoming.

You are welcome to pay in advance with credit card as this will not be considered a foreign transaction. Prepayments with credit card are settled in USD.

If this is also not possible, we can suggest setting up a bank transfer, but this is not a preferred method of payment as it is quite inconvenient for everyone.

I look forward to your reply.

Best regards,

Anthony

SPB-Tours

I have decided to take over enough Rubles to cover the tour and tips and any incidental spending. Depending on the conversion rate on the day, I might need to add some $ towards the tip amounts. OR I might have extra rubles which I will use to buy vodka.:halo:

That head waiter was not doing his job. I've seen many head waiters handle allergy problems, and this was not an acceptable solution. If something like this happens again, don't wait to complain. Speak to the maître d'. Or, if you are in anytime dining, try the other anytime dining restaurant.

 

With both the chocolate and gluten concerns, you would be much better ordering the night before.

 

By ordering the night before, you will be able to try apple walnut spring rolls. Even if they normally put cocoa powder in the filling, they will make yours without cocoa powder.

Thank you for your encouragement and advice. I will enter my diet info ahead of time and see how it goes with a different head waiter. I'm really looking forward to our cruise, and I'm sure it will be fantastic!

You might want to remind them to cook the pasta in fresh water rather than water used for gluten pasta. I tend to avoid pasta stations on ships for this reason though I am sure most of them know what they are doing. It just takes one mistake to ruin your cruise.

 

 

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Thank you for that great tip! As you say, it would be smarter of me to just avoid. I could reward myself with extra cocktails instead...:halo:

The headwaiter should bring you the next day's menu each evening and discuss with you whether what you want can be prepared gluten-free and also without chocolate. The menus should be for the next day's breakfast, lunch (sea days) and dinner in the dining room. This works well if you are in traditional or anytime, but if in anytime I suggest using the same anytime dining room each evening so you can have access to the same headwaiter.

 

And if you want to do specialty dining, also go there a day in advance to discuss the menu with the headwaiter there.

Thanks for your response. This is what I expected the head waiter to do last summer on the Emerald, but he decided he would just bring me something "special" for dessert. I wasn't given any choices but was presented with a cup of lemon pudding or key lime tart (like from the buffet). I didn't find this very "special" so didn't ask for the head waiter after that - just ordered sorbet for dessert each night.

I will probably report my chocolate allergy again for the Crown this July and see how the head waiter handles it this time. I would really like to try the apple walnut spring rolls but need to know that they haven't snuck any cocoa powder in the filling.

I

 

Hi

My 8 year old granddaughter in anaphylactic to chocolate as well. makes it hard at kids parties.

 

 

 

 

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Oh no, that must be rough. I used to teach elementary school, and it is tricky with allergies like this and nut allergies. Usually the kids had a really good attitude about it as long as they could have something else and not have to go without. Tell her I don't miss chocolate at all!

Thank you all for the replies!

I will ask on the first night. I am mentally prepared (to be strong!) and just do without pasta dishes if that's easier. There are lots of other yummy choices. I'm just one of those people that likes to have everything planned out ahead of time - including what I will be eating.;p

On last year's cruise I did report my serious allergy (chocolate=anaphylactic reaction) on the cruise personaliser but didn't get the help I was expecting from the head waiter. It became easier to just use my own common sense. Will do the same this July.

This gluten avoidance is a new thing for me, but I am feeling so much better for it. Will have to remind myself of that when I say no to the glazed sprinkle donuts at the IC.:loudcry:

Hello!

Does anyone know if gluten free pasta dishes can be ordered on the night in the MDR or would it have to be pre-ordered the night before? I don't have anything serious like celiac, just tummy troubles:(

Thank you for that! Travel insurance is much more common in the UK so I think the prices are a lot more competitive. It would have been very easy to pay 25 pounds for the insurance through P&O for 2 million pounds max coverage and be done with it. I have just received one quote at $75 for only $250,000 max coverage. Very different over here. Still looking around.

Thanks so much! That's great. It was just the 2 million pounds thing that was causing me a problem. Fingers crossed it all works out!

OK! Thank you. I can definitely provide an insurance company and contact number.

I have been looking at fjords cruises with P&O and have just found out about this travel insurance requirement. The one offered through the cruise line seems very straight forward but not available to me as an American. I can't find any companies here in the States offering the 2 million pounds coverage that they require ($1.5 million was as close as I could find). Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! This is a great forum, and I have learned a lot from you all.