mchel210

On 6/8/2022 at 8:22 PM, screwsmcernst said:

 

Can you share a little more about your daughter's experience with finding gluten free.  I have Celiac as well, and I am a little concerned.  Did she place her order for dinner the day before?  Did you eat in any specialty restaurants?  Did you eat in Windjammer?  I am thinking it is a good idea to stay away from windjammer.  I don't want to take a chance of cross contamination.  Thanks

Hi yes! We signed up for alert to gluten from when we paid for the cruise. The first day there was No indication the chef knew. They checked for what items on the menu has been gluten free. Pretty much anything they prepare they can modify by cooking with different flours but certain items already come prepared so those can’t be changed to gluten free. I think if you go to the main dining room early enough on the first day and speak to the head waiter you might have better experiences. The waiter e we had the first night didn’t take the allergy serious it seemed and ended up making my daughter so upset with no food options. We switched to a different table and a different head waiter. She was amazing!! I cant even Tell you how wonderful they made dining! They did plan every meal …appetizers, dinner and desserts. They do the menu the day before for dinner ( you don’t need to for breakfast and lunch) They always prepared extra desserts too. They made gluten free pancakes and breakfast, they can do gluten free lunch in the main dining area, and every dinner meal. Windjammer was not a good option. You can ask for gluten free breads in the bakery in windjammer. There is a gluten free area but the options didn’t look good. Basic items. The main dining always brought bread toasted which is so much better. I think addressing it early on embarkation day would have alleviated problems from the get go. If you are on quantum Rose (head waiter) in the main dining room was amazing in handling the diet!! That pizza is cooked in a gluten free oven so I’m sure the main dining also has something similar! 💖 

11 minutes ago, J0Y0US said:

 

What? Did they tear it down? Was there last September and while not open looked like it was fully setup. 

 

Glad I didn't put much thought in to booking it then. 

I think it got damaged over the winter. There were lots of parts missing. 

9 minutes ago, QueenWiggler said:

What excursions were being cancelled, if you don't mind?

Ours was adventure park and zip line in icy straits (wasn’t built so I think that’s why it was canceled…which they knew months ahead and should haven’t booked)  the zip line was opened but not available to us because they just canceled that whole thing. They did atv instead last minute. But I could only get 3 spots for our group of 5.  The wilderness kayaking in Skagway was canceled the night before due to “an issue with the horses” ???? Not sure where the horses came involved?? We had to book off ship since nothing was available. There was a tour company M&m that had tons available if you get off early.

 The people all in guest service line were asking each other what got canceled. kind of comical but not really. 

12 hours ago, johnstewarth said:

Hi Bird,

 

Thank you so much for your efforts in documenting your cruise. It was so much fun to follow you and anticipate our cruise on the same itinerary beginning on the 13th. I've heard rumors about significant Covid transmission on Alaska cruises. What impression did you have of the situation on your cruise?

We also just got off the Quantum yesterday. The staff did say it was very high Covid. They do test the staff every day if they are exposed which is great. There are very few cruisers using masks. There are tons of guests being tested in the medical area. (Now I must add…the flight back had so many people coughing it was horrible! And no one has a mask…i didn’t really see many coughing on board…a few at the end of the cruise)
 

Many excursions got canceled last minute which left us hunting for things to do. We heard others complaining about that.  The glacier stop in the morning was there and leaving before 9! I would suggest you get up early because it wasn’t there till 10…around 6-7 you start seeing tons of icebergs in the water which is pretty cool with seals.
 

 The ship didn’t have a lot of planned activities which left many super crowded. The staff was lacking in service and the food was just ok but I think that they are still trying to recover after being closed for all that time. The ship has a lot of areas to just relax. Maybe pack some games to play on deck. ( I saw a few families playing long play games that looked fun. ) if you want to do bumper cars, rock wall, North Star, skating, basketball, pickle ball  etc just search the times. Those are open like a few hours at a time very scattered. I think the kids club probably is very organized but we didn’t have any kids this cruise. I saw the kids running around doing hunts and such. They separate the kids on deck 11 and there’s not much else there so you don’t see a bunch of kids. Even though it’s said almost 800 kids onboard! 
 

we had big issues the first night with the dining room not being able to accommodate allergies even though they had been pre registered. I feel like the waiters had too many tables assigned (but that could be due to illness amongst staff)  We got switched to another table and it was night and day! Our new dining staff we had was amazing and cooked gluten free every morning and dinner in the main dining. They will cook lunch I believe in the main dining if you ask. Our head server found us every breakfast to ensure my daughter has her gluten free meals and desserts! The sorrentos pizza place WILL bake any pizza gluten free with whatever toppings you want. It was wonderful. 

overall this was a wonderful cruise. The whirlpools in the front always has space and the area was very warm. The seas were very Rocky on sea days so plan for Dramamine if you need. The sea days you need a sweater/jacket on deck but port days were hot! You can walk around in shorts at all the stops except Seattle and Victoria. I believe in the ship any outfit works, it’s very comfortable temperature.