Gluten Free Process on SS

When I did a search on this forum I found many comments about wonderful GF alternatives. I also found posts indicating that the servers knew what the GF options were on the buffet. We have notified SS that my wife is GF and it is so noted in our passenger documents. My question is: On other lines my wife is asked to meet with the Head waiter to discuss how her GF requirements will be met in the Dining Room. She usually is given the next days menu and asked to pre-select her meal and then those items are prepared GF. How does this normally work on SS?

Thanks,

Greg

Greg:

I'm gluten intolerant (not a choice), and have not yet been poisoned by SS, which is one of the reasons we choose to cruise with them.

SS deals with GF requirements in a number of ways. You've already done the important part: letting them know. Your wife will receive an invitation to meet with the Executive Chef on the first day, and will have a chance to talk about her dietary requirements. They will also give her the following day's menus so she can choose anything for the next day that she might want.

However, on our last cruise, they also had a 'gluten' menu to present at meal times with all the items on the daily menu that could easily be prepared gluten free. No preordering required! It really allows one to be spontaneous.

When I met with the executive chef on our last cruise he also explained that he had various gluten free flours (quinoa flour and rice flour) in the galley, and could 'whip up' any sort of sauce I might desire.

The wait staff all use iPads for ordering, and when my suite number is entered, it automatically shows that I am gluten intolerant, and all my food orders to the kitchen are flagged as such.

In La Terrezza they have gluten free pasta available, although there is some delay in service when this is ordered as they heat fresh water to prepare the (from dry) pasta.

In the buffet, if you ask, the server will generally know which items are GF, and if not, they will run and ask. They have GF bread & buns, and a special 'GF dessert' every day. They will also get fresh items for her, such as bacon, which might have been cross contaminated. (They store the cooked bacon on bread to soak up the excess grease. My husband often comments that he would like to have that bread, fried.)

Unfortunately they don't have dedicated deep fryers, so I'm on a restriction when it comes to deep fried foods, due to possible cross contamination. Less sensitive or people who are gluten free by choice wouldn't have this restriction.

The service at the grill on the pool deck is great at dinner, but somewhat more restricted at lunch time, as they're serving mostly burgers, etc. However, once they know you, they tend to find special things to offer. One of my favourite memories is having a waiter come up and say "Today, just for you, [name used here] we have some fresh trout. Would you like that grilled with a nice salad?"

For tea time, in the Panorama lounge, they will prepare all the tea sandwiches on Gluten Free bread, and although the choice of sweets is somewhat less varied than the regular offerings, there is usually ample. (I usually just go in and ask for ONE thing, which they will bring on a plate, instead of the usual three tier tea tray.)

At dinner service, if there is something that contains gluten on the table (a sauce or specially ordered side dish), they will usually wag their finger at me and say "Not for you!"

But, if in doubt, ask. If they don't know, they'll find out. The bartenders will even make sure she gets vodka made from potatoes and not wheat!

Let me know if any other questions.

MLeh

Thanks so much for the detailed response! Do you happen to remember if they had GF soy sauce?

Sorry, I don't remember ever having anything on board that contained or required soya sauce! On one of our sea days they set up a stir fry station in the Panorama lounge, but everything was battered and deep fried, the noodles were egg noodles made with wheat, and there was a lot of cross contamination into the vegetables and rice, so we just went to the MDR and had lunch there. Didn't get far enough to ask about the soya sauce.

We've only travelled on the smaller ships (Whisper, Shadow, Cloud), and not on the larger ships which have Asian themed restaurants. It would be good to know.

MLeh,

Thanks so much. Just to let you know our last 3 cruises have been on Princess and Oceania; and, in both cases my wife's Glute allergy was well handled. Menus the night before, special GF desserts (even baked Alaska); buffet servers knew which items were GF and which were not. However, no GF Pasta! Wife will really enjoy that option on Wind in October. Again thanks for your very useful and informative feedback!

Greg

Greg:

Glad to be of help.

If she's a fan of GF pasta, she might be happy to hear they also offer a gluten free pizza. I tend to avoid GF pizza because of the opportunity for cross contamination in preparation & in the oven and, probably more to the point, I'm not a big fan of pizza to start! (Probably the life time before I knew I was gluten intolerant of having bad reactions to pizza.)

I've found it never hurts to remind them that she needs to be gluten free. I never assume they remember! (Better 30 seconds reminding them than 3 days sequestered in my suite dealing with the ramifications of being glutened.)

I hope you both have a very enjoyable cruise on the Wind in October, and please do post about how things go for both of you on the cruise.

MLeh

I too have been a GF Silversea traveler for many years. Most of the above is in line with my experiences. One thing to be careful about; they often put a 'cookie' in the Ice Cream. Having the menu premarked is a nice thing; and of course you can order special ahead of time. Much better than choosing your meal the night before right after dinner, as I did on a recent Regent Cruise. Hard to order when you aren't hungry!

I am not GFat all, but somehow, I got labeled as such mistakenly on our recent Silver Explorer cruise. And every time I ordered something with gluten, the waiter would point out to me that it was not GF, so they were very aware.