Gluten Free Options on Breeze?

[SinCity2003]

We are looking to cruise on the Breeze in August. My 9 year old has Celiac disease and must be gluten free. Can anyone give me their experience with Carnival and how they handle that? I've heard that you choose the meals the day before and everything has to be eaten in the main dining room; is this true?

 

Thanks in advance!

[SinCity2003]

Bump. Anyone?

 

 

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[SadieN]

Use the Search button use 'gluten free' or 'celiac'

Tons of threads will pop up.

[DebJ14]

My DH and I, our children and grandchildren have all been GF for 7 1/2 years. We have taken 15 Carnival cruises since. We sailed the Breeze the first week of April this year. The GF service was outstanding on all the ships we sailed. On most other ships the hostess came each night with the menu for the next night so that we could pre-order our GF meals. On the Breeze our waiter, Andres, handled it. He was totally familiar with the GF diet. There were very few things we could not have. They just adjusted the sauces (or left them off), they provide GF pasta and desserts. They will also tell you in the steakhouse what you can and cannot have and they will make a substitution to make the chocolate sampler GF too. I understand that Cucina Capitano will also accommodate, but we never tried it.

 

In the MDR they will make the warm chocolate melting cake GF as well as an excellent GF cheesecake, creme brulee and mousses in addition to the ice cream and sherbet on the menu every day. For breakfast eat in the MDR and specify fresh eggs. If your child wants GF pancakes in the MDR you will have to pre- order them the night before. (Our grandkids had them every day). They do chocolate chip and blueberry pancakes in addition to the regular GF pancakes. They are actually pretty good. They have gluten free bread available in the MDR and also carry it at the deli. I understand the Pizzeria will also make a GF pizza.

 

Lunch is a bit trickier. I understand they have GF buns at Guys, but I personally never asked for one. DH and I usually just ordered the cheeseburgers without any buns at all. We also ate at the Blue Iguana Cantina. We had the tacos (corn tortillas) and asked for the burrito without the flour tortilla (like a burrito bowl at Chipotle or a naked burrito at Q'Doba). The other option we found for lunch was to have a salad and maybe some meat from the carving station depending on what meat they served that day.

 

If your little guy has things he really likes then I would bring them from home, especially salad dressing packets if he will eat salad. Bring some zip lock bags too. On the Magic last August when the entire family went, we brought GF ice cream cones so our grandkids could eat the soft serve in a cone. We also brought several boxes of GF cereal. That way we could order room service breakfast (just ordered the bowl, milk, juice and fruit). The kids also like Panda Puffs and Cinnamon and Chocolate Chex as a snack. My DIL actually brought the GF cereal in a baggie to the MDR. We had to go there so the kids could get their pancakes but she only wanted cereal. They were good about it.

 

The kids like Nut thins with cream cheese. We would get that in the morning (ask for the salmon with cream cheese, but hold the salmon) and put it in the baggies and store in the fridge in the cabin. That way they could have the cheese and crackers for an afternoon snack. The cream cheese is available through room service, the lido buffet and in the MDR.

 

Camp Carnival was notified and they were good about telling us what the snacks would be the next day. We would send the kids a snack in the baggies. We took GF pretzels, Dr.Schar cheese crackers (like goldfish), Lucy's chocolate chip cookies in the snack packs etc.

 

No one got sick, so we know we did not get glutened. I would have spent the rest of the cruise in the bathroom, DIL would have a migraine within 15 minutes of eating gluten and everyone else would have felt like they had the flu within hours. We are all super sensitive. Out of the 7 in my family we have 5 full blown celiacs, and 2 extremely sensitive. Everyone carries the gene(s). The doctor put everyone on a GF diet. He said if one had the risk for heart disease he would treat that preventatively, so why not prevent the 2 who have not yet developed celiac from getting it. It is just so much easier to have our households completely GF so there is no risk of contamination. Our kids and grandkids were seriously low birth weight babies ( under 5 pounds at full term) and the grandkids failed to thrive. Finally, a doctor recognized what was going on. The oldest grandson was 2 at diagnosis. He gained 4 pounds and grew an inch the first month of the GF diet. He is still on the small size for his age, but I hate to think of how tiny he would be if he had not been correctly diagnosed with celiac. I was diagnosed with dermatitis herpetiformis as a child, but that was years before they knew that it was a form of celiac. My parents always told me I had dermatitis. When they passed away I found the letter from the dermatologist. I took that to my doctor and he just shook his head. I had been diagnosed in 1964, but was not told to go GF until 2007. My health has completely turned around on the GF diet.

 

Make sure you notify special needs so they notify the ship. We have been put at a table with other GF passengers on both Carnival and RCCL, which makes it easier than having to explain it to those who think GF is some kind of fad diet.

Edited July 8, 2014 by DebJ14

[SinCity2003]

Deb- thank you so much! We are only 2 months into his diagnosis and I feel so much better hearing first hand how things were handled. It sounds like he will be in heaven lol. And yes we will bring tons of snacks for him :). Thank you again!

 

 

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