Special Request Question in MDR - Told NOT AVAILABLE

[kbalthaser66]

Here is my question. I have sailed on Carnival many, many times and I have always been very happy with my dining experiences. I recently sailed on the Valor and found that they no longer offer "Fettuccini Alfredo". It was something that I was always able to order for either a main dish or as an appetizer. It appears that the menus have changed pretty significantly from when I last sailed on Carnival. I am a pretty basis food girl and I have a stomach that doesn't always agree with the seafood dishes and fancy beef sauces. I asked on night 3 if they could do a basic fettuccini alfredo dish for dinner and I was told "no". I asked if that was something that I could request for tomorrow night and again was told "no". Carnival has always had a basic plain pasta dish available anytime in the past that I have asked. Has anyone else run into the MDR not wanting to make a special request. I could understand if I was asking for something fancy but I was just wanting a plain basic pasta dish with no meat, etc.......

 

Am I missing something? Also, we are doing a family cruise in February and my daughter has Celiac Disease and cannot eat gluten of any kind. What do I need to do to make sure they have a menu available with the foods she can eat in the MDR ahead of time?

 

Thank you so much everyone.

[cb at sea]

You need to call and talk to the "Special Needs" dept....every cruise line has that. They will make sure gluten free stuff is available (which most pasta is NOT gluten free!)...so call, tell them what you require, and they will make it so.

[Disconnections]

Who did you ask that told you no? The waiter? Hostess? Maître d'?

 

Typically, on Carnival, requests for guests with special dietary restrictions should be handled through the hostess.

Edited October 10, 2014 by Disconnections

[c&d]

We spoke with the hostess on Breeze about DH sodium free. He was given a menu at dinner for the next night and picked what he wanted. Only 1 appetizer did they come back and say they could not prepare for him.

 

His meals were cooked a little differnt from our with some dishes having different vegetables than the rest of us did.

 

But he said the food was good.

 

Talk to hostess on day 1

[Budget Queen]

Why not try NCL which has a pasta bar with your alfredo sauce, just about every day? Sorry, you seem to think it can just be whipped up for you easily? I can see why you were denied. I would not expect any special foods just because I liked them. As for your special dietary gluten free, a different story and as already mentioned request needs to go through special needs dept. Then follow up with the dining room staff.

[andy.capitan]

Are you confusing Carnival with Princess? Princess has Fettuccine Alfredo every night.

 

There usually is a pasta {something} dish every night that you can order as a starter or an entree, but not fettuccine, and not alfredo.

 

They will try to accommodate food restrictions, but you need to choose from what they offer.

[Buffettfan 225]

Are you confusing Carnival with Princess? Princess has Fettuccine Alfredo every night.

 

There usually is a pasta {something} dish every night that you can order as a starter or an entree, but not fettuccine, and not alfredo.

 

They will try to accommodate food restrictions, but you need to choose from what they offer.

I too looked at old and new versions of Carnival menus, could not see Alfredo either.

[L&J]

Here is my question. I have sailed on Carnival many, many times and I have always been very happy with my dining experiences. I recently sailed on the Valor and found that they no longer offer "Fettuccini Alfredo". It was something that I was always able to order for either a main dish or as an appetizer. It appears that the menus have changed pretty significantly from when I last sailed on Carnival. I am a pretty basis food girl and I have a stomach that doesn't always agree with the seafood dishes and fancy beef sauces. I asked on night 3 if they could do a basic fettuccini alfredo dish for dinner and I was told "no". I asked if that was something that I could request for tomorrow night and again was told "no". Carnival has always had a basic plain pasta dish available anytime in the past that I have asked. Has anyone else run into the MDR not wanting to make a special request. I could understand if I was asking for something fancy but I was just wanting a plain basic pasta dish with no meat, etc.......

 

 

 

Am I missing something? Also, we are doing a family cruise in February and my daughter has Celiac Disease and cannot eat gluten of any kind. What do I need to do to make sure they have a menu available with the foods she can eat in the MDR ahead of time?

 

 

 

Thank you so much everyone.

 

 

 

Our daughter has Celiac too. She came on the Dream in January and they were fantastic with her diet. The waiter will bring you tomorrow's menu and she can pre-select her choices. There were many choices! My daughter is very sensitive and gets the rash but never reacted. I've never seen her eat so much. Try the MDR for breakfast too (again you can pre-order for her).

What ship are you on in February? The Dream has a fantastic Pasta Bar with delicious fetticcini Alfredo! It's not GF but your daughter can get spaghetti there. The ice cream stations are safe for her, and the pizza place will make a GF pizza too. She's in good hands.

 

 

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[djcass4199]

The special needs dept. can help you with the celiac issue. Call 1-800-438-6744 and use extension 70025 for a direct contact.

 

Regarding the fettuccine Alfredo, I'm not surprised the wait staff could not honor the request nor do I believe should they have to. The galley has to feed 3,000+ people and it's not reasonable for them to accommodate requests for off menu items. The galley could never handle these requests much less fulfill them. Nor do they have the stock room to carry every ingredient under the sun. Now if it was just plain pasta with nothing on it and there was a pasta dish of some sort already on the menu, that could possibly be done. But different sauces and such, probably not.

Edited October 10, 2014 by djcass4199

[andy.capitan]

Our daughter has Celiac too. She came on the Dream in January and they were fantastic with her diet. The waiter will bring you tomorrow's menu and she can pre-select her choices. There were many choices! My daughter is very sensitive and gets the rash but never reacted. I've never seen her eat so much. Try the MDR for breakfast too (again you can pre-order for her).

What ship are you on in February? The Dream has a fantastic Pasta Bar with delicious fetticcini Alfredo! It's not GF but your daughter can get spaghetti there. The ice cream stations are safe for her, and the pizza place will make a GF pizza too. She's in good hands.

 

 

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.

 

They have an alfredo sauce but I'm not so sure about the fettuccine. The same would be true of Magic and Breeze. Probably Sunshine.

[andy.capitan]

Our daughter has Celiac too. She came on the Dream in January and they were fantastic with her diet. The waiter will bring you tomorrow's menu and she can pre-select her choices. There were many choices! My daughter is very sensitive and gets the rash but never reacted. I've never seen her eat so much. Try the MDR for breakfast too (again you can pre-order for her).

What ship are you on in February? The Dream has a fantastic Pasta Bar with delicious fetticcini Alfredo! It's not GF but your daughter can get spaghetti there. The ice cream stations are safe for her, and the pizza place will make a GF pizza too. She's in good hands.

 

 

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.

 

They have an alfredo sauce but I'm not so sure about the fettuccine. The same would be true of Magic and Breeze. Probably Sunshine.

[JillySue]

A friend surprised us by joining our wedding cruise. She has severe allergies to onions, heavy cream and peppers. I didn't know she was joining us so I couldn't give special needs a "heads up".....

 

Everyone was WONDERFUL! She raved about the special treatment and how concerned they were. She picked her meals the night before and the first night (we went that afternoon when we boarded) they gave her the chicken and veggies we picked when we met the matire d.

 

If it's a medical issue, they go above and beyond. If it's "wah, I want something that isn't on the menu any night and I'm special", they have the right to say no.

 

We did the "Behind the Fun" tour (highly recommend!) and saw the stations where they prepare and pick up the food. There is no where to make something like that and no one to do it!

 

 

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[Athankfulheart]

We have cruise with a GF/DF on two occasions. Both times when we called the special needs dept, they said to simply speak with the hostess onboard :) Both were very well cared for and both ate better than they ever had on land :)

[camarowesley]

Love the spaghetti carbonara and will usually special order it a couple times each cruise. We just ask the hostess the night before and it's never been a problem.

[skittl1321]

I could understand if I was asking for something fancy but I was just wanting a plain basic pasta dish with no meat, etc.......

 

There is usually pasta on the menu every night, and if you just wanted it plain- they almost certainly could have done that (though even still, just not adding the sauce is a special order that throws a bit of a wrench in their service, but with a bit of time, they can do it for you. I had a waiter tell me it was easier to give me a full plate that had the side dish I wanted on it, than just the side dish, for instance).

 

But you didn't ask for plain pasta, you asked for pasta with a sauce that isn't offered. If there is no alfredo sauce made, the kitchen isn't set up to make small batches of sauces. Yes, alfredo is just butter, cream, and cheese- but a cook would need to give it attention (it requires constant stirring), and would need a station to do it. You also seemed to be asking for a certain noodle- if you had just asked for any pasta, maybe they would have been able to help you.

Edited October 10, 2014 by skittl1321

[andy.capitan]

Love the spaghetti carbonara and will usually special order it a couple times each cruise. We just ask the hostess the night before and it's never been a problem.

 

If the OP is thinking Carnival then I think this might have been it.

[golfadj]

So who did you ask. Have found that sometimes the headwaiter will just say no to make it easier for themselves.

 

We have found them very accomodating to our requests

[marshhawk]

Fetticinni alfredo is not a necessary food item - you say you are a basic kind of girl-I know few basic people that want alfredo, spagehtti yes. Basic people want meat and potatoes, and that's usually what Carnival feeds you. If you are wanting a bland diet, then ask for the foods to be served without the sauce. Or scrape it off?? I guess you could always bring a jar of alfredo suace and they could heat it up for you and serve it on the pasta of the night?

[pe4all]

The children's menu has pasta on it every night. It comes as a large bowl full. Can get it with sauce, with butter, or plain. (my niece and nephew lived on it on CCL)

[winddawn]

Here is my question. I have sailed on Carnival many, many times and I have always been very happy with my dining experiences. I recently sailed on the Valor and found that they no longer offer "Fettuccini Alfredo". It was something that I was always able to order for either a main dish or as an appetizer. It appears that the menus have changed pretty significantly from when I last sailed on Carnival. I am a pretty basis food girl and I have a stomach that doesn't always agree with the seafood dishes and fancy beef sauces. I asked on night 3 if they could do a basic fettuccini alfredo dish for dinner and I was told "no". I asked if that was something that I could request for tomorrow night and again was told "no". Carnival has always had a basic plain pasta dish available anytime in the past that I have asked. Has anyone else run into the MDR not wanting to make a special request. I could understand if I was asking for something fancy but I was just wanting a plain basic pasta dish with no meat, etc.......

 

Am I missing something? Also, we are doing a family cruise in February and my daughter has Celiac Disease and cannot eat gluten of any kind. What do I need to do to make sure they have a menu available with the foods she can eat in the MDR ahead of time?

 

Thank you so much everyone.

Try Carnival Dream for the made-to-order pasta bar:

 

http://www.zydecocruiser.net/carnivaldream/pastaBar.htm

 

Here is what Carnival says regarding gluten-free, and yes they do offer gluten-free pasta.

 

https://www.goccl.com/~/media/Files/Irman/bookccl/shipboard_knowledge/DietRequirements.htm

[katiel53]

I think the problem was asking for the fettucine as I don't think Carnival uses it. When we sailed on Dream and went to the pasta bar, I could get linguini Alfredo, but no fettucine. I don't know if they would have made you the Alfredo sauce and put it on linguini if you asked, but I do agree with people who said ordering something special, and by that I mean something that isn't even served on the ship is asking for too much.

 

This post kind of reminds me of the woman who was so upset that she couldn't get schnitzel for her husband when her friends told her she could order anything she wanted and Carnival would make it for her. Obviously, not so.

[jetta8300]

Why not try NCL which has a pasta bar with your alfredo sauce, just about every day? Sorry, you seem to think it can just be whipped up for you easily? I can see why you were denied. I would not expect any special foods just because I liked them. As for your special dietary gluten free, a different story and as already mentioned request needs to go through special needs dept. Then follow up with the dining room staff.

 

:D:D:D

 

Love the spaghetti carbonara and will usually special order it a couple times each cruise. We just ask the hostess the night before and it's never been a problem.

 

Spaghetti Carbonara is similar to alfredo, but not the same. Carbonara usually has meat in the sauce, like ham or bacon. And the OP said she wanted it meatless so this wouldn't have worked. I would not expect a kitchen to whip up a completely different sauce for me, (but I would expect them to serve me something with the sauce omitted entirely, which i think would have been unacceptable as well to the OP.)

[andy.capitan]

:D:D:D

 

Spaghetti Carbonara is similar to alfredo, but not the same. Carbonara usually has meat in the sauce, like ham or bacon. And the OP said she wanted it meatless so this wouldn't have worked. I would not expect a kitchen to whip up a completely different sauce for me, (but I would expect them to serve me something with the sauce omitted entirely, which i think would have been unacceptable as well to the OP.)

 

They just crumble bacon on top a Carnival. It should be easy enough to ask them to hold the bacon.

 

Edited October 10, 2014 by andy.capitan

[travler27]

I don't think it's reasonable to expect them to whip up something that's not even on the menu unless it was arranged in advance. If the galley doesn't have a particular item prepared you can't really expect them to make up a single serving just for you.

 

Not sure if that's what the OP was saying or if they were just disappointed that the menus have changed and they wanted something that was available on previous cruises. We were on the Sunshine and they had a real good Cuban sandwich in the Cuban bar but I wouldn't expect all ships in the fleet to be able to knock one out at my request.

[travler27]

They just crumble bacon on top a Carnival. It should be easy enough to ask them to hold the bacon.

 

 

A Carnival passenger saying "hold the bacon"? I don't think that would ever happen. :D:D (Just a little humor. Don't get all upset.)