Gluten Free?

[Wndrwomn]

Hello,

How are gluten free options aboard RCL?

 

The last time I cruised was on Carnival, and while I was promised before the cruise by Carnival reps that there would be many gluten free options, I was made to feel bad whenever I requested it. Lots of huffs and puffs and rolling the eyes, it turned out there was no gluten free pizza and anything that came with bread wound up to be a pound cake-type of hard crust, really gross. I would *Love* to bring a loaf of Udi's bread on board with me just so I can have toast in the morning, but I'm sure that's not allowed.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks for any replies :)

[CatLadyFemme]

Hello,

How are gluten free options aboard RCL?

 

The last time I cruised was on Carnival, and while I was promised before the cruise by Carnival reps that there would be many gluten free options, I was made to feel bad whenever I requested it. Lots of huffs and puffs and rolling the eyes, it turned out there was no gluten free pizza and anything that came with bread wound up to be a pound cake-type of hard crust, really gross. I would *Love* to bring a loaf of Udi's bread on board with me just so I can have toast in the morning, but I'm sure that's not allowed.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks for any replies :)

Last two RCCL cruises were good. Enchantment was better than the Independence. Choose a set dining time rather than MTD if possible. Let special needs know in advance. First day, ask for a head chef in Windjammer, who will ask what you want and bring it out to you from the back to avoid cross contamination (and depending on the cruise, sometimes WJ has a special GF buffet section separate from the rest). In the MDR, your head waiter will bring you the next night (and breakfast if you want) menus for you to order from in advance. You can ask for extras to take back to your room, and theu should bring you GF bread. Sorrentos has GF pizza: give them 15 minutes to make it. Cafe Promanade or Lattetude has prepackaged Udis cookies. I have Celiac (and am vegetarian) and haven't gotten sick. Happy to answer any other questions about my experiences.

 

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[franl24fan]

Agree with above, I've been on 4 cruises since having to go GF. My biggest complaint is the lack of consistency across the fleet in what is available and variety. I found longer cruises (more than 7 days) are really a challenge. Sometimes you have to educate your head waiter. You can be your own advocate and still be polite. I tip my headwaiter and waiter extra, and give a tip to WJ staff that do extra for me. Also be sure to get their names and mention them in survey.

 

Become best friends with the WJ manager or head chef and the executive chef in mdr. When I told chef how I disliked GF penne and wanted spaghetti he told me to bring a box and he would fix it for me. Some items you have to ask for like the udis packaged cookie.

[Wndrwomn]

Last two RCCL cruises were good. Enchantment was better than the Independence. Choose a set dining time rather than MTD if possible. Let special needs know in advance. First day, ask for a head chef in Windjammer, who will ask what you want and bring it out to you from the back to avoid cross contamination (and depending on the cruise, sometimes WJ has a special GF buffet section separate from the rest). In the MDR, your head waiter will bring you the next night (and breakfast if you want) menus for you to order from in advance. You can ask for extras to take back to your room, and theu should bring you GF bread. Sorrentos has GF pizza: give them 15 minutes to make it. Cafe Promanade or Lattetude has prepackaged Udis cookies. I have Celiac (and am vegetarian) and haven't gotten sick. Happy to answer any other questions about my experiences.

 

Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

 

 

 

Whoa! That’s great! I’m happy to hear of your great experience, it really puts my mind at ease!! Truly! Thank you!

 

 

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[CatLadyFemme]

Agree with above, I've been on 4 cruises since having to go GF. My biggest complaint is the lack of consistency across the fleet in what is available and variety. I found longer cruises (more than 7 days) are really a challenge. Sometimes you have to educate your head waiter. You can be your own advocate and still be polite. I tip my headwaiter and waiter extra, and give a tip to WJ staff that do extra for me. Also be sure to get their names and mention them in survey.

 

Become best friends with the WJ manager or head chef and the executive chef in mdr. When I told chef how I disliked GF penne and wanted spaghetti he told me to bring a box and he would fix it for me. Some items you have to ask for like the udis packaged cookie.

I agree about the tipping and survey for those that do the extra work! I also bring a list of items I cannot eat in red (such as barley, farro, wheat, rye, malt vinegar, regular soy sauce, etc) and items I can eat in green (rice, corn, veggies, fruits, dairy, quinoa, potatoes, tofu, etc.) And bring a few copies. In the Independence, the HW looked at it once and I wound up with a baked tureeen of veggies, sauce, and cheese every night. On the Enchantment, the HW took a copy for him, a copy for our main waiter, and a copy for the kitchen, and I are such amazing food every night.

 

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[CatLadyFemme]

Whoa! That’s great! I’m happy to hear of your great experience, it really puts my mind at ease!! Truly! Thank you!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

You are so welcome. I hope your trip is as easy as this last one was for me!

 

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[Wndrwomn]

Agree with above, I've been on 4 cruises since having to go GF. My biggest complaint is the lack of consistency across the fleet in what is available and variety. I found longer cruises (more than 7 days) are really a challenge. Sometimes you have to educate your head waiter. You can be your own advocate and still be polite. I tip my headwaiter and waiter extra, and give a tip to WJ staff that do extra for me. Also be sure to get their names and mention them in survey.

 

Become best friends with the WJ manager or head chef and the executive chef in mdr. When I told chef how I disliked GF penne and wanted spaghetti he told me to bring a box and he would fix it for me. Some items you have to ask for like the udis packaged cookie.

 

Will do! I appreciate your response!!

[orville99]

Oasis has a dedicated GF section in Windjammer, and features Canyon Bakery GF breads throughout the ship's restaurants. DW never had any difficulty getting GF dishes in any of their restaurants.

GFBread.pdf

[franl24fan]

Oasis has a dedicated GF section in Windjammer, and features Canyon Bakery GF breads throughout the ship's restaurants. DW never had any difficulty getting GF dishes in any of their restaurants.

 

interesting, I was on Oasis last November and there was no bread, but did have rolls. That's what I meant about lack of consistency in options. I would like to see a standard GF menu that all the ships had, added to by the chefs if they wanted to. For newbies they don't know what is available or how to find out.

[Homosassa]

If you have a medically diagnosed condition which requires a special diet or restriction, have it noted on your reservation by your travel agent or by calling special needs before the cruise.

 

The problem with many of the gluten free requests is that many are just following a fad and are not celiacs or have a diagnosed gluten sensitivity. As a result, on board stocks of items for those that have a real need for the products are depleted when people decide when on board to just ask for a gluten free product.