Special Diet Requirements

[cruisequeen10]

Has anyone out there had this experience where you have to request a certain diet. My mother has celiac and she has to have a wheat free gluten free diet. I have read that HAL will accommodate a gluten free diet, but not wheat free. Any help would be appreciated.

[grannynurse]

Have your TA request the special diet as early as possible. Get a copy of HAL's response in writing and bring it to the ship with you. In the mean time check with HAL before you leave to remind and confirm. It's better to be safe than sorry as this is a dangerous condition. There is wheat in almost everything. In fact, get a doctor's letter to back you up. Do get into nag mode, this is one of those times that it is necessary to be pushy.

Grannynurse

[Charliesmom]

I have allergies to milk and the nightshades (potatoes, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant). They do their best to accommodate me, but it is I who have to be vigilant.

 

I order everything with the sauce on the side or without sauce altogether.

I do not eat any cakes or desserts except plain fruit. When I get eggs at the omelette station, I ask them to crack them in front of me (although the omelette maker on the Westerdam told me that he cracked the eggs himself). I eat a lot of salads which I make myself from the fresh ingredients on the salad bar. I avoid already made-up salads.

 

I have a friend who is allergic to gluten and she orders her fish "naked" - no butter - no bread crumbs. She gets a plain salad and uses oil and vinegar on it. She eats fruit and plain steamed vegetables.

 

You also have to consider what happens if your mother accidentally gets some wheat in her diet. If her throat closes up, you have to be extremely vigilant. If it is a case of "the runs", it is a pain, but at least not life threatening.

 

Good luck. Send a letter to the ship line certified mail. When you get on board, make sure you talk with the maitre d' (they always have someone who takes care of special problems) and make sure her condition is noted. They will assign a supervisor to her who will make sure her food comes as ordered.

 

Roberta

[beach2sea]

Interesting that they can eliminate gluten and still include wheat. Does make you question if they have any idea what they are talking about. We have registered my wife as celiac and needing a gluten free diet for our upcoming cruise on the majesty. We'll be traveling with our multi-language cards describing her needs and the importance of it. It all comes with a balance of being careful, asking lots of questions and having a level of trust with the kitchen and wait staff.

[swannie]

So glad that someone posted on this. I've been wondering about this issue. I am not celiac, but have discovered with the help of a nutritionist that I am "sensitive" to gluten. It won't make me ill if I eat it, but I definitely feel better overall without it. I've been thinking about asking the ship to make special arrangements for me so that I can maintain my diet, but I'm wondering how that works? I'm assuming that this only applies to the dining room, and that I'd be "on my own" if I went to the Lido or ordered room service. And can anyone offer some examples of what they were served for gluten free meals? Were they as tasty and interesting as their tablemate's meals? Or very plain and bland?

Thank you.

[icehatchling]

I can't speak about food allergies, but I can say that my experience on the Zuiderdam convinced me that HAL is very attentive to dietary considerations. Out of the four of us, we had one low-salt diner, one vegan, and one vegetarian. Not everything went smoothly, but not one inappropriate dish was brought out either. Our steward seemed to be very interested in making sure that we did not accidentally consume anything we didn't mean to - he even knew, without being asked, what dishes were and were not vegan. He told us that special-needs meals are prepared in an entirely separate kitchen. With a little vigilance, I think you should be fine. Good luck!

 

My (long) review of the Zuiderdam April 06.

[drjohn4]

My wife requires a gluten-free diet and we sailed on the Oosterdam in March. They require that requests for a special diet be sent no later than 60 days prior to sailing. We didn't book until about 45 days prior, but I called the toll free number for ships services shortly after we booked and they were great. They immediately faxed me a "Gluten Free Request Form" that had a list of gluten-free items that they can have available on the ship. Many choices from gluten-free blueberry muffins and tapioca rice english muffins to gluten-free pizza, pastas, soups and desserts were available. The only drawback is that the special order gluten-free items are only avialable in the main dining room. On the first night in the dining room, our head waiter had already had some gluten free dishes prepared for my wife, and he went over the next day's menus each day so that she could pick out what she wanted. We didn't always eat in the dining room, and my wife didn't have a problem finding plenty of naturally gluten-free items in the lido. Ship Services also recommends confirming receipt of the request 30 days prior to sailing.

[arabrab]

Interesting that they can eliminate gluten and still include wheat. Does make you question if they have any idea what they are talking about. We have registered my wife as celiac and needing a gluten free diet for our upcoming cruise on the majesty. We'll be traveling with our multi-language cards describing her needs and the importance of it. It all comes with a balance of being careful, asking lots of questions and having a level of trust with the kitchen and wait staff.

 

In Europe, wheat starch is considered to be acceptable in product labeled gluten-free (Gluten is found only in proteins.) However, some patients with celaic disorder also react to some related compounds called high or low molecular weight glutenins which are found in wheat starch. Therefore, some people may want to avoing all wheat products and byproducts as well as other gluten-containing foods. Others might just choose to avoid gluten-containing foods.

 

Like the definition for organic, the definition for "gluten-free" varies from place to place.

[bepsf]

Wow - this is great info!

I'm borderline Celiac (Gluten-sensitive, I guess is the correct answer - it makes me sluggish and break out in acne) so I try to avoid breads, pasta, etc - or eat small amounts knowing that I'll have a certain degree of side effects.

My Uncle, however is full-blown Celiac & is planning on booking Westerdam w/ my Aunt for their wedding anniversary this year - I'll be sure pass this info along to them!

(Just the idea of enjoying a blueberry muffin w/out worrying about breaking out/feeling crappy would be heaven!)

[swannie]

My goodness! I'm so impressed! Thank you for all the wonderful info, everyone. The thought that I could go on a cruise, enjoy some wonderful food choices, not feel deprived and stay healthier at the same time will make me appreciate my vacation so much more!