Reservation on Norwegian Joy & I'm Gluten-free. Should I go or cancel?

[akebog]

I'm afraid that I might have a problem staying away from food containing gluten & cross-contamination.

Please advise.

[jdc987]

They have pretty good gluten protocol.  but deserts were limited.  Teppanyaki has been prepared gluten free and of course alot of courses are pre-prepared for your next days meals when you speak to maitre D of your dining venue choices day before.

 

Definitely go...

 

[KforKitty]

We did a Behind the Scenes tour on NCL Star last week and saw the MDR kitchens.  Within these was a separate area for preparation of meals for those on restrictive diets, so cross contamination would not occur.  They seemed to take this very seriously. 
 

Catherine 

[uneamie]

Hmm....I would think you'd have to be concerned about that in ANY restaurant. Not an easy thing to determine I'd think, but if you inform the cruise line before hand I think they would comply. There are many diet restrictions for many people. like peanut allergies which can be deadly.

I would think they are prepared for that. 

Edited June 15, 2023 by uneamie

[akebog]

38 minutes ago, jdc987 said:

They have pretty good gluten protocol.  but deserts were limited.  Teppanyaki has been prepared gluten free and of course alot of courses are pre-prepared for your next days meals when you speak to maitre D of your dining venue choices day before.

 

Definitely go...

 

Thank you for your answer. Still have 1 day to decide before final payment.

[akebog]

39 minutes ago, KforKitty said:

We did a Behind the Scenes tour on NCL Star last week and saw the MDR kitchens.  Within these was a separate area for preparation of meals for those on restrictive diets, so cross contamination would not occur.  They seemed to take this very seriously. 
 

Catherine 

Thank you for letting me know about the MDR kitchens.

[akebog]

12 minutes ago, uneamie said:

Hmm....I would think you'd have to be concerned about that in ANY restaurant. Not an easy thing to determine I'd think, but if you inform the cruise line before hand I think they would comply. There are many diet restrictions for many people. like peanut allergies which can be deadly.

I would think they are prepared for that. 

Thanks for your answer.

[ggTexasGal]

Perhaps the following link, and/or phone number will be of help:

https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/about/accessible-cruising#allergies-diabetes

866.584.9756

[mjkacmom]

Sailed on 4 different NCL ships, 2 daughters have celiac, they ate better than at home and loved it. Let’s special needs know ahead of time, go to a MDR for lunch upon boarding, someone will most likely come to your table and explain how it works. Those with allergies can preorder meals, mine ordered dinner and breakfast the night before. We always ate breakfast in the buffet and just called the number to let them know we were on our way. Covered trays of great gf food brought right to our table, waffles, pancakes, muffins, eggs Benny, bread - pretty much anything they wanted. For dinner they looked at the next night’s menu and could ether ask for modifications or order off menu. Flourless chocolate cake was brought, as well as Brazilian cheese bread from moderno. They’d do the buffet for lunch and just ask if they had concerns, or needed gluten free pizza, rolls, bread… We’ve been dealing with celiac for 13 years and cruising is the way to go with their dedicated allergy kitchens. Do not cancel for this reason.

[hallux]

Even before getting into letting them know in advance - every time the solo group was sat for dinner, before the rolls were placed on the table, the table was asked if there were any food allergies.  They are VERY conscious of this, the last thing they want is for someone to get sick on their watch.

[akebog]

1 hour ago, mjkacmom said:

Sailed on 4 different NCL ships, 2 daughters have celiac, they ate better than at home and loved it. Let’s special needs know ahead of time, go to a MDR for lunch upon boarding, someone will most likely come to your table and explain how it works. Those with allergies can preorder meals, mine ordered dinner and breakfast the night before. We always ate breakfast in the buffet and just called the number to let them know we were on our way. Covered trays of great gf food brought right to our table, waffles, pancakes, muffins, eggs Benny, bread - pretty much anything they wanted. For dinner they looked at the next night’s menu and could ether ask for modifications or order off menu. Flourless chocolate cake was brought, as well as Brazilian cheese bread from moderno. They’d do the buffet for lunch and just ask if they had concerns, or needed gluten free pizza, rolls, bread… We’ve been dealing with celiac for 13 years and cruising is the way to go with their dedicated allergy kitchens. Do not cancel for this reason.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your reply! You really put my mind at ease since your family has dealt with gluten-free on NCL ships. I appreciate your answer.

[akebog]

11 minutes ago, hallux said:

Even before getting into letting them know in advance - every time the solo group was sat for dinner, before the rolls were placed on the table, the table was asked if there were any food allergies.  They are VERY conscious of this, the last thing they want is for someone to get sick on their watch.

Thank you for your response.

[akebog]

2 hours ago, ggTexasGal said:

Perhaps the following link, and/or phone number will be of help:

https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/about/accessible-cruising#allergies-diabetes

866.584.9756

Thank you. Already filled out the form.

[FlGoodShips]

I have food issues too and I always ask once on board to speak to Executive Chef or Food & Bev Mgr.

They will make notes on your account. Plus, at EVERY meal, they will ask if you have any food allergy or issue. You can also order your meals once on board for next day each evening.

Very accommodating and wonderful when it comes to special food ordering.

Enjoy your cruise🚢😊

[UKstages]

NCL does many things poorly.

 

dietary requirements and food allergies they handle exceedingly well.

[KforKitty]

Just to add that I think we were asked if we had any food allergies EVERY time we sat down for a table service meal.

 

Catherine

[TheycallmeDrew]

My wife is gluten free and soy free. The gluten is done well but sometimes the soy is missed since it can be added to things no ones thinks about (it was in the earl grey tea for some reason!). My wife advises and the only issue is usually embarkation day as she has not had the opportunity to pre-order that days meals. You order the next days meals the night before and they can often make things gluten free pretty easily unless it is a pre-packaged item that is delivered pre-prepared frozen like a dumpling or spring roll type of thing. Be careful in the buffet. For soy the chef in charge of the buffet told her he would make her something to order since they were using vegetable oil on grill and in fryer but gluten free would be easier. She did get soy poisoning on our last cruise and no one could figure out the source so we went to Le Bistro instead of MDR and got a nice surprise as they picked up the check. We didn't raise too much of a fuss as we were more concerned with locating the area of issue than finding someone to blame so it was a nice surprise.

[Ellis1138]

I'll add to the "go", with the addition of "definitely call or fill out the NCL Access form ahead of time."

 

I have severe food allergies and the 3 cruises I've taken, the 2 with NCL were really accommodating for my issues. I only wish land restaurants were that attentive and able to handle it.

 

The buffet will be allergy roulette, so they won't be able to guarantee it, but the MDR, 24 hour one, and the specialty restaurants will all be able to do it. 

 

(And I second the impossibility of the soy roulette. Thank god my soy allergy is a mild one.)

Edited June 16, 2023 by Ellis1138

[DMH15]

My niece is vegan and NCL was fantastic.  Both her cruises were Haven.  But she did some buffet and we did lots of specialty restaurants.   Checked in with them 24 hours in advance each time. So, we were impressed. 

[Liljo22]

Let them know you are gluten free and they will give you the menu ahead of time to choose what you want.  They will let you know which items can be made that way.  They will prepare it separate and you just give your waiter your room number and name when you get there.

[Ladyshopper23]

We had a great time on the Norwegian Star in November. NCL do things a little differently, as they have a dedicated special diets co-ordinator (essentially a server who has been through the training for this role) that does all the ordering for dietary restrictions (assuming you want to make use of pre-ordering, not everyone does).

As you'll see from my signature, I have written up all of our gluten-free cruise experiences in a GF travel blog I started (primarily because I struggled to find decent info out there about various cruise lines and their gluten-free options). If you want to read about our NCL experience, then click on my profile and you'll find the link.

It explains all about the access desk form, where to find it, what to do when you get onboard, tells you about the special diets co-ordinator, has photos of menus and food, plus covers speciality restaurants, our experience in the buffet etc. Even tells you about the gluten-free beer you can get on board!

Hopefully you'll find it helpful, and it will put your mind at ease.

We've booked another NCL cruise, this time on Getaway, as we were pretty impressed with our experience from a dining perspective.