Gluten-free and other medical diet problems on P&O Cruises Iona during 2023 Norwegian Fjords season

[mhurley142]

Do you have Coeliac Disease and/or other medical diet requirements and were provided with gluten-containing or other allergens meals during their cruise on Iona?

I'm concerned about their staff training, management processes and procedures due to my bad experiences, despite following their recommendations and advising restaurant managers and waiters before eating meals provided, during a 7-day cruise.  

[Snow Hill]

My OH is coeliac and in the10 years since she as diagnosed we have never had any issues with food in any of the restaurants on the ships we have been on. Assuming nothin has changed the meals are prepared and cooked a separate kitchen with separate pans and utensils. She even had gluten free biscuits in the cabin, we didn’t have to ask they just were there. 
 

The only issue is the buffet as you can’t guarantee that passengers won’t have cross contaminated dishes, however when we have asked a waiter for a gluten free dish, in most cases they have been able to provide one from the kitchens. 

[FamilyCruiserUK]

The buffet on arvia so i assuming rhe same had a gluten free station for breakfast, breads, and other diet requirements. The food was labelled well as well. But as others have said people can be grim and cross contaimiate using the same spoons etc. 

[Pippa04]

Both myself and my daughter have always been treated brilliantly with our gluten free requirements, it's a large factor in choosing to cruise.  I tried to eat from the daily menu on my recent cruise by choosing the gluten free options where possible but the waiters on freedom dining were obviously still aware of my requirements as one put some chocolates on the table and whispered to me that they may not be suitable for me as they had been taken from a bought in box.  He was obviously very well trained.  Things are well labelled in the buffet but more care obviously has to be taken as you can't be sure what other people have done to the dishes.

[Winifred 22]

My daughter is lactose intolerant and never had a problem getting lactose free milk for tea and coffee. 

[pete14]

13 hours ago, Winifred 22 said:

My daughter is lactose intolerant and never had a problem getting lactose free milk for tea and coffee. 

They have proper lactose free milk onboard but seem to be more focused on making use of oat, soya or other non dairy alternatives, possibly to also meet vegan demand. 

[Ohana27]

This has been my concern too.   On the Aurora 3 times I drew attention to the mislabelled options.  Listed as Gluten free but clearly not, as a coeliac you can tell my look or smell if something is gluten free.   Each time the head chef looked through the ingredients with me and each time there was a gluten containing element.  Although there was an apology each time, I feel annoyed that it is often viewed as a lifestyle choice, or a fussy eater. I raised my concerns with head office and was assured this would be addressed.

On the Ventura  two months later, I was twice given gluten containing meals in the MDR, again as my meal looked identical to the other meals on the table I questioned the ingredients, each time the chef confirmed they contained gluten.  So it appears as though it makes very little difference if you only eat in the MDR.

There have also been a number of occasions where the waiter has taken my meal away at the serving station as they have spotted that it is not gluten free.

It has now come to a point where I am cautious about eating without checking and it has definitely impacted my opinions of P&O, so much so that I am now trying other cruise lines.

 

[mhurley142]

Thank you for your comments. 

My experiences were also very bad and could easily have been much much worse. Staff do not seem to have been trained, aware of needs or simply don't care. Very very concerning

Edited January 14 by mhurley142
Additional comments

[Pippa04]

1 hour ago, mhurley142 said:

Thank you for your comments. 

My experiences were also very bad and could easily have been much much worse. Staff do not seem to have been trained, aware of needs or simply don't care. Very very concerning

Previously they could not have been faulted.  In one way I feel that greater perception of dietary problems has given more choice but in another it does seem as though people jumping on the "I'm gluten free" bandwagon has made restaurants etc more complacent/casual about the difficulties encountered.

Did you raise a concern with Carnival House - if so what was the response?

[mhurley142]

9 hours ago, Pippa04 said:

Previously they could not have been faulted.  In one way I feel that greater perception of dietary problems has given more choice but in another it does seem as though people jumping on the "I'm gluten free" bandwagon has made restaurants etc more complacent/casual about the difficulties encountered.

Did you raise a concern with Carnival House - if so what was the response?

Yes

[mhurley142]

Yes I made a complaint but the response was you left the ship and spent in the onboard shops! They entirely failed to recognise the issues and address them. I'm vertu concerned they do not understand the implications and potential harm they are exposing their customers to. Like so many other businesses they want our custom so claim they can meet our requirements but have failed to recognise the need for necessary training and process management to ensure the safety of their customers.

[pete14]

My wife contacted the executive team at P&O about the failure to address her dietary needs properly on Aurora and she received a reply that was apologetic, and at least suggested that they took it seriously and would be dealing with it with the head chef onboard. My guess is, and it is only a guess, that the chef responsible for dietary needs has been retrained or moved to another part of the galley. At least, that is action that I think should have been taken. 

[mhurley142]

Thanks for your comments.

When was this experience you encountered on Aurora? 

Was staff training or their processes for managing medical/special diets addressed by anyone at P&O Cruises on the ship or by head office? 

 

[pete14]

6 hours ago, mhurley142 said:

Thanks for your comments.

When was this experience you encountered on Aurora? 

Was staff training or their processes for managing medical/special diets addressed by anyone at P&O Cruises on the ship or by head office? 

 

This was November 2023. I have no idea whether any extra training was done on the ship immediately but I am confident that Head Office will have set something in motion by now.

[mhurley142]

My 3 bad experiences were in August and September 23

Edited January 15 by mhurley142
Spelling correction

[AJ22]

I’m dairy and paprika intolerant. I’ve always found the MDR to be brilliant, although some ships have been better and more willing to adapt meals than others, I think it depends on the chef assigned to special diets. You still have to be on your guard though, as I found with butternut squash soup.

 

My bigger issues have been with the buffets. It was great when they started labelling dishes with allergens, but the labels just aren’t reliable. For example, scrambled egg often doesn’t list milk, but when I’ve asked the chef, it always has it. I’ve reported mislabelling on numerous occasions. In some cases the staff at the buffet don’t seem interested, and have even been downright rude (I complained to higher management).

 

And room service breakfast is useless for me. They don’t even do toast on the menu, so all I can eat is fruit,

 

Regardless, I still think cruising with P&O is a good option for me. I feel more comfortable eating out onboard than in restaurants at home.

[Sonyar]

We're Vegan and also find the labelling in the buffet very poor. We inspect both sides of the label and often something looks ok, but when we query it we're told it contains milk.

The worst one was a milk wash on the top of an otherwise fine lentil pie.

Annoying for us, but when we point out to them that milk is an allergen they don't appear to care and say they can't change the label.

[mhurley142]

Thanks for your comments. 

I suspect the problem lies with the short staff contracts not providing time to fully train staff and make them aware of the issues and dangers to life and health that can result. I'm beginning to get the feeling that management on and off the ships just simply don't care. 

If you are aware of others who have bad experiences please ask them to share their stories ASAP

 

Edited January 15 by mhurley142
Incorrect copy

[mhurley142]

Thanks to all who have commented. Please if you know others who have experienced problems ask them to share their experiences ASAP

Edited January 15 by mhurley142
Post updated

[Cloudyrain]

On 1/15/2024 at 6:05 PM, mhurley142 said:

Thanks to all who have commented. Please if you know others who have experienced problems ask them to share their experiences ASAP

We were on the Iona in April and June with dairy and egg allergies and had no problems in the MDR or specialty dining venues.
 

The buffet was a disaster zone sometimes, but that was more due to people putting utensils in the wrong place, or moving the signs around. We also found the buffet staff were occasionally unsure or lacked knowledge with regards to allergies and alternatives (being offered gluten and lactose free options, which were not suitable for egg or milk allergies). 

[mhurley142]

On 1/15/2024 at 5:38 PM, AJ22 said:

I’m dairy and paprika intolerant. I’ve always found the MDR to be brilliant, although some ships have been better and more willing to adapt meals than others, I think it depends on the chef assigned to special diets. You still have to be on your guard though, as I found with butternut squash soup.

 

My bigger issues have been with the buffets. It was great when they started labelling dishes with allergens, but the labels just aren’t reliable. For example, scrambled egg often doesn’t list milk, but when I’ve asked the chef, it always has it. I’ve reported mislabelling on numerous occasions. In some cases the staff at the buffet don’t seem interested, and have even been downright rude (I complained to higher management).

 

And room service breakfast is useless for me. They don’t even do toast on the menu, so all I can eat is fruit,

 

Regardless, I still think cruising with P&O is a good option for me. I feel more comfortable eating out onboard than in restaurants at home.

Thank You for your comments. I avoided the Horizon buffet after looking and seeing the opportunities for cross-contamination on the first day.

 

Labelling on all of the menus and food venues was non-existent. This meant relying upon the managers, waiters, and kitchen staff to provide you with food that contained no allergens.

 

In my personal experience, the staff were one or all of the following insufficiently trained, did not understand your requirements, were not following procedures, working practices equated to ignoring requests or were too busy to pay attention to special dietary requests. I also heard people regularly selecting gluten-free menu options are asking for the sealed pack gluten-free cakes; I suspect this leads to complacency among staff who see special diet customers as another person wanting something different or special.

 

At home I avoid restaurants unless I know that the chef or cook has Coeliac Disease so follows procedures to ensure a safe gluten-free meal. I have also found the local chef's training college teaches students to prepare gluten-free and allergen-free foods to meet my medical diet, their restaurant is open to the public andfor  advance booking only; might be worth you investigating to see if a college in your area does the same.

 

[Ladyshopper23]

2 hours ago, mhurley142 said:

Thank You for your comments. I avoided the Horizon buffet after looking and seeing the opportunities for cross-contamination on the first day.

 

Labelling on all of the menus and food venues was non-existent. This meant relying upon the managers, waiters, and kitchen staff to provide you with food that contained no allergens.

 

In my personal experience, the staff were one or all of the following insufficiently trained, did not understand your requirements, were not following procedures, working practices equated to ignoring requests or were too busy to pay attention to special dietary requests. I also heard people regularly selecting gluten-free menu options are asking for the sealed pack gluten-free cakes; I suspect this leads to complacency among staff who see special diet customers as another person wanting something different or special.

 

At home I avoid restaurants unless I know that the chef or cook has Coeliac Disease so follows procedures to ensure a safe gluten-free meal. I have also found the local chef's training college teaches students to prepare gluten-free and allergen-free foods to meet my medical diet, their restaurant is open to the public andfor  advance booking only; might be worth you investigating to see if a college in your area does the same.

 

I'm shocked you had such a bad experience on Iona. Especially in saying that menus weren't labelled up. We cruised the Norwegian Fjords in September 2022, and every single menu was labelled up - main dining room and speciality restaurants. As you will see from my signature, I'm also gluten free, and write a blog. There are photos of all the menus on my blog, all with great labelling. I have never seen a photo of a menu on a P&O cruise that hasn't had GF allergen marking on it, so am not sure what went wrong when you cruised. Your experience doesn't seem to be standard at all.

 

Our gluten free experience on Iona was so good that we immediately booked another cruise on her, this time for two weeks. It was supposed to be over New Year just gone, but unfortunately I had a serious medical problem and emergency surgery so had to cancel.

 

Did you pre-order your food in the main dining room for the next day the evening before? I didn't see that mentioned in your posts (apologies if I missed it, I quickly scanned through). Whilst the labelling on the menu is great, it's only if you pre-order the night before that your meal is specially made in the allergy section of the galley. If you simply order from the menu at the time a meal that is marked as gluten free, then although it won't have any gluten containing ingredients, the same care won't be taken when making it, so there could potentially be issues with cross contamination.

 

We also went to other paid for restaurants the night before our booking and had a chat with them about what we could have, and any amendments that would need to be made to the dishes to make them safely gluten free. We then pre-ordered our meals just as we would in the main dining room.

 

The buffet is something you definitely have to risk assess. There is labelling, but others have said they've seen mistakes with this ( I haven't, but doesn't mean it doesn't happen). Again though, if you ask, they are always happy to get fresh from the kitchen to avoid the obvious cross contamination that happens on buffets with people using the wrong utensils etc.

 

The special diets counters on Iona are great, and very safe. We always asked for the pre-packaged gluten free cakes, and never had a problem with any member of staff treating us as if we were wanting something special. After all, they're there for passengers who are gluten free to eat!

 

We also ate very safely the gluten free fish and chips at The Quays (and GF pancakes there in the morning), plus GF pizza at the pizza counter, which is made separately and safely.

 

I'm not saying P&O are perfect, they're not (I did actually have one bad experience on Britannia where they tried to give me vegan quorn pieces, which are not gluten free, I think they got a bit confused because I'm also vegetarian. Fortunately I picked this up before eating them), but no cruise line is. Just like any restaurants on land, unless somewhere is 100% gluten free, then it's a risk you have to take that there is full understanding of the dangers of cross contamination etc. However, our experience is that P&O are probably one of the best out there for catering for gluten free, and they're top of my list of cruise lines to recommend when it comes up as a query about how easy it is to be gluten free on cruises.

 

 

 

 

[mhurley142]

First night we ate in Sindu after going to the restaurant to notify them in advance as advised by reception.

I also visited Horizon and spoke with an office before The Chef's Table on the Sunday. There I was served Beef Wellington which I refused despite protestations that is was safe for me to eat, even after pointing out that I have Coeliac Disease and celery and fish allergies. They eventual brought me pain beef as I was told the previous day. I also asked if the bread roll provided was gluten free and was told twice it was save for me to eat, sadly it was not and I suffered from Sunday night to Thursday unable to keep anything down. 

I did accompany my wife to the MDR on Wednesday and asked for the gluten free cheese and biscuits pointing out my celery allergy. I hoped I might keep dry biscuits down but no chance as they served it with celery batons. Anaphylaxis could have been the result had I consumed any of the cheese and biscuits meal. 

Thursday I went on the Langfoss Waterfall day trip, the excursions staff had confirmed is be provided with lunch that meet my dietary needs. On arrival the caterer was not aware and P&O Cruises had not notified her. I did manage to eat the salad provided so not silk bad.  That evening we went to Epicurian Restaurant and more in hope than expectation I visited on Wednesday evening to pre-order sirloin steak and was told am would be gutted free and safe for me to eat, including onion rings. I checked on arrival with the manager, had waiter and waiter but shortly after eating the onion ring the symptoms began. The restaurant manner informed me that the chef was sorry he'd given the waiter the wrong plate. 

I was so unwell I could not leave the cabin for the rest of the cruise.

Everything seemed to casual, the staff so busy and the ingredients lists missing from menus, yes they did state gluten free and vegetarian but that was it. 

My concerns are the training of the staff, most I spoke with had no idea what coeliac is, I had to explain why I was not eating when accompanying my wife When are staff trained to deal with special diets? The ship's are constantly sailing with passengers on board. What are the management processes and procedures and how are they checked and by whom? Why aren't allergen lists posted next to the take away food serveries as in UK restaurants. The night before embarking I nervously ate in a chain restaurant, the manager spoke with me explained how my food would be prepared separately and my allergies where entered on a tablet device and the meals I could eat and not eat were shown. None of this on Iona. 

I was unwell for almost 2 weeks after the cruise requiring specially prescribed medication to stop stomach spasms and help prevent sickness. 

 

 

[fragilek]

On 1/10/2024 at 8:15 PM, Winifred 22 said:

My daughter is lactose intolerant and never had a problem getting lactose free milk for tea and coffee. 

 Did she manage to get fresh lactose free dairy milk or was it a non dairy  version.  I can't have some of the other non dairy ones due to other allergies/celiac.  And I cant stand soya milk, so much so that on our last holiday I worked out I can take black coffee lol.

[fragilek]

On 1/25/2024 at 3:19 PM, mhurley142 said:

First night we ate in Sindu after going to the restaurant to notify them in advance as advised by reception.

I also visited Horizon and spoke with an office before The Chef's Table on the Sunday. There I was served Beef Wellington which I refused despite protestations that is was safe for me to eat, even after pointing out that I have Coeliac Disease and celery and fish allergies. They eventual brought me pain beef as I was told the previous day. I also asked if the bread roll provided was gluten free and was told twice it was save for me to eat, sadly it was not and I suffered from Sunday night to Thursday unable to keep anything down. 

I did accompany my wife to the MDR on Wednesday and asked for the gluten free cheese and biscuits pointing out my celery allergy. I hoped I might keep dry biscuits down but no chance as they served it with celery batons. Anaphylaxis could have been the result had I consumed any of the cheese and biscuits meal. 

Thursday I went on the Langfoss Waterfall day trip, the excursions staff had confirmed is be provided with lunch that meet my dietary needs. On arrival the caterer was not aware and P&O Cruises had not notified her. I did manage to eat the salad provided so not silk bad.  That evening we went to Epicurian Restaurant and more in hope than expectation I visited on Wednesday evening to pre-order sirloin steak and was told am would be gutted free and safe for me to eat, including onion rings. I checked on arrival with the manager, had waiter and waiter but shortly after eating the onion ring the symptoms began. The restaurant manner informed me that the chef was sorry he'd given the waiter the wrong plate. 

I was so unwell I could not leave the cabin for the rest of the cruise.

Everything seemed to casual, the staff so busy and the ingredients lists missing from menus, yes they did state gluten free and vegetarian but that was it. 

My concerns are the training of the staff, most I spoke with had no idea what coeliac is, I had to explain why I was not eating when accompanying my wife When are staff trained to deal with special diets? The ship's are constantly sailing with passengers on board. What are the management processes and procedures and how are they checked and by whom? Why aren't allergen lists posted next to the take away food serveries as in UK restaurants. The night before embarking I nervously ate in a chain restaurant, the manager spoke with me explained how my food would be prepared separately and my allergies where entered on a tablet device and the meals I could eat and not eat were shown. None of this on Iona. 

I was unwell for almost 2 weeks after the cruise requiring specially prescribed medication to stop stomach spasms and help prevent sickness. 

 

 

I think if that happened to me I would be seeking to claim compensation.

  You have now put the fear of death into me, all other cruises I have been on have been great, or at least great at making sure the food was gluten free, all be it on Costa it was mostly very very poor, even the pasta was just a bowl of mush!) you get what you pay for or at least hope you do. But sadly not in your case. 

We are booked on Azura in Oct.  We were already thinking of canceling (or moving cruise into 25) as I am very immunocompromised and had hoped to have had Evusheld 2 (I don't produce my own antibodies after vaccines so have no covid protection) ahead of this cruise but I was over optimistic and  that now seems very unlikely.  Hopefully by 2025