Celiacs please share your experience with gluten-free dining

[Dena]

I posted the following inside another thread, but I realized it should be its own topic. I am hoping people with Celiac disease and others requiring gluten-free will share their experiences on different Princess ships. We have always had a good experience - once we had a great experience. I am trying to learn if the difference is because of 1) ship size, 2) number of celiacs sailing, 3) how proactive we (or others) were, or 4) random.

 

 

"DH needs a gluten-free diet. He has always been accommodated on the Sapphire and Diamond - although nothing "extra" was done - for, example he was usually given jello or fresh fruit for dessert - healthy but dull.

 

Conversely, on the Dawn Princess he was given special wonderful desserts. These were not requested, but were surprises. Also, a plate of cookies was given to him after dessert - different kinds each night. We learned that another gluten-free diner was onboard Dawn, so maybe she was more demanding and DH got some of the goodies she asked for, or maybe Diamond and Sapphire are just too big for this extra service.

 

On the other hand, we are sailing on Diamond again and have received a letter saying they will make/provide special gluten free deserts and cookies - since this has not been our past experience on the Diamond/Sapphire, we don't know what to expect. Perhaps it depends upon the number of Celiacs they have on each sailing."

[cigal]

Dena,

 

I'm sorry you have had inconsistent help with dining options on Princess. Have you seen the "Cruise Foodies" forum on Cruise Critic? It is one of the last forums in "Fun Stuff." I see frequent discussions about cruising and celiac disease there. You may want to search there or start a similiar thread on that forum. Here is one good thread:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=421356

 

Of course, you are welcome to post on this forum, but it may get moved to the Foodies forum anyways.:D

 

We have a really good friend who is interested in cruise with her DH and me and my DH and it seems like Princess is the most likely option for her. She has celiac disease and is lactose intolerant in addition to having allergies to many preservatives, so it is a challenge just to go out to dinner. A cruise is a rather daunting choice but we do want to try it someday.

 

I hope you have a great cruise on the Diamond,

 

cigal

[Cruising Crew]

A good friend of mine has to have a gluten free diet. She has cruised with Princess on several occasions. On the first night she makes herself know to the maitre d' and makes him aware of her condition. Thereafter each evening she is shown the menu for the following night and selects what she wants and they then make a gluten free version of the dish for her. They could not be more accommodating.

 

Hope this helps

 

:)

[HRHMadonna]

My friend who must have gluten-free food has had the same experience with Princess waiters...The first night she explains her situation...& each night the waiter brings the next evening's menu to her so her food can be ordered in advance...That way others at her table don't have to wait for her dinner to be specially prepared. She has always found them to be most accommdating.

[Macwoman]

My hubby has CD. We would love to cruise out of NY next summer for our 25th anniversary with our kids. We have tried RCCL twice and they could not have been more wonderful. However we were thinking of trying Princess,but concern over how things would go. If he can't get good service it is not worth the aggravation of trying to go. Any help would be welcome too.

 

Macwoman

[dlp252]

I posted my experience on my last cruise on the link provided above. We were on the Coral for that trip. I have a lot of other intolerances and sensitivities other than gluten and casein, so I usually keep my meals very simple. Basically just meats and veggies and an ocassional baked potato. I think that probably makes it a bit easier for me.

 

The only serious issue for me is the buffet. I try to keep it simple there too, but it's nearly impossible to tell what's in everything without asking. Still, having said that, I had very good luck there last year.

 

I'll be leaving Saturday for our next cruise on the Golden...I've been on her before, but didn't know about my Celiac then. They were, however, very accommodating with my lower carb diet (which I was doing because I instinctively knew that gluteny foods were a problem for me).

[geoherb]

One of our tablemates on the Sun Princess had celiac disease. As others have reported, she received the next night's menu at the end of dinner so she could select the dishes she wanted. Her husband, by the way, ordered fettuccini alfredo every night in addition to another entree.

 

When she knew she'd want lunch in the dining room, they'd bring her the lunch menu too.

 

I don't remember much about her desserts.

[phillipahain]

Princess and Celebrity have a special area in the galley all set aside specially set up to cope with diets for people with allergies ,coeliac etc

[DLaForce]

When I basically called most of the major cruise lines, the only two that could guarantee me that my son would receive a gluten-free meal were Disney and Princess. Well, we must have been spoiled as we did Disney in February 2007 and Princess over Christmas. In fact, Disney had more food on the ship than we have at home.

 

Princess has a very small selection as it relates to children. Adults are easier because they tend to eat a broader range of food. We could only get buttered spaghetti and nothing such as mac and cheese. We were only offered gluten-free bread on two of the seven days. For breakfast, we could not gluten free muffins or even pancakes. It was a struggle to have a meal anywhere but in the dining room. And worst of all, on two occasions, when my son simply wanted a cheesburger (no bun), the plate was garnished with fried onion rings. That makes me wonder about all the other meals.