ohbuckeye

Thanks for posting “live”! Any luck yet getting a lounger for your balcony?

I was also on this sailing and agree with OP about service in general. We did not eat in MD as we had jr suite and ate in coastal kitchen 3 nights and ate in chops 2x, Wonderland and 150 Park. Ate lunch in Jamie's on embarkation day and service was so horrible (were there for 1hr 45 minutes and passed on dessert so we could get to cabin, waiter extremely slow to take our order then got it wrong). We took a catamaran to Mullet Bay-confirm that waves were high and there was a very very steep hill to get from beach to water. I'm only chiming in because it seems when anyone posts their experience there are about 10 others stating it wasn't the same experience for them on another day.

The worst for us were the kids running down the halls at all hours of day and night, including 2 am. Also, we ordered a photo on Thursday morning that was supposed to be ready Friday afternoon- we went back multiple times only to be promised the worker would bring it to our cabin and put it outside by midnight. DH had to stand in another long line at 6:30 am disembarkation morning to finally get photo.

Thanks for your review! We board her this Saturday- how do you find out which restaurants you are assigned/night/time? We bought the 4 night package. We plan on getting to port around 11 and want to take care of this first thing (if we are assigned a restaurant we don't care for). Thanks!

Were you asking for soy milk or lactose free milk? As I stated she asks for soy milk as lactose free milk is not suitable for most people with a dairy allergy.

 

As far as what ships, she has found soy milk on every ship in my signature. Dining room, WJ, coffee places and specialty restaurants.

I did ask for soy milk, and not a big deal as I just didn't eat cereal, and was able to get soy in my specialty coffee.

Did you speak to your head waiter in the dining room your first night? They are the ones that usually will take care of everything for you. They will have you order the night before so you can get what you want. They can arrange for gluten free bread to take to the WJ, though Anthem had a lot of gluten free items on our sailings. The gluten free dessert area had lots of choices, the coconut macaroons were delicious!

We ate at CK or specialty, and it was never a big deal, just wanted to point out that telling special services online is not the same as being onboard :)

According to the special needs form, both soy milk and lactose free milk are available.

 

https://secure.royalcaribbean.com/allaboutcruising/guestSpecialNeeds.do

They also say to let them know ahead of time if you are gluten free and the dining venues will be notified....did not happen in my case.

My wife has never had any problems getting soy milk on board.

Again, great for those who can find dairy free options on Anthem, I am just letting you know my experience in cafe 270. What ship were you on, when was your sailing and which dining venue?

If you ask wait staff in all restaurants they will get it for you.

Some staff will also find lactose free milk but that seems to be more hit or miss

I did ask in 270 on Anthem, crew member pointed to where the milk was and said that's all there was. I asked if maybe it was in the kitchen, he went back to ask (that's what he said) and came back and said the only milk onboard was regular, skim and half/half.

Well since the person in question is dairy free, they were offering some additional info that might be useful. Thereby saving the OP from having to ask about the milk options later on.

Correct, just trying to be helpful (which is what I thought these boards were supposed to be for)- sure wish others would do the same.

No non-dairy cheese in Sorrentos. They do have soy milk and almond milk in the specialty coffee areas- not sure if they will let you buy just a glass.

I met a woman last week on the Anthem while eating breakfast in the Solarium Bistro who had a little container of almond milk- I asked her where she got it and she said she brought it onboard -she had a dr.'s note stating for medical reasons she was dairy free and was allowed to bring it on. Hope this was helpful.

The GF pizza at Sorrentos only came without topping , only with tomato sauce and cheese. Is it allowed to choose topping now? I´m going on Harmony in a couple of months. Does anyone have experience from the glutenfree options available there?

I haven't been on the Harmony but last week on Anthem I could only get my GF pizza with extra cheese.

:eek: how is that possible when virtually everyone here says that the pizza on board is the worst?

LOL, no idea, I live in S. Florida so that maybe why? I just tried a new place last night and it was horrible, just ate the toppings and even told my dh "Sorrentos was better than this!"

Had emailed the special services prior- had never done so previously and didn't seem to make a difference as nobody knew ahead of me telling them at every meal. No big deal- just wanted to give my experience.

WJ- loved having the GF section (way, way in back, it actually faces towards the back, first day we missed it)- but it wasn't open very often. For example; lunch time it wasn't open most days, wasn't open early or late at breakfast. Found very little to eat (one can only eat salad for lunch and dinner so many days in a row).

Solarium Bistro was only open from 9:30-1:30 for brunch- had to ask for the GF bread which took some time to receive.

Cafe 270 for breakfast was a no go- had absolutely nothing besides cereal for me, and they did not have dairy free milk so again it was a no go. If you're not dairy free and ok with corn flakes or Cheerios then you're find. Lunch the salad was ok.

Coastal Kitchen at dinner- very accommodating.

Jamie's Italian- very accommodating except for dessert, 1st night I couldn't even eat it- on 2nd night the (different) waiter said he "wouldn't let " me eat the only GF dessert on the menu and went to the MDR for the GF dessert of the night.

Chops- accommodating.

Wonderland- I was very worried about this dining experience but it was wonderful!!! Highly recommend!

Johnny Rockets- have GF buns and milkshake are GF but not the fries as they are cooked with the onion rings.

Sorrentos- made me my very own pizza, it was better then some I've had at local places.

Never had room service so can't comment. I did take my prepackaged snacks onshore- for those of you with dietary allergies you well know that it's much easier said than done to just "find something onshore to eat".

I'm happy to answer any questions. Hope this was helpful.

I was raised old school to eat everything on my plate. I had to sit there until I did. I never knew what a picky eater was until I went to school and saw a kid's crust cut off his sandwich. I was literally shocked. Why would any parent do that?

My boys grew up to eat everything. If they are hungry enough, they will eat. And they did as I did. Now they dabble in gourmet cooking and "me" Mom is asking for their recipe.

Really hope your kid outgrows his condition. :D

You are absolutely wrong- some kids won't "eat when they are hungry"- stop with the judging! Good for you that your kids were great eaters, not everyone has the same experience as you and that does not make them wrong.

the round objects in trays under the lights are NOT classified as real edible material. I don't care if it was the only thing open board, I'd buy a stale overpriced jar pf pringles in the shops first.

But this is what you said : "the WJ never serves anything vaguely resembling burgers at any point during the day. the room service burger is the best burger on the ship. the Cafe Promenade options are more than enough to satisfy most people late night." I was merely pointing out there WERE hamburgers available.

my rebuttal is simple: why do you feel the need to have unlimited options that YOU FAVOR available 24/7? for the price we are paying, that's just unreasonable. its a port day. people are in port. grab something on the way back if you want to eat and don't like the on board offerings at x time frame.

I don't think it's unreasonable to have lunch available at 1:45- obviously you do. I never said anything about what "I FAVOR"- I heard many people throughout the cruise complaining about there not being enough free food options available. We had to be back on board at 1:30 (if I remember correctly ) in San Juan- it was not, imho, unreasonable to expect something other than pizza to eat at that time. On Allure and Oasis I recall the Solarium Bistro to be open longer and there was also the Wipe Out Cafe.

the WJ never serves anything vaguely resembling burgers at any point during the day. the room service burger is the best burger on the ship. the Cafe Promenade options are more than enough to satisfy most people late night.

This simply isn't true. Was on the Anthem last week and WJ did have burgers and all the fixings every day. It's true, if you wanted something to eat later at night (for whatever reason, what's with all the judging??) you were limited. WJ also closed at 3 and didn't reopen until 5? Promenade had very limited options, cafe 270 was ok in the afternoon, disappointed that the solarium bistro didn't open until 9:30-1:30 for "brunch". When you're busy on a port day it's nice to have more options.

If you have done this excursion pleas give me your opinion.

Just did this tour last week while on the Anthem. This was our third time to San Juan - first time we walked around old town ourselves, second we went to El Junque rainforest. We chose this tour as we knew it would be extremely hot and we didn't want to walk as much this time. Tour took us to new San Juan first and made a 20 minute stop at a beach/coffee/restroom area. Next was old San Juan and drove by both forts but then went back to and stopped for an hour at San Cristobal and toured this on our own. Learned a lot of the history and was happy to not be walking as much in the heat/humidity. I recommend this tour.

Hi, I also have Celiac but have not sailed on Grandeur. You can email RCCL for special services and let them know.

I think Giovanni's is better, they had more GF options including GF pasta. If my memory is correct, more than half of the side dishes in Chops are not able to be made GF.

For regular dining make sure to tell your waiter as they will bring GF bread and will let you know which options are GF (even though they are also written on the menu with a little wheat sign). They will bring you the menu for the next night so that she can choose ahead (but honestly I'm not sure how well this works as they didn't always have a record of my meal request).

Just like dining out at home, beware of sauces, salad dressings, even the mashed potatoes.

Bon Voyage!

I am enjoying your review very much! Thanks so much for taking the time.

Thank you so much, really appreciate your time!

Another Loyal Royal giving my thanks to you Rick! Safe travels home, and can't wait for your next live report!

But then there was also this...

I'm so not ready to go home. I need to do a B2B next time.

Noooooooo! I'm not ready for your trip to be over either!

Thanks so much for posting this Rick! You've made another Loyal Royal look at NCL- do you know if there is smoking in the casino? Royal's slots can be a bit tight- any idea how the slots are on the Escape??

I have only used one cruise line because I had a wonderful experience on each ship when it came to my gluten free meals. I was able to order the next evening's meal while I waited for dessert.

 

I'm considering going on an Asian cruise with RCCL, but the number of people who talk about having issues with gluten free meals on the ships makes me reconsider.

There is nothing guaranteed. If the itinerary and price is good for you then I say go RCCL. There are ways to be proactive, as I'm sure you already are, and I refuse to let this condition keep me from traveling.

What did I do before Celiac? Well for years I was sick, sick, sick and misdiagnosed by a parade of specialists starting in the late 1950's.

 

There is nothing new about Celiac Disease. What is new is that people are finally being diagnosed. It takes an average of 11 years until most people are diagnosed. It took me 47 years to find the answer. Heck, probably 1/3 of you have non-celiac gluten sensitivity and don't know it, and likely don't want to know it!

 

 

Thank you so much for writing this so well! My stomach has always given me issues- even from age 3 I can remember it! My dr's always recommended bland food, you know dry white toast? ugh. And until I finally went GF I had no idea that's where my frequent headaches were coming from. I do hate that there are some who do it for "diet" reasons (although I don't know why) instead of medical. When ordering somewhere I am somewhat insulted when asked if it is for diet reason or allergy reason. And those who don't suffer really can't understand what it's like- for example I get asked frequently "oh don't you just want to cheat?" ummmm, no thanks, I don't want excruciating pain and having to spend all my time in the bathroom for the next few days!