graceinmelbourne

When you consider the difference in cost - $32 a case on land, $135-165 on board, you may want to rally for the privilege of bringing your own on board ;).

 

Oh - one or two more GF hints-

 

BUFFET TOASTER - I had two reactions on the Dawn. It wasn't until the second one (I wasn't eating) that I realized I was actually blimping from the gluten in the air. The first time we were sitting at a table that was close to the toaster. The second, I was standing near the toaster waiting to speak to the allergy maitre 'd. I know that this happens with peanut allergy and I know that "odor is particulate", but this was a first for me. YMMV

 

Surprises on the DAWN - I gave the maitre 'd lots of leyway for each day's meals and I got to eat a number of things I would never have thought to ask for. So don't limit yourself to your normal gluten-free choices. If something sounds yummy, ask if it can be fixed for you.

I am really surprised that you had a reaction from being near the toaster. You actually have to ingest gluten for it to have an effect. Are you sure it wasn't something else keeping in mind that it takes at least 20 minutes and usually more than an hour for for a reaction to happen as the gluten needs to travel to the gut first.

We sailed on RCCL Brilliance of the Seas and had a great experience re. gluten free food. Our teenage daughter is the celiac and we informed RCCL well before the cruise. On the first night the head chef came over and introduced himself to us. We also had a phone call from the executive chef asking us if we needed anything. Each night our daughter was served gluten free bread and she had many GF options from the menu to choose from. SHe basically chose what she would like off the menu and the chef would endeavour to make it for her gluten free. Of course there were some things on the menu that were obviously not gluten free or were not easily adapted so she didn't chose those. The chef even made her extra desserts and went out of his way to make sure she enjoyed her dining experience which she did. She really was spoilt and fussed over by the waiters and head waiter.

Now I don't know if this is the normal service that a celiac would get. I work for the celiac society in Australia and mentioned that I was writing an article for our national magazine re. gluten free experiences on board RCCL. I did mention this to RCCL before the cruise as I wanted to chat to the chef about how they managed gluten free diets. I wonder if they went the extra mile because of this???? Apparently there were 25 other celiacs on that particular cruise and I imagine they would have got similar excellent service from RCCL. I did speak to other passengers who were celiac on the cruise and they were very happy.

So based on our experiences I can definately recommend RCCL Brilliance of the Seas for a very positive gluten free experience.

The Bondi to Coogee Beach cliff top walk.

Here is some information about it:

http://www.thesydneyvisitor.com/Bondi%20to%20Coogee%20Walk%20Map.pdf

THANKS for the nice comments on the pictures about one of our all-time most favorite cities. Lots to see and love in Venice! Interesting news story on the use of advertising to gain revenue in order to fix and repair many of the challenged buildings in Venice. All of that time, wear, water, etc., takes its toll on these historic structures. Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For lots of interesting details, great visuals, etc., from our July 1-16 Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. Don’t be shy and feel free to ask any questions of interest. This posting is now over 19,900 views. Appreciate those who have “tuned in”.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

We were wondering about the advertising billboards in piazza St. Marco. My husband thought they were for charity. Repairing buildings etc. must require a great deal of money. The costs of repair must be even higher because it would be challenging without roads and vehicles to get to the buildings with equipment. I didn't hate the billboards. I thought they provided an interesting contrast to the historical buildings. I would have preferred they weren't there though.

I wish we had more time in Venice. Our ship arrived at about 1.00pm the first day and left at 2.00pm the next day. This may have sounded like a long time but it left only about 6 hours in the city for us as the weather was wet and cold the first day and we went back to the ship for dinner. Even better would have been if the cruise had ended in Venice instead of Barcelona. So much we didn't see.

Thank you for the wonderful photos. We have just returned from our cruise and Venice was my favourite port. I have been there 3 times before and each time I love it more. This time I got to take our two daughters who got to experience the magic of Venice. The first day the ship was docked it was cool and wet but it did not deter us. The second day the weather was perfect. Of course being a Sunday this good weather attracted hordes of people and by the time we left the Piazza St. Marco was packed full of people.

My mother grew up in a town about 1/2 hour train from Venice but she only visited twice before emigrating to Australia.

I do wish though that we could have spent more time in Venice on the cruise. Two full days would have been ideal.

Looks like RCCL is going to Salerno instead of Naples also. We received notificaiton that Brilliance of the Seas Mediterranean cruise departing Sept. 12 is now tendering at Salerno rather than Naples.

We were planning to spend the day at Capri but will have to change our plans.

If you're on the Brilliance on 10 August, you will docked at pier 10 in the Gruz harbor. This is always subject to change, but as of now I do not see any RCCL ship at tender on that date. However there is not sufficient time to visit the Elefiti's. Please do not try to make this trip in such a short time.

I choose to retire in Dubrovnik from northern California. I could not have made a better choice. Please do know that I have been coming here since 1971 and I have dual citizenship, American and Croatian. Croatia has long been Europe's best kept secret and I've seen it before the masses began to discover what was before thought of as a nothing place to visit. Perhaps the name Yugoslavia had something to do with this poor perception. so often friends would ask "Why are you going to Yugoslavia again?" Please do come and spend some time visiting the sights from Zagreb to Dubrovnik, about 3 weeks minimum. the most spectacular lakes and waterfalls are Plitvice Lakes, you can't even begin to imagine it. So much to see...

We will be on a cruise in September on Brilliance of the Seas with our 2 kids. When we found out that the cruise was to stop in Dubrovnik I was very pleased. Even though I have been to Europe 3 times I never ventured into that part of Europe as it was quite a few years ago and Croatia was not all that well known amongst tourists. I have met a few Croatian's here in Australia as many emigrated here in the 90's. They all speak amazing English. My Mum originally comes from Gorizia which is on the border with Slovenia and half her town was Italian and half Yugoslavian. I have heard that Dubrovnik is beautiful and we can't wait to visit your city.

I have a food related question. Our daughter who is 13 is a celiac which means she cannot eat food which contains wheat. Would it be quite easy to find food such as grilled calamari and other seafood that would not contain wheat. What other local specialties are there that might be suitable? She likes to try all types of food.

Thank you for all your advice on this site.