How Well Are Special Diets Accommodated?

[IslandThyme]

I'm a really difficult case, apparently. I don't eat carbohydrates at all, for medical reasons. No fruit, no sugar, no flour or cornstarch, no pasta, bread, beans...you get the picture. It's tedious for me, obviously, since I love good food, and it's hard on a cruise line kitchen.

 

We've sailed Celebrity once, and they did a very good job with my meals. We've sailed three times with Holland America, and they had more difficulty, although it really varied by ship. Two were ok to good, one was a disaster.

 

Now we're contemplating sailing with Oceania or Azamara, and I'm wondering what your experiences have been with special diet requests, as eating well is obviously a big part of what makes a cruise pleasant. Has anyone managed to eat low carb without it being a huge hassle?

[LHT28]

I know they do well with gluten free diets so I am sure they can accommodate you

Just contact special service dept well in advance with your specific requirements & once on the ship follow up with the Maitre'd/hotel manager/CHEF

 

 

Lyn

[Scottygirl1]

Hi - we are don't eat wheat at all (unless "hidden"). We are not celiac, just very low carb. We also don't eat desserts, potato etc.

 

We did a 12 night cruise in August and had no problem what-so-ever. Breakfast was cooked plus a little unsweetened yoghurt and low carb fruit. We changed out the afternoon nibbles bought to our room (Penthouse room) for foods we can eat. Dinner was easy. We said no to bread and chose foods that we could eat with great ease. There were so many choices of low carb foods!

 

We did have the no sugar icecream on some days - not sure about the carbs in that but it was lovely to have a sweet treat.

 

All of this was without telling anyone we had any special requirements!! I imagine if we had, then there would have been more choices but we don't do "gluten free" as it is usually high carb.

[orchestrapal]

Since your requirements do not follow any specific diet I would think you must monitor your choices and ask questions as you go. It would be very difficult for any kitchen to keep it all straight. The waiters will certainly try their best to find out ingredients in any dishes you may want to try. Good luck and I'm sure Oceania will dontheir best for you.

[ChatKat in Ca.]

They have a simplicity menu. You can get simple steaks, Chicken and fish and vegetables. Just let them know ahead of time.

[IslandThyme]

Thanks, all. Interesting about the simplicity menu (although it sounds dead boring!) but it shows they are thinking about special needs. Scottygirl - those hidden carbs (like flour in stews and soups, cornstarch in sauces, are the problem for me, and on HAL they were everywhere).

[LHT28]

Thanks, all. Interesting about the simplicity menu (although it sounds dead boring!) but it shows they are thinking about special needs. Scottygirl - those hidden carbs (like flour in stews and soups, cornstarch in sauces, are the problem for me, and on HAL they were everywhere).

 

In that case you need to contact them well ahead of time if using a TA they will do it for you

Once on the ship they will give you the menus the night before to submit to the Chef

 

Do not just wing it as like you say you do not know what is lurking in the other dishes

 

Lyn

[Scottygirl1]

Thanks, all. Interesting about the simplicity menu (although it sounds dead boring!) but it shows they are thinking about special needs. Scottygirl - those hidden carbs (like flour in stews and soups, cornstarch in sauces, are the problem for me, and on HAL they were everywhere).

 

We didn't have any foods like that while on board. We found because of the higher class of food available that it was "clean" food. The steaks or whatever always came with the sauce separate. The only soup I had was an unthickened one. We eat dairy so had cheese and salami etc for nibbles. We both lost weight on the cruise as well.

 

For lunch we would sometimes have a bunless burger from Waves cafe. The chefs had no problem with that and I'm sure you could select whatever you wanted to go on the plate as well.

 

We basically eat paleo (but with dairy). We even managed three weeks in Italy eating no wheat etc and it was easy.

[IslandThyme]

Ok, that's helpful. Paleo is close to what I eat, except no fruits and plenty of whole fat dairy. Thanks!

[Scottygirl1]

Here are some menus to look over - we found plenty of choices :) Oh and they had fresh berries onboard so my fruit was usually just a few berries.

 

http://www.1mpages.com/cruise/OceaniaMarinaMenu.html

[Rickey 88]

Thanks, all. Interesting about the simplicity menu (although it sounds dead boring!) but it shows they are thinking about special needs. Scottygirl - those hidden carbs (like flour in stews and soups, cornstarch in sauces, are the problem for me, and on HAL they were everywhere).

 

You will have noted that all posters here offer one most important piece of advice......

 

Make your needs known well in advance!! Over and over again we hear of someone arriving for dinner the first night - only to find that their special requests cannot be accomodated!

 

Advise the Miami office early on as to what you may wish - as it may require them to order in advance. Then, after you board, ask the maitre d' that you have made special requests, and should you speak directly with the chef. You will find that most chefs are understanding of special needs, but do require advance notice. They often can offer suggestions that may appeal to you....

[centsable]

I'm a really difficult case, apparently. I don't eat carbohydrates at all, for medical reasons. No fruit, no sugar, no flour or cornstarch, no pasta, bread, beans...you get the picture. It's tedious for me, obviously, since I love good food, and it's hard on a cruise line kitchen.

 

We've sailed Celebrity once, and they did a very good job with my meals. We've sailed three times with Holland America, and they had more difficulty, although it really varied by ship. Two were ok to good, one was a disaster.

 

Now we're contemplating sailing with Oceania or Azamara, and I'm wondering what your experiences have been with special diet requests, as eating well is obviously a big part of what makes a cruise pleasant. Has anyone managed to eat low carb without it being a huge hassle?

Hi; My husband has a severe allergy to all nuts and Oceania was great . I was asked to send a letter to Special service BEFORE every voyage as soon as posible after we booked. That letter was sent to the Chef in charge of the ship. Hubbie was sent a menu for the main dining room the night before to make his choice. We also let the maitre"d know in the various restaurants and they knew by the 3rd day of cruise what he couldn't have. Dinners were prepared in a SEPARATE KITCHEN! All staff was careful with untensils and used fresh ones to doll out his food at buffet. We only had 1 incident witha chocolate milkshake that must have contained hazelnut dust, I forgot to ask before I ordered it! but MY HUSBAND CAUGHT ON QUICKLY AND GOT RID OF ALL AND USED AN ATIHISTIMINE IN TIME! You can always ask staff what food contains if they don't know, they will inquire!

Hope this helps!

[babysteps]

Sailed last month on Riviera, I am gluten free and it was handled very well.

 

I agree with other posters, it is critical that your dietary restrictions be in the system ahead of time - the ship *is* very accommodating, but they are set up to respond to their pre-entered info.

 

Also, make it clear to Oceania whether you are "very low carb" or "no carbs at all - highly medically sensitive" - there could be a vast difference between those (examples where the two could differ dramatically include alcohol, certain vegetables, certain smoked fish). If you have a list of safe and unsafe ingredients you might want to give that to Oceania as well.

 

Example to encourage pre-registering your dietary restrictions: our first evening on board was not the first evening of the cruise (we were involved in a Food & Wine Trails group and took over the cabin of a presenter who was departing). The prior folks' name was on our dinner reservation that evening, and although my gluten free restriction was in the computer (I'd already checked), the restaurant didn't realize it was me (they thought it was the prior residents of the cabin). They did recover, but it was obvious that despite my clear identification when we sat down & ordered, my food didn't initially truly get the gluten free treatment. Also while they were recovering, one of the staff told me that 'I should have let them know' (thinking that my gluten free status wasn't in the computer). All's well that ends well, though! The entire rest of the cruise went pretty darn smoothly.

 

For 'standard' restrictions (gluten free, kosher, etc) Terraces has the info to let you know what you can eat - just ask any server, if they don't know they will find a chef who can explain. FYI many of the roasts at Terraces are presented with a little sauce already on them (which generally had gluten in it), if you ask they will get a 'clean' roast to slice for you. The roast fowl was generally clean (but always ask!). Also you can order "just a burger - the patty only - nothing else on the plate" at Waves (one time when I ordered left off the 'nothing else on the plate' and got fries on the first try). If you are not highly sensitive to cross contamination, you might have the option of simply not eating the fries (sadly, not an option for me - although I can make my own fries at home, yum).

 

Generally for each restricted diner they will deliver a menu (of wherever you are eating that evening) to your cabin in the morning, to make your selection and hand in by 10am. If you have no specialty reservation, you will get the Grand Dining Room menu. If you wish to dine at Terraces, you can still order off the GDR specials and write on the menu that you plan to be at Terraces - they will make it happen (the GDR specials are generally available at Terraces). Or (at least if you have a 'standard' restriction) you can get a chef to give you a tour of Terraces and explain what may work. There is always room service!