I have dietary issues curious if....

[Cruisegirl6]

Hello,

 

I am not able to have any gluten or dairy, and I really don't cruise much on NCL its been awhile for me. RC and Carnival always had gluten free and dairy free desserts for me to have after dinner....does NCL provide any gluten free desserts? In the buffet for breakfast and lunch do they gluten free items?

 

I stay up late at night around 2-3am, we like to have a snack and don't want to sit in our cabin waiting for room service, I know that O'Sheehans is the only place to get a late night snack, does anybody have the menu?

 

Thank you.

[NMLady]

This is dinner menu, think it is also late night

 

http://www.beyondships2.com/uploads/8/2/4/5/8245255/n_breakaway_m_os.pdf

 

Be sure you phone NCL Special Needs dept about your dietary needs.

[cigarboo]

My son is allergic to dairy, eggs and nuts. We eat dinner in the mdr and order his dinner the night before. I am not sure if they have specific breads that are gluten free, but we never got bread at dinner that was "allergy" friendly. We were simply advised not to let our son eat the bread, just in case. The meals were always something my son looked forward to and they did a good job with his diet restriction.

 

The only dessert he could have was fruit or jello from the buffet. Knowing this ahead of time, I was always prepared and brought my own desserts. It's sort of second nature for me to pack a small suitcase full of packaged snacks and treats, but I usually end up bringing most back home.

 

Doing research and being prepared helps to avoid disappointment. We had a wonderful time despite not having everything available in allergy-free form. There was still plenty to eat and definitely more than what I myself could offer him, if we were at home.

 

Although the chef(s) try to make menu items "special diet friendly," some things are not possible as they are ordered from an outside vendor.

[cigarboo]

I'm sorry I just realized I didn't really answer your question at all. I was just trying to give you an idea how our experience was, sailing ncl with diet restrictions. Hopefully someone with similar food restriction will chime in with more useful info.

 

I can say that O'sheehans was able to make the chicken wings without butter/batter, so essentially fried chicken with the wing sauce that did not have dairy. When I ordered a bacon burger for my son, they just gave him the patty with bacon. No bun, but with french fries.

[pnm655]

I am lactose intolerant. You can register with NCL special services ahead of time. I have found for deserts the only things I can eat is jello and fruit. The buffet generally has enough plain items I can eat without a problem. I avoid all breads because I don't know what is in the bread. You can get plain pasta but I don't know if NCL has gluten free pasta. In the morning I get an Omelet made with real (fresh) eggs and ham. NCL doesn't advertise it but you can get an omelet made with real eggs if you ask rather than the slop from the gallon jug.

 

Like you I am up late and have found I can get a plain chicken breast with fries at O'Sheenan's/Blue Lagoon.

 

In 9 cruises with NCL I have found NCL to be very accommodating with dietary needs. If you need something made ask for it and get to know the chefs.

[mjkacmom]

NCL has plenty of gluten free pastas, breads, cookies, muffins, pizza.. Let them know our needs ahead of time, and you will wet with someone onboard. It just takes a little pre-planning.

[GeezerCouple]

Hello,

 

I am not able to have any gluten or dairy, and I really don't cruise much on NCL its been awhile for me. RC and Carnival always had gluten free and dairy free desserts for me to have after dinner....does NCL provide any gluten free desserts? In the buffet for breakfast and lunch do they gluten free items?

 

I stay up late at night around 2-3am, we like to have a snack and don't want to sit in our cabin waiting for room service, I know that O'Sheehans is the only place to get a late night snack, does anybody have the menu?

 

Thank you.

 

Contact NCL "Special Needs" at

 

accessdesk@ncl.com

 

They'll send you a questionnaire to fill out about your specific needs, and then let you know whom to contact when you get on board.

 

For very strict dietary needs, you'll probably want to "order in advance".

So for spur of the moment hunger needs, you might want to keep a few non-perishable things on hand.

 

They'll help you with that.

 

We've found the "Special Needs" folks at NCL remarkably helpful.

 

GeezerCouple

[Pikaia]

Others have given you good info. Fill out and return that form as early as possible, so the ship will be stocked appropriately.

 

One piece of advice: the Teppanyaki specialty restaurant can accommodate you easily, but as of when I last sailed, NCL did not have any GF soy sauce on board. The meal was still quite good, but I'll be bringing my own bottle of tamari this time. :)

[Cruisegirl6]

NMLady thank you for that menu! I thought they had a limited menu for late night do you know if this is true and what the menu would be?

 

Cigarboo its ok I don't like to eat carbs/bread anyways. So it appears NCL doesn't make any gluten free desserts ugh jello and fruit how boring, and sad for your son he is so young...you would think NCL would make some desserts for people like us, Carnival and RC both do and they are excellent. I never bought snacks or desserts with me ever but I think I am going to have to.

I just wished they had a meat carving daily at the lunch buffet because I really had nothing to eat daily at lunchtime...the hot entrees were full of sauces and gravy's and the vegetables had sauces on them...really left me with hardly anything to eat besides some cheese, few pieces of cold cuts and that small salad bar was very lacking...I lost weight on the Breakaway, if I only needed to loose weight I would be happy but I am at my minimum for my height and if I loose more my doctor be worried about me. ugh lol

That is great news chicken wings with no batter excellent!! Yes, the fries was the only thing the breakaway offered me but now I know how to ask for the wings thanks to you and I assumed the burgers had fillers/gluten in them so I didn't ask or even eat them, so now I can have a burger too! happy happy joy joy hehe

 

pnm655 thank you....I guess for breakfast the only thing I can have is fruit and ham if they have ham....and I can have potatoes wonder how they have them, baked, fried, hash brown, etc?

You got a plain chicken breast in o'sheehans late hours? For real if so this is great news.

 

mjkacmom...question thats great they have those gluten free items didn't know that guess the last two years since my last NCL cruise they added more items but my question is how can I preplan with special needs and with freestyle how would they know where I am eating and what time so I can get those items for dinner?

 

Geezercouple I am going to bring some snacks for myself and gluten free cookies i love the snicker doodles made by undi, they come in little packets too....somehow the eggs they use in them don't bother me very odd but I am thankful lol.

 

Pikaia I assumed Teppanyki was all gluten, I can do without the soy sauce as long as I have something different to eat, actually, I think I am going to go on amazon and see if I can get hold of those little packets ones like they give us in the chinese take out places...great idea!

[GeezerCouple]

NMLady thank you for that menu! I thought they had a limited menu for late night do you know if this is true and what the menu would be?

 

Cigarboo its ok I don't like to eat carbs/bread anyways. So it appears NCL doesn't make any gluten free desserts ugh jello and fruit how boring, and sad for your son he is so young...you would think NCL would make some desserts for people like us, Carnival and RC both do and they are excellent. I never bought snacks or desserts with me ever but I think I am going to have to.

I just wished they had a meat carving daily at the lunch buffet because I really had nothing to eat daily at lunchtime...the hot entrees were full of sauces and gravy's and the vegetables had sauces on them...really left me with hardly anything to eat besides some cheese, few pieces of cold cuts and that small salad bar was very lacking...I lost weight on the Breakaway, if I only needed to loose weight I would be happy but I am at my minimum for my height and if I loose more my doctor be worried about me. ugh lol

That is great news chicken wings with no batter excellent!! Yes, the fries was the only thing the breakaway offered me but now I know how to ask for the wings thanks to you and I assumed the burgers had fillers/gluten in them so I didn't ask or even eat them, so now I can have a burger too! happy happy joy joy hehe

 

pnm655 thank you....I guess for breakfast the only thing I can have is fruit and ham if they have ham....and I can have potatoes wonder how they have them, baked, fried, hash brown, etc?

You got a plain chicken breast in o'sheehans late hours? For real if so this is great news.

 

mjkacmom...question thats great they have those gluten free items didn't know that guess the last two years since my last NCL cruise they added more items but my question is how can I preplan with special needs and with freestyle how would they know where I am eating and what time so I can get those items for dinner?

 

Geezercouple I am going to bring some snacks for myself and gluten free cookies i love the snicker doodles made by undi, they come in little packets too....somehow the eggs they use in them don't bother me very odd but I am thankful lol.

 

Pikaia I assumed Teppanyki was all gluten, I can do without the soy sauce as long as I have something different to eat, actually, I think I am going to go on amazon and see if I can get hold of those little packets ones like they give us in the chinese take out places...great idea!

 

But all of your concerns/complaints about the food before... that is *exactly* why you should work with the AccessDesk/SpecialNeeds folks.

 

They can make sure that sauces are withheld for some foods, and other foods are prepared differently.

 

Especially when there are dietary needs that are somewhat common (need for gluten-free, diabetic, low- or no-salt, etc.), you won't be the first passenger with the request, and they probably have a variety of other options for you to consider.

 

Working with them in advance helps them to have something prepared for when you want it.

They might ask that you order a day in advance, so they have the time needed for any special preparations.

 

(For example, I had heard how salty the French onion soup is, and that can happen in a lot of places. So I "pre-ordered" it a day before planning to eat at Le Bistro, and it was ready for us when we ate. Other examples were that if I would want something prepared without a specific ingredient to which I am allergic, they wanted advance notice... fair enough!)

 

GeezerCouple

[Cruisegirl6]

Yes very true but how can I work with them and they help me if they have freestyle and they don't know where I am eating and what time? I didn't know that I can have special requests in the specialty restaurants thats perfect! As far as the buffet for lunch I am not sure whether they can make something that I can eat in the buffet? Does NCL offer lunches in the MDR never looked when I was on the Breakaway.

 

Do I contact NCL a couple months before my cruise or do I speak with the restaurants in advance before I dine in the specialty restaurants?

[GeezerCouple]

Yes very true but how can I work with them and they help me if they have freestyle and they don't know where I am eating and what time? I didn't know that I can have special requests in the specialty restaurants thats perfect! As far as the buffet for lunch I am not sure whether they can make something that I can eat in the buffet? Does NCL offer lunches in the MDR never looked when I was on the Breakaway.

 

Do I contact NCL a couple months before my cruise or do I speak with the restaurants in advance before I dine in the specialty restaurants?

 

See above, copied here again:

Contact NCL "Special Needs" at

 

accessdesk@ncl.com

 

They'll send you a questionnaire to fill out about your specific needs, and then let you know whom to contact when you get on board.

 

For very strict dietary needs, you'll probably want to "order in advance".

So for spur of the moment hunger needs, you might want to keep a few non-perishable things on hand.

 

They'll help you with that.

 

We've found the "Special Needs" folks at NCL remarkably helpful.

 

GeezerCouple

[cb at sea]

Yes...call the special needs dept...that's the best way to get what you need. All of the cruise lines do a great job with the gluten thing nowadays!

[Pikaia]

Yes very true but how can I work with them and they help me if they have freestyle and they don't know where I am eating and what time?

Here's how it worked for me on my last two cruises. Every evening the special diets coordinator would track me down during dinner. He and I would discuss what I planned to eat the next day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The order would be written up with our cabin number on it, and when I arrived at the restaurant the next day, I'd give the server my cabin number and they'd go retrieve the order. So I didn't need to be specific about time, but I did need to know where I'd be eating so that I'd know what menu to be choosing from.

 

I did not eat at the buffet, because I'm too sensitive to risk cross-contamination. I have heard that if you want to eat at the buffet, you can ask the manager to get you food that hasn't been out in the trays where it could have been contaminated. Definitely don't get omelets or scrambled eggs at the buffet. The egg mix they use contains gluten. If you want eggs you need to specify that they be from whole fresh eggs.

 

When my food was prepared in the kitchen, it was prepared in a dedicated gluten-free area. My husband took the behind the scenes tour on the Gem and was very impressed with how they handle food allergies back there!

 

Teppanyaki was (obviously) prepared in front of me, and the chef didn't put any soy sauce on the cooking surface anywhere near my food. At Moderno I did eat from the salad bar, but cross-contamination seemed a lot less likely there, given that the restaurant wasn't crowded. All the meats were fine for me to eat, though they did ask me not to eat a couple of the cured meats because they couldn't verify that they were GF.

 

I did have to wing it at the first lunch, since I hadn't yet spoken to the special diets coordinator. One of the MDRs is always open on embarkation day, so don't let anyone convince you that you have to go to the buffet for the first lunch if you don't want to. (The crew often direct people to the buffet even though an MDR is open.)

[LrgPizza]

You also need to recognize that there are people with your exact same dietary needs on every single sailing. This is not going to be something new for the ship. They know how to do this.

[DevCruise]

Here's how it worked for me on my last two cruises. Every evening the special diets coordinator would track me down during dinner. He and I would discuss what I planned to eat the next day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The order would be written up with our cabin number on it, and when I arrived at the restaurant the next day, I'd give the server my cabin number and they'd go retrieve the order. So I didn't need to be specific about time, but I did need to know where I'd be eating so that I'd know what menu to be choosing from.

 

I did not eat at the buffet, because I'm too sensitive to risk cross-contamination. I have heard that if you want to eat at the buffet, you can ask the manager to get you food that hasn't been out in the trays where it could have been contaminated. Definitely don't get omelets or scrambled eggs at the buffet. The egg mix they use contains gluten. If you want eggs you need to specify that they be from whole fresh eggs.

 

When my food was prepared in the kitchen, it was prepared in a dedicated gluten-free area. My husband took the behind the scenes tour on the Gem and was very impressed with how they handle food allergies back there!

 

Teppanyaki was (obviously) prepared in front of me, and the chef didn't put any soy sauce on the cooking surface anywhere near my food. At Moderno I did eat from the salad bar, but cross-contamination seemed a lot less likely there, given that the restaurant wasn't crowded. All the meats were fine for me to eat, though they did ask me not to eat a couple of the cured meats because they couldn't verify that they were GF.

 

I did have to wing it at the first lunch, since I hadn't yet spoken to the special diets coordinator. One of the MDRs is always open on embarkation day, so don't let anyone convince you that you have to go to the buffet for the first lunch if you don't want to. (The crew often direct people to the buffet even though an MDR is open.)

 

My dad's experience (who is also celiac) pretty much echoes this although we were lucky enough to meet the special needs person at our first lunch. For Teppanyaki, they did his meal on a special grill in the back. NCL is really good about allergies you talk to them. Especially if you let them know ahead of sailing by contacting the access desk.

 

We generally had an idea of where we were planning to eat the next night, so ordering ahead wasn't an issue for us.

[Cruisegirl6]

You all been very helpful and thank you so very much. I will contact them when my cruise gets closer, its too far out right now. I didn't know they were that accommodating, its wonderful. Thank you for all the info. hugs.

[DevCruise]

You all been very helpful and thank you so very much. I will contact them when my cruise gets closer, its too far out right now. I didn't know they were that accommodating, its wonderful. Thank you for all the info. hugs.

 

Just don't wait too long. They place ships orders for special dietary foods ahead of time.

[Pikaia]

Just don't wait too long. They place ships orders for special dietary foods ahead of time.

Agreed. They ask for a minimum of 8 weeks notice, but would prefer more. Might be a good idea to put a reminder on your calendar to contact accessdesk@ncl.com during the first week of January 2016.

[Sparkygirl]

You all been very helpful and thank you so very much. I will contact them when my cruise gets closer, its too far out right now. I didn't know they were that accommodating, its wonderful. Thank you for all the info. hugs.

 

 

NCL's accomodations for those with access needs and special diets have morphed over the past 3 years. They are trying to find their nitche in the special needs cruising market as a first choice cruise line! We did the behind the scenes tour and saw pallets of gluten free frozen items including I thought deserts.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Pikaia]

We did the behind the scenes tour and saw pallets of gluten free frozen items including I thought deserts.

Definitely. I'm not a dessert person, and was constantly having to fend off well-meaning crew members who desperately wanted to bring me gluten-free desserts. :D

 

However, the OP has stated that she's both gluten- and dairy-free. On my last cruise there wasn't much other than jello that was both GF and DF.

[KurtMo]

I asked about gluten-free options for my wife and special access desk sent the following documents:

1. form to complete detailing the needs / allergy (it says to send in 60 days in advance)

2. list of gluten free items they stock (includes breads, cookies, pasta, bagels / muffins, etc.)

 

It looks like they can accommodate you reasonably well, but you'll need to make the need known in advance and then actively ask some questions in order to take full advantage of options.

NCL Guest Letter and Special Request Information form (2013) updated 1092013.pdf

Gluten Free items. 1-16-2014pdf.pdf

[GeezerCouple]

NCL's accomodations for those with access needs and special diets have morphed over the past 3 years. They are trying to find their nitche in the special needs cruising market as a first choice cruise line! We did the behind the scenes tour and saw pallets of gluten free frozen items including I thought deserts.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

We've been very impressed with their helpfulness for "special needs" that are dietary and other types, too.

 

For the dietary, if it's relevant, they ask (as to better land-based restaurants) if the sensitivity also includes "cross contamination".

 

For most of the more common special dietary restrictions, they are already set up with separate prep stations, so things like shellfish are never prepared there.

 

NOTE: For truly life-threatening allergies of any type (or any serious illness), one should remember that on a cruise, one can be a couple of days away from "help", and the nearest land-based "help" might not be as good as what one has at "home".

The same recognition comes up with any travel, of course, but cruising, especially with sequential sea days, just brings up more of these concerns.

 

It's a trade-off between taking the best possible precautions, and living in a cave at home :confused:

 

We figure we do the best we can, and avoid trips that might have unusually high risks given our particular concerns.

 

But NCL has impressed us greatly, especially on the most recent cruise, with their attention to "special needs".

 

Just give them enough time and information - and your time onboard - so they *can* do their best.

GeezerCouple

[Sparkygirl]

It's a trade-off between taking the best possible precautions, and living in a cave at home :confused:

 

We figure we do the best we can, and avoid trips that might have unusually high risks given our particular concerns.

 

But NCL has impressed us greatly, especially on the most recent cruise, with their attention to "special needs".

 

Just give them enough time and information - and your time onboard - so they *can* do their best.

GeezerCouple

 

We choose to not live in a cave, we know the risks and NCL has been awesome at minimizing those risks to a level that we are comfortable with and continue to cruise with them. We spent almost a year working with NCL regarding my daughter's specific needs before we ever boarded a ship. We have been asked if we are okay with our daughters need's being used in crew enrichment education. We've always agreed and assist with educating them on what are areas of concern.

 

I can't reiterate enough give them enough time and information - and your time onboard - so they **CAN** do their best!

[pnm655]

I see your posting about my posting about the omelets and late night chicken.

 

To get an omelet made with real eggs instead of the slop from the gallon jug just ask the cook at the station. The station keeps fresh eggs and egg whites in a frigeration unit at the station. The company doesn't advertise it but you have a choice of fresh eggs, egg whites and the gallon jug at the omelet station.

 

To get the plain chicken breast at O'Sheenans/Blue Lagoon just ask for. Blue Lagoon has a chicken breast sandwich on the menu and O'Sheenans has chicken pot pie so chicken breasts are already made for those 2 items.

I found on the sun only in the sports bar the chicken breast had a spicey sauce on it so after the first night the kitchen set aside 2 chicken breasts for me and we agreed I would come in at a specific time each night to eat.

 

If you need food specially prepared just ask for it. NCL makes most of its food dishes on the ship so it is not that difficult to get a menu item prepared differently that what is available on the menu. If you are looking for an item the ship usually does not carry it has to be ordered ahead of time or bring the item yourself. i can't drink soda so I bring Powerade Zero on board and put it in the room frig. I also bring an insulated fluid bladder and powered mix for it for off shore excursion. The only time I had a problem with the fluid bladder was in Quebec when immigration questioned if I was trying to sneak alcohol off the ship. I was laughing at the guy going everyone sneaks alcohol on the ship not off. I suppose with the UBP that might work but this was before the UBP existed.