Eating gluten free on Nieuw Amsterdam

[hammer18]

Just wanted to report on my experiences on a recent cruise on NA. We were on the Dec 13 cruise. Please note that I am not celiac but I have a gluten intolerance. I am happy to say that I had no issues the entire week. I ate breakfast in the Lido every morning. The section that makes the waffles and crepes has the gluten free products. They had bagels, brown and white bread, English muffins and frozen waffles. I really liked the bagels. I wish I had noticed the brand because I thought they were really good and I had a bagel 5 days out of 7 - with cream cheese and smoked salmon. I tried the English muffin - I wasn't too impressed with that. It was really thick - they cut it into 3 pieces - and it just tasted like a hamburger bun to me. I never tried the bread or waffles. The worst part was waiting for my bagel (which they toasted in the back) and watching the guys make Nutella crepes for other people!!

I tried the pizza also - I think it was a kinnickkinnick (sp?) crust - it seemed familiar to me. It was ok. I did not have to notify them in advance - just went and ordered it. I also tried the burger at the dive in once. They have GF buns and I thought it was quite good. I was told that the fries are not GF.

I ate lunch in the lido also. The salad bar is great. If you are not sure about something you can ask the servers. They seem quite aware of what is safe to eat.

For dinner I was not in fixed dining. We ate in the MDR every night. I had no issues here either. Every night I would get a copy of the next nights menu so they could prepare a GF meal for me. They can prepare anything GF I believe.

Overall I was very happy with the food - I am fairly easy to please especially when someone else is doing the cooking and cleaning up. Loved the creme brûlée and the flourless chocolate cake.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Glad you made out with your Gluten foods.

HAL has improved their selections over the years.

Are you going to write a review of your cruise?

[lukydog]

Hubby will be happy to hear this. We are going on our 1st HAL cruise in June and he has Celiac. We have been very happy with how Carnival handles GF and sounds like HAL does an excellent job also...great to know!

[vacaycruzin]

I have seen mixed reviews on holland with gluten free people. I am very gluten free on the verge of celiac. I am still worried about cross contamination. Did you see this on your cruise or were the workers very concious about this? Did you notify the cruiseline before you left? Also there have been reports of them not having enough gluten free products and running out before the cruise ended. Did you see any of this?

[cobalt206]

My daughter has Celiac and she actually works for HAL corporate. I have cruised with her on HAL and they do an excellent job. It's critical that you let your server know and don't be afraid to ask any questions. I'm gluten intolerant and have also had great success onboard.

[vacaycruzin]

Thank you. As you can see I have been on carnival multiple times and have had great success. The one time I went on rccl they made me ill the entire cruise. Not many things can ruin a cruise but sickness is one of the worst. I called rccl before we left and by the end of the cruise I was very ill and they ran out of gf products. Me and my husband want to try a new cruise line as we love carnival but are not interested in the parties or nightlife. We go cruising to get away and relax. Any more advice?

[SeaBands]

and had dinner with them most nights. She had to be gluten free and the waiter and dining room captain made sure she had appropriate food every night without asking each night. They even knew about it when we dined in the Pinnacle.

[Classiccruiser777]

Watch out for the soy and teriyaki sauces. Most have gluten and when I requested GF I was told it wasn't available. Disappointing because sushi was available everyday on our recent Zaandam cruise.

[RMLincoln]

You can bring on special foods and if they need to be refrigerated and you don't have one in your room (depends on room and ship) you can request one for your room at $2/day. Our granddaughter brought special foods to the MDR in a tote bag... she had a LOT of food issues, so she had her safe condiments with her. She couldn't eat most of their GF products because of other issues: legumes, pea flour, etc, but having a few safe extras made it much more enjoyable for her. She ate a lot of French fries but they may have changed since 2007. m--

[TheCalicoCat]

I was told that the fries are not GF.

 

Glad you had an enjoyable cruise with food that you can eat.

 

They usually use the fryers with non-gf foods... My fried is celiac & at restaurants the case usually is that battered fish is fried in the fryer - so it can't be GF. (As one example.)

[dakrewser]

Both my wife & daughter are gluten intolerant but had zero problems on the NA last month.

[lvz2cruz]

We were on Eurodam last week and ate with a woman who was gluten free. She was pleased with her choices over the week. Near the end of the meal she got the next night's menu to make her selections.

It seemed like they do a great job.

Our son is diabetic and I remember one cruise they questioned him ordering a sugary dessert, advising him of sugar free options. He counts carbs and doses accordingly so it was fine but they were definitely on top of things.

[planitohio]

Great news! I leave a week from Monday for my first HAL cruise and was wondering how this would go.

[OlsSalt]

Should there be a surcharge for special diets, or should all passengers be asked to subsidize the growing number of specialty dietary demands? Timely discussion.

[dakrewser]

Should there be a surcharge for special diets, or should all passengers be asked to subsidize the growing number of specialty dietary demands? Timely discussion.

 

Should vegetarians get a rebate since they aren't eating meat?

I don't use the pool, should swimmers pay extra?

 

Timely troll, more likely.

[OlsSalt]

If they added a pool that only a few people could use and others could not, perhaps it should be a surcharge pool. That is what is happening now with the growing list of special diet demands. This is a growing exclusive demand by the few, now getting subsidized by the many.

 

It would be interesting to hear from corporate about what they might need to be doing to accommodate these growing special diet demands; and what also no longer gets done for others as a result. It is all about time, staffing and space.

 

Cruisers get charged more to get "higher quality meat" at the Pinnacle, so this idea of a dietary surcharge is not unprecedented. And yes, you raise a good point about discounting for vegetarians. But we are also now talking in this discussion about the potential need to put in separate kitchens, so there is no cross-contamination, special time from dining room staff to arrange special menus for a growing list of reported special allergies and dietary demands.

 

How does this affect or compromise the previously routine dining delivery systems over time. Just curious.

Edited January 17, 2016 by OlsSalt

[Locksmth]

https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2015/10/14/why-food-allergy-fakers-need-stop/PB6uN8NF3eLWFjXnKF5A9K/story.html?p1=Article_Trending_Most_Viewed

[planitohio]

My allergy is medical related. From what HAL sent me, I only need to pay extra if I want more than a few things a day. My experience has been that they direct me to the stuff I can naturally eat and maybe have some bread or frozen pizza on board. I bring a lot of my own snacks and such.

[OlsSalt]

https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2015/10/14/why-food-allergy-fakers-need-stop/PB6uN8NF3eLWFjXnKF5A9K/story.html?p1=Article_Trending_Most_Viewed

 

Thanks for the link. It was an excellent read. HAL might want to consider turning over its seemingly wasted space "specialty shops" area into something like Burton's Grill -http://burtonsgrill.com/about-us/

[sassyw]

I have seen mixed reviews on holland with gluten free people. I am very gluten free on the verge of celiac. I am still worried about cross contamination. Did you see this on your cruise or were the workers very concious about this? Did you notify the cruiseline before you left? Also there have been reports of them not having enough gluten free products and running out before the cruise ended. Did you see any of this?

 

You have celiac or not--diagnosed by blood tests and/or a biopsy from the esophagus. You cannot be "on the verge"

[planitohio]

When I said the bread was not toasted, I was talking about what was served at meals. I believe they would toast it for you in the Lido, but I rarely got anything there. They didn't tell me until more than halfway through the cruise that I was asking on the wrong side of the buffet. Apparently the ice cream girl on the right side had better information than the left side. Even the chefs would sometimes have to eat a dessert to tell me which ones I could have. Labeling could be better just as to what things are. I ran into a few other GF folks on board and we were not all given the same information.

 

I did notify the ship ahead and order items prior to boarding. Once on board they told us that was pretty much worthless. Overall I thought the food was good and I did fine - but I'm very careful. If I'm not sure, I just don't eat something and I try to pick what would appear to be the safer option regardless. I'm willing to sail with HAL again and I can't say that about every line I have been on.

[dakrewser]

When I said the bread was not toasted, I was talking about what was served at meals.

 

None of the bread served with meals is toasted, though - why would you expect the GF breads to be???

 

I believe they would toast it for you in the Lido, but I rarely got anything there. They didn't tell me until more than halfway through the cruise that I was asking on the wrong side of the buffet. Apparently the ice cream girl on the right side had better information than the left side.

 

For lurkers, the GF station is clearly labeled if you look.

 

I did notify the ship ahead and order items prior to boarding. Once on board they told us that was pretty much worthless.

 

What they most likely said is that you couldn't always get the things you requested beforehand. This is due to two reasons - unavailability of an item when stocking and gluten-free "fadists" scarfing up the better tasting choices. Unfortunately, the staff can't limit who gets the GF items.

Edited April 3, 2016 by dakrewser

[bakcd]

On my first night in the dining room, I request my gluten free bread be toasted and it is served that way most evenings for the remainder of my sailing.

 

As for the list, I think they stock their selection of items on the list routinely. It has been years since I have seen the two cake selections on the list offered although they remain on the list. I wish they would offer a hamburger bun and hot dog bun rather than use the English muffin that does not hold together with a burger.

 

Overall, I believe they do an acceptable job with gluten free.

 

Now if they would just stock one gluten free beer selection.

[SLOTheta]

Should there be a surcharge for special diets, or should all passengers be asked to subsidize the growing number of specialty dietary demands? Timely discussion.

 

 

I don't agree with a charge for special diets, but people should be realistic. I'm allergic to onions and bell peppers. I carry an EpiPen. I always ask before ordering, and they are happy to direct me to the items that don't contain those items. I also don't eat pork or beef, I look for the seafood and chicken options. There are times I just eat a plate of boiled broccoli, but I'm not going hungry. There's always something that I can find, I make it work.

 

If you are GF, eat whole. I have several friends that are GF, they don't even bother with the alternative stuff and eat all non-processed, "whole foods"

 

For those with severe allergies, that even a whiff of something might kill you, why risk it? I wouldn't trust someone else with my life.

 

Ships and restaurants try their best, we can't expect them to always be able to accommodate everyone's allergies. We have to be willing to do what it takes to make it work.

 

It's great to read articles and posts of when people do get it right, but we can't always expect this to happen.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[planitohio]

GF bread-at least that served on the ships is frozen and meant to be toasted. My servers knew but couldn't do anything about it. I rarely eat bread, so I didn't care. I didn't want any, but they kept bringing it. They were very sweet.

 

The bread station in the lido is clearly marked. I only got omelettes there-they were amazing.

 

I thought the food served was very good. The inconsistency was my main concern. Same item-different answers. We actually had amazing hamburger buns on our ship. I never tried a hot dog. Our dive-in knew what they were doing.

 

My server decided early on he would like to pick my meals so if he didn't see me due to a late tour, he'd put together a meal for me (I did always stop in and order). He actually did very well except he kept giving me the flourless chocolate cake. While delicious it is very rich. It took a few days to convince him that what I really wanted was ice cream. He would appear with the most random things, but it was a great way to try things. By the way, if they serve Arctic Char-get it. Awesome!