Gluten free experiences

[paulinestoker]

I have read all I can find in all the old threads on this board about eating gluten free on P&O, so thank you to everyone who has already contributed. I know I can order dinner and dining room lunch the night before with a (head?) waiter just like on Princess so I am glad about that. As an obsessive worrier, I have a few more questions I'd like to throw out...

 

I'm booked on Oriana in May, and we have chosen fixed dining at 8:30 pm in case it matters!

 

When eating gluten free on P&O...

 

Were the fries at the burger bar on deck gluten free and safe from any cross contamination in the fryer? Just asking about the fries not the burgers as maybe an afternoon snack or after a long day in port if we are not back in time to have lunch in the dining room.

 

Lunch time in the dining room is listed as 12-1:30. Will we be allowed in if we rock up at say 1:25? Quite a few of our port stops will be shorter visits and I think we can make it back by then but could be cutting it close on some of them.

 

Were any hot meals in the buffet (lunch time) gluten free?

 

Did the salad bar in the buffet feel safe from cross contamination to you? What salad dressing options were gluten free?

 

Did you have trouble finding an appropriate person in the buffet to help identify what might or might not be gluten free? (mainly breakfast/lunch times)

 

Would I be able to make a "parfait" in the breakfast buffet - yogurt, nuts, seeds, jam, honey, dried fruit?

 

For afternoon tea in the main dining room, did you need to request gluten free items the day before and what were they able to provide for you?

 

I have seen sample dinner menus on the P&O website with gluten free marked (linked from the FAQ section) and some where nothing was marked (linked directly from the Oriana page). Do the current dining room menus have choices marked as gf or was I looking at old ones? Does it vary by ship?

 

Oh dear - didn't realize all my queries would be that long typed out - sorry! Still really looking forward to my first P&O cruise. Thanks again for any help.

[wowzz]

I have read all I can find in all the old threads on this board about eating gluten free on P&O, so thank you to everyone who has already contributed. I know I can order dinner and dining room lunch the night before with a (head?) waiter just like on Princess so I am glad about that. As an obsessive worrier, I have a few more questions I'd like to throw out...

 

I'm booked on Oriana in May, and we have chosen fixed dining at 8:30 pm in case it matters!

 

When eating gluten free on P&O...

 

Were the fries at the burger bar on deck gluten free and safe from any cross contamination in the fryer? Just asking about the fries not the burgers as maybe an afternoon snack or after a long day in port if we are not back in time to have lunch in the dining room.

 

Lunch time in the dining room is listed as 12-1:30. Will we be allowed in if we rock up at say 1:25? Quite a few of our port stops will be shorter visits and I think we can make it back by then but could be cutting it close on some of them.

 

Were any hot meals in the buffet (lunch time) gluten free?

 

Did the salad bar in the buffet feel safe from cross contamination to you? What salad dressing options were gluten free?

 

Did you have trouble finding an appropriate person in the buffet to help identify what might or might not be gluten free? (mainly breakfast/lunch times)

 

Would I be able to make a "parfait" in the breakfast buffet - yogurt, nuts, seeds, jam, honey, dried fruit?

 

For afternoon tea in the main dining room, did you need to request gluten free items the day before and what were they able to provide for you?

 

I have seen sample dinner menus on the P&O website with gluten free marked (linked from the FAQ section) and some where nothing was marked (linked directly from the Oriana page). Do the current dining room menus have choices marked as gf or was I looking at old ones? Does it vary by ship?

 

Oh dear - didn't realize all my queries would be that long typed out - sorry! Still really looking forward to my first P&O cruise. Thanks again for any help.

I assume you have celiac disease. In that case, I would always eat in the mdr and make sure the wait staff know of your condition. I have seen staff in the buffet handle bread and then some other food item, so cross contamination is always possible, but realistically you cannot cater for celiacs in a buffet environment .

Unfortunately, when you are trying to feed 3000+ passengers, cross contamination is always an issue.

 

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[Florry]

On the first morning of the cruise you can meet with diet experts to ask questions. There is a specific gluten free section in the buffet. Cross contamination is anyone’s guess.

 

 

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[Mrs applehead]

Hi we were on Britannia at the end of last year with my daughter who has a cows milk allergy. My mum is Coeliac so im used to checking for cross contamination.

Personally I wouldn't eat from the buffet, there was an allergy section of cold desserts but they were all next to each other and didn't have any covers on them.

Nothing else was labelld with ingredients and to be honest most of the staff didn't understand my daughter couldn' t have lactose free products.

The main dinning rooms and speciality restaurants were a different thing, they took requests the day before and were great, I never had any worries.

The chips I'm not sure about, they did have fried chicken there but I'm not sure if they were cooked together. But they were very happy to do my daughter a burger without the bun which they cooked as I waited.

I will try and remember anything else which might be helpful.

[paulinestoker]

On the first morning of the cruise you can meet with diet experts to ask questions. There is a specific gluten free section in the buffet. Cross contamination is anyone’s guess.

 

 

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Thank you. I will try to find the diet expert on the first morning.:)

[paulinestoker]

Hi we were on Britannia at the end of last year with my daughter who has a cows milk allergy. My mum is Coeliac so im used to checking for cross contamination.

Personally I wouldn't eat from the buffet, there was an allergy section of cold desserts but they were all next to each other and didn't have any covers on them.

Nothing else was labelld with ingredients and to be honest most of the staff didn't understand my daughter couldn' t have lactose free products.

The main dinning rooms and speciality restaurants were a different thing, they took requests the day before and were great, I never had any worries.

The chips I'm not sure about, they did have fried chicken there but I'm not sure if they were cooked together. But they were very happy to do my daughter a burger without the bun which they cooked as I waited.

I will try and remember anything else which might be helpful.

 

 

Thank you. I will try to avoid the buffet, but on some port days we will want to be first off the ship which means early morning in the buffet. On Princess I would make a yogurt parfait sort of thing so that's why I asked about that. If we don't make it back from port in time for dining room lunch which is a for sure thing in Venice and Dubrovnik and a maybe on some of the other ports, our dinner time is 8:30 so I was looking for something else in between. I have located and included in our plans gluten free gelato in Venice and Sorrento, a Despar convenience store with a gluten free section in Venice, but nothing in Dubrovnik that I would totally trust to be gluten free. Guess I'll be living on Lara bars/Nakd bars.

 

Thanks for telling me about the fried chicken at the burger place- I won't count on being able to have chips from there (on Princess I could as well as gluten free pizza made on request). Plain burger patty sounds like a possibility as long as they don't grill the buns on the same surface. I have planned to pack gf snacks and maybe will have to consider taking more than what I originally planned.

[paulinestoker]

I assume you have celiac disease. In that case, I would always eat in the mdr and make sure the wait staff know of your condition. I have seen staff in the buffet handle bread and then some other food item, so cross contamination is always possible, but realistically you cannot cater for celiacs in a buffet environment .

Unfortunately, when you are trying to feed 3000+ passengers, cross contamination is always an issue.

 

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Thanks for that. I think I was secretly hoping the buffet would be better on P&O than on Princess. At least on Princess the salad bar felt safe to me. Port day plans make the buffet a necessary evil for me. Maybe I'll drink my lunch in the bar! Thatcher's Gold is just apples right?:evilsmile:

[malibumal]

Hi Pauline. I am a coeliac and very much a cross contamination worrier. I have done two cruises s with P&O so have some experience. I can’t answer all your questions but can tell you what I did. I ate in the MDR nearly all the time. Did eat salads etc in the buffet once or twice. I just made a decision not to eat anywhere else to avoid chances of mistakes. Had afternoon tea in the MDR one afternoon that needed to be ordered previous day. One tip about bacon at breakfast. Ask for it to be done fresh in the kitchen with usual precautions obviously because the bacon on self serve is sometimes drained on or near bread!!!!! Also had desserts from the buffet but they were kept in a special cabinet at the back on their own.

[mandylennon]

You can order what you want from room service for breakfast if you are on a early trip.