Royal Caribbean and Gluten

[MomSwag]

Let me begin by saying that gluten issues seem to be a hot button topic these days.

 

I do NOT have a gluten allergy, per se. However, I avoid it as much as possible as it causes flare ups in my joints. When I consume a lot of it, I will have severe joint pain (autoimmune).

 

How accommodating is RC for people with gluten issues? Will I be allowed to bring gluten free food items on board?

 

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[spookwife]

factory sealed items only. and nothing that requires heating or prep.

 

they do cater to a GF diet although your options may be limited especially bread wise. I have sailed with a few who are GF and they mostly found the bread options less than palatable. many meals can be made GF with advance notice( basically you pick your MDR meal the night before)

 

at the buffet just ask for a chef to come out and show you the safe options.

[MomSwag]

factory sealed items only. and nothing that requires heating or prep.

 

they do cater to a GF diet although your options may be limited especially bread wise. I have sailed with a few who are GF and they mostly found the bread options less than palatable. many meals can be made GF with advance notice( basically you pick your MDR meal the night before)

 

at the buffet just ask for a chef to come out and show you the safe options.

Thank you! I don't eat bread at all, so I can avoid that easily. [emoji4]

 

I was mostly wondering about bringing my own snacks.

 

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[ustasmom]

Ordering from a sit down menu is easiest. Everything is marked and they can have the chefs make adjustments. Windjammer, however, is a pain because they tend to use gluten as thickeners in foods that just typically don't have gluten in them. The chef can walk you around and give you the "Don't eat that" tour. I submitted my comment card about at least marking the GF items. We've done DCL and it is the exact same way except I can go to a crewmember and they will put in the order and deliver to me. RCCL never offered me that service.

[hgiles]

Do a search of "gluten" on here because there are some very high quality threads with lots of detailed information on this topic. I say this in a kind and helpful way.

[MomSwag]

Thank you for the suggestions! It won't kill me if I eat it, I just don't enjoy the painful flare ups that it causes. [emoji53]

 

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[KansCocoa]

Hi! I am Celiac, so I MUST have a gluten-free diet, which totally sucks, as I love bread, pasta and everything with gluten. Sigh.

 

Anyway, here is an email I got just yesterday from RCI, after I sent them an email asking about my dietary needs:

 

Hello,

Thank you for sharing information regarding your food allergies. We have noted your reservation accordingly.

Please meet with the Head Waiter in the Main Dining Room, and Restaurant Managers at other dining venues, to review the menus and identify selections you wish to have modified or avoided.

All items prepared for guests with food allergies are handled separate from the main food production.

Guests are allowed to bring dry, nonperishable food items such as cookies, crackers, chips, energy bars, etc. Guests may also bring their own individual packets of salad dressings. Guests may not bring on board non-perishable food (items that require refrigeration, freezing, and/or reheating).

Best regards,

Access Advocate

Sophia Mills

Hope that helps!!!

[KansCocoa]

Ordering from a sit down menu is easiest. Everything is marked and they can have the chefs make adjustments. Windjammer, however, is a pain because they tend to use gluten as thickeners in foods that just typically don't have gluten in them. The chef can walk you around and give you the "Don't eat that" tour. I submitted my comment card about at least marking the GF items. We've done DCL and it is the exact same way except I can go to a crewmember and they will put in the order and deliver to me. RCCL never offered me that service.

 

Totally agree with this...it’s the “hidden” glutens in gravies, sauces, seasonings, etc that can “get” you. The “tour” as you call it, is nice, but I can never remember if something was “safe” or not - it would be so nice if they labeled it on the labels if it was safe.

[MomSwag]

KansCocoa

 

Thank you for sharing that email response!

 

It says you can't bring anything that requires refrigeration. Do you know what the policy is if I bring a container of almond milk ? It is not required to be refrigerated until it's open, and I could then put it on ice. ??

 

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[MomSwag]

Totally agree with this...it’s the “hidden” glutens in gravies, sauces, seasonings, etc that can “get” you. The “tour” as you call it, is nice, but I can never remember if something was “safe” or not - it would be so nice if they labeled it on the labels if it was safe.

Yes, you would think labels would actually make their job easier!

 

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[spookwife]

KansCocoa

 

Thank you for sharing that email response!

 

It says you can't bring anything that requires refrigeration. Do you know what the policy is if I bring a container of almond milk ? It is not required to be refrigerated until it's open, and I could then put it on ice. ??

 

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as a drinker of almond milk, be advised that the in cabin decides are NOT refrigerators.. they are coolers. they will keep something below room temp, but not very far below . you can ask the cabin steward for ice to be replenished when they serve the rooms twice a day.

[merinski]

I prefer to eat GF as well. I was just on the Anthem of the Seas late Jan/Feb. I asked for GF bread and it was brought to me each evening in the MDR. In the buffet there was a section at the back that I found with made to order selections. Some GF Deserts...Crepes for breakfast... there were also packaged Hamburger and hotdog buns in the buffet. Johnny Rockets had GF buns as well. I was really impressed with the choices and if you have Celiac they do accommodate , you just have to talk to the head waiter or someone in the buffet.

[njkruzer]

We don't have a problem with gluten but found the gf section on Anthem and loved the crepes morning and afternoon.

[MomSwag]

I prefer to eat GF as well. I was just on the Anthem of the Seas late Jan/Feb. I asked for GF bread and it was brought to me each evening in the MDR. In the buffet there was a section at the back that I found with made to order selections. Some GF Deserts...Crepes for breakfast... there were also packaged Hamburger and hotdog buns in the buffet. Johnny Rockets had GF buns as well. I was really impressed with the choices and if you have Celiac they do accommodate , you just have to talk to the head waiter or someone in the buffet.

Sounds like there are plenty of options! I'm so happy I will still be able to enjoy a great deal of the food and not have to stress over pain levels.

 

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[auntjoy036]

Hi MomSwag. I am non-celiac gluten intolerant. My only Royal Caribbean experience is on Oasis a few years ago. The staff was great managing my dietary needs. After the first night I ordered dinner the night before. It was always good. At dinner the dining room secton manager asked how my breakfast had been. I said good, except I ordered gluten free toast and they brought regular. After that the manager preordered my breakfast for me. I had gf toast the rest of the week. (By the way, I was a no status passenger in a deck 2 ocean view so no diamond/suite reason she would go out of her way.) Each ship and crew is different, but if your cruise is like mine it will be easier to be gf on board than at home. Best wishes.

 

Vicki

[cstcm]

Thanks for asking. I’m appreciating all the comments as we recently booked a family cruise for nov 2019. (It’s just been me and hubs before.) my youngest has issues with gluten, dairy, eggs, corn, and soy. (It flares up her eczema.) The TA has already noted it on our reservation but I still worry about what she’ll be able to eat. I would love s follow up after your cruise as to how it went. I’m especially interested in the almond milk situation. I think I going to need an extra suitcase just for her food.

 

 

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[MomSwag]

Thanks for asking. I’m appreciating all the comments as we recently booked a family cruise for nov 2019. (It’s just been me and hubs before.) my youngest has issues with gluten, dairy, eggs, corn, and soy. (It flares up her eczema.) The TA has already noted it on our reservation but I still worry about what she’ll be able to eat. I would love s follow up after your cruise as to how it went. I’m especially interested in the almond milk situation. I think I going to need an extra suitcase just for her food.

 

 

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I will be sure to update you!

 

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[anankae]

Had my first gluten free cruise on Liberty a couple weeks ago and I was amazed by what I could eat.

 

But yes, go to guest services and tell them you need gluten free and they will inform everyone, the dining room, the Windjammer and room service. We rejected some choc chip cookies brought as a diamond perk and after that they kept bringing us plates of gluten free cookies. :o No plate of appetizers but I don't know why they couldn't figure out what was gf and what was not.

 

We ate in the Windjammer mostly and in the dining room for lobster night. In the dining room they've changed how they do bread, they put it on the table instead of bringing it around so it was easy to just say "no bread service". In the Windjammer there was a station with 4 gf dishes, one meat (chicken, beef, pork), one fish, one potato and one vegetable. Next to it was a smaller section with gf desserts. All other desserts were out except for ice cream, jello, crustless custard and mousse. I don't know how sensitive you are, but I would pick and choose and I didn't suffer any cross contamination. Stuck to (non-battered) meats, vegetables, salads, there was plenty to eat. When in doubt, ask, they can tell you if there's wheat, etc in it (like the soup that used a roux for thickening).

 

For breakfast I'd often have congee, bacon, sausage, eggs, fruit. Stir fry veggies and rice (yes for breakfast). Breakfast potatoes. They do have gf bread, I looked at the package, it was Canyon Bakehouse brand and really good (I'm still trying to find it locally). When I requested it, the server changed gloves and toasted it in a separate toaster. I asked for some gf pancakes once, they weren't very good. I can make excellent ones at home using Bisquick gf baking mix.

 

Other areas of the ship. The cupcake place has gf, but we thought the cupcakes were terrible (gf or not). The cafe promenade had a separate section with gf cookies (Udi's choc chip and snickerdoodle), sandwiches (which were pretty good) and other random desserts. Sorrento's has gf pizza, they'll warn you it takes 10 extra minutes. I didn't like it but because it was smothered in too much cheese.

 

Basically stuck to my trio of starches - rice, corn and potatoes. So corn tortillas are okay, flour are not, for example. Quinoa salads. I was jonesing for some pasta meat sauce, ended up putting it over the steamed veggies du jour.

 

They're also very accommodating. I asked before getting ice cream from Ben & Jerry's if they would rinse the scoop first and they did so without question.

 

Getting hors d'oeurves in the Diamond lounge again it's pretty easy to pick and choose what's gf and again, I didn't suffer any cross contamination.

 

It's funny, I don't recall seeing any GF sections on any previous cruises, then again, I never looked for any. I did okay, YMMV.

[BruMedNick]

as a drinker of almond milk, be advised that the in cabin decides are NOT refrigerators.. they are coolers. they will keep something below room temp, but not very far below . you can ask the cabin steward for ice to be replenished when they serve the rooms twice a day.

 

 

 

I asked about bringing on board UHT milk since my niece suffers from some allergies:

 

“We have received your notice regarding your food needs and will forward the information to the ship. By speaking with your head waiter in the dining room your needs will be communicated to the galley and an open line of communication will be established among everyone concerned.

 

Once on board please meet with one of the Restaurant Managers to review the menus and identify those items that need to be modified or avoided. They will be happy to assist you and will forward your concerns and needs to the galley. All items prepared for guests with food allergies are handled separate from the main food production. Please note that if you choose to go into the other restaurants other than the Main Dining Room please meet with the Manager for that particular restaurant to go over the food items with you regarding your food allergies before eating. Guests are allowed to bring on their own supply of dry, nonperishable food items such as cookies, crackers, chips, energy bars, etc. They may also bring on their own individual packets of salad dressings. Guests may not bring on board any potentially hazardous food items. (Items that require refrigeration, freezing, reheating, or storage by the galley). Kindly be advised that we do carry Lactose Free and Soy milk onboard our ships. Non-perishable milk is allowed onboard the ship. Items must be store bought sealed and not opened. We recommend bringing it as part of your carry-on.

 

It is also recommended that they refrain from eating in the buffet areas, as they are self serve and can not guarantee it will be free of cross contamination.”

 

 

Nick

Brunei

[BruMedNick]

I asked about bringing on board UHT milk since my niece suffers from some allergies:

 

“We have received your notice regarding your food needs and will forward the information to the ship. By speaking with your head waiter in the dining room your needs will be communicated to the galley and an open line of communication will be established among everyone concerned.

 

Once on board please meet with one of the Restaurant Managers to review the menus and identify those items that need to be modified or avoided. They will be happy to assist you and will forward your concerns and needs to the galley. All items prepared for guests with food allergies are handled separate from the main food production. Please note that if you choose to go into the other restaurants other than the Main Dining Room please meet with the Manager for that particular restaurant to go over the food items with you regarding your food allergies before eating. Guests are allowed to bring on their own supply of dry, nonperishable food items such as cookies, crackers, chips, energy bars, etc. They may also bring on their own individual packets of salad dressings. Guests may not bring on board any potentially hazardous food items. (Items that require refrigeration, freezing, reheating, or storage by the galley). Kindly be advised that we do carry Lactose Free and Soy milk onboard our ships. Non-perishable milk is allowed onboard the ship. Items must be store bought sealed and not opened. We recommend bringing it as part of your carry-on.

 

It is also recommended that they refrain from eating in the buffet areas, as they are self serve and can not guarantee it will be free of cross contamination.”

 

 

Nick

Brunei

 

 

 

Just send an email to special_needs@rccl.com or via the website, that’s all I did.

 

 

Nick

Brunei

[CatLadyFemme]

100% on what everyone has said. Definitely let your waiter, assistant waiter and head waiter know in the MDR, and then check in with folks. Bring lots of snacks (especially good for in port, because that is much harder to find GF options). Sounds liek your are less sensitive to cross contamination, so you should be fine there. If you are able to get small single servings of almond milk, I have done that with soy milk before and I think it would stay better than an open box as they are also shelf stable till opened. You may be able to ask their special needs department to just stock almond milk on board for you as well, to make life easier. They definitely will do that with soy milk, so it is worth asking. Happy travels!