Gluten free

[mugwood]

On 12/16/2022 at 4:10 PM, Retired888 said:

Your experience is the complete opposite of mine.  I have been on many Celebrity cruises and gluten-free muffins and bread would appear at breakfast, gluten-free toast with lunch and dinner without asking.  Make sure you let the maitre'd know and have the same server and assistant servers each day.  My servers were always knowledgeable as to which items on the menu were not gluten-free, which were very few.  I had never bothered to order the night before.

I can only speak for our experience.

I am pretty sure each cruise and each ship have variances.

maybe I shouldn’t post our experience in case I put anyone off.

[Betsynh]

On 12/16/2022 at 5:21 AM, Suzi66 said:

I'm both gluten and lactose intolerant.  While I haven't been formally diagnosed with Coeliac, both my son and niece have been and I can tell very quickly if I have been glutened.

We were on the Eclipse in September and I thought it was excellent.  The food in the OV was all labelled so I knew what I could and couldn't eat and in the MDR I ordered the night before and was able to have almost anything on the menu made to suit me.  Gluten free bread was supplied when I sat down and I got margarine as I couldn't have butter, or somedays I got hummus instead.  Every night a special dessert was made for me.

In contrast we were on the Norwegian Spirit 2 weeks later and nothing in the buffet was labelled.  The only dessert I could often get was lemon sorbet, and I did get glutened one night towards the end of the cruise.  They also ended up toasting my bread as it got stale and it was the only way they could serve it.

I have no qualms about going on Celebrity again regarding food, although I would think twice about Norwegian, although perhaps it was just the ship.

We sailed the Norwegian Pearl in May and had a lovely dining concierge Analisa pop up anywhere and everywhere I wanted to eat to ensure I got GF. It was a little awkward frankly but ate most meals in MDR. Sailing Equinox later today and looking forward to it!

[Mimiya11]

On 12/28/2022 at 3:42 AM, mugwood said:

I can only speak for our experience.

I am pretty sure each cruise and each ship have variances.

maybe I shouldn’t post our experience in case I put anyone off.

I think hearing from various people shows the range.   

As a matter of fact, my DH were discussing this morning our planned trip to the grocery store before we board to get him a few things.  Now the big question is, if he brought a package of GF bagels to Blu, will they store it for him?  Doubt it?  Me too.  🙂 

[Travrat]

I brought my own GF bagels and stored them in my cabin fridge. I would bring one with me to breakfast in Blu and have them toast it for me. I also brought  a nice loaf of hard crusted multigrain bread that I buy at Whole Foods and pre-sliced it so I could have decent bread at dinner. All they have is GF sandwich bread which is fine at breakfast as toast not for dinner 

[Mimiya11]

4 hours ago, Travrat said:

I brought my own GF bagels and stored them in my cabin fridge. I would bring one with me to breakfast in Blu and have them toast it for me. I also brought  a nice loaf of hard crusted multigrain bread that I buy at Whole Foods and pre-sliced it so I could have decent bread at dinner. All they have is GF sandwich bread which is fine at breakfast as toast not for dinner 

Exactly what I was hoping to find out.  Thank you sooo much!!!   A crusty bread sounds like a good idea too.  The toast at dinner is ridiculous.   

 

Interesting that the GF Muffins that people have mentioned were never offered in Blu or Luminae (last March).  Will be sure to ask this time.    

 

 

[Travrat]

6 hours ago, Mimiya11 said:

Exactly what I was hoping to find out.  Thank you sooo much!!!   A crusty bread sounds like a good idea too.  The toast at dinner is ridiculous.   

 

Interesting that the GF Muffins that people have mentioned were never offered in Blu or Luminae (last March).  Will be sure to ask this time.    

 

 

I think if you ask in advance for the GF muffins they can get them for you. I would sometimes see they had them at OV at the very small GF station. If you want GF pasta you need to ask in advance. I asked the Maitre D for it the day before we ate at Tuscan Grill. They have it every day at the pasta station in OV but it is only available elsewhere by request in advance. It was very good with the lobster Alfredo sauce at Tuscan Grill. If you like crackers with your cheese bring your own- no GF crackers on the ship.

[Mimiya11]

6 hours ago, Travrat said:

I think if you ask in advance for the GF muffins they can get them for you. I would sometimes see they had them at OV at the very small GF station. If you want GF pasta you need to ask in advance. I asked the Maitre D for it the day before we ate at Tuscan Grill. They have it every day at the pasta station in OV but it is only available elsewhere by request in advance. It was very good with the lobster Alfredo sauce at Tuscan Grill. If you like crackers with your cheese bring your own- no GF crackers on the ship.

 

Thanks re the GF muffins.   

GF crackers are on our shopping list based on our experience too.   

[ecslady]

On 12/18/2022 at 3:55 PM, goofysmom99 said:

I was diagnosed with celiac 20 years ago and, happily, traveling, especially cruising, is so much easier now than it used to be.  An easy I GF hack in OV is a taco salad.  Get the lettuce elsewhere and doctor it up at the Mexican food station.  Crumble a taco shell onto it if they're out of the chips.  I've been cruising on S-class ships since Solstice inaugural and only last month did I discover the limoncello cheesecake in Tuscan is GF (as long as they hold the graham cracker crust sprinkles).  When one of my tablemates ordered it and I finally, after all these years, saw the presentation, I had the maitre d' ask the chef if the bare limoncello cheesecake was actually GF.  Yup.  That, along with a shot of limoncello, was the food highlight of a 24-night cruise!  🥰  I order my cheeseburgers from room service without the bun; also order two slices of GF toast "not raisin."  Much better than anywhere else I've found aboard.  BTW, I don't order until around 2:00 so that it always arrives promptly and hot.  Another room service option is ordering two house salads, extra dressing, and two club sandwiches "no bread."  Makes a very respectable chef's salad to enjoy on my balcony.  The GF muffins from the Spa Cafe are somewhat moist and taste better than the unbelievably dry ones from Cafe al Bacio.  The Spa Cafe cookies are so-so.  Best tasting GF cookies are the coconut macaroons, all flavors, at al Bacio (their sugar content isn't for the faint-hearted, however).  Before dinner, I stop at the Martini or Passport Bar and grab a straight-up shot of a liqueur (Chambord, creme de menthe, Kahlua, etc.) every evening to carry into the MDR to pour over vanilla ice cream for dessert.  Very tasty sundae.  On the outside chance there's something worth ordering for dessert, I'll pour it over ice and drink it.  They can also make sundaes with the various cheesecake toppings.  I never feel deprived on Celebrity but occasionally need to be creative.

 

p.s.  The GF pizza is made from 100% rice flour which is hard and awful.  Pure rice flour is the problem with most of their GF offerings.  Anyway, if you order a GF pizza, just peel off the toppings and enjoy that part.  😉

@goofysmom99 Thank you for all this information.  I see that you are sailing on the Summit in February 2023.  Can you please report back on what your selections will be for these cruises.  I am new to being gluten free and my first cruise as gluten free will be on the Summit in May 2023, so I am really interested in what you chose of the MDR menus, in the OV etc.  After cruising for 20+ years, this will be a change for me, and I have to admit, I'm stressing a bit about how I'm going to handle this.