Carnival Dining with Celiac - Advise YTD vs Set

[lesters]

We are heading to Alaska in June on the Luminosa and our daughter has decided to join in on the fun!

 

This will be her first cruise since being diagnosed with Celiac Disease.  I know there is now the Menu Mate which is fantastic and this should provide a ton of guidance on what she can or can't eat.  

 

Curious about people's experience with suppers - we are typically YTD people, but are currently waitlisted on this.  We just booked this past week so this is as last minute booking as we tend to be.    I have done some reading and have noted that some folks have ordered their dining meals the day before to ensure safety, avoid cross contamination etc. I believe they typically were set dining times.   So my question is (along with looking for any advice or experiences to ensure things go well) is should we just go with the set dining time - it would be the late seating that is available.  (She is 20 so not a child and this time is fine)  Or if we are able to get YTD is this is still an option that works with dietary issues.

 

Thanks everyone for any insight.  I know there is a special forum about dietary stuff but looking for Carnival specific info and experiencs.

 

Thanks!

 

 

[lasekeye]

Hi, I’m Celiac too & have been cruising for many years with Carnival (home 1 week since our last) & alway have YTD.

I prefer to eat at the MDR for evening & for Sea Day Brunch, for a few reasons….but it def is easier eating GF there.  Yes, the menue does have a symbol showing what’s GF & another symbol showing what is gluten free available (just pre order the night before).  The head table waiter always asks for my next night’s order (they will also take the morning order..but I usually have fruit & the always gf yogurt and granola parfait (I order an extra plain yogurt to go with it as the parfait has a very high ratio of the granola to yogurt), then I mix it all together on a plate…so I don’t pre order.

In the evening after being seated, I let the table staff know that I have pre ordered my meal.  They confirm my meal on their computer.  
The kitchen is also able to tweak items that aren’t usually always gf or gf available..eg the fried mozzarella sticks and the fried prawns…yummy, don’t hesitate to ask if there is something that you would like.

The dessert part of the menue doesn’t show many gf options other than the always available, fruit plate, chocolate melting cake or ice cream.  I quite often ask for the banana split (from the child’s menue).

[ozzie0075]

I have celiac and just got off the Magic this past weekend. We had YTD and had no issues. Each night our waiter would let me submit my order for both breakfast and dinner the next day.

 

When I sit down at the table, I would tell the waiter about my celiac. They will pull the order and confirm it with me.  They would bring gluten free bread if asked. 

 

I could pretty much order anything off the menu and they would tweak it to make it gluten free.  Desert wise I pretty much stuck to the melting cake each night, although one night I did have the Creme Brulle.  They did have different gluten free cake options on the lunch buffet. They would cut a fresh piece with a clean knife when I asked.  I also had ice cream out of the machine without issue. 

 

This was my first Carnival Cruise after being diagnosed and it was such a good experience, we booked another cruise the day we got off.  

 

Let me know if you have any questions. 

[lesters]

59 minutes ago, lasekeye said:

Hi, I’m Celiac too & have been cruising for many years with Carnival (home 1 week since our last) & alway have YTD.

I prefer to eat at the MDR for evening & for Sea Day Brunch, for a few reasons….but it def is easier eating GF there.  Yes, the menue does have a symbol showing what’s GF & another symbol showing what is gluten free available (just pre order the night before).  The head table waiter always asks for my next night’s order (they will also take the morning order..but I usually have fruit & the always gf yogurt and granola parfait (I order an extra plain yogurt to go with it as the parfait has a very high ratio of the granola to yogurt), then I mix it all together on a plate…so I don’t pre order.

In the evening after being seated, I let the table staff know that I have pre ordered my meal.  They confirm my meal on their computer.  
The kitchen is also able to tweak items that aren’t usually always gf or gf available..eg the fried mozzarella sticks and the fried prawns…yummy, don’t hesitate to ask if there is something that you would like.

The dessert part of the menue doesn’t show many gf options other than the always available, fruit plate, chocolate melting cake or ice cream.  I quite often ask for the banana split (from the child’s menue).

 

40 minutes ago, ozzie0075 said:

I have celiac and just got off the Magic this past weekend. We had YTD and had no issues. Each night our waiter would let me submit my order for both breakfast and dinner the next day.

 

When I sit down at the table, I would tell the waiter about my celiac. They will pull the order and confirm it with me.  They would bring gluten free bread if asked. 

 

I could pretty much order anything off the menu and they would tweak it to make it gluten free.  Desert wise I pretty much stuck to the melting cake each night, although one night I did have the Creme Brulle.  They did have different gluten free cake options on the lunch buffet. They would cut a fresh piece with a clean knife when I asked.  I also had ice cream out of the machine without issue. 

 

This was my first Carnival Cruise after being diagnosed and it was such a good experience, we booked another cruise the day we got off.  

 

Let me know if you have any questions. 

 

Thank you both so much!!!!  DD is very excited to know that dining should be easy - its not always that way at home so to have a vacation and being able to eat the good things too will be fantastic!!!

[cruising with the family]

On 3/3/2023 at 12:20 PM, lasekeye said:

Hi, I’m Celiac too & have been cruising for many years with Carnival (home 1 week since our last) & alway have YTD.

I prefer to eat at the MDR for evening & for Sea Day Brunch, for a few reasons….but it def is easier eating GF there.  Yes, the menue does have a symbol showing what’s GF & another symbol showing what is gluten free available (just pre order the night before).  The head table waiter always asks for my next night’s order (they will also take the morning order..but I usually have fruit & the always gf yogurt and granola parfait (I order an extra plain yogurt to go with it as the parfait has a very high ratio of the granola to yogurt), then I mix it all together on a plate…so I don’t pre order.

In the evening after being seated, I let the table staff know that I have pre ordered my meal.  They confirm my meal on their computer.  
The kitchen is also able to tweak items that aren’t usually always gf or gf available..eg the fried mozzarella sticks and the fried prawns…yummy, don’t hesitate to ask if there is something that you would like.

The dessert part of the menue doesn’t show many gf options other than the always available, fruit plate, chocolate melting cake or ice cream.  I quite often ask for the banana split (from the child’s menue).

they mark the GF items on the dinner menu now?  that's awesome.  I've been cruising for 11+ years with celiac and have been wanting this forever.  I have had to give multiple choices many nights, because the staff didn't know if they could do the entrees I picked GF or not!

[cruising with the family]

To the OP, I prefer YTD, but there is a benefit, IMO to having the same table, samewaitstaff...they sometimes remember the things you like (i.e., bread or no, separate butter, etc.), but you can always request to have the same waitstaff at YTD, if they are still doing that (I haven't cruised in a while!).  

[DPTexas]

Personally, I would suggest set dining because the waitstaff will get to know your dietary needs and also your likes.   Last year I cruised with a co-worker who is gluten-free and used Menu Mates.  We opted for early dining and the waitstaff was wonderful (as usual) and very aware of her menu limitations.  For example, upon seating, they automatically brought her a plate of gluten-free bread so she could enjoy hers while the rest of us ate ours.  She was very concerned before booking the cruise because of her dietary needs.  I was a bit concerned too, because she wanted to enjoy her first cruise but was concerned about her dining limitation, knowing food is such a large part of the cruising experience.  She felt having the same waitstaff (and the benefit of Menu Mates) was a huge aspect of enjoying the cruise and wanting to cruise again.

Hope this helps.

Happy cruising everyone.