gluten free on ncl jewel

[kanitter]

Hi all, I'm interested in a cruise on the jewel and am trying to find out if anyone here has actually ate any of the gf food they offer. Do you know what brand of bread or rolls they serve(as some of them taste really awful:( !!! Also does anyone know if they have dedicated fryers for french fries or do they use the same ones other foods are cooked in. Thanks in advance for any help as it would be nice if DD could actually eat bread when I do, without looking like she would like to shoot me. lol.

thanks again

\sue

[adh27]

I know this deals with food, but you might want to ask this over on the ncl forum. You'd probably get more responses.

[kanitter]

adh27, thanks for the reply. I will try over there.

[VonChap]

Hi all, I'm interested in a cruise on the jewel and am trying to find out if anyone here has actually ate any of the gf food they offer. Do you know what brand of bread or rolls they serve(as some of them taste really awful:( !!! Also does anyone know if they have dedicated fryers for french fries or do they use the same ones other foods are cooked in. Thanks in advance for any help as it would be nice if DD could actually eat bread when I do, without looking like she would like to shoot me. lol.

thanks again

\sue

 

Sue, I cruise with NCL all the time because they do an excellent job with Gluten Free choices. Email the Access Desk at accessdesk at ncl dot com and give them your reservation number. Tell them that you have a GF diner cruising. They will send you a list of items that you can pre-order. The Pearl always has GF items also in stock without a pre-order. When you board, ask to speak to the food and beverage manager. They will take very good care of your GF cruiser.

 

Have a great cruise!

[kanitter]

VonChap, thanks for your answer. I would like to know if you have actually tried their gf bread, and if so how was it. I'm sorry to say most of the gf breads aren't very good. My dd only likes a couple of the brands. And I've tasted them, and she's right. Would really like to know your opinion of the tasted of what the jewel offers. Thanks Sue

[NitaBcruising]

Sue,

I was on NCL Jewel in Jan. They do a good job of helping you with GF. However, the bread they brought wasn't all that good, as I also find most GF breads aren't. I even got my waiter and one head waiter to try it, and they thought it was awful! :D But, beings there isn't a bread I truly like, I buy one brand and always toast or grill sandwiches.

 

I just got off The Caribbean Princess, and after being brought bread, I said I didn't care for any, unless they could toast it! They brought me toasted bread back, and with butter, it was better than most! Maybe that would be an option?

 

Sorry, I've never asked about the dedicated fryer on any of my cruises. I have asked about the dressings, even in the buffet. I've had the huge jar of dressing brought out to me to read the label! If there is no GF ingredient, it doesn't have to say NO Glutens, as it still won't make me sick.

 

BTW, I was told (on this recent Princess cruise) that I could have GF noodles. One evening I had GF noodles and Alfredo sauce. Very good! It may be that all the lines will do this for you. In Anytime (Freestyle) dining, the head waiter helps with your choice for the next day, and takes your room number so any waiter can help the next evening. What they do is bring you a menu for the next evening, they help you with GF choices, and you order for the next evening.

 

Hope this helps!

[VonChap]

VonChap, thanks for your answer. I would like to know if you have actually tried their gf bread, and if so how was it. I'm sorry to say most of the gf breads aren't very good. My dd only likes a couple of the brands. And I've tasted them, and she's right. Would really like to know your opinion of the tasted of what the jewel offers. Thanks Sue

 

I did eat quite a bit of GF bread on the Pearl. Sliced bread, hamburger buns, hot dog buns, etc. If done right, they taste great. They would run the sliced bread through a steamer and then toast it with butter. It was good. (without that process it was terrible) They toasted the hamburger and hot dog buns before bringing them out. I was even able to go to the buffet and ask them to bring out some GF bread. It took about 10 minutes to arrive, but this let me join our friends at the BBQ.

 

I would meet with the head waiter every night and tell them what I would like to eat for the next day. They would have the menus, even for the specialty restaurants. They made me GF pizza and GF pasta in the Italian specialty restaurant. I was able to eat at every restaurant with friends.

 

You should go ahead and order the pizza crust and pasta through the access desk so that they have it on the ship for you. Last April, there was no charge. I just ordered all the supplies for my cruise next month, and they sent me confirmation within 24 hours.

 

This service is one of the top reasons that we cruise with NCL.

[NitaBcruising]

I did eat quite a bit of GF bread on the Pearl. Sliced bread, hamburger buns, hot dog buns, etc. If done right, they taste great. They would run the sliced bread through a steamer and then toast it with butter. It was good. (without that process it was terrible) They toasted the hamburger and hot dog buns before bringing them out. I was even able to go to the buffet and ask them to bring out some GF bread. It took about 10 minutes to arrive, but this let me join our friends at the BBQ.

 

I would meet with the head waiter every night and tell them what I would like to eat for the next day. They would have the menus, even for the specialty restaurants. They made me GF pizza and GF pasta in the Italian specialty restaurant. I was able to eat at every restaurant with friends.

 

You should go ahead and order the pizza crust and pasta through the access desk so that they have it on the ship for you. Last April, there was no charge. I just ordered all the supplies for my cruise next month, and they sent me confirmation within 24 hours.

 

This service is one of the top reasons that we cruise with NCL.

 

Good to know about the pizza! Thanks! I am so used to bunless hamburgers, it didn't occur to me to ask for a bun! The only place I got a GF bun on my hotdog was Disneyland! I asked for a bunless hotdog, was told it would take 15 minutes. I couldn't imagine heating up a solo wiener taking so long, but did wait. Imagine my surprise when a GF hot dog and bun were brought out to me! I had one again the next day! :D

[kanitter]

Nita and Vonchap, thank you both for your answers. My dd will be glad to know that the bread is actually eatable. We went out to dinner together tonight at Pasta House because we heard they now have a gf menu. She ordered the noodle with alfredo sauce. It was really bad!! She ate most of it because she was really hungry for noodles. But did tell me she wouldn't order them again. I took a bite and had to agree. So she will be glad to hear that someone else has been the first to taste something before her. Again thank you guys again, It's been great having someplace like cc to go to for answers to our questions. :D:D:D

Sue

[NitaBcruising]

Sue, we have The Old Spaghetti Factory here that has GF pasta. I order it with alfredo sauce. It's pretty good, but they don't put quite enough sauce on, and the noodles def. need sauce to taste good! But, the GF noodles with alfredo sacue I had on Princess, was very good! Plenty of tasty sauce. Hopefully NCL will have some good choices. I just never asked for anything that wasn't on the menu! On Princess, Fettucine Alfredo was on their always available menu, so they offered it to me GF.

 

Good luck!

[kanitter]

Nita, thanks for your reply. It's nice knowing that more places are starting to acknowledge that not everyone can eat gluten. I don't think we have a spaghetti factory anywhere close to us. A few places around us are starting to carry gf food, but it seems everywhere we go they never put enough sauce on the noodles. I don't think they realize that the gf noodles soak up more sauce than regular noodles. Oh well, at least my dd does have a few more options than even a year ago. Again, thanks to everyone who has answered me. I knew I could count on you gals here at cc. :D

Sue

[NitaBcruising]

Sue,

I am lucky that my local grocery store has a health food section, and carries a bit of GF food. Also, I have a GF store, maybe 3 miles from my house! The food is expensive, but the owner is good about telling me what other people have found to be the tastiest. That saves me from buying and trying as many foods myself.

 

Does your DD have a GF pizza she likes? If not, try to find Glutino's indivual frozen pizzas. The Duo Cheese is good, with some extra cheese and ham, or other toppings added. I even take one when we're invited for pizza at other people's houses.

 

I do think you'll find the cruise-lines to be very accomodating to your GF needs. Don't hesitate to ask, for anything! I know I will in the future, thanks to VonChap's advice! :)

[kanitter]

Nita, I'm not sure what pizza crust my dd uses. I know she doesn't buy it very often because of the prices. we do have a health food store about 45 min away, and the owner does try to give tips on what people have said they liked. ( i can't complain about the distance as my regular grocery store is about 25 min. away!) I live in the boonies:DMy dd does like the bread made by bread of life. She says it almost tastes like pumpernickle bread. It's about the only bread she does like. I've even tried making her different breads at home, but can't say they were very good. The one I make that she does like is an angel food cake from the gluten free pantry. She likes to slice it real thin and use it for ham sandwiches. She says it taste just like hawaiian sweet bread. Of course we all know she's a little strange:rolleyes: but we love her anyway. But anyway thanks for the tip about the pizza, I'll make sure to tell her.

Sue

[NitaBcruising]

Yesterday I bought a loaf of fresh bread at my GF store. It was $7.50! :eek: I hesitated to pay that, especially not knowing if I'd even like it! The owner opened a bag of the same rolls, gave me one to try. I liked it, so bought the bread. It was a bit sweet, kind of like the Hawaiian bread. I kept out a few slices, froze the rest. Eating GF can be so expensive!

[kanitter]

Aren't the prices sky-high:eek: But what choice do you have:(

[NitaBcruising]

Aren't the prices sky-high:eek: But what choice do you have:(

 

None whatsoever, excpet to eat meat, veggies, nothing specific that is made GF! :rolleyes:

 

I just got a GF newsletter in an email. One person wrote that the additional cost of the GF products can be tax deductible! You have to keep receipts, showing the higher price you pay, than say a regular loaf of bread. Here's the paragraph explaining it. Not sure I'm patient enough to do this, but will def. keep receipts, in case it looks like it adds up enough.

 

Q4. Hi Beth, I just wanted to comment on the question by Darlene in the 11/08/08 issue regarding the high cost of gluten free food. I am an accountant and I also have celiac disease. I'm sure that most of you are not aware that the cost of our gluten free foods are tax deductible! The IRS has issued a revenue ruling (Rev Proc 55-261) that says, in summary, that the taxpayer can deduct the EXTRA COST of a gluten free product over what you would pay for a similar item at the grocery store. For example, if you buy a loaf of gluten free bread at $5.00 a loaf and regular bread is $2.00 a loaf, you may deduct the price difference of $3.00. You may also claim mileage expense for the extra trip to the health food or specialty store and postal costs on gluten free products ordered by mail. Since xanthan gum used in gluten free baking is completely different than anything used in ordinary baking, the total cost of this item can be claimed. In order to take this deduction, you must itemize all your deductions on Schedule A, AND the total cost of all your itemized medical expenses (including the gluten free items) must exceed 7.5 percent of your adjusted income. But since the cost of these items is so high, this will most likely put you over the top of that percentage. You must also save all your cash register tapes and receipts and canceled checks for these gluten free purchases. You will also need to prepare a list of the cost of similar items, with prices that are not gluten free. You need not submit these receipts and lists with your return, but you will need to retain it. Enclose a letter from your Doctor with the tax return stating that you have Celiac Disease and must adhere to a gluten free diet for life. On the tax return itself, under medical deductions, list "Extra cost of gluten free diet" and enter the total amount of your extra expenses. I filed by return like this last year and received a letter from the IRS saying these deductions were disallowed. However, I wrote back to them, referring to the following IRS rulings: Rev Proc 55-261; Cohen 38 TC 387; Revenues Ruling 76-80,67 TC 481; Fleming TC MEMO 1980 583;and Van Kalb TC MEMO 1678 366. Once they received that letter, my deductions were allowed! So my suggestion would be to write the citation #'s from above on your tax return next to your deductions when you file your return. Although this is indeed a lot of work, it will be well worth it in the long run.

[kanitter]

I forgot to mention this, I do taxes for a living. As you posted you can use the gf foods as an expense on your returns. The important thing you need to have is that letter from your doctor! Otherwise the Irs will really give you a runaround. And you don't have to take all of your receipts with you when you have your taxes done, (I would much rather know the total amount than to have to sit and add everything up:rolleyes:) I always ask for the letter from your doctor tho. For some people this really doesn't help them, Like my dd for example, as she doesn't have hardly any other medical expenses. But you never know. I always try to add everything I can for my clients each year, even if they haven't had enough deductions this year by next year that may change. And if the person who does your taxes tries to talk you out of using the expense of the gf foods, and says there is no way the irs will allow it, then it's time to get a new tax preparer:mad:. I've seen some who don't want to deal with any letters from the irs, and in mho then they shouldn't be in the business!

Sorry, I'll get off my soapbox now, as you can probably tell this is something that really irritates me. I'm glad that it does help some people because the prices are so high, and I don't know anyone who would eat the nasty gf bread if they didn't have to.:eek:

Sue

[NitaBcruising]

Sue, thanks! I doubt I have enough medical expenses either, luckily! Odd I hadn't heard of this before, though. It's good for your clients that you know this, and can help them!

[VonChap]

Sue, thanks! I doubt I have enough medical expenses either, luckily! Odd I hadn't heard of this before, though. It's good for your clients that you know this, and can help them!

 

Thanks Nita & Sue. I have been saving and logging in all my receipts for the past year but probably dont have enough medical expenses. But, I just got back from the store where I buy GF supplies and the prices have really gone up in the past few weeks. If the prices keep going up, I may have enough expenses for the next tax year. :eek:

[NitaBcruising]

Thanks Nita & Sue. I have been saving and logging in all my receipts for the past year but probably dont have enough medical expenses. But, I just got back from the store where I buy GF supplies and the prices have really gone up in the past few weeks. If the prices keep going up, I may have enough expenses for the next tax year. :eek:

 

My insurance is good enough, so I don't pay much for medical. That will change next year, due to retirement insurance, so will save my receipts! I've noti ced everything going up in price, in part due to the cost od fuel for transporting. Wish prices would come down, now that gas has! :rolleyes:

 

VonChap, your cruise is coming up soon! Bon Voyage! :)

[kanitter]

To Nita and VonChap, and anyone else who has celiac. Don't forget to keep track of your milage when you drive to a specialty store for your gf items. That is also deductable. Besides, the more money you save, the more cruises you get:D:D