Cruising with Celiacs disease

[JHealy28S]

I will be cruising on a carnival cruise with a friend with Celiacs disease and I am wondering if anyone has any experience in this area...how able was the cruise line able to accomodate the dietary restrictions. Any info appreciated.:)

[ooulio]

I was diagnosed last year after my last cruise March 2. I have been talking to many people that have it. I am learning. This will be my first cruise as a celiac in a couple weeks. I know you have to send in a form ahead of time. Talk to the maitre de and inform him you need gluten free food. Someone told me they have a pizza that is gluten free. They also have a chocolate melting cake that is gluten free. I will let you know after I come back.

[JHealy28S]

Thank you very much and I will look forward to your reply. I hope that they will do everything possible to make sure your cruise dining experience is exceptional while adhering to the necessary dietary guidelines. Have fun!

[TheHowards]

I do not have Celiac, but my best friend does. She told the waiter on the first night of our cruise, and each night a special dietician came to our table to go over the next day's menu and help her make choices of what contained gluten and what did not. We were all very impressed. I understand that creme brulee (hope I spelled it close) is an acceptable dessert for those with Celiac. While it wasn't on the menu, the dietician had it prepared for her each day.

 

Bottom line...just ask for help and you should be fine.

 

Bob

[JHealy28S]

Thanks for the reply Bob. I figured that the cruise lines would be accomodating...but it helps hearing it from someone who has been there.

[Essiesmom]

Your friend needs to contact the special needs dept. well ahead of time. they may want a list of the foods he prefers. I cruised on the Fascination in Dec. and a member of my table was on a gluten free diet. the wait staff were expecting him. they had gluten free bread at every meal. the dining room hostess and maitre'd came over each evening with the menu for the next day. he had no trouble finding acceptable foods on the menu. The last two nights, they prepared special dishes for him that were not on the menu. They came out after the rest of us had finished our entrees, but he was really pleased. they were a shrimp dish, and filet mignon. They also did creme brulee twice, and a very rich chocolate dessert. I think the chef regarded it as a challenge and enjoyed it. The gentleman had made a contact in the Lido buffet, and had his lunches there. EM

[najnelle]

I am Celiac. Two years ago on our cruise, I was pleasantly surprised with all the options for me, how knowledgable the staff was, and the gluten free bread was really good (that's unusual!).

[joepeka]

She told the waiter on the first night of our cruise, and each night a special dietician came to our table to go over the next day's menu and help her make choices of what contained gluten and what did not.

The family at the table next to us on our Legend cruise last year did this exact thing - the dietician was very prompt very night to review the appropriate selections and make sure the person got exactly what they wanted and was within their diet. I was impressed at the attention.

[cigal]

JHealy,

 

You have gotten some helpful answers here, but you should also ask this question on the Cruise Foodies Forum. This topic is discussed frequently there, and you might get even more information.

 

Here is the link to that forum:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=204

 

Good luck, and enjoy your cruise!!

[callaster84]

I have celiac disease I was diagnosed a couple of years ago. My fiancee and I went on our first cruise in March of 2008 and we were so impressed that we will be taking another cruise in a few weeks with carnival. There is a special Requirments Information form that you can get off the carnival website, I filled it out and indicated that I had celiac and thus an allergy to gluten. They were very accomidating as other's have said when we arrived at dinner the first night there we were met by the hostess who went through the menu with me for that day and the next dinner. Then each day we would go through the menu for the next night.

 

The first night they did not have gluten free bread, the second they did however the server brought it out in a basket with all of the "normal" bread so it was contaminated. However once I explained that the bread had to stay seperate every night from there on I recieved the bread on a seperate plate. The food was fine and I didn't get sick at all however it was really bland. The first few nights I would pick a chicken dish off the menu that looked great but what I would actual get was a plain broiled peice of chicken with no sauce or spices, plain white rice, and plain veg. Now I am sure that they were just trying to be overly cautions as not to make me sick. By the 4th night i spoke up and said that while i really appreciated all the extra work I was not allergic to flavour. I noted several spices and sauces that were gluten free and from there on the meals that appeared were much better. So just make sure if your better plain fish to speak up so they know you want flavour with your food.

 

Breakfast and luch were not a problem, I usually had an omlette for breakfast and if you ask they will give you gluten free bread at dinner for breakfast. For lunch there was a stirfry station that had rice noodles, you pick all the vegetables you want and the sauce and they cook them infront of you. The first day I asked about the sauces and they let me know which I could have and I had different variation everyday for lunch, yummy. I love Creme Brule to start witha nd once they found out I recieved it evernight from then on.

 

Just make sure to ask lots of questions if your not sure and you will be fine..

 

have a great trip

[JHealy28S]

Hey thank you to all for all the replies.......as well as the link to the other forum which I did not know about and will definitely check out. My husband & I are frequest cruisers, but our friends that are joining us this May, this will be their first cruise and being that she has celiacs, I just wanted to get SOME info which now that I have, I think she will feel assured that cruising will not compromise her diet. Thanks again!

[ooulio]

We just got back yesterday from Carnival Freedom. I have to say the dininig room was great. One of the ladies in the suit came over after each meal to help me prepare a special dinner each day. They also made me a special gluten free pizza for lunch. I also had creme brulee that was awesome. They also made chocolate melting cake which was good. The special bread was good . I found it tasted better with butter and jelly. Lasagna was really good. I had a spaghetti which I forgot which one was good too. One of the ribs was gluten free with the sauce. Other one is not. If anyone has any questions on the special diet, feel free to email me at ooulio@aol.com They did make it so easy to have good food. It was a challenge but I did it.