Jump to content
This site uses cookies. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. More Info... ×

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Gluten Free Cruise

iceman721

By iceman721
in Traveling with Celiac Disease

Recommended Posts

iceman721 Newbie
iceman721
Posted

I took my first cruise in December since being diagnosed with Celiac Disease. This was my 10th cruise, the 3rd with Holland America and the 1st on the Noordam.  I was very apprehensive about cruising with this rigid diet. I was advised to select fixed dining thereby having the same servers each day. This proved to be excellent advise. I met my dining steward Josie that first night and he assured me that being on a gluten-free diet was not going to be a problem. He explained that he will show me each night the following night's menu and that I could select ANYTHING on the menu and they would prepare it for me gluten-free. That is exactly what happened.  I could not believe it! 

 

Midway through the cruise Josie asked me what my favorite desert was and I answered black berry cobbler which I have not had since going on the diet. The next night he presented me with a delicious gluten-free cobbler. Now, that had to be made from scratch just for me! I have no knowledge if other cruise lines offer this kind of service but I wanted to make this known to all gluten-free cruisers.    


 

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


GF-Cheetah Cub Contributor
GF-Cheetah Cub
Posted

That's good to hear!!

 

We will be going on our 1st cruise with our daughter's celiac diagnosis in April.   I have a question: when you disembark for land for the day, do you ask the cruise ship to pack a gluten-free lunch with you?  Or how do you handle outings on land?

cyclinglady Grand Master
cyclinglady
Posted

I cruised RC this past summer (Baltic Sea). Hubby and I took our own food, supplemented with fruit from the cruise ship on port days. Even with the gluten-free language cards, we were not able to dine at restaurants. Just our luck maybe. We ate when we got back to the ship. Our headwaiter made sure we had gluten-free foods to eat at the coffee shop when the main dining room was closed. He did not recommend ordering room service.

iceman721 Newbie
iceman721
Posted
  • Author

I suppose I could have had a gluten-free lunch put together for shore excursions but never thought of it.  I was always back on ship before I was starving!   

I'm guessing that if you sign up for an excursion that include lunch,  it will NOT be gluten-free.  These lunches  are usually sub-contractedby the cruise line  to locals.

GF-Cheetah Cub Contributor
GF-Cheetah Cub
Posted

We will be on a Norwegian cruise to the Carribean Islands.   They already emailed me that they will accomodate our gluten-free diet, but said that we are not allow to bring our own food onboard.   I am worried about not finding food for my 11 year-old on the various islands.   So, I don't know if the cruise will provide a gluten-free brown bag lunch for us?  

cyclinglady Grand Master
cyclinglady
Posted

I brought Lara bars in my luggage and other food that we picked up in the UK before our departure. No one bothered us. I would not take on produce -- just packaged items in your checked luggage.

Eat a big breakfast on port days (no room service and note their scrambled eggs have gluten in them, so ask for fresh scrambled). Check out local port grocery stores for fresh fruit, etc. Meet with your headwaiter as soon as you board ship (or some headwaiter). On RC they only have the buffet open during departures. The headwaiter found safe food for us there on that first day. Otherwise, we never ate anywhere but the main dining room. Plus, they sent Udi's rolls and cookies individually wrapped to our stateroom. We took those in our backpacks on port days. We washed whole fruit from the buffet line in our stateroom for snacks and stored them in our room frig.

I even asked for soy milk at the Starbuck's counter when I got my free mug of coffee. No extra charge for that! Udi's pizza at the coffee shop. Had to wait, but it was worth it!

I am pretty sure you will not get a brown bag. I am sure it is against regulations. But they only check purses and backpacks when you reboard. Some yahoos are always trying to smuggle on shells, booze and fruit.

The Carribean cruise is super fun for the kids. Check out the kid's clubs.

iceman721 Newbie
iceman721
Posted
  • Author

Try going to the buffet before leaving the ship.  They should have gluten-free bread and buns for sandwiches that you can take with you.

If you port in Grand Caymans, Cozumel or other large ports you might be surprised at the gluten-free finds.

Best advise is to make good friends with your head steward in the dining room.  He can make things happen.

Don't Worry - Be Happy  

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      131,163
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    Estee
    Newest Member
    Estee
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.4k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Who's Online (See full list)

    • There are no registered users currently online
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • DAR girl
      Celiac and allergic to common subs and adds in prepared foods

      By DAR girl · Posted

      Looking for help sourcing gluten-free products that do not contain potato or corn derived ingredients. I have other autoimmune conditions (Psoriatic Arthritis and Sjogrens) so I’m looking for prepared foods as I have fatigue and cannot devote a lot of time to baking my own treats. 
    • Scott Adams
      Disregarded

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      I am so sorry you're going through this. It's completely understandable to feel frustrated, stressed, and disregarded after such a long and difficult health journey. It's exhausting to constantly advocate for yourself, especially when you're dealing with so many symptoms and positive diagnoses like SIBO, while still feeling unwell. The fact that you have been diligently following the diet without relief is a clear sign that something else is going on, and your doctors should be investigating other causes or complications, not dismissing your very real suffering. 
    • Oldturdle
      Paying for my own Celiac screening at WalkInLab so a positive result doesn’t become part of my medical history

      By Oldturdle · Posted

      It is just so sad that health care in the United States has come to this.  Health insurance should be available to everyone, not just the healthy or the rich.  My heart goes out to you.  I would not hesitate to have the test and pay for it myself.  My big concern would be how you could keep the results truly private.  I am sure that ultimately, you could not.  A.I. is getting more and more pervasive, and all data is available somewhere.  I don't know if you could give a fake name, or pay for your test with cash.  I certainly would not disclose any positive results on a private insurance application.  As I understand it, for an official diagnosis, an MD needs to review your labs and make the call.  If you end up in the ER, or some other situation, just request a gluten free diet, and say it is because you feel better when you don't eat gluten.      Hang in there, though.  Medicare is not that far away for you, and it will remove a lot of stress from your health care concerns.  You will even be able to "come out of the closet" about being Celiac!
    • plumbago
      Paying for my own Celiac screening at WalkInLab so a positive result doesn’t become part of my medical history

      By plumbago · Posted

      Yes, I've posted a few times about two companies: Request a Test and Ulta Labs. Also, pretty much we can all request any test we want (with the possible exception of the N protein Covid test and I'm sure a couple of others) with Lab Corp (or Pixel by Lab Corp) and Quest. I much prefer Lab Corp for their professionalism, ease of service and having it together administratively, at least in DC. And just so you know, Request a Test uses Lab Corp and Quest anyway, while Ulta Labs uses only Quest. Ulta Labs is cheaper than Request a Test, but I am tired of dealing with Quest, so I don't use them so much.
    • Scott Adams
      Does Dailymed.nlm.nih.gov site have filters for gluten?

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      PS - I think you meant this site, but I don't believe it has been updated in years: http://glutenfreedrugs.com/ so it is best to use: You can search this site for prescriptions medications, but will need to know the manufacturer/maker if there is more than one, especially if you use a generic version of the medication: To see the ingredients you will need to click on the correct version of the medication and maker in the results, then scroll down to "Ingredients and Appearance" and click it, and then look at "Inactive Ingredients," as any gluten ingredients would likely appear there, rather than in the Active Ingredients area. https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/   
×
×
  • Create New...