gluten-free (Sort Of) On Holland America

[lpellegr]

I took a cruise on the MS Amsterdam, and as they recommended I contacted them about gluten-free food 90 days ahead of time.  They sent me a form to fill out about what gluten-free items I wanted - pancakes, pizza crusts, bread, muffins, etc, for each day of the trip.  So did I get that?  Heck no.  In the main (fancy) dining room I got 2 pieces of toasted gluten-free bread with each meal (and tough as nails  - nobody took me up on my dare to eat it), but there was no sign of the stuff I requested, or of any way to ask for it.  I would not have trusted the staff of the buffet to handle it safely anyway - no idea whether they had separate toasters, but I doubt it.  I did get an offer of gluten-free pasta at one of the optional restaurants, but didn't take it.  Clearly they were not in the gluten-free loop and that form I filled out was a sham.  I managed to find safe food, but it certainly was limited.  At least I didn't go home with the notorious cruise extra pounds.  The main dining room staff seemed to mostly understand my needs, and gave me the next day's menu each night to pick out some items that they would check for me, so that was good, but the buffet was clueless.  I will be contacting Holland America to tell them about this.

[cyclinglady]

That is a shame! I have cruised on just Royal Carribean a few times since my diagnosis. I am sorry that you had a poor experience on Holland America.

Like you, I notified the cruise line well in advance. On the very first day, I contacted one of the head waiters in the buffet room (only restaurant open while the ship was being boarded). They obtained gluten-free food for our family by going back in the kitchen away from the buffet line. Did we get a choice? Not, but it was safe. We were advised to eat the rest of our meals in the main diningroom. We got to know our waiter, bartender, chef, and head waiter very well. In fact, they came to us with questions just to make sure we would stay safe. They have received training, but it never hurts to question procedures.

Each day, they baked muffins and bread for us. Fresh! We snacked at the pizza/coffee joint when we returned to the ship after port visits. The gluten-free pizza was a frozen UDI's but it was better than nothing. We did have to wait for it to be baked though, but we were still grateful. We would run down, place our gluten-free order and show up in 30 minutes. We were advised not to order from room service, so cookies, chips and other gluten-free snacks (fruit) were sent directly to our room by our head waiter each day! Our head waiter was fabulous. He went out of his way, to accommodate our family, we never got glutened.

Again, so sorry about your experience. I just would advise that anyone considering a cruise to work with the staff to insure your safety -- even if you need to see the captain!