Jump to content

  • 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

Going on Cruise with 60+ Food Intolerances! Help!

CaliSparrow

Recommended Posts

CaliSparrow Collaborator
CaliSparrow
Posted

I folks,

Have any of you travelled on Princess Cruises with multiple intolerances?  I have so many intolerances and right now, I'm very nervous about getting on a ship and having no control over my food.  How well does Princess Cruises accommodate those with Celiac & food intolerances?  How early should I contact the ship?  Please share whatever experiences you have had!

Thank you!

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

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


cyclinglady Grand Master
cyclinglady
Posted

I think you can do a search within the forum to determine how to survive a cruise.  The first step is notifying the cruise line months prior to departure.  Then upon boarding immediately find the head waiter or one of them.  Usually the ship has everyone eating at the buffet restaurant for lunch the first day.  .  I ask for them to get me food from the back kitchen or they run the main dining floor where the "allergy" section of the kitchen is located.  I am sure every cruise is set up a bit differently.  

But... 60 plus intolerances (how can that be?) is really rough.  Are you sure these are foods that make you really sick or just a list of foods from an IgG food "allergy" test?  If these are foods that produce anaphylactic reactions, then  I would be worried.

For me, I focus on being gluten free and do my best to avoid my other minor intolerances (e.g. Garlic, nuts, mushrooms). Even if exposed, my reaction is not severe like a gluten reaction.  

I hope this helps!  

CaliSparrow Collaborator
CaliSparrow
Posted
  • Author
17 hours ago, cyclinglady said:

I think you can do a search within the forum to determine how to survive a cruise.  The first step is notifying the cruise line months prior to departure.  Then upon boarding immediately find the head waiter or one of them.  Usually the ship has everyone eating at the buffet restaurant for lunch the first day.  .  I ask for them to get me food from the back kitchen or they run the main dining floor where the "allergy" section of the kitchen is located.  I am sure every cruise is set up a bit differently.  

But... 60 plus intolerances (how can that be?) is really rough.  Are you sure these are foods that make you really sick or just a list of foods from an IgG food "allergy" test?  If these are foods that produce anaphylactic reactions, then  I would be worried.

For me, I focus on being gluten free and do my best to avoid my other minor intolerances (e.g. Garlic, nuts, mushrooms). Even if exposed, my reaction is not severe like a gluten reaction.  

I hope this helps!  

Hi and thanks!

How it came to be is being undiagnosed for 10+ years plus high mercury poisoning, MTHFR, sleep apnea and deficiency of a hormone that helps the kidneys hang onto water (so for many years, I was deprived of nutrition, oxygen, water and poisoned on top of it with a faulty mechanism for detox - as my doctor said, "You're missing all of the foundational building blocks for life!").  Thank goodness I found her.  The other doctors just thought I needed psych pills.

These are intolerances, not allergies, thank goodness (again :).  Most of them are mild but even so, I experience foggy head, inflammation, body aches, "C", an inability to make decisions, emotionality, and sometimes nervous system impediments depending on which food.  They all cause different symptoms.  If I was to eat something with lemon in it, I can handle that about 1-2 times during the trip and no one would know the difference but me (& even I might not notice because of the foggy head aspect).  I expect to eat some of the milder foods on this trip, as it was really a bear avoiding all these foods even in the comfort of my own home.  The more that slip in, the more inflammation/symptoms.  I really do expect to eat some of these foods (but not gluten!).

So it's not life altering but it would definitely be fun altering and potentially miserable.

Thanks for your response.  I appreciate it.  I'm going to contact the cruise ship so that I don't worry so much leading up to the trip.  That is also unhealthy for the gut!

Cali

CaliSparrow Collaborator
CaliSparrow
Posted
  • Author

BTW, it's been over two years since I've been on here and I am doing MUCH, much better!  Even slow progress is progress nevertheless. 

To all you newbies, may you champion self-care and HANG IN THERE :)

  • 2 months later...
DFowers Rookie
DFowers
Posted

There is a group on Facebook called "Cruising Gluten Free". Many are sharing experiences and asking questions there. We would love to hear your experiences as well.

  • 7 months later...
munchkinz Newbie
munchkinz
Posted

So this doesn't really answer the initial question, but have you tried a rotating diet to prevent further intolerances? A rotating diet is a diet in which you never eat the same food twice within a four day period. For example, you eat an omelet with cheese and mushroom on day one, no eggs, cheese, or mushroom until day five. Also, I am also planning a cruise while managing celiac for the summer. What I have found is that Royal Carribean takes things very seriously and is well informed. You will order your meals the day before, and work with the staff about all of your allergies. But note, that you will not be able to eat from the buffet because let's be honest everything is going to end up contaminated, even the gluten-free section.

Archived

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

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


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      132,398
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    Megannnnn
    Newest Member
    Megannnnn
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.5k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • Scott Adams
      Coeliac UK Research Conference 2025

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      Thanks for sharing this!
    • Scott Adams
      Shingles - Could It Be Related to Gluten/ Celiac

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      I had the same thing happen to me at around your age, and to this day it's the most painful experience I've ever had. For me it was the right side of my head, above my ear, running from my nerves in my neck. For years before my outbreak I felt a tingling sensation shooting along the exact nerves that ended up exactly where the shingles blisters appeared. I highly recommend the two shot shingles vaccine as soon as your turn 50--I did this because I started to get the same tingling sensations in the same area, and after the vaccines I've never felt that again.  As you likely know, shingles is caused by chicken pox, which was once though of as one of those harmless childhood viruses that everyone should catch in the wild--little did they know that it can stay in your nervous system for your entire life, and cause major issues as you age.
    • trents
      Blood tests low iGA 4 years later digestive issues

      By trents · Posted

      Keep us posted.
    • Clear2me
      Gluten free nuts

      By Clear2me · Posted

      Thanks for the info. I recently moved to CA from Wyoming and in that western region the Costco and Sam's /Walmart Brands have many nuts and more products that are labeled gluten free. I was told it's because those products are packaged and processed  in different  plants. Some plants can be labeled  gluten free because the plant does not also package gluten products and they know that for example the trucks, containers equipment are not used to handle wheat, barely or Rye. The Walmart butter in the western region says gluten free but not here. Most of The Kirkland and Members Mark brands in CA say they are from Vietnam. That's not the case in Wyoming and Colorado. I've spoken to customer service at the stores here in California. They were not helpful. I check labels every time I go to the store. The stores where I am are a Sh*tshow. The Magalopoly grocery chain Vons/Safeway/Albertsons, etc. are the same. Fishers and Planters brands no longer say gluten free. It could be regional. There are nuts with sugar coatings and fruit and nut mixes at the big chains that are labeled gluten free but I don't want the fruit or sugar.  It's so difficult I am considering moving again. I thought it would be easier to find safe food in a more populated area. It's actually worse.  I was undiagnosed for most of my life but not because I didn't try to figure it out. So I have had all the complications possible. I don't have any spare organs left.  No a little gluten will hurt you. The autoimmune process continues to destroy your organs though you may not feel it. If you are getting a little all the time and as much as we try we probably all are and so the damage is happening. Now the FDA has pretty much abandoned celiacs. There are no requirements for labeling for common allergens on medications. All the generic drugs made outside the US are not regulated for common allergens and the FDA is taking the last gluten free porcine Thyroid med, NP Thyroid, off the market in 2026. I was being glutened by a generic levothyroxin. The insurance wouldn't pay for the gluten free brand any longer because the FDA took them all off their approved formulary. So now I am paying $147 out of pocket for NP Thyroid but shortly I will have no safe choice. Other people with allergies should be aware that these foreign generic pharmaceutical producers are using ground shellfish shell as pill coatings and anti-desicants. The FDA knows this but  now just waits for consumers to complain or die. The take over of Wholefoods by Amazon destroyed a very reliable source of good high quality food for people with allergies and for people who wanted good reliably organic food. Bezos thought  he could make a fortune off people who were paying alot for organic and allergen free food by substituting cheap brands from Thailand. He didn't understand who the customers were who were willing to pay more for that food and why. I went from spending hundreds to nothing because Bezo removed every single trusted brand that I was buying. Now they are closing Whole foods stores across the country. In CA, Mill Valley store (closed July 2025) and the National Blvd. store in West Los Angeles (closed October 2025). The Cupertino store will close.  In recent years I have learned to be careful and trust no one. I have been deleberately glutened in a restaurant that was my favorite (a new employee). The Chef owner was not in the kitchen that night. I've had  a metal scouring pad cut up over my food.The chain offered gluten free dishes but it only takes one crazy who thinks you're a problem as a food fadist. Good thing I always look. Good thing they didn't do that to food going to a child with a busy mom.  I give big tips and apologize for having to ask in restaurants but mental illness seem to be rampant. I've learn the hard way.          I don't buy any processed food that doesn't say gluten free.  I am a life long Catholic. I worked for the Church while at college. I don't go to Church anymore because the men at the top decided Jesus is gluten. The special hosts are gluten less not gluten free. No I can't drink wine after people with gluten in their mouth and a variety of deadly germs. I have been abandoned and excluded by my Church/Family.  Having nearly died several times, safe food is paramount. If your immune system collapses as mine did, you get sepsis. It can kill you very quickly. I spent 5 days unconscious and had to have my appendix and gall bladder removed because they were necrotic. I was 25. They didn't figure out I had celiac till I was 53. No one will take the time to tell you what can happen when your immune system gets overwhelmed from its constant fighting the gluten and just stops. It is miserable that our food is processed so carelessly. Our food in many aspects is not safe. And the merging of all the grocery chains has made it far worse. Its a disaster. Krogers also recently purchased Vitacost where I was getting the products I could no longer get at Whole Foods. Kroger is eliminating those products from Vitacost just a Bezos did from WF. I am looking for reliable and certified sources for nuts. I have lived the worst consequences of the disease and being exposed unknowingly and maliciously. Once I was diagnosed I learned way more than anyone should have to about the food industry.  I don't do gray areas. And now I dont eat out except very rarely.  I have not eaten fast food for 30 years before the celiac diagnosis. Gluten aside..... It's not food and it's not safe.  No one has got our backs. Sharing safe food sources is one thing we can do to try to be safe.        
    • Mmoc
      Blood tests low iGA 4 years later digestive issues

      By Mmoc · Posted

      Thank you kindly for your response. I have since gotten the other type of bloods done and am awaiting results. 
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.