Honeymoon.....

[amybeth]

My fiance and I are planning an Alaskan cruise for our honeymoon. Does anyone know a cruiseline that can easily (and willingly) accomodate a gluten-free diet?

I usually take food when I travel, but I really don't want to have to worry about it while I'm supposed to be relaxin and enjoying the new hubby....

Thanks!

[jams]

My fiance and I are planning an Alaskan cruise for our honeymoon. Does anyone know a cruiseline that can easily (and willingly) accomodate a gluten-free diet?

I usually take food when I travel, but I really don't want to have to worry about it while I'm supposed to be relaxin and enjoying the new hubby....

Thanks!

I was just recently on a Royal Carribean cruise. We went last minute. They told me that they need 6 weeks advance notice before they can accomodate a gluten free diet. I did okay with 3 days notice. I just stuck to the basics. If you give them enough notice, they can make anything gluten free for you.

Good Luck and Congratulations!!

[bluelotus]

Yes, congrats.

I too did the Royal Caribbean cruise. You can bring dried goods on board with you, including cereals, snacks, whatever. They tell you that the cabins don't have a fridge, but mine did (a mini-bar sort of thing, I took their non-perisables out and put in my soy milks - Silk makes juice box sized versions that don't have to be refrigerated).

I heard that 6 week thing too, but did fine without it. I don't know if they would plan on buying you certain items if you gave advanced notice (cereal?), who knows.....if it were me, I would let them know, but be prepared by bringing your own stuff.

I talked with the maitre'd (that's got to be spelled wrong) the first night, and told him what's up. He wasn't too familiar with it, but told me not to eat at the buffet (cross contam issues) and said that I could order all my lunches and dinners (presumably bkfast too, but told him I was covered) in the restaurants on board or through room service. I had the waiter serve everything plain. I was able to order a burger from room service w/out (and never touching) the bun.

In all, traveling sucks with celiac disease - I miss the good food that I can easily whip up at home. Don't get me wrong, the food was fine, but with everything plain, it gets a little less than exciting. However, R.C. did a great job (I only got sick once, but I believe that comes with the territory in a non-gluten free kitchen).

I would also add that aside from the gluten-free thing, I am not sure if I like R.C. cruises much. There are lots of hidden prices on things, where very little on board is actually covered. Drinks (including soda) are very expensive (but they do allow you to bring you own wine, though they charge you $ to open it). Many of their groups workouts are not free (I am a workout junkie, so having to pay for yoga irritated me). They have very limited pool space (though this likely won't be an issue when sailing in Alaska!). Also, after about 4 days on the boat, I was ready to go ....... I was bored with the casino, expensive drinks, and lack of pool space; I am also not much of a bar-hoper, so although they had plenty, that did nothing for me. Good thing I had brought lots of books with me.

Good luck and I hope you enjoy the trip, wherever it takes you!

[VegasCeliacBuckeye]

Amy,

Take a look at these..

Open Original Shared Link

[jams]

I would also add that aside from the gluten-free thing, I am not sure if I like R.C. cruises much. There are lots of hidden prices on things, where very little on board is actually covered. Drinks (including soda) are very expensive (but they do allow you to bring you own wine, though they charge you $ to open it). Many of their groups workouts are not free (I am a workout junkie, so having to pay for yoga irritated me). They have very limited pool space (though this likely won't be an issue when sailing in Alaska!). Also, after about 4 days on the boat, I was ready to go ....... I was bored with the casino, expensive drinks, and lack of pool space; I am also not much of a bar-hoper, so although they had plenty, that did nothing for me. Good thing I had brought lots of books with me.

Too bad you didn't enjoy your trip. We were only on the ship for 2 days plus evenings. They had 2 shows a night plus a comedian everynight. We went to 4 different islands and were off the ship most of the day. They did have smaller pools (3 of them) but they drain and clean them nightly so they are quite cold. Seeing as I am from Wisconsin and I was in the Carribean in January, I was all about sucking up the sun and relaxing while we were on the ship.

I do think most ships are the same as they are a hotel on the water for the most part. They only have so much to work with. I would recomend the Navigator of the Seas five times over.

I am guessing if you are there with your new hubby, there shouldn't be any "down" time!!

[amybeth]

Thanks for the input. I'll check RC out.

If anyone else has good/bad gluten-free experiences cruising, I would appreciate it.

We're really looking forward to it, and the less I have to think about food, the better!!!!

[killernj13]

Thanks for the input. I'll check RC out.

If anyone else has good/bad gluten-free experiences cruising, I would appreciate it.

We're really looking forward to it, and the less I have to think about food, the better!!!!

I went on a Carnival crusie and they were quite good with the gluten-free experience. I spoke to the matre D and the Ass't Matre D the first night and then they took my order for the next night a day in advance for the rest of the cruise. For breakfast they would toast my gluten-free bagel for me. They even offered to cook gluten-free pasta for me if I brought it. That was the only drawback - they didn't have gluten-free stuff on board like RCC does.

There was one screw up - they carried my gluten-free bagel out on the same basket as the regular stuff one of the mornings.

The poolside grill was OK as well as they did not cook the burgers / hot dogs on the grill with the buns. They cooked them and then place them on the plate where the buns were waiting. There was also no other items at the grill such as chicken fingers or mozzerella sticks that had gluten so I felt the oil was fine for the french fries.

Congrats & good luck.

[VydorScope]

Amy,

Take a look at these..

Open Original Shared Link

WEll they despreatly need a decent webmaster LOL

Have you used them? Are they legit?

[VegasCeliacBuckeye]

Personally -- no

But I do have a friend that went on the trip to Italy -- he said it was amazing -- they took care of all the meals -- nothing to worry about --

I think they are a little pricey, but that is the cost for a guaranteed Gluten Free Adventure -- maybe for me in a few years...

[VydorScope]

Personally -- no

But I do have a friend that went on the trip to Italy -- he said it was amazing -- they took care of all the meals -- nothing to worry about --

I think they are a little pricey, but that is the cost for a guaranteed Gluten Free Adventure -- maybe for me in a few years...

Cool, Ive bookmarked htem, I might try them out too...some year!

[jkmunchkin]

Good news!!! I just learned that Royal Carribean now offers gluten-free meals!!! You need to e-mail them 45 days in advance of your cruise. Go to their main website, and in the FAQ section it gives you the information you need to provide them with in order for them to accomodate you.

Congratulations and have a great time!

[jnifred]

We went on Costa cruise lines this January. The Costa Mediterranea was the ship we were on. My Maitre'd actually has a son who has celiac, so he was AWESOME, they made me calamari, and special deserts, clam chowder, yummy things that I only get at home normally after working hard to make them myself.

Anyway, I don't think they cruise Alaska, they are an Italian cruise line, mostly the Mediterranean Ocean, Trans-Atlantic and the Carribean (we did the Carribean) (and had a BLAST!!)

I did take lots of snack things, dried fruits, snickers, pretzels, etc., mostly to take with me when we were on the islands, b/c of communication I didn't even want to TRY eating on the islands, KWIM? But I did fine on the ship. They were wonderful and I did not get sick once from anything I was served or ate from the buffet. I was very cautious with the buffet, and did just fine.

Have a FABULOUS time on your honeymoon, whatever you decide!!!!

[Ursa Major]

My husband and I just got back from a cruise with Carnival cruises, and they were awesome. Of course, I can't eat any of the gluten free things most of you eat, anyway. But as someone said before, the assistant maitre'd or one of the hostesses would go over next day's menu after supper with me. I got to pick and chose items from any of the choices that I could have on their regular menu, and they'd write my very own menu. And if it wasn't on the menu, but they had it on board, I could have that, too. They even cooked me stir-fry for breakfast, and made me stewed pears (the only fruit I can still eat) two of the nights for dessert, so I could have some dessert, too. If they used the same grill to cook my food that they had cooked other meat on, they wrapped mine in double aluminum foil, to make sure I didn't get sick (I am severely intolerant to ALL herbs and spices, and can only use sea salt, which they call kosher salt).

I did e-mail my travel agent detailed information about what I could and could not eat, what things do to me etc., which he then sent to them by fax just a week before the cruise (as I was still testing things before, and couldn't be sure of a few items), so they were prepared for me.

You just have to make it VERY clear to them, what cross contamination is, how it occurs, and what it does to you. Remind them to cook your food away from other's food, wash their hands after touching bread, before touching yours, not to put your gluten free items with gluten containing ones etc. Because it may not occur to them at all.

[pixiegirl]

Well cruise lines are getting on board with all the various food issues, I've cruised a lot and I've got gluten issues and my daughter has peanut and tree nut allergies.

However for a honeymoon look into Windstar Cruises its been voted by all the travel magazines as the most romantic cruise line. There will be almost no children on board (I hate other cruise ships where they are running all over the place, my daughter is 14 so I personally don't want to deal with kids on a vacation).

They really understand food issues (Windstar is owned by Holland America) and I've cruised with them twice and have not been glutened. Holland America does offer gluten free breads and crackers and Windstar doesn't but most of their foods are gluten-free and they know which ones are not. they will also let you bring your own stuff on board and each room has a frig, just ask them to clean it out of the stuff they stock it with. It is a cruise line that will go way far out of your way to make you happy.

But a lot depends on what you want on a cruise, if you are looking for limbo partys and a lot of drinking 20 somethings at the pool stick with RCL or Carnival. Windstar is very laid back, quiet, smaller ports... very relaxed.

Susan

[Ursa Major]

Actually, Susan, I agree with you on the '20 somethings drinking at the pool' part. I stayed away from that part of the ship altogether, the same goes for the casino. I didn't need the sight of 1000 people crammed on deck in deck chairs in varying stages of being roasted, while drinking and talking vulgar talk (of course, I am 'allergic' to crowds anyway). And gambling isn't my thing, either.

This being my first cruise (and not really my choice, since my husband's company paid for it, and we went as a group), I didn't know that not all cruises are like that.

Still, it is possible to do things you enjoy on such a huge ship, you just have to look for them. And since you usually stop in a different port each day (you travel while you sleep), you can then choose from a huge variety of different activities there. That is what I really liked, I wouldn't have enjoyed being on that big, noisy ship the whole time.

[carriecraig]

Hi! I just got back from a cruise on Norwegian Cruise Line on March 5th, and I had the greatest experience. We decided to go at the last minute (within 3 weeks of sailing), and I just went through my travel agent to get the contact info of the coordinator on the ship. A few days before we left, I got a confirmation that I would meet with the executive chef, and we would go over the menu options. He brought along a list of all of the gluten-free foods that they had on board (and there was a lot – bread, pasta, bagels, waffles), and also had me get in touch with the maitre d in the restaurant to go over the menu choices for the following day. I got the royal treatment! I could order just about anything, and they would prepare it in a separate kitchen, so there was no possibility of CC. They also prepared gluten-free desserts every night, so I was so spoiled (chocolate mousse, flan, and chocolate decadence cake – heavenly). I ate great, and felt great the whole trip. I cannot say enough great things about my experience.

[gymnastjlf]

Carrie,

Do you happen to know if all Norwegian Cruises have the gluten-free products onboard? My family is planning on booking a cruise for later in the summer, but I was just curious if their entire fleet of ships is as up on gluten-free as your ship was! A separate kitchen no less. That's exciting news. Did you ever eat off the buffet at meals, or did you just eat the sit-down meals? Which meals did you eat-- the ones that cost extra or the more casual ones?

Sorry for all the questions, this will be my first vacation gluten-free, and I just want to make sure I know what's going on. I plan to contact Norwegian directly as soon as we book the cruise to make arrangements for me.

Thanks so much:-)