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Cruise

Moondanse

By Moondanse
in Traveling with Celiac Disease

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Moondanse Explorer
Moondanse
Posted

Hi there-

I'm going on a cruise in a week and a half and am very nervous. I'm going on Carnival. I've spoken with them and they are aware that I have a special diet and have advised me to work with the head chef when I board the ship.

That was the easy part. I'm not sure what types of foods I should bring with me to snack on for one, but I'm sure I can figure that out. But, I am most concerned about eating outside of the dining room in the buffet area as well as when we hit our stops. Luckily it's a short cruise and we are only stopping in Key West and Nassau.

I'm still very new to this disease and am still not completely sure what I can and can't eat/drink when I'm out and about. Any advice you can pass along would be wonderful.

I'm also trying to figure out what to do about alcohol. I'm not a big wine drinker, so that's not an option. I love Captain and Diet Coke, but I'd rather stay away from too much carbonation. I love the fruity drinks they serve on the ships, but I'm not sure if they are safe.

I'd just like to have a game plan before we leave so I don't panic when we get on the ship. Please please pass along some wisdom.

Thank you so much,

Kelli

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blueeyedmanda Community Regular
blueeyedmanda
Posted

If you are talking about snacks you are bringing aboard, I suggest Glutino pretzels, some homemade baked goods (if you have a little time) I enjoy Nut Thins.

I am still thinking of some things so I will post again soon. Hope this helps a bit.

grantschoep Contributor
grantschoep
Posted

Not sure how Carnival is, but, I took a cruise on Royal Carribian awhile back, my party, we ate in the formal dining lounge each night, so we had the same waiter and head waiter every night. I had to explain once, and they knew each time. They really had an excellent chef who they passed the info on to. He actually came out to talk to me after the 3rd night, and asked me if my previous meals had prepared well and if I had had any reaction to it. I thought that really was cool. I never did.

Well, one morning, I did feel a little bit sick, but then, I think I may blame my self, felt pretty much like a really bad hang over, which I am sure it was. :>

I was impressed. Though, whenever you eat a good restaraunt, with a good chef, I've found they really know what they are doing, and are concerned about cross contaim, not because of allergies so much, but because they don't want a steak tasting like salmon, and so on. I just costs so dang much at those places.

rbh Apprentice
rbh
Posted

Lots of times the fruity drinks are made with standard mixes. Can you e-mail the company to ask what brands they use? Or maybe check the common brands beforehand (e.g. Cuervo, Mr and Mrs. T, Master of Mixes) so you have a list of what mixers will be safe.

dlp252 Apprentice
dlp252
Posted

Just a tip about the snack foods thing...on the cruise I just went on in December (Princess to the Caribbean/Panama Canal), we were advised that we could not take any food ashore that wasn't sealed. A ziploc bag wasn't good enough...it had to be factory sealed. So, for snacking on the ship, anything will do, and in your Key West stop, all would probably be okay as well, but for the Nassau stop you might want to take along some pre-sealed gluten free bars or nuts.

At the buffet, I tried to eat "whole foods". I picked out dishes that "looked" safe, then asked if they were cooked in butter, had soy sauce, etc. The head cook there recognized me after the first day or two and often went in the back to make my food without sauces etc. I also tried to stick to the "carved" meat dish, but even then you'll need to ask about seasonings and stuff. One day they had something that looked like a mustard coating...turns out it had bread crumbs in it which weren't visible. After all that, I didn't get sick on this cruise, and I ate at the buffet every day. We ate in the dining room a few times too for dinner, and that went well too. My waiters really looked out for me, and when one of the assistant waiters brought a dish with butter on it, the waiter made him take it back and start over.

gaynonna Rookie
gaynonna
Posted
Hi there-

I'm going on a cruise in a week and a half and am very nervous. I'm going on Carnival. I've spoken with them and they are aware that I have a special diet and have advised me to work with the head chef when I board the ship.

That was the easy part. I'm not sure what types of foods I should bring with me to snack on for one, but I'm sure I can figure that out. But, I am most concerned about eating outside of the dining room in the buffet area as well as when we hit our stops. Luckily it's a short cruise and we are only stopping in Key West and Nassau.

I'm still very new to this disease and am still not completely sure what I can and can't eat/drink when I'm out and about. Any advice you can pass along would be wonderful.

I'm also trying to figure out what to do about alcohol. I'm not a big wine drinker, so that's not an option. I love Captain and Diet Coke, but I'd rather stay away from too much carbonation. I love the fruity drinks they serve on the ships, but I'm not sure if they are safe.

I'd just like to have a game plan before we leave so I don't panic when we get on the ship. Please please pass along some wisdom.

Thank you so much,

Kelli

  • 3 weeks later...
laurelfla Enthusiast
laurelfla
Posted

hello!

it looks as though my fianc

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dlp252 Apprentice
dlp252
Posted
hello!

it looks as though my fianc

JerryK Community Regular
JerryK
Posted
Hi there-

I'm going on a cruise in a week and a half and am very nervous. I'm going on Carnival. I've spoken with them and they are aware that I have a special diet and have advised me to work with the head chef when I board the ship.

Hi, I just got back from a Holland America cruise to Mexico a week and a half ago. I found eating gluten-free on the cruise to be QUITE easy. The dining room was especially easy to go gluten-free, because it was very obvious what the suspect foods could be. Lobster...no problem...steak...no problem...prime rib...no problem....In fact this was the first cruise I can remember that I didn't have to spend very much time in the bathroom. I didn't even tell them I was gluten-free. I just did my thing and was very careful.

The place to be concerned is in fact the Lido Buffett area. You can be sure of some of the stuff...eggs, bacon...fresh fruit etc....but I did have to be careful.

There was also several shops on board and I was able to fine quite a few gluten-free snacks to satisfy me when I felt starved.

This was my first gluten-free cruise, and I just followed the "when in doubt, don't eat it" rule.

momof2 Explorer
momof2
Posted

We took a Carnival cruise last April, and they were great in the dining room. The maitre'd came out every night to talk with me about the next evening's meal, and how they could prepare it for my celiac daughter. I did take a lot of snacks for her, and they told me I could use a portion of their fridge in the kitchen if I needed it.

DILIROTH Newbie
DILIROTH
Posted

We are going on a Med cruise on Carnival in May. Its also my first cruise since being gluten-free. Our major stops are in Italy, Turkey and Greece. My largest concern is eating lunch in various countries and on a tight time line. I will probably eat a large breakfast and bring sealed gluten-free snacks with me but I need to eat something every few hours or I get headaches.

Has anyone sucessful managed this on their cruise tours and how?

Any suggestions would be helpful!

Thanks,

Theresa

  • 4 weeks later...
laurelfla Enthusiast
laurelfla
Posted
We are going on a Med cruise on Carnival in May. Its also my first cruise since being gluten-free. Our major stops are in Italy, Turkey and Greece. My largest concern is eating lunch in various countries and on a tight time line. I will probably eat a large breakfast and bring sealed gluten-free snacks with me but I need to eat something every few hours or I get headaches.

Has anyone sucessful managed this on their cruise tours and how?

Any suggestions would be helpful!

Thanks,

Theresa

i'd like to know if anyone has answers for this too! :) perhaps we should take some dining cards.

i also wanted to add here that our honeymoon Carnival cruise out of New Orleans fell through (they changed the port to Miami) and now we're going on a Norwegian cruise. The travel agent sent me a document from the cruise line with a list of like 20 gluten free items to order no later than 3 weeks before we depart! i'm so excited. the list includes everything from bagels to different kinds of pasta. plus there is a little refrigerator in our room. Just wanted to pass along the information.

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