Cruising And Gluten Free

[wjp]

I have a cruise scheduled with Princess Cruises in April. This will be the first time we have been cruising since I was diagnosed 1 year ago with Celiac. Has anyone else been cruising, on which cruise line and what was your experience? Any suggestions is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Dee777]

I just joined here last night, and wow, I am cruising this month, leaving home on the 11th and boarding the cruise ship the 13th. We are cruising with Carnival on the Glory doing the Eastern Caribbean. I was just diagnosed with celiac 8 days ago. I called our PVP with Carnival (personal vacation planner) and he was very helpful. He told me to let the maitre 'd (sp) and our servers in the main dining room know that I have special dietary requirements (no gluten) and they will consult with their dietitian, who will confer with the chefs who will prepare a menu daily for me to choose from. So, I will be given a menu Sunday night to choose the foods for Monday from. He said even if I am the only celiac on the ship they will bake me gluten free bread, etc. This of course relieved me greatly. I asked about the chance of cross contamination etc. and he did say that while of course they cannot guarantee 100% that there will be no CC in the ingredients they receive they are always preparing gluten free meals and they strictly adhere to keeping things as gluten free as they possibly can. If I were you, I would contact Princess and ask to speak to someone in their Special Needs department and inquire as to their dietary options. You will likely be very pleasantly surprised!

Also there is always fresh fruit, vegetables, salad, etc. at the buffets. We have cruised twice before this cruise and it's amazing the amount of foods as well as the food stations they have on a cruise ship. Even with my food limitations, I should never want for anything!!!

Happy cruising!

Dee

[Dee777]

I have a cruise scheduled with Princess Cruises in April. This will be the first time we have been cruising since I was diagnosed 1 year ago with Celiac. Has anyone else been cruising, on which cruise line and what was your experience? Any suggestions is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Oh, and I believe Princess is owned by Carnival if I am not mistaken... I will post back to you when I get back home and let you know how it went!

[amber]

Hi, Last September we went on a Mediterranean cruise on Royal Carribbean's Brilliance of the Seas. Our 13 year old daugther is a celiac and we were assured by Royal Carribbean that they cater for those on a gluten free diet. We had a great experience on the cruise. Our daughter was well and truly spoilt. The head chef came over and introduced himself to us the first night. We had the same waiters each night in the main dining room and they would always bring her gluten free bread with her meal. The chef also often made her extra desserts and other special little extras. They told us they had more than 25 celiacs on that cruise alone so they are well used to catering for a gluten free diet. The head waiter would ask my daughter each night if she would like gluten free pancakes or french toast for breakfast. Each evening she would be given the next nights menu so that she could pick out what she wanted and they would make it for her gluten free. She had excellent good on the cruise and I would not hestitate to recommend cruising as a great way for a celiac to travel.

[mariefnp]

That is good to know that cruise lines do this. I have not had my blood tests yet, but strongly suspect I may have Celiac's (hope not though). We have been on 2 cruises with Princess and loved them both. We plan on another one, and may try Royal Caribbean next! Thanks for the info!!

[Dee777]

Well our cruise was a complete success, Carnival catered to my gluten free needs and did a fabulous job of it! This is the first vacation I have had in 4 years where I was not sick for even a day... way to go, crew on the Carnival Glory!!! As a previous poster mentioned, I too chose the following day's menu each night. I was brought gluten free bread each night with my meals, provided most any dessert I wanted gluten free, it was a dream! We were so pleased with the way they catered to my needs that we booked a 15 day Hawaiian cruise for next January, can hardly wait!

[smc]

Well our cruise was a complete success, Carnival catered to my gluten free needs and did a fabulous job of it! This is the first vacation I have had in 4 years where I was not sick for even a day... way to go, crew on the Carnival Glory!!! As a previous poster mentioned, I too chose the following day's menu each night. I was brought gluten free bread each night with my meals, provided most any dessert I wanted gluten free, it was a dream! We were so pleased with the way they catered to my needs that we booked a 15 day Hawaiian cruise for next January, can hardly wait!

Has anyone traveled on Norwegian Cruise Lines? We cancelled a trip we had booked when i was newly diagnosed because I was afraid I would have no food?