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Is All Inclusive Possible?

joyjoy

By joyjoy
in Traveling with Celiac Disease

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joyjoy Rookie
joyjoy
Posted

my bf and I are talking about taking an all inclusive trip soon, but I have to admit I'm pretty scared. I've never had the biopsy, but I'm very sensitive to gluten and really want to avoid it.

I went to costa rica this past summer and stuck to eating fruit from the street markets that I prepared myself, and salads when we went for dinner in restaurants. I wound up with a bad reaction to something and cut the trip short.

I'm perfectly fine with eating fruits and salad since I've been vegan for 5 years and raw vegan off and on. my main worry is that at an all inclusive place, even if there is a ton of fruit, isn't there a good chance it's contaminated??? I guess I could call ahead, but it's often hard to find someone who speaks English. :(

any tips?

I also can't pack food (I think?) we'd be flying out from Canada, and I don't think they allow fruit taken over the border.

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Newbee Contributor
Newbee
Posted

Are you looking at a specific all-inclusive or just wondering about all-inclusives in general? I know there is one company that arranges gluten free vacations. They will talk to the place for the group to try and ensure no contamination. I used to do all-inclusives before I was diagnosed with celiac. Now I'm too nervous to try and go there if I have to negotiate with the staff.

joyjoy Rookie
joyjoy
Posted
  • Author

I know

mushroom Proficient
mushroom
Posted

I'd kinda just like a cheap last minute trip to a place that's full of uncontaminated fruit. that's all I need to be happy!

That's not exactly an easy ask :D I have no help for you, but wish you luck on your quest. :)

Newbee Contributor
Newbee
Posted

My experience with all-inclusives is stuff gets messed up that shouldn't, but if you have celiac disease (or might have it) you have to ask yourself if it is worth it to take that chance with your health. Most people don't really understand how to handle food, etc. If it is only fruit you are going to eat and you can like take an apple and clean it yourself and prepare it or something like that seems like the risk would be low. Otherwise it seems kind of risky to me. If you find something safe though, let us all know! I'd love to do an all-inclusive again.

Melissa Palomo Apprentice
Melissa Palomo
Posted

I would think fruit should be pretty easy to find that would be of little risk - at least anything with a skin (cut the skin off and don't eat it?) or rinse it before you eat it? I've not found it difficult to eat fresh fruit when traveling, for myself.

I bring lots of snacks and things when I travel - and the gopicnic meals, too. Non-fruit items are easy to pack and bring with you - that's what I would do as a backup plan.

joyjoy Rookie
joyjoy
Posted
  • Author

thanks all! I guess I should at least wait for my enterolab results before getting ahead of myself. I really hope it's negative and only a gluten intolerance. it'll be so much easier to just avoid gluten rather than trying to avoid every little molecule.

I just need a vacation!

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red island Newbie
red island
Posted

I just got back from an all inclusive in Punta Cana. I would not do it again. The restaurant we went to the first night was great, I pulled out my spanish celiac card and everyone snapped to attention. I had all the waiters coming over to check on me and the chef made me a safe dinner. However we could not get into any restaurants the rest of the week and had to eat off the buffet. I saw kids handling rolls and then picking up food and then putting it back on the platter And and people using the ladles for a pasta dish to scoop up another dish. I had taken cereal and couldnt use the milk cause there were cherrios floating in it. The rooms in my resort had no kettles or microwaves so I ended up eating steamed rice and fruit plus the snacks that I had taken for the rest of the week. I got cc'd the last night and ended up flying home in the midst of a celiac reaction (fortunately it was mild).

I would check with the resort you decide you want to go to and make sure that you can be accomodated - I was not given the opportunity to talk to the buffet manager, everyone kept blowing me off. So in the future I would go with a resort that has rooms with kitchenettes so that you have the option of making your own food in a safe enviornment.And the next time I go on vacation it will be to a much higher quality resort.

joyjoy Rookie
joyjoy
Posted
  • Author

great advice!

I'd love to just find a place that's near a market and eat fruit all week

smsm Contributor
smsm
Posted

Wait - what am I missing? Why is fruit dangerous? How is this fruit getting contaminated with gluten? I get that a buffet can have cc but I have asked for my own tongs in the past and that has worked. Is there something else I need to know? I am nervous now - why fruit from a market? I am going to crumble from frustration at this point - is there no way for me to travel still?

red island Newbie
red island
Posted

The fruit at a buffet can be contaminated by people handling bread etc and then touching the fruit and putting it back (I saw this happen) But I took my fruit from the back of the platter and I was fine, I only got cc'd on the last day of my vacation and it wasnt from the fruit. Also my dietician told me that if I was worried about the fruit to just rinse it off with water before I ate it. Also there were always things like bananas and oranges that you had to peel so I ate lots of those.

dmb2151 Rookie
dmb2151
Posted

I went to an all inclusive in the Mexico this past summer, this was before my diagnosis but I knew that something was wrong with me prior to traveling. I got MUCH worse at the all inclusive. I was getting sick every night. Mid way through the trip I kept to fruit and mostly salads but did not get any relief. I'm pretty confident looking back that it was from gluten. I think most things contained gluten, and if they didn't, they were cross contaminated. I don't think I will ever do an all inclusive again. The cost of an all inclusive is great for all that you get, but it is not worth feeling that way on your vacation.

Good luck!

joyjoy Rookie
joyjoy
Posted
  • Author

well i guess i dont have to worry after all... my enterolab test results came back negative... maybe i'm just gluten intolerant, who knows. but it sure doesn't explain why I react to the smallest bit of gluten!

so confusing

mushroom Proficient
mushroom
Posted

Ummm, tell me again why it's less important to worry about gluten if you are merely gluten intolerant. To me gluten intolerance means you do not eat gluten, period. Same as celiac. Same reaction, same misery, just no diagnosis. You may not end up with the other autoimmune diseases that go along with celiac (although there is plenty of research aimed at determining whether NCGI is part of the celiac spectrum), but it willl ruin your vacation just as surely if you eat gluten.

joyjoy Rookie
joyjoy
Posted
  • Author

i guess i just dont know enough about it to be honest. I assumed that if it wasnt celiac and just an intolerance that I wouldnt have to worry about things like my boyfriend's chapstick and getting him to brush his teeth after a beer... so i should still do that?

I mean like, if it isnt killing the villi in my intestines, and only making me miserable, then temporary discomfort isnt as bad as permenent damage?

mushroom Proficient
mushroom
Posted

I mean like, if it isnt killing the villi in my intestines, and only making me miserable, then temporary discomfort isnt as bad as permenent damage?

Well, the problem with that is that we still do not know enough about NCGI. All the research that has been done up until the last year or two has focussed on celiac disease and assumed that NCGI was insignificant. But they are now beginning to recognize it as a separate disease entity and actually research it. I suppose I approach it from the perspective of what you don't know can hurt you rather than can't hurt you, probably because I am undiagnosed (self-diagnosed) because nobody thought to test me before I thought to try it to help my RA. So I do have a couple of other autoimmune diseases which developed many, many years (say 30) after I first developed my GI symptoms, and of course I will never know if I would have tested positive 30 years ago (or even today, since there is a 20% false error rate on the testing).

I suppose only you can decide if feeling good is worth avoiding gluten for (and potentially avoiding other problems) :)

joyjoy Rookie
joyjoy
Posted
  • Author

oh it's definitely worth it... I'm just stumped on what I have to do. I mean it stinks to have to ask my bf to brush his teeth before kissing me :(

I guess I'm still just bummed out about the whole thing

mushroom Proficient
mushroom
Posted

It's perfectly okay to be bummed out :) It is a big adjustment to make. But every day it gets easier, becomes more natural, just part of the daily routine until eventually you don't even really think about it (until someone else makes an issue of it, of course) :ph34r:

  • 1 month later...
marita6 Newbie
marita6
Posted

I've just come back from an all inclusive holiday. My only advice is even if you arrange everything to do with your diet before hand. Be extra vigilant with each meal and check with the staff. Even if you end up sounding like a broken record. People forget, or they just dont care enough. It's all in your hands. Have a great trip. Good luck.:-)

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