Gluten Free / Coeliac on the Carnival Spirit

Thought I'd share a few thoughts on my experience as a Coeliac.

Staff on board generally have heard of "Gluten Free" and you will receive the odd look occasionally if you instead say "Coeliac" or "Coeliac Disease".

It was absolutely of no benefit to pre-advise of the medical condition.

The Dining Room, called Empire on the Carnival Spirit, will do its best to accomodate the need for GF food if you attend on a whim.

It is best to plan ahead for the Empire Dining Room by going the day before to order Breakfast / Brunch / Lunch / Dinner. This allows a genuine attempt to be made to prepare any of the menu items as GF.

At the conclusion of your meal you should request the menu for the following day. The exception here is if the meal just completed was before Dinner and you intend to attend later for Dinner. In this case wait until the evening meal and organise everything at once.

Do not hesitate to order anything off the menu. This is not your typical suburban or city restaurant. There are over a hundred skilled chefs on board. It is actually on a cruise ship where you have the best chance of your needs being accommodated.

Be prepared for the rare instance of being told, when seated, that the chef was unable to prepare your selection. You will be offered a choice of other items. I took the opportunity to ask for a little extra of something as a kind of compensation! An example was the Grand Marnier soufflé. Very tough / impossible to properly do but I asked for it!

It seems the Warm Melting Chocolate Cake will always be available as a GF dessert alternative to a failed request.

Don't forget to specify how you want the Warm Melting Chocolate Cake: soft or hard. It all depends upon the position in the oven. Soft is towards the outside / edge of the oven. This goes for non-GF orders too. This request is not at all extreme / fussy and is a tip I received when I spoke to the sous-chef.

If you are skipping the Empire Dining Room then don't forget to go anyway in order to organise for the following day.

If you forget to order then staff in the Empire will be aware of your previous GF orders and in fact remind you!

In the Lido the staff will mostly look at you with a panicked expression and then immediately suggest the steamed vegetables as the only safe alternative. They often need to be prodded to help.

Be persistent in the Lido. For example, Hash Browns are usually but not always Gluten Free. (A dextrose based powder can be used to hold them together and to assist with crisping. Dextrose may be derived from a number of sources). So I pressed the staff member to ask. Turns out the Hash Browns are Gluten Free.

At the Continental Breakfast bar, hiding in the far left corner, I discovered the GF Muesli and the GF Rice Flakes. Add some low-fat milk. Now add some low-fat yoghurt and voila!

The little containers of yoghurt, sourced from a packager in the USA and with ingredients from Germany, is GF.

Any time you see fish offered in the Lido, ask for a piece or two to be prepared GF.

Fresh fish, sourced from the embarkation port, will only be available for a few days at most after setting sail. So hurry! Crustaceans and other fish able to be frozen and still acceptable to use in the galley will be available right through. For example, the Mahi-mahi can be prepared GF in the Lido. Or ordered off the Empire menu of course. The Barramundi will be off the menu after a couple of days.

The Pizza Pirate bar has a couple of Gluten Free topping options. Yes, the pizzas are a poor man's Dominos or Pizza Hut (i.e. really terrible quality) but at 3:00am in the morning count your blessings that any food is available at no extra charge. That applies GF or not-GF!

All the juices / juice drinks / cordials are GF. This applies to the morning Orange Juice, the Lemon Drink which replaces the OJ after breakfast, the breakfast Apple Juice only available from one secret fountain (the one near the Red Frog Bar on deck 9, just across from the pool. The Grapefruit Juice and Tomato Juice are also GF. Again, somewhat hidden. Ask at the Continental Breakfast bar (it is renamed Freshie's Corner later in the day).

The Blueiguana Cantina have GF soft tortilla shells available. They are quite small and the staff are used to warming up two at once. The staff are knowledgeable about which options are Gluten Free. Experiment. This will be a taste sensation.

The Blueiguana Cantina has some bottles of hot sauce (many varieties) available in the condiments bar but the labelling is not really clear with regards to GF. Behind the counter the staff are able to be very helpful with the big bottles of standard sauces. Several to choose from!

Guy's Burger Joint has GF buns. If you crave burgers then this is for you. When I asked for a more Aussie style of burger to be prepared the result was second rate - I am used to specifying exactly how I like my Angus meat burgers at McDonalds, for example. The bacon was a few bits of hard crumbs scraped off the bottom of some tray. No beetroot available. Egg was available thankfully. If you time it well, you can go into the Lido to obtain your beetroot! For more exotic sauces head over to the Blueiguana Cantina in order to rescue your burger!

Masterfood tomato sauce squeeze bottles are used throughout the ship. In Australia this is always GF. But these sauces are shipped from the USA so do some research beforehand. The Masterfoods Yellow Sauce (i.e. a very mild mustard with a sweet kick rather than a hot kick) also comes from the USA. I took a punt on these and I did not react. Your milage may vary.

At the Lido pastry counter always ask. There will sometimes be a GF option available, beyond the red jelly and vanilla muffins which are always available.

Gluten Free bread slices will be offered in the Empire, if you are keen for pre-entree bread. There are no GF bread rolls / baps.

Of the available beers, Corona has the lowest Gluten, but it does contain Gluten. You will react.

Chips throughout the ship are Gluten Free.

I did the Chef's Table. 95%+ of what the other ate, I ate. This is an excellent value Degustation you must not miss. Great wine included. Great galley tour. Canapes. Still or sparkling water included. Great conversation with the chefs, waiters and other guests. A cameo appearance from an onboard entertainer. All of this, Gluten Free, for $90. Can you get that for $90 in your home city. No way! Oh yeah, the food was of the highest quality.

Thanks for sharing an extensive guide on GF options. Will be very useful for my grandson.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Thanks for taking the time to put all that info on the forum. We're going on the Spirit on the 6th August, and this is very helpful.

Very informative! Did you have a set dining time or anytime? I'll be on another ship but am nervous cruising with allergies.

My DH has been GF on Carnival & NCL so far. Going on Royal in Sept. & will compare. FYI Carnival has Estrella Daura Beer which is crafted to remove Gluten. I think NCL had Omission.

Very informative! Did you have a set dining time or anytime? I'll be on another ship but am nervous cruising with allergies.

Lots of answers on your other post.

Thanks, this is outstanding. GF Hamburger buns!! Warm Melting Cake!! My daughter will be thrilled.