Aqua class Blu restaurant-Gluten free?

Greetings!

Does anyone have experience with the Blu restaurant and being Gluten intolerant? Would you say that the Blu menu is better or worse for Gluten issues than main dining?

Thanks!

Tom

Just got off the Summit in Agua Class dining in Blu. It was a great experience with the exception of the GF bakery items. Because Blu only seats 90 people, you will get great service by the wait staff. After the first day, they automatically gave my husband the menu for the next day to place a special order. They also offer GF bread at every meal. Special GF muffins were offered. However, they were just awful. Hard round hockey pucks came to mind. The pancakes and waffles were just ok. However, the French toast was great. If you like your meat medium order it rare. We ate just one lunch in the MDR and it was just ok as we had become accustomed to GF bread automatically delivered and the extra level of service. Be sure to let the staff know if you don't like something. The GF pizza was absolutely terrible. You could not pick the pizza up as it broke into pieces. Tuscan Grill offers Rice pasta, which I hear is quite good. Another passenger dining in Blu was also GF and she was quite vocal about the quality of the pastry. The chef kept trying new receipes for her and they were all awful. She kept suggesting that they just use a mix for muffins and cakes. If you don't see something you want, ask if they can make it.

My wife is stage 4 Celiac, the lining of her stomach is destroyed. Last Nov was our first time in Aqua, hence, dining in Blu. They took wonderful care of her, but then so has every other food venues on Celebrity, except one slip in Tuscan 2 yrs ago, put her in bed for a day and a half.

Now the selection of GF breads is lacking, but press the issue and they will get some from the MDR. Other than this the options were very good.

The made to order GF pizza in the buffet was outta sight good in 2013 & 14. They changed the company they got the crust mix from in 2015 and it was meh. Hope they have changed it back.

I've had a wonderful experience eating gluten free in Blu, so always go Aqua or in a suite to dine in Luminae, but that depends on finding a good suite price!

I agree about the pizza, I've been on Summit several times and the pizza has been awful, they just can't get the crust even decent, it crumbles. Toppings were excellent though. I had a very good gf pizza on Equinox one time, the next time on that ship it was the same as Summit and horrible.

I was on the Xpedition in May and someone on cc suggested bringing some gf flour and the chef would make up something special, which is what I did. It really wasn't necessary because their gf selections and the special bread they made were wonderful and I was well taken care of. The chef did use my gf flour one day to make some very tasty scones that were enjoyed by all the gf passengers on the ship.

The Xpedition only carries about 100 passengers, so is a whole different animal, but I just might bring a gf mix or two on my next Celebrity cruise and see if the chef in Blu would be willing to whip something up for all us gf passengers in Blu. Worth a try!

This has been discussed at length in a couple of threads recently, search 'gluten' and you might be a little disappointed.

This has been discussed at length in a couple of threads recently, search 'gluten' and you might be a little disappointed.

So has every cabin, meal, tour, ship, buffet, drink pkg, dining pkg, flight time, hotel, transportation, day before or morning of, smoking, chair hog, what to pack, bring on liquor, power cord, hangers in the closet, bring my own towel, shampoo, cotton balls, door decorations, a stickie for how to dress, so there is no reason for any new threads, right? :D:D

So has every cabin, meal, tour, ship, buffet, drink pkg, dining pkg, flight time, hotel, transportation, day before or morning of, smoking, chair hog, what to pack, bring on liquor, power cord, hangers in the closet, bring my own towel, shampoo, cotton balls, door decorations, a stickie for how to dress, so there is no reason for any new threads, right? :D:D

Actually it is quite a specific question and I remember reading posts recently with in depth comments about this. Personally I search first then ask a question if I can't find the answer, but everyone is different.

Only trying to be helpful, isn't sarcasm great.

Nashna: Did your husband get any reactions to the gf pizza? Because my intolerance is so severe, Celebrity advises me not to eat in the buffet at all, but I'm hoping they are careful enough in how they prepare the pizza to where I might be safe eating only pizza in the buffet. Thanks.

I had a brain freezzzzzzzz!

Nashna: Did your husband get any reactions to the gf pizza? Because my intolerance is so severe, Celebrity advises me not to eat in the buffet at all, but I'm hoping they are careful enough in how they prepare the pizza to where I might be safe eating only pizza in the buffet. Thanks.

It is cooked to order in a dedicated oven, and takes about 20 minutes to cook. Last yr they changed the crust batter, and it was only so-so. The 2 previous years she almost cried it was so good. She had no issues in the buffet at all.

It is cooked to order in a dedicated oven, and takes about 20 minutes to cook. Last yr they changed the crust batter, and it was only so-so. The 2 previous years she almost cried it was so good. She had no issues in the buffet at all.

He had no reaction from the pizza...it was just not tasty.

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He had no reaction from the pizza...it was just not tasty.

 

 

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Agreeded, Nov 2015 it was actually very yuckie. :o

I also enjoy eating in Blu. The sticky bun is delicious in the morning. I eat everything no problem!

Tell me you had GF sticky buns! There were no GF buns on our sailing.

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I also enjoy eating in Blu. The sticky bun is delicious in the morning. I eat everything no problem!

Gluten free sticky buns?

Lol, the celiacs lose their minds over reports of GF sticky buns! No gluten free sticky buns were offered on my June sailing.

I can only speak to my experience this year - I had great food throughout the trip. I have Celiac and am highly sensitive and had no problems (other than a crappy breakfast ordering room service - gluten free waffles were hard as rocks and there was a dirty ole tea bag in my coffee carafe!). Blu was fabulous, I really enjoyed the toasted gluten-free bread with each meal and I'm normally pretty picky. I had eggs/fruit/breakfast meat/potatoes/smoothie for breakfast most mornings. I had pizza from the buffet once and it was decent. Most afternoons I either had salad (you do have to scan carefully for cross contamination or ask for a salad from behind the counter) or a baked potato with a topping. The Maitre-D in Blu put a standing order for a "gluten-free surprise" in for me so I made it to the last night of the cruise before I had to order a creme brûlée! It was our first cruise experience and I was really worried about food but have nothing but good things to say. I would travel Aqua every time to eat in Blu - everyone was very conscientious and by day 2, staff knew I was a gluten-free diner before I ever said anything. I hope your experience is just as good.

Lol, the celiacs lose their minds over reports of GF sticky buns! No gluten free sticky buns were offered on my June sailing.

 

I can only speak to my experience this year - I had great food throughout the trip. I have Celiac and am highly sensitive and had no problems (other than a crappy breakfast ordering room service - gluten free waffles were hard as rocks and there was a dirty ole tea bag in my coffee carafe!). Blu was fabulous, I really enjoyed the toasted gluten-free bread with each meal and I'm normally pretty picky. I had eggs/fruit/breakfast meat/potatoes/smoothie for breakfast most mornings. I had pizza from the buffet once and it was decent. Most afternoons I either had salad (you do have to scan carefully for cross contamination or ask for a salad from behind the counter) or a baked potato with a topping. The Maitre-D in Blu put a standing order for a "gluten-free surprise" in for me so I made it to the last night of the cruise before I had to order a creme brûlée! It was our first cruise experience and I was really worried about food but have nothing but good things to say. I would travel Aqua every time to eat in Blu - everyone was very conscientious and by day 2, staff knew I was a gluten-free diner before I ever said anything. I hope your experience is just as good.

Thank you so much! Great reply.

Baked potato at the buffet - that's great. Are the baked potatoes wrapped, and did they have them every day?

Did you opt for the main dining room at all during your stay? For lunch, perhaps?

FYI: In August, Celebrity announced Dine Aware, which will implement in November. Sounds interesting! http://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/news-headlines/celebrity-dishes-up-new-sushi-spot-special-concierge-class-dining-food-allergy-program.html?print=1&tmpl=component

If anyone has more information on it, I'd love to know more!

Thank you so much! Great reply.

 

Baked potato at the buffet - that's great. Are the baked potatoes wrapped, and did they have them every day?

 

Did you opt for the main dining room at all during your stay? For lunch, perhaps?

Baked potatoes were foil wrapped and all the way down at the end of the buffet by the sunset bar. I think they had them most days if not every day. They also occasionally had a sushi bar down at that end of the buffet - one or two nights, we skipped lunch and just had a little plate of sushi before we went to the 7p.m. show. Can't remember if they had GF soy sauce though...

We didn't eat in the main dining room because we didn't know we could! My husband did the big galley tour though and he said there is one universal kitchen that sends food up to the main dining room and specialty restaurants. My hope is of course that the same care is taken regardless of where you eat.

Special food preferences could also be added to your reservations in advance so that they will be prepared.

Thank you, k-chart!

Special food preferences could also be added to your reservations in advance so that they will be prepared.

Thank you! Yes, I did that some time back. It impressed me to get an email from Celebrity advising me NOT to eat in the buffet, which is smart.

However, I'm thinking the pizza and baked potato may be okay.