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RCI Cruising Gluten Free - a how to and review


Daized
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I was diagnosed coeliac in 2013 and it brings with it some unique issues. It's not like an allergy where you might die if exposed to a tiny amount or need an epi pen. It's not like a sensitivity or intolerance where you might react if you have too much. If i eat gluten, i get short term effects similar to a bad stomach bug, and long term effects in the form of damage to the gut lining that means I'm more prone to bowel disorders and cancer. For many like me, removing gluten had been kinda forced on us. I wouldn't choose not to eat lovely pizza, cakes, pies and pastas.

 

I thought I'd wrote a bit about crossing from my own perspective, because i know lots of people who are in the same or similar boat (ship, sorry ) and it might be useful.

 

So here goes. I've just boarded Independence of the Seas at Southampton for my fellas 50th birthday cruise. On boarding, we wandered around waiting for stuff to open. It's our third time on Indy so we know the drill. My first lovely GF surprise was at Sorrentos. Never been in before because they serve pizza and cakes and both are a no no for me. However there was a big sign saying Gluten Free on request. So i of course requested. Even though it was around 11am and things were only just open, they quickly (it took 5 mins to cook) sorted me out with 2 slices of fresh hot yummy GF pizza. Just cheese and tomatoes but hey, i was delighted all the same!!

 

Mister drill over and we are unpacked and on our way. My second GF smile was from promenade cafe, who supply Udi's Wrapped (that's important to us coeliacs) GF cookies on request. So I'm sat chilling on the balcony, with a cookie and a brew enjoying the Sail Away. 3ca5217a12feeed93be748d1fb30e694.jpg

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Sorry for the odd typo (Mister drill sounds like a rubbish cartoon character who works in a garage) - I'll pop more GF smile moments on this thread as and when they occur. Much love from the lovely Daisy xx

 

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My DW and son are both gluten and dairy free. Which sometimes can be challenging on vacation. They do very well on cruises though. It does involve a bit of planning ( mostly just pre-ordering the night before ). I am very happy that they are so well taken care of.

Edited by captaincupcake64
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I too am GF (not Celiac but have very bad reactions to gluten) and was soooooo happy on Radiance this past August with the GF options. Every meal in the MDR had GF options and our waiter was so good about checking for me on things we weren't sure of. The Udi's cookies were my salvation-was so sad when they ran out by day 6 (Non-GF people, please leave us our little bit of indulgence and eat all the regular sweets!) Feel Royal is very good with providing options for us GF folks.

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Thanks for the thread! My husband is gluten-free, cruising on Royal in Jan. Was there someone you contacted before the cruise to let them know ahead of time? Thanks!

there is another thread on GF on here too.

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Thanks for the thread! My husband is gluten-free, cruising on Royal in Jan. Was there someone you contacted before the cruise to let them know ahead of time? Thanks!

 

My TA noted it on the reservation when she booked our cruise. About 2 months out I send an e-mail to special needs, as I am also casein free as well as GF (neither by choice). I hope they do better on the Liberty when we sail in January than they did on the Navigator. I got served gluten on the Navigator. The waiter came after he had served me something, which he assured me was GF, to see if I had eaten it. I had and of course it was not GF. He was very apologetic and said, No problem right? Well it was a huge problem for me. I barely made it back to the cabin after dinner before the vomiting started. I was down for 3 days.

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One of the friends we sailed with a few weeks ago has the same problem. They really did their best for him. Head waiter came by every night with next night's menu, so he could order what he wanted for the next night GF. It's nice to see they take good care of people with allergies and that they can enjoy cruising as much as we do. :)

 

 

Cindy

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My TA noted it on the reservation when she booked our cruise. About 2 months out I send an e-mail to special needs, as I am also casein free as well as GF (neither by choice). I hope they do better on the Liberty when we sail in January than they did on the Navigator. I got served gluten on the Navigator. The waiter came after he had served me something, which he assured me was GF, to see if I had eaten it. I had and of course it was not GF. He was very apologetic and said, No problem right? Well it was a huge problem for me. I barely made it back to the cabin after dinner before the vomiting started. I was down for 3 days.

 

Thanks for the information, and terribly sorry to hear about your bad experience on the Navigator!

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don't order pancakes on the Jewel - tried twice once mdr & one buffet. The waiter who served them to me he asked what they were meant to be and said he was embarrassed to put them down (they were still powder on the inside said sorry and fetched the head in charge) - Other than that there were a few hicups - one day the previous nights order had got lost - but the staff went above and beyond to sort any issues. Having said that I still check every time a dish is put down or sauce brought over that it is gluten free. Twice the sauce offered was put on hold while they checked and then whisked away. But my main issue is with the buffet and other guests not understanding the cross contamination issue - thus I did not eat much there.

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My TA noted it on the reservation when she booked our cruise. About 2 months out I send an e-mail to special needs, as I am also casein free as well as GF (neither by choice). I hope they do better on the Liberty when we sail in January than they did on the Navigator. I got served gluten on the Navigator. The waiter came after he had served me something, which he assured me was GF, to see if I had eaten it. I had and of course it was not GF. He was very apologetic and said, No problem right? Well it was a huge problem for me. I barely made it back to the cabin after dinner before the vomiting started. I was down for 3 days.

you could ask for the HW to serve you your dinner. I had it done many times on the ship, not by my request, just something on Indy that they did.

 

But after that happened to you I would ask that the HW get your food when it is ready, to be absolutely sure it was right. The kitchen is crazy in there and I can see GF not getting done for some dishes.

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We're at sea today, so most places on board are busy and buzzing. Last night in main dining room was OK, i had a strip steak and veg with a jkt potato. Was all fine but nothing special. For breakfast we went to the a la carte service and i had a lovely salmon omelet. The biggest smile was from Gf Fruit bread - was absolutely lovely - still warm so butter melted right in. At lunch i chose GF fish and chips. The "batter" was closer to the coating you get on scampi, but it was cooked fresh and tasted lovely so well done RCI.

 

Just had a hot choc with almond syrup from promenade and i think it possibly had some barley malt in the syrup so will need to watch for that - not a major tummy ache bit definitely twinges. :0) Having a lovely cruise so far. More soon, we are dining at chops tonight!d5543e1c069b768220fdae4809291650.jpg154692eedcc01bba8d18a6c9dbc69d0a.jpg

 

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Really, really glad to read this Daized!

 

We're going on Indy for our first ever cruise for my 40th in a few weeks. Husband and both children have Coeliac Disease so keeping them fed safely on holiday is usually a full-time job for me. I'm really hopeful that this will work out well for us and very happy to see you're getting pizza and cookies. The kids will be thrilled!!

 

Keep us posted with all your discoveries pleas! :D

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Thank you so much for sharing. I hope my experience on the Oasis in November goes as well as your seems to be going. This will be first cruise since having to go GF and even though RCCL has been notified I had concerns. You have eased my mind greatly.

Chris

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Did Freedom in April and found the GF options extremely limited there. Your best bet it to stick to the dining room. Hardly anything was listed as GF in the Windjammer.

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Last night we went to Chops Grille as we bought a 3 night specialities dining package. It's lovely and quiet in there, with a definite up market feel ☺ i found the menu less easy to navigate as the gluten free symbols aren't there. It's a reasonably simple menu and is the same at all chops on all ships. You can download it and decide what is OK for you well before hand. I took a risk on the scallops for my starter and is possible that the cream sauce wasn't my best choice but they were delicious. However the smile this time came from my main course of filet mignon which was just sublime!! The steak in Chops really is a cut above and i think worth the extra dining fee. The waiter went and got me some freshly made fries and we had spinach and mushrooms as our sides. I watched in envy at the desserts others had - sadly there were no desserts that were marked gluten free. Our waiter went and got a large bowl of fresh berries for me, and had i been on the ball I'd have asked for some cream or ice cream and I'm sure they would have obliged. Lovely relaxed dinner and gorgeous steak. We will be back later in the cruise!006949501144e2d2704f5f6483b14f09.jpg

 

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This morning we went to deck 3 for the breakfast buffet in the dining room. The fare on offer is similar to windjammer, but you get waiter service for tea and coffee and a nice table. I headed for the fresh fruit island and grabbed a bowl of cut fruit - melons pineapple and peaches. Followed that up with smoked salmon, sliced tomatoes and onion with GF bread ( I asked the waiter but they have some at the toasting station too ) and butter. The butter is individually wrapped portions so that's also good for us crumbphobics!! I also grabbed some fruit to take out - a banana and a pear - for snacking on when we go ashore 😀

 

Overall i think there is chance of cross contamination here, but its small and much less than at the windjammer xx

 

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Just a comment on those UDI cookies. My son who is peanut allergic basically could only eat those cookies for dessert so we went to the cafe promenade for them the first two days. They had them on Anthem on a jar behind the counter. They quickly ran out....he was pretty disappointed. In anticipation of the lack of goodies he would be able to eat I packed his favorite candy so we were good.

 

Since they were basically out by day 3 I might recommend anyone who might want these to hop on Amazon or something and bring your own.

 

Thanks!

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On to lunch in the windjammer, which is a food court type buffet restaurant. As such, there is of course more chance of getting cross contamination. However if you are careful and vigilant, you should be fine to choose non gluteny food like salads and cooked meats, fries, etc.

 

They're is now a row of dishes labeled as gluten free to choose as well as the other fare. This stuff has been prepared worth more care about cc so it's much safer. Today there was mash, gravy, bbq chicken, a curry, a veg and potatoes dish and rice. Also there was gf bread and a gf dessert which changes every day. My gf smile today was from the chocolate torte dessert - thick and luscious!!!bbbca9b2b9fea46b72edffea64917019.jpg37671017c8afe4ad76041d1faad569e4.jpg9e55a1099a967c8975f78dd8449cb19d.jpg186056422dee7a4de9641d2f15d9718a.jpg

 

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Can I just ask about lunch please. We're just doing a short 3 night trip so no sea days. I'm reading that the main dining room isn't open for lunch on port days so does that leave just Windjammer or Sorrento's pizza as places with GF options. Can't work out if there is anywhere else I've not heard of.

Thanks so much.

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Can I just ask about lunch please. We're just doing a short 3 night trip so no sea days. I'm reading that the main dining room isn't open for lunch on port days so does that leave just Windjammer or Sorrento's pizza as places with GF options. Can't work out if there is anywhere else I've not heard of.

Thanks so much.

Cafe Promenade is also open, though I don't know how extensive their GF options are.

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