Any tips for gluten free eating/ordering? - All much appreciated

[samnewbie]

Hi all,

 

We are due to sail on the Nieuw Amsterdam, Med Glamour cruise 21st August and my husband has coeliacs (first cruise with HAL)

 

I know about the form to request items such as rolls,bread etc, it seems fairly straightforward though we really don't know how many things to order (don't want to under order or be the other extreme and look plain greedy!!:rolleyes:) but from what I have read it probably makes no difference anyway as they seem to just use whatever they have stocked as opposed to a named box of items :D

 

I have read as many threads I can find regarding gluten free food but what I wondered was if any of you from experience have any tips regarding the food, ie things you found to be gluten free that we may not consider?

 

Thanks in advance, you are all so very helpful, it is much appreciated.

 

Sam :)

[fann1sh]

My tip is to request fixed time/table seating.

 

The wait staff is very helpful. However, when you dine each night with the same team, they will ask questions ahead of time, and be ready with answers.

 

I'd also recommend eating many other meals in the main dining room rather than the Lido buffet. (I admit I prefer table service to buffet, but ----) Much easier to get advice/custom orders.

 

My experience is with a different allergy/sensitivity. However, from reading BEPSF's posts here, I know there are gluten free pancakes, English muffins, etc., readily available for breakfast in the MDR.

[bakcd]

I would suggest you order the maximum allowed even if you do not use that much. It baffles me that they expect you to know 3 months prior to cruising, which items you wish to consume on your trip.

 

Our cereals contain malt, a product of barley, so although the grain is safe (corn, rice) the end product is not. If your husband likes cereal, he should request it on his form. Sausage here in the US does not contain wheat so that is usually okay. Rice, other than plain white, should usually be avoided since broths contain wheat products. Worchestershire Sauce is gf in the US but not in Canada. I believe most food supplies are from the US. You will not find gluten free beer but I do wish everyone would continue to request it so that we might see it offered in the future. If there are other foods you would like me to research, please ask.

 

We have had experience with anytime dining and have not experienced any problems as a result. It is possible that you find a waiter you are comfortable with and request his table for the remainder of the cruise. It is possible to enjoy your meals in the Lido restaurant if you prefer more casual daytime meals.

 

Each ship handles things a bit differently but with each cruise, HAL seems to handle the gluten-free diet a bit better.

[hulamoon]

My experience with Lido GF meals is terrible. I ask who bests knows GF and ask to be seated in their area in the MDR. I discovered French Fries on HAL and the omeletes or scrambled eggs from the carton are not GF. Give specialty resturants a days notice. If eating at the new Pacific Asian resturant you may have something delivered from the MDR.

 

For goodness sake order all the stuff on the form. I have done this twice and the first time the ship did not get my order in time so none of the products were available to me, except thank you Elvira, for helping out for one yummy desert. On the second cruise I got two of the items and then I was told the inventory was depleted. If it is true someone actually gets served all those GF bread products on the form, that would suprise me. Most of us don't eat like that anyway right? We are just trying to avoid wheat not replace every possible wheat item.

 

More importantly though, when you get your team together who watch what happens in the back, do not assume the cookie in your ice cream is GF, it is not.

 

Best of luck! Have a great cruise.

[samnewbie]

My tip is to request fixed time/table seating.

 

The wait staff is very helpful. However, when you dine each night with the same team, they will ask questions ahead of time, and be ready with answers.

 

I'd also recommend eating many other meals in the main dining room rather than the Lido buffet. (I admit I prefer table service to buffet, but ----) Much easier to get advice/custom orders.

 

My experience is with a different allergy/sensitivity. However, from reading BEPSF's posts here, I know there are gluten free pancakes, English muffins, etc., readily available for breakfast in the MDR.

 

 

Hi,

 

Thanks for your reply and your tips, much appreciated.

 

We probably would prefer a mixture of wait service and the buffet maybe for lunch/breakfast i think, not sure though until we actually see what everything is like but i value your input regarding your previous experience.

 

Hoping they have pancakes, husband will love them!

 

Thankyou!

 

Sam :)

[samnewbie]

I would suggest you order the maximum allowed even if you do not use that much. It baffles me that they expect you to know 3 months prior to cruising, which items you wish to consume on your trip.

 

Our cereals contain malt, a product of barley, so although the grain is safe (corn, rice) the end product is not. If your husband likes cereal, he should request it on his form. Sausage here in the US does not contain wheat so that is usually okay. Rice, other than plain white, should usually be avoided since broths contain wheat products. Worchestershire Sauce is gf in the US but not in Canada. I believe most food supplies are from the US. You will not find gluten free beer but I do wish everyone would continue to request it so that we might see it offered in the future. If there are other foods you would like me to research, please ask.

 

We have had experience with anytime dining and have not experienced any problems as a result. It is possible that you find a waiter you are comfortable with and request his table for the remainder of the cruise. It is possible to enjoy your meals in the Lido restaurant if you prefer more casual daytime meals.

 

Each ship handles things a bit differently but with each cruise, HAL seems to handle the gluten-free diet a bit better.

 

 

Hiya,

 

I'm glad you have said that about ordering, we too sat here and husband said exactly the same thing, how on earth willl he know what he fancies 3 months down the line.

 

Thanks for the tip regarding cereal, he does love cereal so will order that, he will however be more than happy with cold meats, cheeses or cooked food for breakfast is the cereal is not available.

 

Thats good about the sausages, invariably in most hotels etc in the UK the sausages contain gluten. We can buy gluten free in the supermarkets and they are getting more prevalent but I'm sorry to say that most restaurants, hotels etc have not really got used to the whole gluten free thing yet. They are getting better but still major mistakes are made.

 

Husband and I were at a restaurant and he ordered off the gluten free menu but they served his starter - baked camembert - covered in bread pieces. When we brought this to the waitresses attention it was sent back immediately only to be brought back still with bread pieces but now covered in celery sticks as if to 'hide' the bread! - Needless to say the manager got involved who said he would reprimand his staff, I asked him not to reprimand them but to 'educate' them about the importance of what a gluten free diet is.

 

We too have booked anytime dining and did wonder if it would work regarding the gluten free aspect, hopefully it will be ok as we prefer the freedom and flexibility that offers.

 

Thanks for your tips, much appreciated,

 

Sam :)

[samnewbie]

My experience with Lido GF meals is terrible. I ask who bests knows GF and ask to be seated in their area in the MDR. I discovered French Fries on HAL and the omeletes or scrambled eggs from the carton are not GF. Give specialty resturants a days notice. If eating at the new Pacific Asian resturant you may have something delivered from the MDR.

 

For goodness sake order all the stuff on the form. I have done this twice and the first time the ship did not get my order in time so none of the products were available to me, except thank you Elvira, for helping out for one yummy desert. On the second cruise I got two of the items and then I was told the inventory was depleted. If it is true someone actually gets served all those GF bread products on the form, that would suprise me. Most of us don't eat like that anyway right? We are just trying to avoid wheat not replace every possible wheat item.

 

More importantly though, when you get your team together who watch what happens in the back, do not assume the cookie in your ice cream is GF, it is not.

 

Best of luck! Have a great cruise.

 

Hiya,

 

That is really good to know about the french fries, omelettes and scrambled eggs, all things that i had read were gluten free.

 

I will get my husband to verify those item's before he risks eating them, thankyou!

 

We will request all the items and the maximum quantities, don't feel so 'greedy' now both yourself and bakcd have recommended that :)

 

Thanks for your advie and tip's much appreciated.

 

Sam :)

[bakcd]

I don't think you will have problems, it just takes careful observation of surrounding foods and asking questions. I've always found them helpful on the Lido deck and they have sometimes brought something from the kitchen, such as a chicken breast to enjoy with my salad.

 

Your husband can choose to to have a fresh omelet or eggs from the shell for breakfast, so much better than scrambled eggs anyway. Finding safe gluten-free toast is iffy, they do not have anywhere to toast bread without cross contamination on the Lido deck, at least that has been my experience. Ask if bacon is drained on bread and check hash browns or fried potatoes.

 

Gluten free pancakes will be available but order in advance. I went to the dining room one morning all set to enjoy pancakes, I never eat them at home. When I placed my order, I was told I had to order them a day in advance. Oh well, I left a bit disappointed but didn't starve. Since then I've never ordered them as I have to think about consuming the carb calories I don't need.

 

Enjoy!

[BruceMuzz]

Gluten Free is the illness of the month on cruises departing from North American ports.

If your ship has 2000 passengers, at least 300 of them wil be requiring Gluten Free diets.

 

Most cruise ships need to order food supplies 3 months in advance.

 

How on earth can the cruise lines expect you to know what you want to eat 3 months in advance?

Good question.

 

But since we need to order that special food 3 months in advance, how on earth would you expect us to have it for you if you can't tell us what you want?

[bakcd]

We are certainly grateful that the cruise lines allow us to pre-order gluten-free foods so they might have them onboard.

 

Gluten-free is the treatment for the diseases: celiac disease, dermatitis herpetiformis and gluten sensitivity, not the disease itself. May is Celiac Disease Awareness Month. Your estimate of 300 may be a bit high as celiac affects 1 in 100, but only 5 of that 100 may be diagnosed. Gluten sensitivity may affect as many as 1 in 20. I can't give you the numbers for those who treat this as a "fad" diet.

[BruceMuzz]

We are certainly grateful that the cruise lines allow us to pre-order gluten-free foods so they might have them onboard.

 

Gluten-free is the treatment for the diseases: celiac disease, dermatitis herpetiformis and gluten sensitivity, not the disease itself. May is Celiac Disease Awareness Month. Your estimate of 300 may be a bit high as celiac affects 1 in 100, but only 5 of that 100 may be diagnosed. Gluten sensitivity may affect as many as 1 in 20. I can't give you the numbers for those who treat this as a "fad" diet.

 

The number is not an estimate. It is the number taken from the Gluten Free Request Report I receive every week on my ship.

[bakcd]

WOW! I know our numbers are increasing but I didn't think it would be that many. By meeting our needs, we are able to travel with our friends and family.

 

Any chance we will see gluten-free beer available on HAL ships in the future?

[hulamoon]

I have never had a cruise experience where I could depend on GF panckakes or other bread products every morning. But having it once or twice is appreciated. It may be true that other passengers always get those products but even if I order them they are not always there. I say this for the passenger that thinks they will always show up. I hope this happens for you but I would lower expectations.

 

Now getting slices of that rice bread with an evening meal, no problem usually, but not exactly a cruise highlight as far as food.

 

I have never met more than one other person on a ship eating a restricted GF diet. Wild there are now 300!

[samnewbie]

I don't think you will have problems, it just takes careful observation of surrounding foods and asking questions. I've always found them helpful on the Lido deck and they have sometimes brought something from the kitchen, such as a chicken breast to enjoy with my salad.

 

Your husband can choose to to have a fresh omelet or eggs from the shell for breakfast, so much better than scrambled eggs anyway. Finding safe gluten-free toast is iffy, they do not have anywhere to toast bread without cross contamination on the Lido deck, at least that has been my experience. Ask if bacon is drained on bread and check hash browns or fried potatoes.

 

Gluten free pancakes will be available but order in advance. I went to the dining room one morning all set to enjoy pancakes, I never eat them at home. When I placed my order, I was told I had to order them a day in advance. Oh well, I left a bit disappointed but didn't starve. Since then I've never ordered them as I have to think about consuming the carb calories I don't need.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Thats a good tip regarding the chicken breast, husband would be impressed they would do that for him.

 

Ahhh i misunderstood the earlier comment about the scrambled eggs, i must admit i didnt know what 'from the carton' was, never heard of that over here plus we have our own hens :). I thought maybe it was a cross contamination thing that was wrong with them so thats good to know they are infact ok :)

 

Thanks for the other tips too, I will print off all the tips to take with us oh and will get husband to request gluten free beer too as requested! :)

 

Thanks again, really appreciate your comments,

 

Sam :)

[samnewbie]

Gluten Free is the illness of the month on cruises departing from North American ports.

If your ship has 2000 passengers, at least 300 of them wil be requiring Gluten Free diets.

 

Most cruise ships need to order food supplies 3 months in advance.

 

How on earth can the cruise lines expect you to know what you want to eat 3 months in advance?

Good question.

 

But since we need to order that special food 3 months in advance, how on earth would you expect us to have it for you if you can't tell us what you want?

 

 

Thats really interesting. I know more people are being diagnosed with Coeliacs Disease like my husband. I do think that is more to do with the fact it can be diagnosed and is now recognised whearas years ago it was a relatively difficult one to diagnose correctly.

 

We appreciate the fact that cruise lines do offer to cater for those on a gluten free diet. If i asked my husband now what he fancied to eat tomorrow he wouldnt have a clue, thats the general point about the ordering but it isnt impossible and at least we are able to request items that he may want when on board.

 

I actually think my husband will have some wonderful food safe in the knowledge he won't become ill. Sadly we cannot always have the same security when dining in our local restaurants!

 

I also appreciate that cruise lines require advance warning and I must say HALs order form is far simpler than NCLs...that has spices to order on and all sorts, so thankful we cancelled that cruise , the GF request form was a nightmare! :D

 

Thanks for your comments

 

Sam:)

[samnewbie]

We are certainly grateful that the cruise lines allow us to pre-order gluten-free foods so they might have them onboard.

 

Gluten-free is the treatment for the diseases: celiac disease, dermatitis herpetiformis and gluten sensitivity, not the disease itself. May is Celiac Disease Awareness Month. Your estimate of 300 may be a bit high as celiac affects 1 in 100, but only 5 of that 100 may be diagnosed. Gluten sensitivity may affect as many as 1 in 20. I can't give you the numbers for those who treat this as a "fad" diet.

 

 

Yep, Coeliacs Disease is an autoimmune deficiency disease that can in some cases be life threatening. My husband also has to have regular tests for osteoporosis as that is a side effect of Coeliacs , as i'm sure you know :)

 

There are indeed many that treat it as a 'fad diet'. I think that is down to not understanding what Coeliacs and other related illnesses actually are.

 

My husbands mother insists on offering husband biscuits and cake when we are round and he has to say he can't eat it and she say's 'still?'...so even she hasnt quite grasped it's impact even though he was diagnosed almost 4 years ago:rolleyes:

 

Sam :)

[samnewbie]

The number is not an estimate. It is the number taken from the Gluten Free Request Report I receive every week on my ship.

 

WOW that is way more than i expected.

 

That is quite reassuring actually because if it such large numbers the ships must be used to it and well prepared :)

 

Thanks for the info and figures, really eye opening.

 

Sam :)

[bakcd]

Sam, don't let your husband get his hopes up about the beer. I haven't seen it onboard yet. I'm hoping that with the number of passengers requesting gluten free, they will begin to stock one of the gluten-free beers. Maybe Bruce Muzz will check back in and tell us if this is possible.

 

Either way, it is still a good way to travel. With numbers increasing, 15% of the passengers, we might see things get even better.

 

We cannot always depend on restaurants here in the US to know how to serve gluten-free either although it is getting better. Programs like the Gluten Free Restaurant Awareness Program are making it easier to dine out.

 

Celiac wasn't recognized here until about 5 years ago. Doctors were taught it was 1 in 100,000 and they would probably never see a case in practice. Right now we are seeing a great deal of interest in gluten-sensitivity as well as celiac disease.

[bakcd]

hulumoon, I never have them bring bread to the table on a daily basis. The exception is the one night I order escargot, and then I'd like the bread toasted. Rice bread is a waste of calories. We have so many good options now for bread that doesn't need to be toasted and taste good as well.

 

I have had experience with them not having what I ordered but it isn't a great problem. I just hope they save me one pizza crust.

 

Of course if I could make lots of changes, I would have a long list. I miss the Indonesian dinner (they could use Tamari sauce for gf), afternoon tea, hot canapes before dinner. Even so, I can eat safely and enjoy my cruise and that counts for a lot.

[MarilouR]

I have a painful form of IBS which is triggered by wheat products. I have filled in the form and sent it in for our upcoming Northern Europe Cruise. Because we like to get into port early, we usually have breakfast in our stateroom. Is it possible to get some of the gluten-free products I have requested through room service?

[hulamoon]

First and foremost the ability to cruise with a wheat restriction is fabulous. The fact they will give occasional wheat free normie foods to me is a bonus.

 

Didn't mean to confuse about the carton, it could be because I take longer cruises that they start using an egg mix poured from a carton for omlettes and scrambled eggs. I have seen it both ways. I stick to over medium to have one less food to worry about. If so many folks are asking for GF, it would be great if a few items in the lido were marked as GF. I have found the staff is just too busy to tour the food items with me and it embarrassing to have to interrupt.

 

I have not had the luck others have had in the lido, I have even been told not to try to eat in the lido by chefs, unless I wanted the salad.

 

Pizza crust? I would love that, didn't know it was possible.

 

I have found there is a certain amount of misinformation that happens about a food and it seems it happens on each cruise, but for the most part, if I limit adventurous requests and stick to what I know

is GF I am fine.

[bakcd]

Under the Miscellaneous selections on the Gluten-Free Request form you will find pizza crusts, cold cereals, and pancakes/waffles. It is just nice to have something different one day for lunch.

[hulamoon]

So far any GF product I wrote in or called in for room service did not arrive. The normal kind did arrive.

 

I don't order the rice bread with dinner, I figure it is a code between myself and the waiter, "just so he knows that I know," sort of thing. They are so proud to offer the exchange. If they heat it, it is edible.

 

Maybe your experience will be better? Please let me know and I will update my thinking or look for who helped you.

 

With 300 on board now, that may make a difference.

 

Has anyone actually had a pizza crust? I know I have ordered it but I assumed they never came or something. I figure that form is just to get some inventory on board, because I had heard they had extra once and that they ran out before. It doesn't seem exactly a personal list of items for just one person. Ordering the day before works well with dinner, but I haven't found the technique to work in the lido or breakfast. Maybe things have improved. Even though they say you can have anything on the menu, it will be adjusted, there are many items I have chosen that I was told I could not have. As an example I've had gluten free pasta twice and then was told they were out of the product. Also all this ordering is before final payment and if someone no shows or moves their cruise does someone stop the order?

 

I find I am better off considering it a blessing and minor miracle if I get a portion of what is on the order list, so my thoughts are, order away and someone will benefit, even if it is not you. If you book your cruise after the deadline, nothing will be available for you unless of course someone didn't use all their products. YMMV and I'd like to know if it did.

[bakcd]

I've only used room service 2 or 3 times, I just don't care to take the chance. Usually order a cheese plate w/o crackers but only if we are having late seating. I did order room service when dh was not feeling up to par on our Feb cruise. When I ordered I did tell them I had pre-ordered a gf meal and it was delivered.

 

I would think that even with room service, you must pre-order a day in advance. When they bring the dinner menu at night, I also ask to see the lunch menu to see if there is something that appeals to me in the dining room. Otherwise it is the Lido for us.

 

Do you fill out the request from from HAL 90 days prior to sailing?

[hulamoon]

I fill that form out and fax it into them.

 

You know I bet you are right, dinner will work for room service if you ordered it the night before. Maybe I should try going to the dining room the morning before to order the room service GF breakfast. Calling or writing it into room service has yet to work for me.