? about gluten free on HAL

[auntjoy036]

Hi. A medical condition requires me to follow a gluten free diet. I've been reading the CC boards. I know I can notify HAL ahead of time that I'm gluten free and choose my meals for each day from a menu shown to me the night before. What I don't understand, or the thing that seems to vary in people's experience, is whether the dishes are truly modified to be gluten free or are they simply denuded of any gluten ingredients. For example, if I order duck l'orange, will I get duck with a wheat free sauce or plain duck with no sauce?

 

I'm lucky HAL accommodates my needs at all. I just wondered whether to look forward to a week of good dinners or a week of food as fuel but not too enjoyable.

 

If the answer varies by ship I'll be on the Volendam.

 

Thanks.

 

Vicki

[RMLincoln]

From my experience through having a special diet/including gluten free grand daughter on HAL with us:

 

HAL will provide gluten free bread and gluten free pasta on request... and you will make choices (the night before usually) that will include notes in the margin showing adjustments such as "no stuffing" no sauce" no gravy" etc on your night-before menu selections. Plus, you must ask a lot of of questions. Ask is the gravy is gluten free (coul dbe cornstarch or arrowroot) or if their is a gluten free sauce available. Ask if you may have a different sauce, such as apricot preserves or berry compote or raspberry coulis... or butter.... be creative and if you ask you may receive. But our experience was that they did not do up special dishes for dietary restrictions. But they generally were able to provide what we asked for out of our own creativity.

 

In the Lido we got to know the head chef of the Lido and he told us he was on duty whenever the Lido was open, please just ask for him and he'll come out and answer any of our concerns. He took us around the buffet and told us what was safe and what was not.

 

When you come back please share with us how it went for you so that others will learn. Have a great cruise! m--

[cruise_bunnies]

I went with my mom who is gluten free by necessity as well on the ms Rotterdam in July 2014.

 

Our thoughts before we left

We talked with a gluten free passenger on our first cruise and got some ideas of what was possible. She was very positive and often went to the Lido where she was helped. Since my mom has several medical allergies, we were very happy to hear that and we decided to ask her to cruise with us.

 

We reckoned the Lido would be out as cross contamination was always a big concern for us.

 

Notifying HAL

By notifying the ship before hand and filling in the correct form you can choose many extra's like cookies, waffles, bagels, gluten free pasta, gluten free pizza etc.

 

On the ship

Embarkation day was a bit of a wash. They had selected the dinner in the MDR for my mom and it wasn't much to her liking, but there wasn't much else.

 

We had to tell our waiter that she would need a butter plate for herself, so we wouldn't contaminate it with our knives. After asking for it, it was done every single day. Her gluten free bread was very nice, better then the brands available in Holland. It was Canadian I think. However, she did get a reaction off of it, because we fear that they heated it in the grill instead of microwave and she is very sensitive. After that, we asked if they could please heat it in the microwave: 0 complaints after that.

 

In the MDR they don't substitute often. It's likely that you will receive dishes without sauces and the dessert was often a wash, with nothing she could have. It was a pity, but she has many food allergies and the ship has to feed a lot of people. If you like jelly and stuff, you will be happy, if you want to have some cake, sorry. If they couldn't make it for her, they often substituted the entire dish :( If there was something she could have (strawberries marinated with chocolate mousse) we often told her to take a second serving :)

 

Strangely enough, the Lido was a life saver and the 2nd executive chef there knew his stuff. He'd often substitute things if possible and/or get her some lovely extra's like some fruit that wasn't available for the rest of the pax. In the Lido you can also ask for your cookies/waffles/cakes etc. and they will collect it for you.

 

The pizza you can have made and the pizza waiter told her, if you come by on the day, he will take the gluten free dough and work with the toppings he has. If you want something special, come by a day before, ask what you want, and he will make sure it was there. I'm sure they will do it for you if you ask.

 

She also asked for a lunch bag one day, as we were having a long day on the road and they made her some waffles, which was v. nice of them. We sailed Europe so you can take food off the ship. Sadly, the waffles cold, taste like cardboard, which was hilarious, but not very nutritious.

 

Overall, my mom was very satisfied with the food. We did late night buffet with steak some days, which she adored. She was also very happy with the ease of traveling without having to worry about her food all the time and with the service of the staff. She got sea sick like we feared (and because she was stubborn and didn't take the meds one day), but 7 days off the ship she asked if she could join us again ;)

 

If you have any questions, let me know :)

 

cruise_bunnies

Edited August 28, 2014 by cruise_bunnies

[sparty1]

We just got off 35 days Veendam, but HAL policy is supposed to be same for GF. DH sent in a HAL form for GF requests(specific categories of GF foods were selected) Special needs dept said they required this so they could have the right supply of specific items onboard our ship. Then onboard we spoke with the Maitre' d who assured us DH was in their system for GF, and asked if we would be eating in Lido and specialty restaurants also? He said MDR would always offer next night's menu(almost anything he wanted could be made GF ahead of time: sauces, braises, desserts, etc.) He let Lido manager know that we would be eating there also(we had to let lead chef know DH was there and the GF choices were pointed out or brought up to us from dining room. Staff were knowledgable and gratious. Spoke with Canaletto and Pinnacle managers 2 days in advance and had no issues. Basically, if you order ahead, you will have a GF sauce/gravy in most cases. If don't order ahead, you'll have food items without sauces. Hope this helps.

 

Hi. A medical condition requires me to follow a gluten free diet. is whether the dishes are truly modified to be gluten free or are they simply denuded of any gluten ingredients. For example, if I order duck l'orange, will I get duck with a wheat free sauce or plain duck with no sauce?

 

.

 

If the answer varies by ship I'll be on the Volendam.

 

Thanks.

 

Vicki

[auntjoy036]

Thank you all for sharing your experiences. It helps me know what to expect.

 

Best wishes to you.

 

Vicki