cruising with celiacs

[sam73]

So I just booked the breeze for February. I haven't sailed carnival since 2011. Since then I have found out I have gluten intolerance. I've read up on here that carnival is great handling this. I've read people have pre ordered their dinners the night before? My ? Is does this work with anytime dining? Or am I better with assigned dinner time?

[kam2718]

My mom has celiacs and when we sailed in November of 2013 they really took care of her. We had assigned seating at dinner. Each night when we were done eating they brought out the menu for the following day and let her pick. I guess they made whatever she wanted gluten free. She didnt have any problems.

 

Not sure if things have changed since then - maybe they have actual gluten free menus? I dont know

Edited May 15, 2015 by kam2718

[sailor_jimc]

Shiela-

 

Contact Carnival guest care well in advance of your cruise. iCare@carnival.com (yes there are other email addresses but this one will work) Give them your booking # and sailing date and let them know you have ATD and need Gluten free. I am certain they cover gluten free with everyday food but it would not hurt for you to give them a bit of advanced warning and they can then let you know what your options are.

[DebJ14]

I think it makes it easier on them if you have assigned dining. You order your meal the night before and with assigned dining they know what time to have it ready for you. I found that if I had MTD the food was either not ready and it was a long wait or it was cold. It was always spot on with Traditional Late seating.

[pinquechocolat]

I have celiac, and will be cruising on 2 different trips next year.... based on everything i've read (google outside this website too and you will find some useful blogs from people who have cruised with CC with celiac).... I cruised on NCL with no problems at all, following the same guidelines that CC has. I understand that CC is a haven for people with food allergies/issues. I followed all the steps I needed to for NCL and will for CC.... alerting them well in advance of my dietary restrictions and needs, always ordering my meals the day before, and always making sure the maitre'd knew where i was so he could make sure all was well. you're going to have a great cruise! :)

[13cheermom]

My adult daughter also has a gluten intolerance, so she emailed them with the above address and they responded to her request. Didn't indicate there would be a problem with ATD at all, but suggested to meet with head person first night of dining to establish a contact. I know on a previous cruise the couple beside us had someone come to their table every night about specific menu choices and it was also ATD. We don't expect any problems in June on the Glory, good luck to you because I realize it can be a struggle sometimes dealing with this unfortunate condition.

[MMastell]

I was diagnosed with Celiac five years ago. I have sailed on Carnival 4 times since. They, by far, do the best job of handling a gluten free diet.

 

On each of my cruises I just went to the Maitre 'd on embarkation day and let them know. Usually they will show you the menu and you let them know what you want and, IF POSSIBLE, they will provide it gluten free. Don't expect them to make gluten free fried chicken for you. ;)

 

Your card will be flagged and when you enter YTD they will know that you are gluten free. At some point during your dinner they will bring the next night's menu over and you can choose what you'd like. It works great. BTW: They have a gluten free chocolate lava cake that is as good as the regular.

 

I've sailed Celebrity, Princess and Oceania since was diagnosed and while Celebrity marks the menu items that are gluten free they really don't do anything special and you usually end up with regular bread at the table and have to ask for gluten free, if you want it. Me, I think all the gluten free bread on cruise ships is not good, so I go without.

 

Carnival also has gluten free bread at the Deli and gluten free pizza at the Pizza Pirate. The deli bread is the same stuff as in the dining room so don't expect much but the pizza crust was edible. When ordering a Guy's hamburger you can get it with a gluten free bun but I just ask for a "Naked Guy". :) I do have the fries at Guy's burger since they don't fry anything, other than potatoes, in the fryers. I have not had a problem and I am extremely sensitive.

 

At the buffet the staff has always been very helpful. If you are unsure if something is gluten free, ask. I have found that if the person behind the buffet didn't know they would ask the galley. This is something that ruined two days of my life on Oceania when I asked about a soup and later found out that it had gluten in it. I also strongly suggest that you, and all people with Celiac, educate yourself on what you can and can't have. Don't believe that the lasagna at the buffet is going to be gluten free. Education is key to living with Celiac.

 

Two last things to all: 1. If you are just being gluten free as a "choice" please don't make a big deal about it and make people jump through hoops and then order the red velvet cake as a treat. It's hard enough to be taken seriously with Celiac when many people put waitstaff through unneeded work. 2. It's Celiac, not Celiacs. :) I also called it Celiacs when I was first diagnosed.

 

Have a fun. It really isn't that hard to cruise with a gluten free diet.

 

Take care,

Mike

[SadieN]

We have other allergies and do ATD with no food related issues.

 

At embark we see the Maitre 'D and preorder the first night's dinner. That night a hostess or your waiter will take the next day's MDR order-breakfast, brunch/lunch, and dinner. If you cannot decide between several dishes, order them.

When seated the hostess will give your order to your waiter.

At the table we had issues---the special food came out quicker than the regular food.

 

As you know the buffet can be a minefield, be careful of cross contamination. When in doubt talk with a hostess or the Lido Chef, not the line cooks. We have spoken with several GF pax who've never had an issue onboard, including HI cruises.

[Confuzzled]

I have celiac and had no problems with ATD. I also do not email ahead of time. I do go to the dining room early on the first day and talk them. And like previous posters said, they will come take your order for the next evening at each meal. You will have limited options the first night, however.

 

The sea day brunch is awesome and you can also preorder it the day before.

 

Be very careful at the buffet. I got sick the first day of a cruise when the hostess walked me through, pointing out what was gluten-free, and gave me erroneous information. I got sick from the carved meat. I found out later they use soy sauce to glaze it.

 

After that I met with the head Lido chef and he said to always call him personally when I get to the buffet and he would help me. He was even willing to make me something personally to keep me from getting sick. I never actually used that option because I didn't want to bother him.

 

Make sure you order the the gluten-free melting cake! I ended up eating it every night! When I sail NCL, I order creme brulee every night but it's not very good on Carnival.

 

Overall, they do an excellent job of taking care of me and my dietary restrictions without making me feel like an obnoxious freak who is causing them extra work.

[sam73]

Thank you everyone. Im happy to stick with atd. Great information. And yes I have celiac, (this is not a lifestyle choice) trust me its a pain at times, I miss real pizza crust

[huenix]

I have not had it yet but the GF pizza on the ships is supposed to be ok.

[Roscoe13]

Thank you everyone. Im happy to stick with atd. Great information. And yes I have celiac, (this is not a lifestyle choice) trust me its a pain at times, I miss real pizza crust

 

My wife has Celiac and whenever possible we choose an assigned dining time. With ATD you may or may not be served by the same team each night, with assigned you will have the same team and that comforts her knowing that the wait team is going to use different tongs when they grab her bread off the separate plate and announce, "glooten free?" when they place it on her plate.

 

This upcoming cruise is just the two of us and we will be meeting with the Matre' D on embarkation day, usually starting around 1 or 1:30pm, and going over her strict requirements and also requesting a table for two. Easier to reduce the risk of contamination with just the two us as opposed to stranger unfamiliar with her dietary restriction.

 

One thing I have noticed, some Celiac patients are not as intolerant as she is. She baked chocolate chip cookies for her son using real flour and became very sick just from the flour dust. So, perhaps, we are more cautious than others.

[pinquechocolat]

Roscoe, I am glad you posted bc I didnt realize we would have to request a table for 2 on our upcoming cruise. I too get sick just from flour dust and the teeniest cross-contamination. So i will be sure to keep in mind to get assigned seating and a table for just my daughter and myself. And my daughter even offered to eat gluten free with me just to be sure she doesn't contaminate me with her hands touching anything in our cabin. :) true love.

[steveknj]

My daughter has celiac, and we followed a lot of the good tips here so hopefully it will be smooth sailing (pun intended) for her when we go on the Dream in late June. We have ATD, so perhaps it would be worth it to scheduled dining with an early seating. We are three, so I wonder if we could request a table for 3 since my daughter can react funny if she's around gluten sometimes (we do eat gluten at home, but for some reason she's more intolerant of it out of the house).

[CKEA_Cruising_Family]

My daughter and I both have celiac and we ended up with anytime dining on our New Years cruises as we were travelling with friends and their set dinner time got mixed up. It was no issue at all. You pre-order and the hostess will give order to the waitstaff and they are all trained in how to get you the correct food. Bottom line, no reason to avoid atd if you want the flexibility. I still have a slight preference to set time as I like having the same wait staff all week.

[kristy29]

I sailed on the Pride in January and ate gluten free. We had anytime dining and it was no problem. I ordered the night before and when we gave them our room number when checking in they had a slip with my food choices on it that they gave to the waiters. You could also order breakfast and lunch ahead of time but I never did, I just stuck to naturally gf foods like eggs, cottage cheese and fruit for breakfast. Lunch on the buffet was a little tricky because everything seemed to have some sort of sauce or gravy. I did a lot of guys burgers, they will get you gf bread for your burger and they will fry you gf french fries. The pizza was not edible, don't even try it. Overall my experience was positive and I was very impressed.

[pinkbugs471]

I am Celiac and have been for 25 years. As everyone has already said, see the maitre'd the day you board. I will be going on my 20th Carnival cruise in September. It makes no difference if you have ATD or assigned seating. You will still place your order the night before. When you are seated you give your room number and tell them you have a pre ordered meal... after 2 or three nights the hostess will remember..

[screwsmcernst]

This will be my 2nd cruise after being diagnosed with Celiac Disease. My first cruise was on Celebrity last January, and I must disagree with a previous poster, They took unbelievably good care of me. They brought me G.F.bread every evening at dinner, the next nights menu to pre-order, and they made me my own G.F. chocolate cake. Anytime I wanted a piece,they brought it to me. On the last night at dessert, they brought me the remainder of the cake. =) I am really excited to read that they have a G.F. version of the chocolate Melting Cake. :D

 

I have already emailed the Carnival special needs department to let them know, and I will go to the Maitre D when we embark in December, just like I did on Celebrity. We always have assigned dining, and I hope it goes as well as it did on our last cruise. I suspect it will. I do wish Carnival had their items on their menus and buffets labeled like Celebrity does. It really does make it so much easier. to navigate. :)