Gluten Free Food on Carnival?

[Wndrwomn]

Hello :)

I've cruised before but since my last trip I've had to change my diet after a diagnosis of Hashimotos. Being GF has changed my life and made me feel so much better!

I am afraid that being on the cruise and not having GF options available to be will sabotage my feeling well and throw my health back. While I don't have any severe gastro issues involved with eating gluten like many people do, it still makes me feel like crap.

Does anyone know if GF bread is offered, GF desserts, cookies, muffins, cakes?

Thanks!

[DebJ14]

It is a good idea to notify special needs that you need a GF diet. A Maitre D on the Magic told me they like to get an idea of how many they will have on board so they can be prepared.

 

Then, when you board meet with the Maitre'D. You will be able to pre-order your dinners the night before and can get pretty much anything made GF. If they can't do it, they will give you an alternative. You can also pre-order GF pancakes for breakfast in the Main Dining room, but you have to do it the night before.

 

They offer GF desserts including a GF version of the warm chocolate melting cake, cheesecake, creme brulee etc. They also offer GF bread in the Main dining room and you can have sandwiches made at the deli with GF bread.

 

The buffet can be problematic because unlike other cruise lines they don't mark the GF items. You have to meet with the Maitre'D up there to find out what is OK to eat. We just avoid eating on the Lido. The omelets and scrambled eggs on the buffet are not made with fresh eggs. You will do better for breakfast by eating in the Main Dining Room every morning so you can get GF bread, fresh eggs etc.

 

If you are celebrating something you can order a Gluten Free birthday or anniversary cake in Cherry on Top or Formalities. They are very good.

 

We have been sailing Gluten Free for 9 years and some ships do it better than others because some of the staff really knows their stuff and others, not so much.

If the ship you are sailing has a Guys Burgers you can either get it without the bun or with a GF bun. The Blue Iguana Cantina will make you a "Naked Burrito" without the tortilla.

 

I have a real problem with not just gluten, but dairy and lots of other food allergies. I end up having scrambled fresh eggs and bacon every day for breakfast, a salad with balsamic vinagrette for lunch and usually shrimp cocktail, the plain chicken breast and steamed vegetables every evening. Since dairy and chocolate are out for me I just get the fruit plate for dessert every night.

 

I am allergic to beef, so when we eat at the Steakhouse I get the lobster tail or the lamb.

[SadieN]

Do a thread search for 'Gluten' and 'Celiac'. Lots of threads. Rarely have I read an issue about GF or other food allergies.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[RuthlessBoss]

Do a thread search for 'Gluten' and 'Celiac'. Lots of threads. Rarely have I read an issue about GF or other food allergies.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

There are so many threads already, but in the next day or two, the question will come up again.

[KoalaWala]

Guests must discuss their meal options in advance with their head waiter and hostess in the main dining room on the first night of the cruise; if dining in the Lido Restaurant, the guest should discuss requirements with senior dining staff.

 

The following Gluten-Free food items are readily available on board:

 

•Bread for deli sandwiches and hamburger buns

•Cake (upon request)

•Ice Cream and Yogurt

•Pizza (upon request at the Pizzeria)

•Pasta at the Pasta Bar (Carnival Breeze, Carnival Dream, Carnival Magic and Carnival Sunshine)

•Estrella Daura - Gluten-Free beer

•Tito's Handmade Vodka

Edited March 19, 2016 by KoalaWala

[Wndrwomn]

Thank you all for your replies!

Before starting this thread, I did perform a search but came up with limited results, and results dating all the way back to 2008! and a lot of those posts were negative. But I sincerely appreciate your responses and will call Carnival tomorrow to advise them of my dietary needs.

Thank you all again!! :)

[jolyroger]

Cruised with my best friend who has celiac and has to have everything GF (not only food but hair, face body products you name it) She let Carnival know when booking about this. Can I tell you they went above and beyond to cater to her. Every nite in the MDR they went over the next days menu with her so she could pick her dinner, to make sure it was gf. Bread,rolls,dessert, you name it . All GF, and you know the entire 8 days, not one flare up..ever. And she is highly sensitive. Many many options, kudos to Carnival!

Edited March 19, 2016 by jolyroger

[Disneynutbsv]

Dietary Needs

 

Carnival Cruise Line can provide our guests with the following special dietary needs: Vegetarian, Low-Cholesterol, Low-Fat, Low-Carbohydrates, Low-Sugar, Gluten Free, Indian Vegetarian, and Kosher. For Indian Vegetarian and Kosher meals, two weeks advance notice prior to your cruise is required. We kindly ask that you please inform our dining team so you can discuss your meal options. Additionally, we also request you advise our dining team of any food allergies you have. Any special dietary and food requests can be accommodated in our main dining rooms only.

Gluten Free:

Our chefs will make every effort possible to fulfill your requests and will gladly prepare freshly made options that meet your dietary needs. However, you will need to make arrangements in advance with your headwaiter and hostess. Once onboard, we ask you speak with them so they can assist in planning your daily meals in the dining room. This will allow us the necessary time to prepare foods, as requested, in a timely manner.

Additionally, we have available gluten free bread for deli sandwiches, hamburger buns for burgers, and cake upon request. Plus, our ice-cream and yogurt are Gluten-free and we offer Gluten-free pizza at the Pizzeria, as well as, Gluten free pasta on the pasta bar (only available on the Carnival Breeze, Carnival Dream, Carnival Magic, and Carnival Sunshine). However, please keep in mind that sandwiches, burgers, and pizza are prepared fresh upon request. Therefore, they may take a little longer than regular menu items. We ask for your patience while we prepare your requested dish. We’d also like to mention we carry Gluten-free beer, Estrella Daura for your enjoyment.

Food Allergies:

We ask that you please inform our dining team of any food allergies and special preparation you may require to accommodate your allergy. Please discuss this the first evening of your cruise. Any special dietary and food requests can be accommodated in our main dining rooms only.

Healthy Food Selections:

Breakfast, lunch and dinner menus in the main dining room feature Healthy Option selections designated by a heart symbol on the menu.

• Starters and entrees are:

» Low in fat

» Low in sodium

» Low in cholesterol

• Desserts are prepared without sugar or sugar substitutes.

Other Dietary Needs:

Most simple diet requirements can be accommodated on board. We do not have dieticians on board; therefore, we can only offer assistance with simple requests such as the method of preparation of menu items. Diet requirements need to be arranged with the guest's head waiter on the first night of the cruise. If dining in the Lido Restaurant, the guest should discuss requirements with senior dining staff.

If you need general information about accessibility before you cruise, please email us at specialneeds@carnival.com. If you have an ADA complaint, please call us at 1-800-929-6400 or email access@carnival.com.

[tigercat]

If you want cereal on the buffet line the Cheerios is gluten free. I had the Chef check and he took a picture of the box and the ingredients. I had wondered about it because Cheerios is gluten free in the States but not in Canada.

tigercat

[Wndrwomn]

Thanks, everyone! I called and arranged it with the rep, now I will just speak w the head waiter!

[WLHyatt]

There are also Wraps at the deli, pizza with GF crust, and GF hamburger buns (the guys prepping those have grumbled some, but given enough time they will be able to do it).

 

They will even do the Chef's table GF if needed, that was really impressive.

[Cruisingceliac]

There are also Wraps at the deli, pizza with GF crust, and GF hamburger buns (the guys prepping those have grumbled some, but given enough time they will be able to do it).

 

They will even do the Chef's table GF if needed, that was really impressive.

 

What does the GF buns look like? We were on the conquest a couple years ago in Dec. 2014 and Guy's Burger Joint didn't have GF Hamburger buns. All they had were slices of bread that they serve in the main dining room. Would absolutely love to know how to get these GF Hamburger buns made. Anybody else have had the GF Hamburger buns? Would love to know. THEM FRIES WERE AWESOME! No seasoning though. Just salt :/

 

Regarding our previous cruises since being celiac, (Honey Bun is celiac and I feel like crap when I eat gluten), our first cruise together was on Carnival Conquest. It is the cruise to beat for us. The chef was phenomenal when it came to serving gluten free food. He made au jus GF for us to go with the scrumptious meat. Oh so yummy. Our first night we booked a reservation at the steakhouse as you get a free bottle of wine. :) ;) We had the entire restaurant to ourselves as we had an early reservation. Seems like it was before 6pm. We told the waitress that we were gluten free and was very sensitive to CC. It was no problem at all for us to eat there. They even made my French onion soup GF and it was delicious. They serve GF bread at every meal. It's no Udi's bread, but it will do since others eat bread and I don't want to feel left out. Although I cannot eat the bread when they switch from white bread to some other kind of bread the later half of the cruise. Never got up in time for breakfast so can't say if it was good or not. But during our dining in the Main Dining Room, dinners were fantastic. I loved the short braised ribs so much, I had to find a recipe to make at home. We had soup, steak, pork chops with sauces. Lots of creme brulee and chocolate melting cake with ice cream. NOW SOMETHING TO KEEP IN MIND!! >>>>CHEESECAKE>>>> On our first cruise, we were told the cheesecake could be made Gluten Free! That's great, Right?! Although we did not have any reactions from that cheesecake, we were on another Carnival Cruise a year later on the Inspiration and guess what?? Honey Bun got sick!! And I told him when I got my cheesecake to not eat his piece, (of course by the time I'm done examining my food he has already taken a bite.) I saw graham cracker crust crumbs on the cheesecake where they (I kid you not) cut the cheesecake in half where the cheesecake slice we received once had a crust. They used the same knife for cutting each slice for cutting the cheesecake in half. So I do not know how our first cruise prepared the cheesecake to where we did not get sick. On the lido deck, it can be hard to find something good as all the other dishes. We were able to get one of the senior chefs on the deck to make us some rice. Honey bun loved his rice and so did everyone else since rice was specially made for him and not for everyone else. We had lots of ice cream. Looking back on the hot chocolate mix, don't know if that was GF since I know hotel chains use Nestle and Nestle is not GF. NEEDED INFO FOR ROOM SERVICE We ordered some blts, rueben sandwiches. Beware if your bread is "orange", it has been contaminated due to it being grilled with other items!! Never order grilled sandwiches. Grills are contaminated. The conquest told us we could not have our items grilled. BUMMER. But for lunch we were fortunate. The deli had just opened on the lido deck one day and we were the first ones there as we did not go into port due to rain. We asked the cook if we can have our bread grilled, he checked and said yes because the grill had been cleaned. Once again we did not get sick. Pizza from the pizzeria was good. I just wished they had canadian bacon and pineapple. We only ate at Blue Iguana once for sure, they did serve food in corn tortillas but they were hard as they weren't warmed up due to the contamination of the tortilla warmer. Maybe they can either clean it next time or put tin foil on both sides of the shell and the warm it up. All in all the conquest was by far the best compared to the Inspiration as we got glutened a few times and ruined our 4 day cruise on the Inspiration. Now going on the splendor and hope its as wonderful as the conquest. Tip: Bring sandwich baggies and a lunch box to pack for port days. Haven't done an excursion where they serve you food, but I find it frustrating to be hungry and can't safely eat.

[SadieN]

......... Tip: Bring sandwich baggies and a lunch box to pack for port days. Haven't done an excursion where they serve you food, but I find it frustrating to be hungry and can't safely eat.

 

 

 

DO NOT BRING FOOD OFF THE SHIP!

 

Almost all countries have AG laws restricting food being brought into their country. We've had our bags hand searched and been sniffed by AG dogs. You do not want them sitting next to you.

 

We have other food restrictions and bring commercially pre-packaged food for shore. Also we use allergy cards to make sure there is no misunderstanding. Can make your own or purchase online. We got ours at select wisely. com.

[Cruisingceliac]

DO NOT BRING FOOD OFF THE SHIP!

 

Almost all countries have AG laws restricting food being brought into their country. We've had our bags hand searched and been sniffed by AG dogs. You do not want them sitting next to you.

 

We have other food restrictions and bring commercially pre-packaged food for shore. Also we use allergy cards to make sure there is no misunderstanding. Can make your own or purchase online. We got ours at select wisely. com.

 

Really? Wow, we haven't had that happen to us. Good to know for the future.

[SadieN]

New Ag issues can wreck havoc on the ecosystem.

Lived thru the Southern California Med Fruit Fly invasion of the '80s thru '90s. Don't want anyone else to be crop dusted with Malathion. We're now fighting the Asian Psylliad.

[DFoweman]

There are some very knowledgeable people on this thread with some great information. I would love to see you all join the "Cruising Gluten Free" Facebook page and share your knowledge. There are questions on there right now about the availability of gluten free hamburger buns and birthday cakes.