NCL accommodations for Celiac

[sbaker]

Anyone have information about how NCL is with accommodating passengers with celiac?  Do any of you have first hand experience that you can share?

[CruiserJ03]

Not with celiac specifically, but let the Maitre D the first day that you have specific dietary needs. NCL usually has a designated waiter who manages special diets. You can meet with them a day ahead to make selections for the next day, and they will look out for you to make recommendations as well- sometimes preparing custom meals as needed.

[omahabob]

I wouldn't wait that long.

 

https://www.ncl.com/about/contact-us
 

Scroll down to guests with special needs.
 

 

[waterlogged1]

We filled out the special needs form ahead of time for GF (both my son and I had been GF for years - my mother had celiac and it seemed likely that my son had it too) and without fail before every meal, the wait staff knew to ask. We ate primarily in the Haven, with le bistro and teppanyaki as our specialty dining. The menus seemed well-labeled and it seemed like it would’ve been pretty easy to get GF food. I’d say that I am more savvy than the non-celiac dx person because my mom had it all my life and we were fully GF at home (she would get really sick so she was very cautious).

 

However, I had just gotten my testing back saying that celiac was unlikely, and we had decided to put my son back on gluten to get him tested, so we didn’t actually end up GF on the ship. 

[insidecabin]

I was chatting to a gluten impacted on the Dawn yesterday.

 

They say it is hard at the buffet nothing labeled so you have to check anything non obvious, Dining room fine.

 

When on a Fred Olsen ship they said they make as much as possible gluten free to help reduce their need to prepare 2 lots of things eg. nearly all sauces are gluten free.

[mjkacmom]

NCL was excellent every time. Fill out the information before your cruise, I suggest going to a MDR for lunch after embarkment. You will be met by the dietary manager to go over things. My daughter order breakfast and dinner the night before, and just called before heading to a restaurant (we usually ate breakfast in the buffet). Her food was brought to her, and tons of choices. She ate lunch in the buffet and just asked about what was safe (usually with new friends so she didn’t want to preorder). 

[Ladyshopper23]

As per my signature, if you click through to my profile you'll see a link to my gluten-free travel blog. It has a recent write up of our experience on NCL Star. Although the buffet isn't labelled at all unlike some other cruise lines, overall we were extremely impressed with our experience.

NCL has the special diets co-ordinator which other cruise lines don't do, and this makes a big difference. Go to somewhere serving food when you board, and ask someone in there to contact them for you. They will come and have a chat with you about everything, and also take your order for dinner that evening.

Make sure you fill out the access desk form, I'll pop the link below. The more people with special diets fill this out, the more they get a proper idea of exactly what food they need to order in for that cruise. We had several GF products run out on our cruise.

https://ncl.secure.force.com/AccessDeskForm/

[KurtMo]

Take the time to pre-order the day prior and you'll have much better options in the dining room.  You can also pre-order day prior for specialty restaurants (even if you're dining in the MDR).

[okpaddy]

My DW is celiac and has to be very careful. We always pre inform whichever cruise line we will be sailing with. NCL has a profile on their webpage that allows you to list such things. However, just to be certain we have it included on our reservation. We also contact the maître d' in the MDR at the start of each cruise. DW has had the best choices by preordering meals for the following days. This can be done in any of the restaurants, except maybe for the buffet. 

This being said, we had two unfortunate instances in the MDR on our most recent Alaska sailing in June on the SUN. On two different days during dinner, DW was served what appeared to be gluten food items. Each time the waiter insisted that the meal was prepared gluten free just as it had been preordered. I insisted on speaking with the maitre d' and the chef to confirm if the waiter was correct. In both cases the chef came to the dining room and agreed that her meal did indeed contain gluten. The chef stated that the waiter had either taken the wrong prepared meal, or the plates were switched after being moved to the waiters serving station in the MDR. This could have resulted in a serious illness and a ruined vacation.  When we reviewed our cruise with NCL, we strongly recommended better training for their wait staff. 

To the OP, I wish you success, but warn you to also be vigilant. Many ships seem to be dealing with lower staffing levels and less experienced staff. 

[Ellis1138]

19 hours ago, okpaddy said:

 

This being said, we had two unfortunate instances in the MDR on our most recent Alaska sailing in June on the SUN.

Wow, that's distressing to me. On my 2 times on NCL, they had the best food allergy system in place. I'll be vigilant on our upcoming cruises. 

[cmph]

We just sailed on the Dawn, our first NCL. Both my husband and son have celiac. The experience was... ok. No one got sick on a 10nt cruise, I will give them that. They did try to gluten my son in Cagney's - he ordered the lamb chops and specifically said "without the barley risotto of course", but guess what it came with. (We were right by the prep area and could see a somewhat heated exchange between the cooks and server.)

 

Their disappointment was largely in the offerings. For sure, they have supply issues in Europe. (and before anyone asks, yes, of course we submitted the form in advance, for each of them, so they certainly knew gf people were going to be on board.) They had none of their gf mix for pancakes (ran out the previous cruise), so that was off the table. Unfortunately, that was unknown to the wait staff, which caused a lot of confusion our first breakfast; they still hadn't communicated this out at large the next night, when we had to be the ones to relay "no, we can't order that, the kitchen doesn't have the ingredients." Bread options were weird, like burgers served on bagels b/c they had run out of buns too. Some of the labeled gf entrees had menu subs b/c they were out of the protein. They have plain ice cream/sorbet nightly, but it was pretty low quality (ice chunks in it, maybe yet another supply issue). The soft serve was also chocolate only (guessing another supply issue).

 

Anyway, aside from the supply issues, they really just wanted them to order from the labeled gf menu items for the MDRs, which was very limiting. There were no offers to have appetizers or soups made gf for dinner, which never had anything gf aside from maybe a salad on the 7 nights we ate there. The only special-order dessert offered was a flourless chocolate cake. When they did make (off-menu requests (like 2 in 10 days), they were received somewhat oddly. Ex: the kitchen staff "might say no". (Why not have a list of things that CAN be pre-ordered then?) So many of the things that we thought would be gf were not, like chili, risottos, flan (which is gf in Moderno but not the MDR?). 

 

They did ok in the 3 specialty restaurants, for the most part, but be prepared to advocate for yourself and be very specific (which we just didn't think to do). Like - you can order the filet that comes with blue cheese ravioli at La Cucina, and they didn't think to sub in gf pasta. Seemed like an obvious thing to me, but we didn't ask, and they didn't get, and they won't make gf pasta without a pre-order. Lesson learned.

 

My two only used the buffet for breakfast (sealed yogurt, hard-boiled eggs that could be wiped/washed, sealed honey nut cheerios, whole bananas). This isn't any different than any other buffet situation, though. For lunch - they were specifically told not to go to the buffet, and to go to the MDR for embarkation lunch... where there are no gf entrees. We asked what they could eat, and our waiter just pointed at the salad and crustless quiche on the appetizer list. It took a few tries to convey that we were asking for more than that, and finally the kitchen agreed to make the pork chop gf. The MDR was only open for one other lunch, so we mostly ate in the pub, which could do sandwiches and burgers gf.

 

To the credit of the maitre'd we usually saw - he had the room number memorized and never ever forgot to come get the pre-order. That was much appreciated. 

 

Our verdict - pretty safe, but adjust expectations for the food, depending on the ship and itinerary. It wasn't the great experience I had read about on here, for us, anyway.

[daydream1]

I travelled twice on NCL (both times the GEM), once 5 years ago, once this february. This february we were in a suite.

 

Compared to all other cruises (mostly on the European lines, but also HAL last fall) this was the safest, and also the most boring cruise food wise. I did not get glutened once, I never had something on my plate that was upon double checking indeed not gf. Wayan, who took care of me, did such an excellent job. Together with Jafar, our butler, I even had wonderful gluten free afternoon snacks in my suite. I ended up having a standing order of flourless chocolate cake every afternoon in my suite. Breakfast at Modernos was excellent, special gf parfait for me every day.

 

Even with all of these wonderful bonuses it was boring food wise. I am a total foodie, and that is one area NCL does not excel at. The food was ok, usually tasty, but there was not one meal I still remember because it was so excellent! But it was safe and with the suite-perks I was spoilt and actually gained weight.

 

Will I book NCL again? I am actually right now planing a 22-day trip next year on NCL. The alternate line is Princess. But NCL has a better itineary, so I will choose them. The food was absolut safe, they have an excellent protocol working. And I rather have save and boring than the exitement of spending a night cramping on the toilet.....

[Ladyshopper23]

11 hours ago, cmph said:

We just sailed on the Dawn, our first NCL. Both my husband and son have celiac. The experience was... ok. No one got sick on a 10nt cruise, I will give them that. They did try to gluten my son in Cagney's - he ordered the lamb chops and specifically said "without the barley risotto of course", but guess what it came with. (We were right by the prep area and could see a somewhat heated exchange between the cooks and server.)

 

Their disappointment was largely in the offerings. For sure, they have supply issues in Europe. (and before anyone asks, yes, of course we submitted the form in advance, for each of them, so they certainly knew gf people were going to be on board.) They had none of their gf mix for pancakes (ran out the previous cruise), so that was off the table. Unfortunately, that was unknown to the wait staff, which caused a lot of confusion our first breakfast; they still hadn't communicated this out at large the next night, when we had to be the ones to relay "no, we can't order that, the kitchen doesn't have the ingredients." Bread options were weird, like burgers served on bagels b/c they had run out of buns too. Some of the labeled gf entrees had menu subs b/c they were out of the protein. They have plain ice cream/sorbet nightly, but it was pretty low quality (ice chunks in it, maybe yet another supply issue). The soft serve was also chocolate only (guessing another supply issue).

 

Anyway, aside from the supply issues, they really just wanted them to order from the labeled gf menu items for the MDRs, which was very limiting. There were no offers to have appetizers or soups made gf for dinner, which never had anything gf aside from maybe a salad on the 7 nights we ate there. The only special-order dessert offered was a flourless chocolate cake. When they did make (off-menu requests (like 2 in 10 days), they were received somewhat oddly. Ex: the kitchen staff "might say no". (Why not have a list of things that CAN be pre-ordered then?) So many of the things that we thought would be gf were not, like chili, risottos, flan (which is gf in Moderno but not the MDR?). 

 

They did ok in the 3 specialty restaurants, for the most part, but be prepared to advocate for yourself and be very specific (which we just didn't think to do). Like - you can order the filet that comes with blue cheese ravioli at La Cucina, and they didn't think to sub in gf pasta. Seemed like an obvious thing to me, but we didn't ask, and they didn't get, and they won't make gf pasta without a pre-order. Lesson learned.

 

My two only used the buffet for breakfast (sealed yogurt, hard-boiled eggs that could be wiped/washed, sealed honey nut cheerios, whole bananas). This isn't any different than any other buffet situation, though. For lunch - they were specifically told not to go to the buffet, and to go to the MDR for embarkation lunch... where there are no gf entrees. We asked what they could eat, and our waiter just pointed at the salad and crustless quiche on the appetizer list. It took a few tries to convey that we were asking for more than that, and finally the kitchen agreed to make the pork chop gf. The MDR was only open for one other lunch, so we mostly ate in the pub, which could do sandwiches and burgers gf.

 

To the credit of the maitre'd we usually saw - he had the room number memorized and never ever forgot to come get the pre-order. That was much appreciated. 

 

Our verdict - pretty safe, but adjust expectations for the food, depending on the ship and itinerary. It wasn't the great experience I had read about on here, for us, anyway.

That's really interesting, thank you. We're off on the Dawn in August.

Were you told about the special diets co-ordinator/maitre 'd at all? Or was the maitre 'd that you saw just a standard one from the dining room?

 

The special diets co-ordinator I believe is key to getting the most out of the gluten-free dining experience on NCL. Ours was great, although it was his first cruise of fully taking over the role, so there were things he didn't tell us that we later found out about (the previous special diets co-ordinator had moved to a role in Moderno, so when we ate there towards the end of the cruise we found out about a couple of other things we could have been asking for that we didn't know about).

There are unfortunately lots of supply issues, which undoubtedly are impacting on things, both gluten free and non. However, I also don't think it helps that a lot of people don't know they should be filling out the access form for special diets. NCL are going to make their orders of 'special' foods based on average numbers. If they can get a better idea of people who require specific dietary food from the access forms, then it will help them to be able to get a better idea of actual numbers for individual cruises, and order accordingly. Obviously doesn't help if help is out of stock, but when it is in stock or they can get suitable alternatives, then it would make a difference.

We didn't have any mistaken gluten issues on the NCL Star in November (fortunately), but we did have a couple of Crown Princess in February. One was to do with the bread serving, and it was only because I was there facing where the do the bread that I noticed what had happened and commented that they could no longer serve the GF bread to us, as they'd put it straight on top of the normal bread (this was done by a new assistant server, so I could maybe understand it, but was then covered up by an experienced server, which I was less than impressed about).


 

[cmph]

@daydream1 Safe but boring is really the best way to capture it! My husband is very used to it, so he just laughed it off. My 14yo is pretty new to celiac and was not thrilled. 

 

@Ladyshopper23 yes - we got a letter in the room about the special diets coordinator. I didn't realize that made a difference to the pre-ordering process though? The letter just made it seem like they were acknowledging the 'allergies'. That is pretty frustrating, if you have to talk to them to get access to the full scope of offerings (but no one tells you), especially since communications between staff was lacking. We talked to dining first thing when we boarded, and from that point on, we were always guided to the dining room maitre'd for pre-ordering. If that is where they direct everyone, then it seems like the special diets coordinator should arm them with a list of what can be pre-ordered. 

 

I thought the supply issues were at times understandable/forgivable, but sometimes they seemed like either bad planning or avoidable outages (e.g., eggs started to disappear), considering this was a port-intensive itinerary (literally no sea days). The lack of knowledge on the part of the guest-facing staff annoyed me more than the fact that they were out things, though, to be honest. Our breakfast snafu experience was just really strange and uncomfortable from start to finish, largely b/c it was almost like they didn't believe we had followed their standard protocol and pre-ordered; plus, it seemed like they just tossed out the pre-order once they realized it couldn't be fulfilled, so we were in this uncomfortable he-said/she-said. 

[Ladyshopper23]

11 minutes ago, cmph said:

@daydream1 Safe but boring is really the best way to capture it! My husband is very used to it, so he just laughed it off. My 14yo is pretty new to celiac and was not thrilled. 

 

@Ladyshopper23 yes - we got a letter in the room about the special diets coordinator. I didn't realize that made a difference to the pre-ordering process though? The letter just made it seem like they were acknowledging the 'allergies'. That is pretty frustrating, if you have to talk to them to get access to the full scope of offerings (but no one tells you), especially since communications between staff was lacking. We talked to dining first thing when we boarded, and from that point on, we were always guided to the dining room maitre'd for pre-ordering. If that is where they direct everyone, then it seems like the special diets coordinator should arm them with a list of what can be pre-ordered. 

 

I thought the supply issues were at times understandable/forgivable, but sometimes they seemed like either bad planning or avoidable outages (e.g., eggs started to disappear), considering this was a port-intensive itinerary (literally no sea days). The lack of knowledge on the part of the guest-facing staff annoyed me more than the fact that they were out things, though, to be honest. Our breakfast snafu experience was just really strange and uncomfortable from start to finish, largely b/c it was almost like they didn't believe we had followed their standard protocol and pre-ordered; plus, it seemed like they just tossed out the pre-order once they realized it couldn't be fulfilled, so we were in this uncomfortable he-said/she-said. 

It really does make a difference dealing with the special diets co-ordinator. If you get chance to read my blog (click through to my profile and the link is on there) you'll see just how good our experience was.
 

In a nutshell, the special diets co-ordinator holds much more knowledge than any of the other servers. They'll tell you what can be adapted on the menu to make it GF, or let you order different things if there is nothing suitable. They can give you access to all the menus for pre-ordering, including breakfast and lunch, as well as the speciality restaurants.

They must literally walk/run miles all over the ship every day, because they go here, there and everywhere, taking any pre-orders that are required, quite often also bringing those orders out to people if they happen to be available to do so at the time. We even saw our co-ordinator deliver meals to the buffet at breakfast time (not to us, but we were able to eat very well and safely at the buffet). He also brought me up a pre-ordered meal to Moderno (I'm vegetarian, so obviously couldn't eat any of the meat there, but I didn't want my husband to miss out on the opportunity to eat there, so the special diets co-ordinator was able to pre-order me a meal from the main dining room, and bring it up to me in Moderno). He also arranged a surprise GF anniversary cake for us when we ate in La Cucina, which was totally amazing.

The times when our co-ordinator wasn't around, we definitely noticed a lack of knowledge by the majority of servers, but in general this didn't matter too much as we'd pre-ordered. We didn't know until quite late on in the cruise that we could also pre-order desserts at dinner, so that is probably where we found the most knowledge lacking from the general dining staff.

The only reason I really knew about the special diets co-ordinator was because I'd found a different blog before going on our NCL cruise, and it was mentioned on there (I always like to Google and find blogs before I go anywhere). I wouldn't have realised the importance of them from the letter left in the cabin, which I think is a shame, and NCL need to do something about.

Our cruise on Dawn is going to port intensive like yours was, I think there is one sea day which is the first day then all the rest are port days. I'm really hoping our experience was like it was on Star, which is the sister ship. Pretty much as soon as we board we'll go somewhere and ask for the special diets co-ordinator to be contacted, then take it from there.

 

[mjkacmom]

28 minutes ago, Ladyshopper23 said:

It really does make a difference dealing with the special diets co-ordinator. If you get chance to read my blog (click through to my profile and the link is on there) you'll see just how good our experience was.
 

In a nutshell, the special diets co-ordinator holds much more knowledge than any of the other servers. They'll tell you what can be adapted on the menu to make it GF, or let you order different things if there is nothing suitable. They can give you access to all the menus for pre-ordering, including breakfast and lunch, as well as the speciality restaurants.

They must literally walk/run miles all over the ship every day, because they go here, there and everywhere, taking any pre-orders that are required, quite often also bringing those orders out to people if they happen to be available to do so at the time. We even saw our co-ordinator deliver meals to the buffet at breakfast time (not to us, but we were able to eat very well and safely at the buffet). He also brought me up a pre-ordered meal to Moderno (I'm vegetarian, so obviously couldn't eat any of the meat there, but I didn't want my husband to miss out on the opportunity to eat there, so the special diets co-ordinator was able to pre-order me a meal from the main dining room, and bring it up to me in Moderno). He also arranged a surprise GF anniversary cake for us when we ate in La Cucina, which was totally amazing.

The times when our co-ordinator wasn't around, we definitely noticed a lack of knowledge by the majority of servers, but in general this didn't matter too much as we'd pre-ordered. We didn't know until quite late on in the cruise that we could also pre-order desserts at dinner, so that is probably where we found the most knowledge lacking from the general dining staff.

The only reason I really knew about the special diets co-ordinator was because I'd found a different blog before going on our NCL cruise, and it was mentioned on there (I always like to Google and find blogs before I go anywhere). I wouldn't have realised the importance of them from the letter left in the cabin, which I think is a shame, and NCL need to do something about.

Our cruise on Dawn is going to port intensive like yours was, I think there is one sea day which is the first day then all the rest are port days. I'm really hoping our experience was like it was on Star, which is the sister ship. Pretty much as soon as we board we'll go somewhere and ask for the special diets co-ordinator to be contacted, then take it from there.

 

It was amazing how the dietary manager was everywhere, and he personally brought my daughter’s breakfast order to our table in the buffet every day. 

[janice2348]

On 7/10/2023 at 3:57 PM, okpaddy said:

My DW is celiac and has to be very careful. We always pre inform whichever cruise line we will be sailing with. NCL has a profile on their webpage that allows you to list such things. However, just to be certain we have it included on our reservation. We also contact the maître d' in the MDR at the start of each cruise. DW has had the best choices by preordering meals for the following days. This can be done in any of the restaurants, except maybe for the buffet. 

This being said, we had two unfortunate instances in the MDR on our most recent Alaska sailing in June on the SUN. On two different days during dinner, DW was served what appeared to be gluten food items. Each time the waiter insisted that the meal was prepared gluten free just as it had been preordered. I insisted on speaking with the maitre d' and the chef to confirm if the waiter was correct. In both cases the chef came to the dining room and agreed that her meal did indeed contain gluten. The chef stated that the waiter had either taken the wrong prepared meal, or the plates were switched after being moved to the waiters serving station in the MDR. This could have resulted in a serious illness and a ruined vacation.  When we reviewed our cruise with NCL, we strongly recommended better training for their wait staff. 

To the OP, I wish you success, but warn you to also be vigilant. Many ships seem to be dealing with lower staffing levels and less experienced staff. 

This is absolutely right.  My experience being both gluten and dairy intolerant with NCL was great, but be careful of wait staff who are uneducated. One time at lunch in the Haven restaurant, I was told by a waiter that I would be fine if I didn’t eat any sauces. This was really ignorant. I had contacted special needs in advance.  Question everything!  If you’re not sure about something don’t eat it. I would also avoid the buffet. Too many ways for cross contamination. I did eat at Teppanyaki, Cagneys, and Moderno. I had no issues.  You can have a wonderful cruise but you have to be vigilant. 

[janice2348]

3 hours ago, Ladyshopper23 said:

It really does make a difference dealing with the special diets co-ordinator. If you get chance to read my blog (click through to my profile and the link is on there) you'll see just how good our experience was.
 

In a nutshell, the special diets co-ordinator holds much more knowledge than any of the other servers. They'll tell you what can be adapted on the menu to make it GF, or let you order different things if there is nothing suitable. They can give you access to all the menus for pre-ordering, including breakfast and lunch, as well as the speciality restaurants.

They must literally walk/run miles all over the ship every day, because they go here, there and everywhere, taking any pre-orders that are required, quite often also bringing those orders out to people if they happen to be available to do so at the time. We even saw our co-ordinator deliver meals to the buffet at breakfast time (not to us, but we were able to eat very well and safely at the buffet). He also brought me up a pre-ordered meal to Moderno (I'm vegetarian, so obviously couldn't eat any of the meat there, but I didn't want my husband to miss out on the opportunity to eat there, so the special diets co-ordinator was able to pre-order me a meal from the main dining room, and bring it up to me in Moderno). He also arranged a surprise GF anniversary cake for us when we ate in La Cucina, which was totally amazing.

The times when our co-ordinator wasn't around, we definitely noticed a lack of knowledge by the majority of servers, but in general this didn't matter too much as we'd pre-ordered. We didn't know until quite late on in the cruise that we could also pre-order desserts at dinner, so that is probably where we found the most knowledge lacking from the general dining staff.

The only reason I really knew about the special diets co-ordinator was because I'd found a different blog before going on our NCL cruise, and it was mentioned on there (I always like to Google and find blogs before I go anywhere). I wouldn't have realised the importance of them from the letter left in the cabin, which I think is a shame, and NCL need to do something about.

Our cruise on Dawn is going to port intensive like yours was, I think there is one sea day which is the first day then all the rest are port days. I'm really hoping our experience was like it was on Star, which is the sister ship. Pretty much as soon as we board we'll go somewhere and ask for the special diets co-ordinator to be contacted, then take it from there.

 

My two dietary coordinators were fabulous ( on two different cruises). In fact after my last cruise, I wrote NCL and told them she deserved a promotion.  They are worth their weight in gold!

[Ladyshopper23]

11 hours ago, janice2348 said:

My two dietary coordinators were fabulous ( on two different cruises). In fact after my last cruise, I wrote NCL and told them she deserved a promotion.  They are worth their weight in gold!

We made sure to fill out the NCL Hero cards that they leave on the dining room tables about how good our special diets co-ordinator was. I just wish NCL would do a better job overall of making it clear to passengers with dietary restrictions that they have this service onboard, as it seems like a lot of people don't realise and miss out on a whole heap of food they could be enjoying!

I'm really hoping they're equally as good on the Dawn in August and Getaway in October.

[mjkacmom]

4 hours ago, Ladyshopper23 said:

We made sure to fill out the NCL Hero cards that they leave on the dining room tables about how good our special diets co-ordinator was. I just wish NCL would do a better job overall of making it clear to passengers with dietary restrictions that they have this service onboard, as it seems like a lot of people don't realise and miss out on a whole heap of food they could be enjoying!

I'm really hoping they're equally as good on the Dawn in August and Getaway in October.

We just filled out the online form, we always go to a MDR for lunch on the first day and the manager comes to our table and explains everything.