Comments on: Reader Reports on Gluten-Free Cruising http://www.glutenfreeguidebook.com/2009/11/05/reader-reports-on-gluten-free-cruising/ On the road with travel journalist Hilary Davidson Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:51:21 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Darlene G. http://www.glutenfreeguidebook.com/2009/11/05/reader-reports-on-gluten-free-cruising/comment-page-1/#comment-90570 Darlene G. Fri, 15 Jul 2011 17:12:20 +0000 http://www.glutenfreeguidebook.com/?p=1125#comment-90570 I have been on several cruises. Being Gluten Free it is my vacation of choice. We have had good service on Princess and not so good service on Royal Caribbean (which we were Shocked to experience). By far the best experience is with Norwegian. They have so many products on board and are familiar with how to handle it. In 2010 we went on the EPIC and I ate most of my meals at the BUFFET! I know - incredible - right?! One of the Maitre' D's would immediately spot me in a crowd and bring me bagels and cookies and cake! I had pizza and bread and pasta. There were so many other things that I did not even get to try! As always for breakfast they have an omlete station and I received any type of breakfast fare I wanted! All of the potato items (french fries, hashbrowns, mashed) are gluten free! It was awesome! The year before we went on the Caribbean Princess and had a very similar experience with bread and Gluten free Pizza (yum). They had over 100 people on board with the allergy so there was a lot to choose from. There were freshly baked muffins, cereals and they even made gluten free carrot cake for afternoon tea! This year we ventured on Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Sea. Upon booking I was told they would accomodate my allergy, so naturally I assumed that I would be getting the same eperience as the last two cruises. NOT! They had virtually nothing onboard. Rice pasta and a loaf of gluten free bread does not a vacation make. Certainly not after paying more on this line than I did on the other two. (not so Royal indeed) The week consisted of them telling me what I could not eat off the menu. Even the fries and the mashed potatoes were off limits. I have to say, the staff tried really hard to make me happy, even attempting pancakes (that were AWFUL)! When I called to complain to corporate they said they did not violate my rights because they had bread and pasta and kept me away from allergens. UMMMM? I did not indicate rights were violated... just want to have the same service received on other ships.... ok.... Norwegian it is! We are going back to NCL!!! (By the way, the same policies are imposed on Celebrity cruise lines as they are sister companies. I called Celebrity to see what their policies were and got the same info - I did know the lines were related but I did not know that closely.) All in all we love to cruise and hope you have a good experience! Have fun cruising - I have been on several cruises. Being Gluten Free it is my vacation of choice. We have had good service on Princess and not so good service on Royal Caribbean (which we were Shocked to experience). By far the best experience is with Norwegian. They have so many products on board and are familiar with how to handle it.

In 2010 we went on the EPIC and I ate most of my meals at the BUFFET! I know – incredible – right?! One of the Maitre’ D’s would immediately spot me in a crowd and bring me bagels and cookies and cake! I had pizza and bread and pasta. There were so many other things that I did not even get to try! As always for breakfast they have an omlete station and I received any type of breakfast fare I wanted! All of the potato items (french fries, hashbrowns, mashed) are gluten free! It was awesome!

The year before we went on the Caribbean Princess and had a very similar experience with bread and Gluten free Pizza (yum). They had over 100 people on board with the allergy so there was a lot to choose from. There were freshly baked muffins, cereals and they even made gluten free carrot cake for afternoon tea!

This year we ventured on Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Sea. Upon booking I was told they would accomodate my allergy, so naturally I assumed that I would be getting the same eperience as the last two cruises. NOT! They had virtually nothing onboard. Rice pasta and a loaf of gluten free bread does not a vacation make. Certainly not after paying more on this line than I did on the other two. (not so Royal indeed) The week consisted of them telling me what I could not eat off the menu. Even the fries and the mashed potatoes were off limits. I have to say, the staff tried really hard to make me happy, even attempting pancakes (that were AWFUL)! When I called to complain to corporate they said they did not violate my rights because they had bread and pasta and kept me away from allergens. UMMMM? I did not indicate rights were violated… just want to have the same service received on other ships…. ok…. Norwegian it is! We are going back to NCL!!! (By the way, the same policies are imposed on Celebrity cruise lines as they are sister companies. I called Celebrity to see what their policies were and got the same info – I did know the lines were related but I did not know that closely.)

All in all we love to cruise and hope you have a good experience!

Have fun cruising -

]]>