Amanda92

I had breakfast in the Main Dinning Room every day. Other then Coco Cay I just ate a granola bar off ship and ate a later lunch when I returned.

Hi Everyone, I have celiac disease. Celiac disease is a hereditary autoimmune disease. When people with celiac disease consume gluten it triggers an immune response in their body that damages their small intestine's lining which is painful, leads to malabsorption of nutrients, and if untreated can cause long term complications like cancer. Celiac disease is fairly common but severely undiagnosed. It effects about 1% of the world worldwide, but 90% of people with the disease are undiagnosed. The ONLY treatment for celiac disease is a 100% strict gluten free diet. I just got off my first cruise and it was aboard Harmony of the Seas! When I was researching my cruise I looked for detailed gluten free dinning reviews but didn't really find any so I figured I would write one once my cruise was over! Make sure to email the special needs email account for Royal Caribbean before your cruise. All the specialty restaurants knew about my allergy before I even said anything because I took this step. The Main Dinning Room The main dinning room was the best and easiest place to eat gluten free. I opted for a traditional dinning time so that I could have the same waitstaff each night and they could become familiar with my dietary restriction. There is a separate allergy kitchen in the main dinning room and all my meals were prepared there to prevent cross contamination. My waiter told me that I could basically order anything off the menu and he would ask the chef if it could be made gluten free. There are obviously some limitations to this. For example a pastry would not be able to be made gluten free. Additionally sometimes I got something slightly different things then what I ordered. For example I asked if the chef could make me a brownie one night and instead I got a flourless chocolate cake. I didn't mind this substitution at all and as someone with a dietary restriction I'm always just happy to be accommodated at all. I didn't find my waiter had a good understanding of gluten free food but he was always happy to ask the chef any questions I had. Overall the quality of the gluten free substitutions was quite good, but not always. For example the chef made me gluten free fish and chips and breaded it with some kind of tempura type batter and it was exceptional. Whereas on a different night the chef made me gluten free chicken cordon blue and breaded it with some kind of cornmeal which was dry and not very good. Regardless I always appreciated the chef's attempt. The gluten free substitutions are not tried and tested recipes so there will obviously be misses, but there will also be lots of hits! Just order multiple dishes and you are bound to like something! The other thing you should know about the main dinning room is that for the most part you need to order your allergy dishes the day before. The first night you will have to stumble through but after that the waiter will bring you tomorrow's menus and you can order what you want for the next day. I pre-ordered breakfast and dinner every day. The last thing I'll say about the main dinner room food is that I sometimes found the food had clearly been pre-cooked for me and then sat around waiting for me for too long. On the flip side sometimes my food would be running behind and take longer then expected. I actually liked these times though because then my food would come out extremely hot, fresh, and was tastier! Here are photos of my main dinning room food: Appetizers: Arugula & Radicchio Salad French Onion Soup. This was incredible! I had it like 4 times! Cheese Plate. There was also gluten free bread available each night that was just ok. I forgot to photograph it. Iceberg Wedge Braised Beef Short Rib. Super good! Fish and Chips. This was fantastic! Roasted Chicken Breast. This was super tasty, although a bit dry. Wild Mushroom Risotto. Fabulous. Greek Vegetarian Mousaka. This was very tasty but a bit too salty. Pesto Vegetarian Pasta. I found this sauce very bland. Lemon Butter Baked Cod. This was super tasty but the fish was definitely overcooked. Chicken Cordon Blue. I appreciated the chef's effort on this one but the cornmeal was too dense for a breading and the chicken was super dry. Stuffed Portobello Mushroom. Exceptional. One of my favourite dishes. Broiled Lobster Tail. Pan Seared Barramundi. This was my least favourite dish. The fish tasted really fishy like it was off, the sauce was bland, an the potatoes were not cooked. Desserts: The kitchen was much less able to provide gluten free desserts which makes sense. I mostly got puddings, custard, and ice cream. Creme Brulee. This was the best gluten free dessert available and it's on the menu every night! Flourless Chocolate Cake. This was made special for me and was super good! Chocolate mousse. Excellent! Bananas Forrester. Excellent! Breakfast in the Main Dinning Room I had breakfast in the main dinning room everyday and really enjoyed it! French Toast and Sausage. I generally didn't enjoy the gluten free bread on the ship but drenched in egg and sugar it was delicious. The breakfast sausage was to die for! Chocolate Chip Pancakes. These were just ok. Gluten Free Eggs Benedict. Amazing and it was so nice to be able to have a safe Eggs Benedict. The Windjammer I didn't love dinning in the Windjammer. None of the food was labeled for allergies so I would have to get a chef to walk me through the buffet to show me what was gluten free. The chefs where super friendly and helpful but you go to a buffet for convenience. The curries seemed to always be gluten free in the windjammer but make sure to double check. There was always some type of gluten free bread available. There was also a gluten free dessert section in the windjammer that was behind glass. I was super excited about this but I found all the desserts not sweet enough. I think Royal Caribbean is trying to capture the "healthy eating" crowd with their gluten free desserts and most of these tasted bland and not decadent enough to be a good dessert. Sorrentos I was OBESSED with the gluten free pizza at Sorrento's. You could only get gluten free pizza by the whole pizza not the slice (which was fine with me!) and it took about 10 minutes to make. They cook the pizza in the same oven as the regular pizza BUT the cook it on a separate tray and use dedicated gluten free utensils to handle and cut it. I found that the pizza was sometimes slightly undercook because it wasn't directly touching the oven so just ask them to cook it for a few extra minutes and it will be delicious! Jamie's Italian I didn't pre-order here but they knew about my allergy when I arrived. They had gluten free pasta and bread. I forgot to ask if they cook gluten free pasta in clean separate water but I felt fine after this meal so I assume they must. Meat Plank Truffle Pasta. It was incredible. Raspberry Gelato. Sabor Sabor was my favourite meal on the ship! I also didn't pre-order here. The chef was able to make me everything I asked for but he had to make it fresh and heat up clean deep fry oil so it took awhile. This didn't bother me at all as I had a few margaritas while I waited! It may be a good idea to try and pre-order here though! Queso with Chorizo. So so good. Beef Barbacoa Tacos. The best thing I ate on the ship! Chicken Flautas I didn't order this but this coconut flan magically arrived at the end of my meal and was delicious! Coco Cay I was pleasantly surprised with the gluten free options at the buffet at cococay. They said the could make me a fresh burger or sandwich in the back free of cross contamination. There was also a mexican station where everything was gluten free except the flour tortias. I wasn't sure if the corn tortias were cooked on the same grill as the flour ones so I just made myself a bowl. Pulled Pork, Chicken. Mexican Rice, Beans, Salsa, Sour Cream, Guac, and Cheese Final Tip The Promanade Cafe has gluten free cookies stashed behind the counter. Just ask for some! That ends my gluten free review of Royal Caribbean Harmony of the Seas! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed eating all this delicious food!

I live in Ontario and tested positive from a rapid antigen test I took at shoppers drug mart the day before my cruise in January. I simply called royal carribean, told them I had tested positive, and they issued me a full refund. They never asked for my test results although I happily would have provided them. Pretty sure the official policy says you need proof of test results though so make sure you keep it just in case! Was very sad to miss my cruise but im hoping to rebook in March!

So it seems like now that royal won't test you on board that travelers who test positive when they get off won't have their quarentine expenses covered by royal. Anyone have any idea what the procedure/ cost is to quarentine in Florida for two weeks? Are you able to just rent an air bnb or do you have to go to an official quarentine hotel if such a thing even exists?

Looks like as of January 5th, 2022 Royal Carribean is no longer offering covid tests on board for travelers who need them to return to their home country. Website now says you can get one at the cruise terminal, the airport, or other 3rd party testing sites. Does anyone know if royal carribean will offer any support to customers who test positive after disembarking and therefore cannot board a plane to get back to their home countries? Edit added link to info: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/when-to-take-a-test-if-traveling-to-us-from-another-country

My cruise is first week of January. Currently I'm still planning on going but I suspect cases will sky rocket over the holidays. Don't love the idea of getting stuck in the US if I catch covid on the cruise. Going to play it by ear.

Thanks for the recommendation! I just called blue cross and they confirmed that their travel medical insurance will cover you regardless of the advisory. Only cost me $30 bucks too which is a totally decent price. I also took a look through their exemptions and it didn't list travel advisories like some other policies I saw. Check your policies people!

Canadian here. Canada just put back it's travel advisory against ALL non essential travel. It also has an advisory against cruise travel in general. I have a cruise booked in January. Does anyone have any recommendations for emergency travel medical insurance? I'm not concerned about trip cancelation just medical insurance. I need coverage that covers me when I'm in the US the day before the cruise and then on the cruise. It looks like many medical insurance plans are not valid if there are any advisories in place.

Does an unlimited drink package automatically provide water bottles in the stateroom? Or is that something I need to specifically request?

Canadian here. Canada requires a PCR test, not antigen, to return to Canada. Does royal carribean offer those on board? How much are they? And how does someone book one?

Is there Gluten Free Food Available at CocoCay? Celiac here. Anyone have any idea what the gluten free options are like at CocoCay and do they take any precautions against cross contamination?