Reviews of Gluten Free on the New Menu?

[KDK]

Hello! My 19 year old has to eat gluten free and I am hearing mixed reviews from people about GF safety now that the menu has switched. Can anyone who has travelled since the new menus were introduced either:

1) Tell about their experience and share what entrees worked out best for them?

2) List some of the dishes for each night's menu that were offered as gluten free options, since RC no longer labels that directly on the menu

Thank you SO much. I went from feeling very secure to nervous with the new menu changes. 

[smokeybandit]

It's no different than before in regards to ordering GF items with the new menus. You order the night before and the chef adapts (if possible) for the next night. 

 

[KDK]

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

It's no different than before in regards to ordering GF items with the new menus. You order the night before and the chef adapts (if possible) for the next night. 

 

Thank you, Smokeybandit. Unfortunately, a number of people across a few blogs have said that since the new menus came out, despite them ordering the night before, they had frequent incidences across their cruise of the waitstaff not being aware of what is gf with these new menus and being brought gluten food accidentally. So, I am hoping to educate myself so we can be as careful as possible. 

[smokeybandit]

26 minutes ago, KDK said:

Thank you, Smokeybandit. Unfortunately, a number of people across a few blogs have said that since the new menus came out, despite them ordering the night before, they had frequent incidences across their cruise of the waitstaff not being aware of what is gf with these new menus and being brought gluten food accidentally. So, I am hoping to educate myself so we can be as careful as possible. 

We had a waiter doing his first cruise on his new contract, and first with the new menus. He unfortunately didn't know anything about the menu, GF or not. But had no issues with ordering the GF and no issues come the next day.

 

[MaryCS62]

For my GF daughter, safest option is to have scheduled dining (NOT MTD), so that you have the same waiter pairing every day. Also, go to your dining room when you first board, introduce yourselves to the headwaiter, and inform him/her about the issue. They will be on top of it and be an extra layer of protection.

[KDK]

7 hours ago, MaryCS62 said:

For my GF daughter, safest option is to have scheduled dining (NOT MTD), so that you have the same waiter pairing every day. Also, go to your dining room when you first board, introduce yourselves to the headwaiter, and inform him/her about the issue. They will be on top of it and be an extra layer of protection.

Thank you for this. I requested scheduled dining and they put me on a waitlist. Now, I've reached out to the special services for food allergies and they forwarded my request to the dining manager. I have my fingers crossed, because right now I only have MTD reservations. 

Did your daughter ever order gf from room service?

[Montemy2419]

We have cruised on Oasis and Wonder last month and two different experiences.  On Oasis the Head Waiter showed me the menu on his phone for the next day, NOTHING IS INDICATED AS GF, and I had to scroll thru.  RC used to list Vegan as well as Gluten Free so if they can still include Vegan why leave out the Gluten Free people ?  I felt very rushed and I would almost have to ask about each item before he would finally say that the dish is something I could have.  

On Wonder I was handed a menu and the fantastic Head Waiter Sydney would mention the 1 or 2 appetizers I could have, same with dinner and almost every night there was NOTHING as an offering for dessert. I finally learned on about day 3 and got Udi's cookies from Park Promenade to bring  in the dining room for dessert.  They had Snickerdoodle and Chocolate Chip and it is kept frozen but does thaw quickly.

Be careful if you eat at El Loco Fresh because on Oasis I could have about 5 things while on Wonder only 2 or 3 items were ok for me to eat.  Just don't assume that the same items on a different ship are gf.  As you are used to I'm sure is to ask lots of questions.

If you want to eat anything after dinner about your only option is gf pizza.  I ate almost all the snacks that I brought because I can only eat late night pizza so many nights in a row.  My suggestion is to pack plenty of your own snacks and bring small storage containers.  We finally started getting food from the Windjammer during the day to store in the refrigerator so I could have some fruit in the evening.  The Windjammer had lots of gf food and I was well taken care of for snacks, meals and desserts.

[KDK]

16 hours ago, Montemy2419 said:

We have cruised on Oasis and Wonder last month and two different experiences.  On Oasis the Head Waiter showed me the menu on his phone for the next day, NOTHING IS INDICATED AS GF, and I had to scroll thru.  RC used to list Vegan as well as Gluten Free so if they can still include Vegan why leave out the Gluten Free people ?  I felt very rushed and I would almost have to ask about each item before he would finally say that the dish is something I could have.  

On Wonder I was handed a menu and the fantastic Head Waiter Sydney would mention the 1 or 2 appetizers I could have, same with dinner and almost every night there was NOTHING as an offering for dessert. I finally learned on about day 3 and got Udi's cookies from Park Promenade to bring  in the dining room for dessert.  They had Snickerdoodle and Chocolate Chip and it is kept frozen but does thaw quickly.

Be careful if you eat at El Loco Fresh because on Oasis I could have about 5 things while on Wonder only 2 or 3 items were ok for me to eat.  Just don't assume that the same items on a different ship are gf.  As you are used to I'm sure is to ask lots of questions.

If you want to eat anything after dinner about your only option is gf pizza.  I ate almost all the snacks that I brought because I can only eat late night pizza so many nights in a row.  My suggestion is to pack plenty of your own snacks and bring small storage containers.  We finally started getting food from the Windjammer during the day to store in the refrigerator so I could have some fruit in the evening.  The Windjammer had lots of gf food and I was well taken care of for snacks, meals and desserts.

You have confirmed my fears. 

[smokeybandit]

Nothing is marked GF on the MDR menu because you're supposed to order the night before and the chef will alter it, if necessary or possible, to be GF.

Don't be concerned. We've sailed dozens of times with GF and never had an episode.

Pizza is not the only option after dinner on any ship Voyager class or bigger. The cafe will have something GF

[Montemy2419]

35 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Nothing is marked GF on the MDR menu because you're supposed to order the night before and the chef will alter it, if necessary or possible, to be GF.

Don't be concerned. We've sailed dozens of times with GF and never had an episode.

Pizza is not the only option after dinner on any ship Voyager class or bigger. The cafe will have something GF

For the MDR there are only about 2 appetizers and 2 or 3 main meals that can be made gluten free.  The problem I had that I did pre-order the night before but for Oasis as I had to ask the Head Waiter about each dish and he would tell me no, no, no and finally a yes.  I would get excited to try a meal and be told no.  Where on Wonder the Head Waiter would point out the few dishes that could be made gf and it helps to narrow down my options.  A person shouldn't have to ask about 6 main dishes to find out that only 2 can be made gluten free.  This wouldn't be a problem if they went back and actually labeled the menu as gf since they manage to do that for vegan dishes.

 

The Cafe Promenade only had cold sandwiches (not every night), Udi's cookies and sometimes a gf pudding.  There are no other options for gf food except for pizza so we stashed food from the Windjammer as I wanted fruit, salad or even a small meal of some cold chicken.

 

I used to enjoy looking at the menu for the whole week to pick out all my meals or if we were going to eat somewhere else that night.  Now it has become work to order in the MDR and all they have to do is add "GF" next to the few dishes that could be made to accommodate us.

[smokeybandit]

2 hours ago, Montemy2419 said:

For the MDR there are only about 2 appetizers and 2 or 3 main meals that can be made gluten free. 

 

This was not our experience.

[SPS]

17 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

Nothing is marked GF on the MDR menu because you're supposed to order the night before and the chef will alter it, if necessary or possible, to be GF.

Don't be concerned. We've sailed dozens of times with GF and never had an episode.

Pizza is not the only option after dinner on any ship Voyager class or bigger. The cafe will have something GF

I can second all of this as it relates to my wife's GF needs. I'm surprised by @Montemy2419 being told "NO" about so many items in the MDR with advance notice.

I do remember that the old menus had a wheat sprig icon next to items that were either already GF or available to made GF. This really should be added.

[KDK]

28 minutes ago, SPS said:

I can second all of this as it relates to my wife's GF needs. I'm surprised by @Montemy2419 being told "NO" about so many items in the MDR with advance notice.

I do remember that the old menus had a wheat sprig icon next to items that were either already GF or available to made GF. This really should be added.

Would you mind sharing which ship you were on?

[SPS]

33 minutes ago, KDK said:

Would you mind sharing which ship you were on?

Rhapsody, Grandeur, Vision, Freedom, Odyssey, and Quantum. They've all been top notch when it comes to accommodating GF needs.

[Curt From Canada]

On 3/31/2023 at 11:48 AM, SPS said:

Rhapsody, Grandeur, Vision, Freedom, Odyssey, and Quantum. They've all been top notch when it comes to accommodating GF needs.

I would add Enchantment to that list.  I must eat GF.  The head waiter would see me every night and plan the next meal.  The first few times I did not believe him when he said they would adapt anything.  I tried to order very different things and they tried all of them.  Most were very good.

With the old "wheat symbol" system I never asked.  Looks like "asking" is a better process.

Only one data point so far ... I will have more data by July.

I hope that helps ...

Curt from Canada

[smokeybandit]

1 hour ago, Curt From Canada said:

The first few times I did not believe him when he said they would adapt anything.

They really do their best to adapt anything. Sometimes they can't (the beef pie on British night for one, specifically due to the flour in the thickener), sometimes the adaptation doesn't really come out good, but they sure do try.

[MaryCS62]

On 3/28/2023 at 5:13 PM, KDK said:

Thank you for this. I requested scheduled dining and they put me on a waitlist. Now, I've reached out to the special services for food allergies and they forwarded my request to the dining manager. I have my fingers crossed, because right now I only have MTD reservations. 

Did your daughter ever order gf from room service?

We never tried - she's too nervous to do something like that.  She would be more likely to save bread from dinner, or grab something from Windjammer (fruit, cheese, etc) and store it in the room for later.  Her first cruise, she didn't want to wake up for breakfast, then was annoyed the DR wasn't open for her to eat - but we had brought a jar of PB, and she got an apple from WJ and ate that til she could get something else.  She also carries gf protein bars, or Kind bars with her, so she has options.

[Linda R]

I have celiac and never had issues with being able to get good GF food.  I usually have fruit, ice cream, or sorbet for dessert. Or can get choc covered strawberries some places. There is usually always something made with meringue also.  The gluten free bread is quite good now, compared to 15 years ago.  I would not be too concerned about the GF issue.  Have fun

[Michelecg]

I’m gluten free and just finished a 4 night cruise on Freedom with an amazing gluten free experience!

Maybe because I just had a horrible gluten free experience at an all inclusive in Mexico but the gluten free consideration blew me away on this cruise. 

I heard with allergies to pick a main seating time and not my time but we ended up just doing my time and being served very well in the main dining room with different waiters. They delivered gluten free bread and would check on each dish to make sure it was safe. I had the salads, spinach artichoke dip, beef carpaccio, and steaks. The last night I asked if they could provide a chocolate dessert was brought a layered chocolate dessert that was to die for. Chops Grill was amazing and equally as attentive and I was able to get the beef carpaccio, salad, lamb and sides. We went to the buffet once for dinner and I asked for a gluten free bun and made a really good chicken sandwich. They chef will come out and tell you what you can have. The steamed veggies are a no but the grilled veggies were ok and I think looked more appealing. 
 

The Promenade cafe had a gluten free sandwich each day available.
 

I can’t forget to mention the gluten free pizza at Sorentos! Yummy! The only draw back is they make a whole personal size pizza for you instead of just a slice and two. 

[smokeybandit]

9 hours ago, Michelecg said:

The only draw back is they make a whole personal size pizza for you instead of just a slice and two. 

It's been like that since the restart. Before that they would serve by the slice.