DH's Restrictive diet

[BarbM]

My DH is allergic to wheat,(celiac disease) not only bread and pasta, but any sauces that have been thickened with flour, etc... Do we need to alert DCL ahead of time or do you think there are enough choices on the menu, for instance broiled chicken/steak/seafood without any gravies or sauces...etc...I want to be sure he doesn't get ill of course, but I'm just wondering if this is something that needs to be brought to DCL's attention ahead of time? Any thoughts? Thanks a bunch...
p.s. we're not going till November 2006..
Barb

 

[barkley]

get the medical form and let them know. there are loads of options on board but you are best to let them know ahead of time.

 

[wide awake]

Fill out the med form a couple months before, and talk to the headwaiter on the first afternoon. We were just on the EB Panama cruise, and my son is on a gluten free diet...he used to be gluten and casein free, but now we aren't as restricted. Anyway, they will provide bread or rolls at dinner, rice pasta, and the sauces can be made wheat free...they'll use what you'd use at home...they also made special versions of the desserts for DS when it was possible...if not they would whip up a beautiful mousse or sundae...gluten free pancakes were provided at the character breakfast. When I spoke to the medical service person in July she said they could not provide special food at Plutos or room service, so I had Gluten Solutions ship a box of safe hamburger and hot dog buns to the port...then I made the switch. Each night the head server and I would go over the menu and decide what was safe "as is", or what could be made safe. They did an extraordinary job for us...our head server was Nurshen Yakub Pehlivan, and she had an excellent idea of what was/was not gluten free...Not only our head server but the dining room server, Leeroy Forbes, and assistant server, Aditya Salian, were so caring in noticing what DS did or didn't eat, and they made a special effort to have fresh fruit for DS each night. They started w/ red grapes, and when they noticed he was eating that they added watermelon slices, then a couple days later strawberries, and finally green grapes. DS is autistic and hasn't eaten fruit in 12 years...I'd have been over the moon w/ the red grapes alone, but the rest of it was an extra special bonus.

 

[squirrelgirl]

Wideawake,

We were on the Magic in July, and had the good fortune of getting to know Leeroy and Aditya. My ds is 5 and also has HFA/PDD-NOS. They certainly took notice of what made him happy, like having all 8 crayons..not just 2. And they didn't blink when my son ate the same exact thing, every night. We also had an exciting fruit moment..watermelon. Leeroy and Aditya were so kind and attentive with him, even though they only got to see him at the end of the day when he was so sensory overloaded that he rarely spoke. I was actually worried that they wouldn't understand. I know better now. My ds gave Leeroy such a big hug when we were leaving the last night and the following morning. I think even he was suprised that my little guy had become so attached and felt so comfortable..without saying a word.

To the OP..I am sure you and your dh will have the most amazing time.

My little guy and I will raise a toast to you...of chocolate milk in a grown up glass. Only the best!

 

[tecdavidt]

I am gluten free and you won't have a problem as long as you talk to the servers asap. Even though it was noted on our cruise reservations the dining team still didn't know but once they found out it was great. I was able to look over the next night's menu a day ahead and preordered. I eat better on the ship than at home! I liked the fellow poster's idea of sending an order to the port with basic food supplies. For me that would include Rice Crunchums cereal, gluten free crackers, maybe a box of my favorite cookies. (Now everyone, a box of gluten free cookies is not the same size as a box of wheat loaded cookies LOL)

Enjoy but do look over the menu carefully. Some items they thought I could eat I really couldn't. For me it is no wheat, oats, barley, modified food starch, soy sauce and any alcohol based or beer based sauces. The chefs will know exactly what is OK and not. *be careful at the buffets, a lot of the offerings have gluten in them.

We did have a cat. 3 and when our concierge team found out I couldn't have gluten they asked what I would like to have as a snack each afternoon. For me that was easy, fresh strawberries! I had a plateful every day. Yum.

Enjoy your cruise, Kathy