Does DCL offer foods for Gluten-Free diet?

[DisneyCruiseFANS]

Anyone been on this special diet and survived DCL food?

 

[CM_Mom]

I can't speak from experience but I have a friend who's alergic to gluten who can eat rice and pretty much any meat or veggies that don't have a gluten product in the coatings or sauce.

You can get rice, fresh fruit and grilled entrees and you can request steamed veggies so I think you should be fine. Be sure to disuss your needs with your server so they can warn you about any potential problems. The chefs work really hard to ensure a pleasant dining experience for everyone, including folks with special food needs.

There have been several other threads regardin traveling allergies so you might want to do a search on food allergies on the forum to get info on others experience.

 

[tecdavidt]

Yes, let your servers and head waiter know ASAP!!! We had our TA contact Disney and I even filled out forms and when we boarded they were clueless. I don't bother any more to notify before we cruise. What I do do is contact the head waiter when we dine for the first night and there is a special menu made up for food allergies. It told me what was OK and what was not. I kept that mini menu through out the cruise and then turned it back in on the last night. Some servers don't understand exactly what gluten intolerant means so you will have to be on the look out yourself. Plain rice was available as was a plain baked potato. DCL had the best gluten free bread I ever had and it was served warm! I avoided the sauces, soups and desserts although Creme' Brulee (sp?) was OK.

The hardest place to eat was at Topsider's at lunch time. There is a salad bar which helped a lot. Breakfast was easy with eggs. They would go into the kitchen and get some gluten free bread if I wanted it but I always just ate eggs, bacon and fried potatoes.

Of all cruislines, Disney is the best at accomodating my gluten free diet. I have to avoid wheat, oatmeal, barley and malt and of course soy sauce which is made from wheat.

One nice thing about our allergy, we don't gain weight on the cruise.
Enjoy, Kathy

 

[wide awake]

I wish I'd known about the good gluten free bread before we went on our 10/16 cruise. DS is on gfcf and DH and I discussed for months whether we should have him follow his diet or try enzymes and eating what he wanted...a BIG mistake !!! After 2 days we pulled the dairy and gave him the enzymes but let him have bread. For our repo cruise I am telling DCL way ahead of time and DS will be sticking to his diet. Which means we will too. It would help if DS enjoyed more of the foods that he can eat...peel and eat shrimp, lobster, prime rib, fruit, vegetables, nuts, etc...I'll have him stick with kosher hot dogs and sausage too. Oh well, I have nine months, maybe his tastes will have expanded by then. There are some safe soy sauces...I can't think of the brand right off the top of my head, you may want to check gfcfdiet.com. I really hate gfcf...I've never talked to anyone that says their child eats well...I was talking to one of the nurses at the clinic where DS is monitored, and she said her daughter ate really icky food. If it is like DS it is hot dogs, kosher sausage, some meats, juices, chips, rice, eggs, bacon, potatoes, sorbet with choc sauce, popsicles, and some rice noodle dishes. He will occasionally eat a fried corn tortilla, salsa, or guacamole. He hates all of the candy he is allowed to have. By the way, don't you love the Tinkyda (sp) pasta ? So much better than the quinoa or other rice pastas. The Tinkyda actually tastes like real pasta, just cheap and overcooked. I have wonderful gfcf meals planned for the holidays...DS will probably eat ham on Thursday, he already told me he won't eat turkey, and prime rib on Christmas...in spite of the fact that all the appetizers, side dishes, and desserts will be safe for him. I hate cooking gfcf too...I have always used butter, lots of high end dairy products, cheese, and bought great breads. Now I put margarine in my cart and I feel like people are looking and thinking what a big loser I am. I keep telling myself it isn't as bad for DS as I think...I've been on a diet for the past 30 years so I certainly don't eat what I want...and the people in Laura Ingalls Wilder books ate horribly...especially in "The Long Winter"...and they managed okay...I am ignoring "Farmer Boy"in this reasoning process.

 

[pediatric-rnp]

DH is on gluten free diet for celiac disease - WDW and DCL are the only vacations we have ever taken since he was diagnosed that he actually enjoyed the eating experience! We requested gluten free foods thru our AAA TA. We reminded our servers, and he had wonderful gluten free breads, pancakes, muffins, etc. The head server would place DH's breakfast order the night before - so at the end of dinner each night, he would come over and ask DH what he would like to have the following AM. It was so easy - and DH was majorly impressed.

At WDW, we did priority seating arrangements before leaving home. I told the CM taking the reservations on the phone about DH's restrictions - we then received a phone call from the head chef at each restaurant , explaining what they could offer. 2 places we ate at WDW were buffet-style. The chef came to our table and personally escorted DH thru the buffet line, explaining which foods he could eat, and which to avoid. It was great!!

 

[tvguy]

Some how we escaped the "excellent" speech from our servers, but we sure didn't escape the "food allergies" speech from them.
No allergies in our group, so no problem, but they sure seemed concerned about it. So they must be set up for most anything.

 

[tecdavidt]

I love the Tinkyada rice pasta, it is the best out there. I wish DCL would stock it for us gluten free people. I'll bring a bag with me this next cruise and we shall see if the galley cook will cook some up for me. There are several wonderful pasta dishes on the menu and a lot of them have sauces that would be OK but not the pasta. It is worth a try. Several restaurants her in Des Moines will cook your pasta for you. I will have to check out the gluten free soy sauce.

One nice thing about a DCL cruise for gluten free diets, you will eat well and healthy. I eat better on the cruise than at home !!!

We leave Dec. 26 for 2 nights at the World at the Poly and then off on the New Year's Eve cruise. It is getting so close. I will let all know if they still have the mini gluten free menu. I did pick out what I wanted the night before each meal. I forgot about the pre-ordering. Please note, even the mini menu had some errors of what was OK so you still have to be careful.

Now for the DCL management lurkers on this board, I know you are there, please think about stocking Tinkyada rice pasta products for the huge numbers of guests who are gluten intolerant. Think of all the children who would love to have the pasta off the children's menu if only they had the rice pasta. I also noticed that a lot of the sea food was in pasta dishes, I had to skip the sea food but if only they had rice pasta.

Kathy

 

[disneybride96]

Change of topic a little. My nephew (14 months at sailing) is Lactose Intolerant. Actually it is a little more serious than LI, but I could never spell the clinical name. Poor guy is even allergic to soy milk. I guess he will be on pretty basic foods at that time, but just wondering if anyone has dealt with this on board?

 

[wide awake]

DisneyBride,
Has your nephew's mom tried Vance's Darifree...a potato product that even comes in chocolate. It is what we use, about as good a milk substitute as there is if soy can't be tolerated. I think I've also read that rice or almond milk is available on board.