OK, here?s the scoop!
Here?s what happened on my 3-day Wonder cruise (June 27-30)---which, by the way, was wonderful. And we had hot, sunny weather (after days of drenching downpours in Orlando). I actually don't like hot weather, but the air-conditioned ship was perfect.
Background: I need to avoid--among other common ingredients--soybean products. This means no mayonnaise, no margarine, hardly any processed foods (which usually contain soy oil/protein/flour), usually no fried foods, usually no salad dressings, and no unspecified ?vegetable oil? (could be anything). I wrote this info, months in advance, on the form which requests info on medical needs, which I happened to have because I booked a wheelchair-accessible room.
My TA called the special needs department of
DCL and was told this: On embarkation day, a Food and Beverage Services Rep will be in the Cadillac Lounge from 1:30 to 3:30. So, right after boarding I went to see Daniel in the Cadillac Lounge. He wrote down some specific foods I was interested in (because people on these boards had said they were tasty) and told me that my head server, Ali, would have the answers by dinner and would also help me day by day with the menus. And that?s what happened.
However, I was still lost during the embarkation buffet, because I had not thought to ask about the unusual foods that showed up there. For example, a mushroom salad, a tomato salad, a salsa, and another mixed cooked vegetable salad, all of which might have been made with olive oil or with soybean oil--of course you can?t tell by looking. But there were enough raw fruits and vegetables, and a couple of other things which were safe, so it was no worse than in any other nice restaurant.
There was one hazard narrowly avoided: There was a basket of those foil-wrapped individual pats of butter; and the basket was clearly labeled ?Butter.? But when I read the foil labels it was ?Butterine? (40% butter and 60% margarine). So you need to keep your eyes open.
Then at dinner Ali introduced himself and checked specifically anything I asked about. He was wonderful. He even asked the bakery to bake a special batch of rolls which were soy-free each night, and I could take them and bring them to breakfast and lunch the next day. (He offered to have a special batch of bread baked for every meal, but of course that was not necessary--even excessive.)
The following foods were soy-free last week on the Wonder: Breakfast: sticky buns, waffles, scrambled eggs and omelets (butter), breakfast potatoes (canola oil), bacon, sausage, and of course juices. Lunch/dinner: hamburgers, cheeseburgers, and hot dogs without the rolls (which were purchased and did contain soy). The top of the pizza was safe but not the crust (the crust contained soy). Mashed/smashed potatoes (and they were yummy!). Baked potatoes. French fries (canola oil). Any meat entrée I asked about. Most (but not all) of the sauces for the entrees. Any dessert I asked about (including key lime pie and crème brulee). Room service: tomato soup.
In general, the cooks fry and bake with canola oil, not soy. But when I asked about the famous chocolate chip cookies, Ali said although they are baked with butter, he cannot guarantee the contents of these cookies because they are purchased on land and he can?t be certain that the label is perfect (e.g., sometimes they contain nuts and the label might not say so).
In summary, finding food that didn?t contain soybean was a whole lot easier than I expected! Ali--and when he was not available, any other server--was super careful to find out about every food item I asked about. The proof was in the results: I never got sick at all!
Peggy in Kalamazoo = pjkds
p.s. Before the cruise we stayed at the Hilton at Walt Disney World Resort, and found that they use butter and olive oil a lot more than soybean oil. So I had an easy time finding safe menu items there, too. The servers and managers there were also very happy, even eager, to answer my questions about food ingredients. Didn?t get sick there, either.
