Trip Report! My first time on the Magic!

[Anchors Away 2016]

Great post Beth! Fantastic pictures. I wouldn't mind more pictures of your Palo meal if you are willing to share them. Might also reassure some other GF cruisers that they have good options at Palo too.

 

[Dug720]

I have a question about eating gluten free on DCL. I'm assuming you alerted them ahead of time and I'm assuming your head server spoke to you the first night? Did you have to choose all of your meals for the next day the day before? That's the only thing that is stumping me. I can't imagine having to decide what I want to eat for dinner 24 hours in advance. Just wondering how that worked out. My other option would be to forgo anything I knew would have wheat in it, or I wonder if I could ask them at the time and they would be able to tell me? Except how would desserts work, I wonder. I imagine there's no way to get the souffle without letting them know ahead of time.

* YES I let them know ahead of time. That is the ONLY way they have of knowing how many gluten-free people they have on board so they can order appropriately. On RCCL this past summer, they ran into a situation where not everyone who was gluten-free had told them and so they began to run out of things on by our sea day into Venice. They were able to do SOME emergency supplying, but you could tell they were NOT prepared for there to be as many people eating gluten-free as there were. It only HELPS to let them know in advance so that they can adequately prepare.

* We actually never saw our head server until we were finishing dessert on Night 2. It seemed like he either had a lot of new serving teams or that section just had some VERY demanding tables (I know there was a large table that demanded a LOT of attention from our service team in their section, and it looked like other tables in our head servers section were being equally demanding). But Aditya our primary server was very knowledgable about what I could and couldn't order and what could be adapted.

* Obviously the first night I didn't order ahead, but I was offered the opportunity to the other nights. I did (I pretty much plan out my menus a week in advance anyway, so NBD to order 24 hours ahead of time), but I honestly found that it really wasn't necessary as I could generally find something that was already gluten-free in the MDR. The one exception was the french onion soup which was a simple "without crouton" fix.

* Desserts I ordered the night of - again, there was generally something that was gluten-free or could be made gluten-free (by making the sundae the churro for example) - and I love Mickey bars, so I used that as an option the night I didn't like the gluten-free menu option.

* I did NOT order my Castaway lunch in advance, but as I said, we knew we would be at Serenity Bay and I know they have steak, so that was easy enough.

* The cruise morning we ate in the MDR I pre-ordered Mickey waffles the night before. Otherwise we ate in Cabanas and I had an omelet made to order and asked them for gluten-free donuts. I got a gluten-free pizza on deck - made to order, just took about 7 minutes. And they made me chicken fingers in Cabanas on embarkation day. And on debarkation morning, Aditya said they could make me gluten-free pancakes or waffles (not Mickey) and I had the pancakes which were yummy.

* I did drop by dining changes to verify that gluten-free was marked on my reservation both for the MDRs and Palo. While there I talked with the Palo manager and he said that they only make the souffle 20 minutes in advance so that was no problem (again, I didn't ask about the amaretto, but our server asked which I wanted so I figure they can do that one gluten-free as well). I asked him about the chicken parmesan at brunch and he said it was not a problem but he would make a note that I was going to order it. Because my reservation was noted as being gluten-free, they automatically had gluten-free bread for me in Palo and had gluten-free flatbread for brunch pizza as well.

 

[Dug720]

Great post Beth! Fantastic pictures. I wouldn't mind more pictures of your Palo meal if you are willing to share them. Might also reassure some other GF cruisers that they have good options at Palo too.

Sure! I'll put up some more dinner pictures tonight and the brunch pictures I took as well.

 

[Cackyschmackers]

Thanks. I guess my concern is hidden ingredients in sauces. I don't try to look for gf substitutions, which are usually made of rice flour. So I wouldn't be interested in breads, pastas, pancakes or waffles (although the donut sure sounds great)! The dessert in the MDR is not a deal-breaker either. I think I could have creme brulee if it was offered or even the ice cream would be fine (and Mickey bar of course)! So, did they bring you the menu of the MDR for the following night to your table? Did you feel like that was a big ordeal, did it take too much time? Thank you for your insights.

 

[Dug720]

Thanks. I guess my concern is hidden ingredients in sauces. I don't try to look for gf substitutions, which are usually made of rice flour. So I wouldn't be interested in breads, pastas, pancakes or waffles (although the donut sure sounds great)! The dessert in the MDR is not a deal-breaker either. I think I could have creme brulee if it was offered or even the ice cream would be fine (and Mickey bar of course)! So, did they bring you the menu of the MDR for the following night to your table? Did you feel like that was a big ordeal, did it take too much time? Thank you for your insights.

Like I said, other than the French Onion soup I went with what was marked gluten-free on the menu. I trust them that they aren't going to mark something gluten-free if it has gluten in sauces. In face, I'm pretty sure that there WERE some dishes not marked gluten-free only because of something in a sauce because looking at the foods there was nothing in the foods themselves (not talking sauces) that had gluten. I never asked about customizing anything in the MDR other than the soup. (The sundae was brought to me when my parents got their dessert menus - not sure if that's because I went with the Mickey Bar the first night or not.)

In Palo the menu was not marked, but our server was very knowledgable of what was/was not or could/could not be made gluten free.

Yes, they brought the menu for the following night usually around the same time we ordered dessert. (Well, night 2 he brought me for the last night since we did Palo night 3.) It was not a big deal at all - they are VERY used to dealing with allergies and so I'm fairly sure there are menus for each of the MDRs in easy access for the servers. Honestly people get too worked up over what other people are thinking or doing I think. The ONLY people who knew I was getting the next night's menu were my parents. No one else noticed or cared - or if they did I didn't notice because I wasn't looking around to see who was looking at me. Especially now that the menus are on the app, ANYONE can see what dinner is the next night.

 

[Cackyschmackers]

In face, I'm pretty sure that there WERE some dishes not marked gluten-free only because of something in a sauce because looking at the foods there was nothing in the foods themselves (not talking sauces) that had gluten.


Honestly people get too worked up over what other people are thinking or doing I think.

I'm actually referring to my own family and wanting to leave to continue on with our evening. Lol

And the hidden ingredients is what I was asking about if they knew. We'll see!

 

[Dug720]

I'm actually referring to my own family and wanting to leave to continue on with our evening. Lol

LOL. Sorry. There have been some people on the forum who are all "but I don't want to stick out" about it. It's an allergy/intolerance. People have them.

But seriously, it didn't take that long at all. If you feel it IS taking too long, I've always found the DCL servers to be more than willing to speed things up if you ask them to. I think I usually ordered it after our desserts were set down.

 

[Cackyschmackers]

Like I said, other than the French Onion soup I went with what was marked gluten-free on the menu. I trust them that they aren't going to mark something gluten-free if it has gluten in sauces. In face, I'm pretty sure that there WERE some dishes not marked gluten-free only because of something in a sauce because looking at the foods there was nothing in the foods themselves (not talking sauces) that had gluten. I never asked about customizing anything in the MDR other than the soup. (The sundae was brought to me when my parents got their dessert menus - not sure if that's because I went with the Mickey Bar the first night or not.)

In Palo the menu was not marked, but our server was very knowledgable of what was/was not or could/could not be made gluten free.

Yes, they brought the menu for the following night usually around the same time we ordered dessert. (Well, night 2 he brought me for the last night since we did Palo night 3.) It was not a big deal at all - they are VERY used to dealing with allergies and so I'm fairly sure there are menus for each of the MDRs in easy access for the servers. Honestly people get too worked up over what other people are thinking or doing I think. The ONLY people who knew I was getting the next night's menu were my parents. No one else noticed or cared - or if they did I didn't notice because I wasn't looking around to see who was looking at me. Especially now that the menus are on the app, ANYONE can see what dinner is the next night.

I was just rereading my response to this: when I said, "hidden ingredients ", I meant ingredients in a dish you wouldn't expect to be there (not that they were misrepresenting ingredients in the dish). Just wondering if the servers would know all the ingredients in a dish was my question. For an example, if they used flour to thicken a sauce or a dish had soy sauce added for flavor. That's where I seem to have problems when eating out.

 

[bcwife76]

Gorgeous sunset photos - postcard perfect!

I'm glad they were able to give you a lovely dessert ending in Palo. *drool*

 

[Dug720]

I was just rereading my response to this: when I said, "hidden ingredients ", I meant ingredients in a dish you wouldn't expect to be there (not that they were misrepresenting ingredients in the dish). Just wondering if the servers would know all the ingredients in a dish was my question. For an example, if they used flour to thicken a sauce or a dish had soy sauce added for flavor. That's where I seem to have problems when eating out.

That I don't know - but I trust that an item labeled gluten-free on the menu would be gluten-free. I didn't ask if other dishes could be made gluten-free because I could usually find something that was already marked as such. (exception: French Onion soup...though I admit I'm at a loss for why they couldn't put the cheese on it. Hopefully it'll be a moot point on my next cruise as I've requested Triton's for night one and plan to book Palo for that night. I really don't like the Triton's/Lumiere's/Royals rotational menu - WAY too duck-heavy for my liking, and I don't do seafood. The only thing I like on there is the creme brûlée. That night I had the french onion soup munis crouton and cheese, the sirloin from the lighter fare menu, and the creme brûlée.)

My guess is if you're asking for something to be customized, the head server would be more involved and consult with the chef if necessary. I'm guessing Dan was not super involved with me because I wasn't being challenging.

 

[Dug720]

Gorgeous sunset photos - postcard perfect!

I'm glad they were able to give you a lovely dessert ending in Palo. *drool*

Thanks! I have a few others that are pretty close to those. I just kept clicking every few minutes. Two of the ships out there - the tall ship type things - did a mock battle complete with cannon fire, which I have to admit was a little disconcerting at the first boom and even the second until you zeroed in on them and saw the puffs of smoke.

And yes! I was so thankful I could still have my chocolate soufflé - I did NOT take a picture of the plate after the sauces oozed all over. LOL. My parents pretty much had to stop me from picking it up and licking it. Haha! Not really - but I did scrape up as much as I could with the spoon.

 

[Dug720]

By request, I'm starting this one with pics of my Palo dinner food... I did not take a pic of my gluten-free bread, but I'm pretty sure it was the same as used for the flatbreads at brunch but had been baked with some herbs on it. Yummy stuff!

Caprese salad. I took this just before our server - with my permission - drizzled some balsalmic vinegar over it also.

Tenderloin with both sauces. All safe!

Chocolate soufflée! Pre-creamy goodness and gooeyness was added!

We did not get a pasta or rice dish - but I'm pretty sure our server said they had gluten-free pasta for at least some of them. The risotto might have been safe, but I wasn't feeling hungry enough for that and didn't want to leave overly stuffed.

Now... On to the sea day...

Woke up early and hit the gym, then back to the cabin to shower and get ready for the day. It was truly a #perfectdayatsea

We went up to Cabanas even though I told my parents we did NOT need to really eat anything. They had light breakfasts - I had juice and diet Coke. Then Daddy went for a massage (it was not the best experience, but he wanted to try it and now he knows - I did try to warn him about massages on ships...we all have to learn I suppose) and Mom and I went to the Princess Gathering!

Belle and I were discussing books - or, well, a play technically since she asked if I'd read Romeo and Juliet when I asked if she'd read any good books lately. This is probably my favorite picture of Princess Gathering.

We met up with Daddy and once he was showered and dressed, we headed to the Frozen gathering...

Of course I gave Olaf warm hugs!!

And then it was time to introduce them to Palo Brunch!! This was their 5th DCL cruise, but 3 of their cruises have been last minute ones at the super special friends and family rates my sister can sometimes get and they've been unable to get brunch reservations (they probably COULD as they get spoiled on those cruises, but they didn't want to take advantage of anything).

I was bad and did not take as many pictures as I should have but here is what I have...

When we sat down and I saw the menu, I remembered that the strawberry soup was not on there and was saying how good it was and I'd miss it. Our server was approaching and I guess overheard me because shortly after we sat down from the buffet (we could serve ourselves - but there were people to help if needed and one helped Daddy because he had his cane with him) he brought TWO strawberry soups to the table. One for me and one for Mom and Daddy to try with the promise he could bring another if they wanted. I liked the angle with my mimosa in the background.

I ordered the spicy Italian sausage flatbread (gluten-free) and our server asked if I felt adventurous. I said "as long as it's not seafood..." and he assured me it wasn't. When it appeared, it was 1/2 sausage and 1/2 grape and gorgonzola! I had never tried that one as I'm usually not much for grapes themselves (I'm all about them in their wine form), but I tried it and really liked it!! The other elements of the flatbread masked the texture of the grapes, which is usually my grape issue.

The chicken parmesan, gluten-free! SO yummy!!!!

And my desserts of choice - chocolate covered strawberries, berries with proseco gelatin, cappuccino pot de creme, and raspberry panna cotta. No special dessert was offered, and that was fine. I felt like I needed to be rolled back to the cabin after this. LOL.

While Daddy took a nap and Mom did her walking on Deck 4, I opted to do the Art of the Theme Show Tour - especially since the Magic was a new ship to me, though I have found it has good repeatability on the Dream class as each guide focuses on different things in my experience. Just one little nugget...

Look at the After Hours logo...

That's a Martini glass, right?

Well, turn it upside down...

A Sorcerer's Hat!

Cool!! And so totally Disney!

Then it was picture time with Donald...

It had been a couple of years since I'd been on a Disney cruise, but I did not remember the Shutters photographers stopping being at the character meets before dinner. They did this cruise - I don't know how it affected debarkation morning as I didn't go near Shutters, but it seemed like a way to enable people to get their pics earlier rather than later. And the handlers were more than happy to take pictures.

Then it was time to dress for our final dinner in Lumiere's. This was the toughest menu for me as I am not a huge fan of duck and I don't do seafood of any type. I ended up with the duck confit (ok, not my favorite), French onion soup minus the crouton obviously - but weirdly without the cheese, and the sirloin from the Lighter Fare menu. This was the longest dinner because Aditya, our server, was not feeling well and had been confined to his cabin. We had a sub server, Nielsen, who did his best, but it was clear he and Tiago, our assistant, were not used to working together and the rhythm was off. Dan, our head server, was helping out as much as he could. There was also one large, very demanding table in our section. I hadn't been able to observe them in action before, but literally every time Tiago or Nielsen or Dan would appear with something - even if it was FOOD for another table - they would demand their attention for something. Because we were doing onboard airline check-in, we HAD to get everything out by 10:15, and I could tell Daddy as getting stressed. I'd said I'd run back and put the luggage out, but he only had a backpack for carry-on and did not think his clothes - especially his shoes - would fit in that. He ended up foregoing dessert and going back to change and get their luggage out. I ran back to put mine out so he wouldn't have to drag it, then went back for my dessert (creme brûlée). Mom and I got a picture with Tiago...

We went back to the cabins - they started getting ready for bed while I changed for the Til We Meet Again party (See You Real Soon? I forget which is the menu on longer cruises and which is the party).

I had to get a picture with Sandra, the onboard booking agent. By the time we'd been to the show on night one, I'd wandered around enough that I knew I'd be happy on the Wonder for 7 nights, so I booked that for next year on the first night. We were almost done with the reservation when Sandra said "I have to say this... You look so much like one of my good friends." at which point I started laughing. Because the Magic is the one ship my sister has not worked on, she doesn't know as many of the crew there (unless they've changed from the Dream or the Fantasy - she was only on the Wonder for a few weeks when it was just out of dry dock), so there was no reason to say anything. Which is all well and good - except most people think we look pretty much identical, so IF they knew her... Yeah. So Sandra said her name and I nodded and said "Yeah, she's my sister." and we all (Mom and Daddy were there by that point) cracked up. (Mom and Daddy also knew Clayton from one of their earlier cruises, so once he saw me with them he put two and two together.)

Got a couple of final character pictures...

And then it was time for one last sleep.

The next day was typical debarkation day. Aditya was off of cabin restriction and was back for breakfast. He got me gluten-free pancakes, which were yummy. We didn't have to wait for our luggage as it was on the way to the airport (well, we knew mine and Daddy's was...apparently Mom's bag left the hall earlier than ours - our stateroom host Supraptha knocked on the door while I was at the party to make sure there should only be 2 bags - Mom's was not there, so she showed him her carry-on as it was the same material and he sprinted off to try and locate it (he did as it was on the plane with them back home!)) so we just had to get through customs. Once we did that we loaded onto a bus to the Miami airport. Though not DCL buses, they had chartered them and there were Disney cartoons playing on the video screens. Nice touch!

All in all, it was a Magical cruise! We had cabins 2582 and 2584, which were fine. I prefer a little more forward, but while Mom and Daddy don't get motion sickness, I didn't want to subject them to far forward cabins. We all had a good time and got some rest - and I'm so glad I was able to get the cabana, especially as Daddy IS having hip replacement surgery in a month (just got that confirmed yesterday). I don't HAVE to have one every time - especially when cruising solo - but they are nice havens. We all did agree that while yes, any cruise is better than being at home and/or work, 4 nights is really too short for us.

BUT I cannot wait to go on the Wonder and get my DCL Grand Slam in... 352 days! This time Deck 2 forward - 2504.

 

[Dug720]

I am going to move this to the Pre-Trip Reports Board.
Thanks for the report, and I hope you have a magical cruise!

TR is finished. Can it be moved to the finished section? Thanks!

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

OK, now I have to go for a walk to work off all of those great food pictures! Thanks for including them. Love the Donald Duck pictures too! Thanks for a great report!

All the best for your father's upcoming procedure.

 

[Dug720]

OK, now I have to go for a walk to work off all of those great food pictures! Thanks for including them. Love the Donald Duck pictures too! Thanks for a great report!

All the best for your father's upcoming procedure.

Thank you!

 

[CamColt]

TR is finished. Can it be moved to the finished section? Thanks!

All set! I'm glad you had a nice cruise!

 

[TestingH2O]

What a great report! It looks like you had an amazing trip.

 

[Dug720]

What a great report! It looks like you had an amazing trip.

Thank you!!

 

[FSU Girl]

I'm glad it didn't rain on your castaway cay day

 

[cloudnut220]

How did you let them know you were GF? On previous cruises I just told them onboard. I looked through all of our materials again, and unlike at WDW restaurants, I couldn't see where I needed to indicate my allergy...