Gluten free diets on Carnival
 

Anyone had experience with gluten free diets for adults and children? Can they make gluten free pizza at pizza place?

This is something you'll want to have your agent discuss with Carnival's Special Needs dept.

If you require a totally gluten free diet, if possible, it would have to be arranged in advance of sailing.

Fat chance. There are plenty of things to eat that do't have wheat, rye, or barley in them, but forget the pizza. If you want special concession Carnival is NOT the line to go on. If you're concerned about cross contamination then forget about going on a cruise. If you don't care about the possibility of cross contamination, then you (like I) will do fine.

Are you a celiac? Did you cruise with carnival? Other cruiselines?

Yes, fellow celiac. Carnival 3 times, RC once.

Please help me. There are 3 children ages 5,7,9 and 1 adult with celiac. The 5 yr old is most severe with reaction. Can we talk or email carnival for our dietary needs? How do you do it? If we request gluten free pizza will they do it? Especially concerned with kids as kids food so often has gluten. ANY suggestions or comments. Carnival Triump cruise. How have they met your needs on the 3 carnival cruises you went on? Was RCC better? I was told they would make gluten free bread for dining room?whatever you can remember will be such a help. Thanks!!

Being a responsible adult I know what to eat and what I would be better off staying away from. As for the kids, well that's a tough one. What do you do when they are at school all day? Or at a friends house/birthday? On a school trip? At camp for the summer? I have no experience w/ kids, but I can imagine it is almost impossible. As for a cruise... I just think that if you go in expecting that they will do this and that for you, you will be disappointed, angry, and have a miserable trip. There may be cruise lines out there that have gluten free fare; Carnival possible, but I have no idea (doesn't hurt to contact them). As for what I have seen... You know as well as I do that celiacs can live off of steak, fruit, vegs, and rice for the rest of our lives. Carnival has the widest selection of food items that I have seen. Sure, you may only be limited to 100 things instead of 300, but that's still a lot. I wouldn't believe anyone who promised me that there would be gluten free bread available. And who needs bread anyway? And I think your kids can go w/o pizza for a week. There's no way in hell Carnival (read: cheap) will be making gluten free pizza. They are an inexpensive cruise line for a reason: They provide a ship to several destinations w/ tons of average food. That's it. You cannot go into a cruise on Carnival expecting anything. As I said, if you do, you will be sorely disappointed. That said, I always have the greatest times on Carnival cruises and I count the days 'till my next trip.

Did you register for gluten free diet? Did you ever request gluten free foods?

Once again , I recommend not leaving anything to chance. You have to have your travel agent contact Carnival's Special Needs Department and find out what their policies are, and what they can guarantee. Don't leave this to chance or you may find yourself in a very difficult and unhappy postion.

Re: Gluten free diets on Carnival
 

I just returned from a Med cruise and I traveled with a friend that has to eat gluten free food also. Our travel agent advised Carnival before the cruise and a dietitian came to our table ever night to help her choose her food for the next night. Carnival was just wonderful to my friend.

Happy sailing!!
Mary

We were on the Ledgend last year with a friend who also needed glutten free food. As granny gigi said, the dietition came to our table after dinner each nite and went over the menu with her with input from the kitchen chefs. She did just fine.

We just returned from a cruise aboard "Miracle" where we had lunch with a lady who was also on a gluten free diet. She too contacted Carnival prior to her cruise, and they arranged everything. She was having no problems, as long as she was careful at the "open seating" lunch and breakfast. She too stated that Carnival handled her request very well.

Ken
"Sky"

While I think that there are some circumstances where Carnival can not possibly cater to a need I think that they do a commendable job accomodating health requirements as they pertain to diets as well as other physical needs. The fact that they are often the best value priced line in the mass market doesn't mean that they ignore these things. We have travelled with a range of issues in our various travelling parties and Carnival has always done their best to meet our needs when they have been provided with appropriate communications prior to our cruises. In my experience a person can most certainly go on a Carnival ship expecting certain things and they will not be disappointed. We all have a responsibility to be proactive where our health is concerned and whether we like it or not this may mean having to make extra travel arrangements, extra communications with special departments, etc.