trip report/cruise

[brandy]

I got back from my cruise about 2 weeks ago and MC wise did great on the cruise!

Breakfast: When I awoke every a.m. I had 2 mini paleo muffins (that I brought) upon rising with hot tea and and 1/2 tsp of coconut oil in it (that I brought). During breakfast with the family I ate either two grilled lambchops and two grilled tomatoes off of the menu or a minute steak and two grilled tomatoes. Ham was also available on the menu along with traditional breakfast foods. Rossi my breakfast server got a kick out of the fact that I ordered the steak or lambchops every morning. Everyone else in the restaurant was always eating "healthy" either special k out of the little boxes or oatmeal.

Lunch:If I had lunch on the ship I had either broiled local fish and a salad or a hamburger and a salad with olive oil and lemon wedge. About 70% of the time we were off of the ship during lunch. I was traveling with Mom who is celiac so I packed Mom sandwiches with items from the breakfast bar and stuck them in my purse for later. Rossi my server supplied me with 4 slices of GF bread (small loaves as usual) and I made sandwiches with butter, smoked salmon, and sliced cheese all off of the breakfast bar. My lunch off of the ship was 2 or 3 mini paleo muffins and a small ziplock of nuts and sometimes a piece of fruit.

Snacks: I brought 3 bags of Trader Joes nuts for Mom and I (for a 10 day cruise) so that we would have snacks when we were off of the ship and I loaded a ziplock for each of us every morning and put them in my purse. I brought two plastic cups from home to soak nuts at night but never had the time to soak them and I did ok with unsoaked nuts (but chewed well.) Pecans were available on the breakfast bar.

Afternoon Tea: 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm See notes below under gluten free offerings

Dinner: Generally was paleoish. This typically would be something like cocktail shrimp, chicken consumme, a small salad and then the entree. The entrée was generally a protein about the size of a deck of cards with a veggie as decoration and maybe a 2" potato as decoration. Portion sizes were European sizes i.e. small. It was all very tasty. Two nights Mom and I had GF pasta with fresh lobster in a sauce that Chef Pawel made special for us. I was impressed when he went over special GF cooking techniques for GF pasta, i.e it's own pot, strainer etc.

Dessert (after Dinner) Sorbet was always available both lunch and dinner. I had the sorbet twice. It was good but kind of on the sweet side. Fruit was also available for dessert on the dinner although I never had it as I was usually full.

Meeting with Supervisors: My ship had a meeting with restaurant staff for all guests with food sensitivities right before the life boat drill. My ship held up to 440 guests. When we went to the meeting I counted about 10 or 12 guests that had food sensitivities at the meeting so about 3% of the guests. Prior to departure we had to supply passport info etc to the cruise line and their was a drop down question about food sensitivities. Choices of food sensitivities were Vegan, Kosher, Gluten,Lactase or Other. I selected "Other" and free typed in MEDICAL: GF, DF, SF and Corn Free. I bought copies of Ants "To the Chef Guide" to pass out at the meeting. My food sensitivities are almost exactly what Ants are, interestingly. Mom and I each got a chance to talk to one of the dining room supervisors and I think the meeting allowed the supervisors to see what we looked like.

Gluten Free Items: My plan was to play it safe and eat paleoish but I tasted all of Mom's GF items in the course of the ten days. As I mentioned previously GF pasta was available and the chefs knew the safe cooking techniques. Other than the GF pasta and I'm not sure about that, all of the GF items were baked on the ship by professional chefs. Mom got two slices of GF toast every morning with her breakfast. They also brought her a little plate of GF baked goods. I tasted all of these. The toast was the best I've ever tasted. The GF muffin was too sweet for my taste, the croissant was the right shape but kind of "heavy." The scones were very good. They reminded me of a lightly sweetened biscuit that had raisins in it. I started eating Mom's scones when she was served them.

dinner--The GF breadsticks were the best in the world. We had them every night at our dinner table. I even liked the way the GF breadsticks looked. The wheat breadsticks looked like pretzel rods. The GF breadsticks were tall and skinny and looked like modern works of art. They had salt crystals on them and the perfect crunch.

lunch--GF hamburger bun. I always had my hamburgers paleo style but Mom would get the GF bun. I didn't taste hers but it was a perfectly shaped bun, perfectly browned on the top and had little salt crystals sprinkled on the top. It was nothing like the sad little frozen GF buns from the grocery store.

GF at afternoon tea--The staff made Mom a standing order of GF tea sandwiches and a GF sweet treat. The tea sandwiches were made from GF bread. I never tried these as I was unsure if the mayonnaise on the ship was out of a jar and had soy in it or if it was made from scratch.
Mom also got a sweet treat at afternoon tea. (Mom is an underweight sr citizen who walks a lot.) Three of the standout sweet treats were:
pavlova (with no dairy.) The pavlova was a baked meringue shell with chopped fruit on top. This was my favorite and I'm going to make it at home. She also had a cherry tart. This was like a little cherry pie with a crust on top. She also had a sponge cake type jelly roll. It was filled with jelly and what looked like a dairy product. I had a taste of the edge and it tasted like a sponge cake. I was amazed you could create a sponge cake texture out of GF flours and create a jelly roll.

What I realized: I gave up anything "GF" from the grocery store in May of 2013 with the exception of rice pasta and started doing immediately better. I had no issues with eating GF baked products on the ship. I think the difference is the ship's products had no preservatives. Everything
was baked and frozen and then thawed out for the GF guests. I would give the GF products on the ship a "10" and the frozen items from the grocery store a "3".

Some other interesting observations: During the 10 day period I think I was eating around 25% more protein than I usually get mostly due to my breakfast lamb chops or minute steak. I was drinking a lot more water than usual as we were pretty active. I'm guessing I ate about 30% less fiber than usual as the veggie at dinner was more like a garnish. I did pretty good on this regimen and am going to work on a little more protein each day, more water and stick with overcooked veggies.

I did some great hiking in Gaspe and in Sagenay Canada. Sadly Arcadian National Parks was closed so I couldn't go hiking in Maine. It was a great break from the cooking grind.

I'm back to eating my paleoish regimen....with some sweet potatoes, white potatoes and rice pasta and am ok with it. I flat out don't have the time to bake but at least I know that a professional chef can pull together some knockout GF stuff that I can tolerate.

Brandy

[Jeanemcl]

Brandy,
I am so glad to hear how accommodating the cruise ship was. What line were you on? I enjoy traveling, but have been concerned over finding the right food.... A cruise might just do the trick. This past summer I rented a house with friends and had a great hiking trip. It worked well because we ate at home each night and I was able to control what I ate.

It appears that you were really proactive and that certainly made your trip safe and enjoyable.. I have not had lamb chops for breakfast....but it sounds like a good idea.

Thanks for sharing.
Jean

[ldubois7]

Sounds like a trip to remember!
So glad you were able to enjoy & relax & eat without any ill effects!

[tex]

Brandy,

Welcome back, and many thanks for sharing the details of the ship's cuisine. It makes for interesting reading, and most importantly, very beneficial reading for anyone planning such a trip.

It sounds as though the gastronomic experience itself could possibly be the highlight of the cruise for someone who has food sensitivities.

Tex

[HockeyMom]

Hey Brandy-
Thanks for the detailed report on the food scene..you give me hope that eating on the ship won't be that big of a deal. I'm surprised at all the delicious sounding baked goods..my husband is just celiac like your mom..so I'm sure he will be able to eat more of that than I will. I'm huge fan of afternoon tea is though so maybe I can do that too. Cool beans!!!

HockeyMom

[Gloria]

Brandy,

Excellent post! I think this should be moved to the "Traveling with MC" section. Your post answered many of my concerns about a cruise.

One concern I still have is that ships consider any GF food to be a solution. I guess it is for most people, but some of us can't handle rice, tapioca, sorghum, etc., which are all mainstay ingredients in GF baked foods and pasta. I'm assuming that you don't know if the pasta was rice, corn or quinoa.

Your preparation and experience are very helpful. Thanks for posting.

Too bad you couldn't go to Acadia National Park. It's beautiful and I'd love to go there again. I wondered if you'd be there during the time the all the parks were closed. I was at Bryce Canyon, Utah the day after it was reopened and a "closed" sign was still hanging on a gate that had kept a path closed. Bryce Canyon is stunning, too. It was nice to see many foreigners from the Orient amazed by the beauty. I imagine there are few places in the world that are similar.

Gloria

[MaggieRedwings]

Absolutely great review and informative post Brandy. I too am considering a cruise since friends have asked us to go. However, I am not a boat or ship person and so worried about being able to eat within my restrictions. You have made me more at ease. What cruise line did you use and would so love a Canadian/New England cruise in lieu of the Caribbean. Acadia is beautiful and so sorry you missed it.

Love, Maggie

[JeanIrene]

Thanks so much, Brandy. So reassuring to know there are such accommodating cruise ships out there. Glad you had such a great time!

Jean

[lorimoose]

Hi Brandy,

The trip sounds great, and so accommodating. The big question is, which cruise line was this? I am ready to go

Lori

[brandy]

Hockey Mom---You'll have a great time on your cruise! I believe another member had suggested seeking out a dining room supervisor on Day 1. I would recommend this. Most of the foods on the cruise were naturally GF. The main thing I had to remember was "hold the butter."

Gloria---I didn't ask but I believe the GF pasta was corn pasta. It had that yellowish corn pasta look to it. The dining room supervisor started to go into a lengthy conversation with me about the grains that they used during our meeting the first day but I was so tired from getting up at 4:00 am to catch my flight that I kind of cut him off and told him I generally did better eating protein/meat, cooked vegetables and potato, rice or sweet potato. He understood. Then I started tasting all of Mom's stuff LOL.

Jean, Maggie and LoriMoose:

I've been on two cruises in my life. The first was a very cheap Carnival cruise out of Tampa pre MC. It was on one of their oldest and smallest ships in the fleet. It had been remodeled. This was pre MC but from what I remember It think I would do okay on a cheapo Carnival cruise. The most recent cruise was another price point--the Carnival Seabourn line. It was at the pricier end. Suggest get on the email blast list and if your lifestyle allows last minute travel you should be able to snag some deals. The Seabourn line would be nice for a special anniversary event etc.

Let me know if you have any questions, Brandy