Hi all,
We are just back from our first cruise. It was a fabulous experience in many respects, but the food situation was a bit disappointing.
We were optimistic, having read reports of great cruise experiences, with knowledgeable dining staff helping people navigate menus and buffets. In our case, everyone was kind, but not necessarily knowledgeable. The head chef clearly knew his stuff, but his staff didn't do a great job of keeping our orders gluten-free. We had to send back several plates that had fries or hash browns, as well as some dishes of ice cream that came garnished w/cookies. (The hash-browns were the deep-fried triangles you'd get at Mc Donalds or in a school lunch - disappointing in itself!) The manager of the more casual buffet-style dining room said, "Sure, sure, you eat here whenever you want and I will take care of you!" But he didn't usually offer to help when I came in unless I asked, and in many he cases he told me to avoid lots of dishes because he didn't know whether or not they were gluten-free. Some of them I probably could have eaten if he'd bothered to check it out, and it was frustrating to have to be even more limited than I needed to be.
He did recommend something on the buffet line that was later served to my son with the tongs from the breaded fish. So, no, we didn't feel too safe in there, and mostly ate plain chicken, fruit and plain salad. Not terribly exciting. There were also many other food spots that were simply off-limits, like the burger, taco bar by the pool and the various special event buffets like a huge dessert buffet they set up one night and the "Alaskan Barbecue" on our last at sea day. We just had to skip those, because no one was there who could tell us if anything was safe for us.
The chef in the main dining room would adapt menu items for us, but no-one gave us any recommendations, and often the adaptations meant we'd get the featured item without the sauce that gave the dish it's only interest. They did have on hand gluten-free bread, blueberry muffins, and english muffins - all Kinnickinnick, I think, and that was nice for my son. I don't eat that stuff. But while our pre-cruise paperwork allowed us to choose three desserts to have on board, the only thing they had was a totally stale, dry, freezerburned chocolate cake, and it was cheerfully served to us twice a day unless we asked them not to bring it. Ugh, it was nasty. There were other desserts that looked like they might be safe, but, again, nobody seemed able to tell us. We had also requested cereal pre-cruise, but they didn't have that for us at all.
On the last night we both ordered a pasta w/Italian sausage dish. The main steward wasn't sure they would have gluten-free pasta, but I knew they did - my son had had some once already. When I got mine and started eating, I thought the sauce tasted awfully starchy. My brother-in-law agreed, so we asked them to check it out. Turns out the chef had made a special sauce for my son and me, but the person who dished it up used the wrong kind. Fortunately my son got his well after I got mine and didn't eat any. I never got a very clear answer as to what, exactly, was in the sauce - only that it wasn't completely gluten free. I'm still not too sick, though - to my very great surprise. It's been about 48 hours. I haven't gotten glutened in several months, so I'm wondering whether there was too little gluten in the sauce for a few bites' worth to make me sick, or if it's going to just take longer now for it to hit me, or if God really did a miracle in answer to my sister-in-law's prayer at the time.
When they did finally bring out our genuinely gluten-free pasta dishes, there was no sausage - but no one had bothered to tell us that the sausage pasta dish would be sausage-free if it were gluten-free. I'd certainly have chosen something else.
Anyway, it may be that another Holland America crew might handle gluten-free fabulously, but our experience wasn't too hot. Very limited options, always a certain amount of stress involved in getting meals, and the constant need to be very watchful definitely detracted from the whole cruise experience.
It was definitely worth it all, though, for our day in Glacier Bay! What an thrilling place that was!! :-D
p.s. I should add that the head chef did come to our table and apologize very graciously and without excuses when we got the pasta with the wrong sauce. He also said that it was completely unacceptable, and that the person who dished our plates would no longer hold that position. I appreciated that, and don't know what more he could have said.