Post by Trevor on Mar 31, 2011 14:04:10 GMT
Posted by twinklegraham on 31/3/2011, 12:24:29
62.253.218.X
Please post to supp board.
Recently back from cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam ship with hubbie and 4 year old daughter who has coeliac disease .
The ship is big (about 2000 people) but not mega-big like some. We wanted a ship with a proper sit down restaurant as this gives more flexibility for food that not only is gluten-free but appeals to a four year. Sophisticated gourmet GF food is great for an adult but not for a small child!
We notified the cruise line of our GF needs as soon as we booked the holiday and submitted a form to make sure that various GF staples were on board eg bread, pasta, cakes. As soon as we boarded, we went to see the maitre d to introduce our selves and remind him of our daughter's special diet. He recorded the GF status on our table booking which meant that staff were always reminded when we arrived for a meal.
For breakfast, there was GF cereal, muffins and toast to go with the normal eggs, yoghurts, fruit etc. We took the opportunity to stock up with food for picnic lunches as we were usually on land at lunch time.
For dinner, we were supplied with the next night's menu to chose our daughter's meal and it was prepared in a GF version. Usually this was soup and pasta, but it could have been a whole 4 course meal. Particularly impressive was the daily choice of home-made chocolate cake, cheese cake or creme brulee for dessert - usually we get offered ice cream or sorbet, if at all.
Lunches if taken aboard were from the buffet, where there was always rotisserie chicken and rice, which was GF. But we could have eaten in the proper restaurant and ordered in advance from the menu as for dinner.
We also took a big bag of GF bits/snacks from home and this helped fill in the gaps between meals.
Overall the staff could not have been more helpful and i would highly recommend this for GF travellers.