2022

Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food – Hippocrates

This is our 5th cruise with Holland America. We have also cruised with other lines and find that Holland America does the best job at exceeding my expectations on how to serve those needing gluten free food for medical reasons.

I cannot even remember all the meals that the chefs have created for me that each time seem to top each other. From mini Baked Alaska’s to fish and chips (before we had fish and chips shops in Vancouver where I live) to comfort food like macaroni and cheese they seem to be willing to create anything that you desire!

When it comes to gluten free (gf) food on board, when cruising in North America, it seems mainly to be Kinnikinnick gf products – muffins (blueberry and chocolate), waffles, pancake mix, variety of breads, bagels, the new English muffins and hamburger buns. They also carry gf Catelli pasta. As we are currently cruising from North America to Europe, I am told, that our next “heavy supplies stop” which is Barcelona, we will be getting more gf food – however European brands. I am suspecting that will be Schar types of products. Then as we progress to Rome, where we will be getting off I will have mixture of brands that I will be served.

So in over 85 cruising days, I have never been glutened which I find a particularly good statistic for having no control over the food that I am served. Until today. I made a very bad assumption and boy am I paying the piper now!

I do not normally eat gf foods at home like muffins, breads and bagels. However we are on a cruise, enjoying fresh air, exercising and I have been really hungry in the morning due to going through a plethora of time zones, so yesterday, I decided to order a gf chocolate muffin from the room service menu for breakfast, along with the gf frittata that they already offer. What arrived? A gf hamburger bun and gluten filled chocolate chip cookies! Huh? Okay, I will talk to the head waiter at dinner about this amusing delivery.

At dinner, Aziz, head waiter, and I had a discussion and as they already understand that I am serious about being GF (more on that later) and I mentioned what I received for breakfast. He said he called the In Room Dining manager and that a gf muffin would be sent to me in the morning with the breakfast that I requested. Breakfast arrived – no muffin – however the gf frittata was there! So I called and they apologized and sent up the muffin – instead of one they sent one chocolate and one blue berry. I looked at them and thought – boy! Kinnikinnick has sure improved their product – it is bigger now! I knew that Kinnikinnick had recently increased their bread size so I figured that they now made bigger muffins – it has been about 3 years since I have had one. So I decided to eat the blueberry one. The ONE thing that I know is that Kinnikinnick muffins have paper wrapper on them and these did not. No idea why I did not put two and two together.

I put the chocolate one aside in our room and began our day. About an hour later I was not feeling well so I decided to fill up my water bottle – often thirst is my first sign of problems – so I walked through the Lido deck and around the pastry section to the beverage section and what did I see? The SAME blueberry and chocolate muffins that had been sent to me displayed en masse! Oh no, the sinking feeling that I felt (nothing to do with the ship) was horrid! It has been AGES since I have been glutened! Needless to say I spent the afternoon in our stateroom and became very enthralled with the workings of the bathroom!

Not to hold me back – we did make it to dinner that night – with a chocolate muffin! Aziz was horrified when he looked at the muffin and knew EXACTLY what the problem is – he said the paper was missing! Duh – if I had been that smart! So out he marched the In Room Dining manager to apologize to me and then they informed the chef that I had gotten sick, just in case I needed medical attention.

Three days later I am fine now – still a bit sore as I have not eaten that much gluten in many decades and my intestines were having quite the conniption! It goes to show to know the product that you are eating and ALWAYS question products that do not look “right” to you instead of trying to justify them in your mind.

The “positive” that has come out of this is that it has shown HAL just how sick a person with Celiac Disease can get. I am also only served in the dining room by the Head Waiter assigned to my section. They are being very careful too with my food – which they should be!