Princess Cruise Line

During our travels around the world, my husband and I have made a concerted effort to discover the gluten free landscape wherever we go. Josh and I went on a two week princess cruise voyage and were very surprised at what a tremendously gluten free friendly experience I had. This was my first cruise experience, so I didn’t really know what to expect. The last time my husband was on a cruise was before he was diagnosed with celiac, so his fond memories of cruises were filled with hopping from pancakes at the breakfast buffet to pizza at the pool bar to a three course lunch at the restaurant to a snack of afternoon burgers and fries on the deck…and the endless eating continues for the duration of the cruise.

While I was anxious about being sea sick on board for two weeks, Josh's one and only worry was that he would not have enough gluten free options available and that he wouldn’t enjoy his cruise experience as much as he recalled.

We boarded the cruise hoping for the best but could never have expected Princess Cruises to be as accommodating to our dietary restrictions as they were. The first afternoon on board, Josh showed me the pizza bar on the top deck where he recalled ordering multiple slices of fresh pizza every afternoon somewhere between his earlier afternoon snack and dinner. It was a pity to see how badly he wished to relive his all-you-can-eat memories as we watched dozens of excited children line up for a slice. “You don’t happen to have gluten free pizza,” he asked incredulously. “Yes we do- as long as you give us one day’s advanced notice, we can order it for you” the pizza man retorted. Excitedly, Josh requested 2 pizzas per day for the rest of the cruise. Even with his gluten free restrictions, he would be able to relive his daily afternoon pizza snack memories!

Make your own gluten free pizza with Tuscany Blend!

It only got more impressive from here. The dining staff could not have been any more eager to please. At dinner the first evening, there was a delicious sounding pasta dish on the menu. The kitchen created a special order for Josh with gluten free pasta and an added side of ricotta cheese to mix into the pasta.

Make your own gluten free pasta with Tuscany Blend!

Every evening, the kitchen prepared a side of gluten free bread for Josh and made sure that everything was carefully prepared to ensure no cross contamination with gluten. At the end of our meal, our server routinely gave us the menu for the following day so that we could place our special orders with him.

Bake your own gluten free bread with Manhattan Blend or Tuscany Blend!

One of my favorite dishes was an Asian eggplant dish that was supposed to be coated and fried in wheat flour. They prepared the dish coated in gluten free flour instead and the dish was delectable!

Coat your eggplant with Sydney Blend!

There was always a gluten free dessert option on board. The first evening, there happened to have been a gluten free flourless chocolate cake on the menu, so no special order necessary. It was deliciously rich chocolate cake and served with chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream. At the very least, there was always ice cream and sorbet on the menu. On several occasions, our head waiter went out of his way to have the kitchen create a special gluten free dessert for Josh. Among these was a beautifully presented and outrageously tasting gluten free Grand Marnier soufflé.

Bake your own dessert souffle with Sydney Blend!

At breakfast, David indulged in his orders of gluten free banana- chocolate chip pancakes and smoked salmon and cream cheese on gluten free toast.

Make your own gluten free pancakes with Sydney Blend!

The biggest surprise was that there were special gluten free scones and cookies/biscuits at the ship’s daily afternoon tea. The scones were crumbly and fell apart quite easily, but a little jam and cream spread on top would make any gluten free individual a very happy customer.

Bake your own gluten free scones with London Blend!

Gluten Free Cruise Traveling

Princess Cruise Line