G-Free Success: Cruisin' with Royal Caribbean!

As most of you know, traveling instills fear in those of us with special diets. The unknown of each day's schedule, the reliance on a staff of international waiters and the general complications involved with finding food in a foreign country can all cause anxiety on what should be a relaxing escape from real life.

Prior to agreeing to a week-long Caribbean cruise I wanted to make sure that I wouldn't be stressed out and struggling the entire time. I read blogs, researched the cruise line and reached out to customer service multiple times in order to ensure that my digestive system would be safe in their hands. I felt convinced that they knew what it was and would make my meals a priority so I agreed to a fun-filled vacay with classmates on Royal Caribbean to Cozumel, Belize and Costa Maya.

First off, I must say it was the BEST decision I've made. I didn't get sick AT ALL! The first day was a little challenging because I hadn't met with the waitstaff yet so that dinner was a little tough but from that point on I felt like I had my own staff of personal assistants to make sure that every meal pleased me.

There were two main dining areas on the ship that we stuck to. This was the dining room that was open for breakfast and dinner (and a couple days lunch) and the Windjammer Cafe which was a buffet open for all meals. The first thing we did after boarding was walk down to the dining room where I was able to find a waiter and get the names of some individuals who would help me. I would definitely suggest asking for a Head Waiter or a Floor Manager on the first day, because once I found Tolga my life became so much easier. He made sure to show me the menus for the next days meals every night at dinner, as well as came to check on me when I arrived for that meal the next day. They made me gluten-free chocolate chip pancakes and omelets special for breakfast, gluten-free fries for snacks and a wide variety of meals tailored from the dinner menu to be gluten-free each night. Dinners included steak, chicken and rice, gluten-free spaghetti, chicken marsala, turkey...you name it...they even baked me gluten-free bread to have every night while the others enjoyed the massive tray of breads that they walked around with. In addition, once they found a dessert I could have they surprised me with it multiple times.

Please note: I did bring my own salad dressing and I would definitely recommend that because just being able to carry it around opens up your options at all of the food stations.

As far as the buffet (Windjammer Cafe) that was much easier than I thought as well. The Head Waiters are easy to pick out with their official outfits so I would simply walk up to them, they would call a chef down, and the chef would walk me around the entire buffet pointing out everything that was and was not safe for me. They were more than willing to bring me gluten-free fries special as well. Most days I stuck with salad, ribs, rice...but they also had quite a few vegetable options as well as chicken and pork dishes that I could have. I couldn't believe how quick and attentive they were as soon as I asked for help, wow.

The one challenge that I did run into was the port days where there were all day excursions that extended through lunch. On top of not trusting food in a jungle cafe to begin with, I didn't want to chance getting sick in the middle of cave tubing or zip lining so I avoided these meals and snacks. Luckily, I did bring snacks with me onto the ship and was able to sneak them onto land with me (they say you can't take food off the boat, oops!). My go-to snacks were Think Thin bars and almonds which got me through (in addition to Cashew Wine and tequila) so it wasn't the end of the world. Luckily, my big breakfasts lasted most of the day.

I definitely give the cruise line an A+ for their efforts and am happy to report that my cruising days are not over! I can't believe how much fun I've had and want to thank my traveling companions as well for being so patient and helpful at meals as well. I would recommend cruising with Royal Caribbean to anyone with a gluten-free lifestyle :)