<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
 
Recently my wife and I went on a short cruise on the Alaska West
Sightseeing Tours line in the S. F. bay/California delta/wine country
region.  I wrote and faxed ahead my dietary restrictions.  When I got
aboard one of the first persons I met with was the chef.  I was her third
or fourth gluten-free passenger this year and she was ready for me.
With all the other people she had to cook for at one seating, she had a
special meal or treatment of the regular meal ready for me 3 times a day.
She had sorbet or rice cookies for deserts.  Each meal was as attractive
and tasty as the other ones.  In fact people were saying, Ooh, how'd
you get that?
 
I never once had to ask or remind the food staff and the chef had them
all instructed by the end of the first day that I was to get a special meal
and I was served it without fanfare or embarassment.  It just came to me.
 
I dove in with complete confidence.
 
Yes, of course I had the suitcase half full of rice cakes.  But imagine
how good I felt when I got back home and the packages hadn't been
opened after eating away from home for a while.  Hooray.
 
There is hope.
 
Jere Cordell