<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> Dear Celiac Friends: CRUISING GLUTEN FREE By Janet Y. Rinehart, Houston Summer vacation this year was a 7-day cruise on the Holland America Ryndam plus six more days of tours with a group. I have to tell you that we had a wonderful time, but more importantly I was treated royally aboard ship in terms of my gluten-free diet. I had read Linda Lgvogue's March Internet summary page about cruising, which was helpful. The most important point was to make contact well before the actual date of embarkment. Also, I have developed a generic letter to catering departments that I have used for conferences/festivals I have attended. I believe it is important to tell not only what I cannot eat but what I can eat. It was a simple matter to tailor that letter to the cruise specifics. I even offered a list of brand names for some of the staples and the CSA restaurant card. I was more expectant of a good outcome because Holland America advertised attending to a gluten-free diet in their literature. I called the toll free number, ascertained the person in the ship services department with whom I should speak, and wrote to that person. He subsequently called me back twice to ask about specific brand names they could not find in Vancouver (place of embarkment). I was even more assured since they took time to find certain types of GF products. The first afternoon aboard ship I met with the supervisors of food service. I offered them a Gluten-Free Pantry cake mix and bread mix. They said they already had stocked my San-J Tamari. I was feeling even better. The first and second night we both needed to get the process in order and for the kitchen staff to find my supplies. The gluten-free cereal available was a brand with which I was unfamiliar, but it contained quinoa and amaranth, but no malt; as an alternative to eggs, I sometimes ordered that cereal with no ill affects. The area dining supervisor and wait staff paid excellent attention to my needs. After dinner, they would bring forth the menu for the next evening and I could choose what I wanted. At first I chose plain fish or beef for the main course. After a tour of the kitchen and speaking directly to two of the chefs, I discovered they carried gluten-free pasta and sour cream. I need only choose anything on the menu and they would make it gluten free. Gradually I became more adventuresome. I discovered gluten-free chocolate cake one night. I really felt decadent when they made French onion soup and a special individual "baked Alaska" type dessert the celebratory night when every table was presented with a larger version. I knew in advance that another celiac would be sailing, so I pursued the food services manager to give me the name and cabin number. Leah and I met at one lunch. She has not been on the gluten-free diet long, and already by the third day she was getting bored with plain fare. She didn't realize she could order special things in advance. I told her we could order gluten-free bread at every meal we had in the main dining room. I wish we had more time together to chat, although I had brought along with me some special information for her: Dr. Harold Pruessner's new article, a copy of Living Without magazine, and some information from our chapter and CSA. We discussed the upcoming conferences of CSA in Providence in October and CCA next May. I don't know if other lines go to the extremes to cater to a gluten-free diet as did Holland America. But the same principle of writing in advance with your needs certainly applies in all cases. I know our table wait staff may not remember other people from our week, but I bet they will remember me! And we did have a wonderful time on board and off on shore tours. We invited my husband's parents to accompany us, so we had a good reunion after a year apart. Coming from temperatures in the high 90's in Houston, we were ready to embrace the 50 and 60-degree weather of the seas and Alaska. Seeing the calving on huge glaciers, seeing all the wildlife from that ship and smaller tour boats was impressive. Although the touring after the cruise from Anchorage to Fairbanks was fun and interesting, meal ordering at regular restaurants provided the same old hassle with choosing plain fare and asking all the right questions. The availability of good, fresh seafood was always a treat, however. From this experience, I think I just might do very well eating gluten-free in other places in the world if I use a cruise ship as the base for meals and do shore tours doing the day. I think traveling abroad is a very real possibility now!