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Hi Everyone,

I wanted to share with you my recent experience to Aruba. 

 

My husband and I found a two bedroom Condo at Tropicana, which used to be
part of the LaCabana Timeshare group. We had honeymooned there, so thought
it would be fun to return. The hotel was clean and neat, and they are in the
middle of refurbishing some of the rooms. The kitchen came stocked with pans
and dishes, silver and basic kitchen items.

 

Upon going through security in my own city, TSA made me empty my carry on
which I had stashed all my dry goods.  The agent told me that food items
show up as bombs or explosive materials in the machine, so any food I had,
needed to  be emptied into a tray. The poor people behind me, as I had
brought with me a loaf of bread, 4 bagels, 2pizza crusts, pasta, crackers,
cookies, the new "Poptarts", cereal, and breakfast bars.  My city is the
only one that made me empty my carry on, upon proceeding through security. 

 

When we travel, we tend to put the emphasis on the place we are visiting and
not the food- as a result of the celiac and due to my husbands peanut/tree
nut allergy. He carries an epi-pen and trying a native food, just isn't an
adventure we are willing to try when it comes to his life and my daughter's
wellness.  So we try to stick with American chains, or  steakhouses.  Aruba
has two chains that we tried, Tony Roma's and TGI Fridays. Tony Roma's was
exceptional service. After a phone call earlier in the day to the chef, we
were greeted by the manager who knew the word Celiac, before we could utter
it. I have found that when the authority figure in the restaurant knows the
word "Celiac", typically we have been in good hands. We had no issues and
would highly recommend their restaurant.  I spoke with Calvert in the
kitchen, and Garvey greeted us. 

 

TGI Fridays, also took care of us, and made sure her meal and my husbands
were allergen free, and cooked French fries in fresh oil on the stove top
for my daughter.  The only negative thing is that the manager, once he
seated us, we never saw him again- and I wish he had made more of an attempt
to make sure the meal was to our liking, but that's more my own customer
service preferences than anything else. The food was great, and having fresh
French fries made my daughter's evening.  I spoke to Luis in the kitchen
earlier in the day, who even had said he would wait for us as we expected to
be there around 5:30 and he got off at 5.

 

The other nights we cooked in and I made a pasta dish, and another night we
ordered pizza.  The most difficult part of traveling was dealing with the
airports. I hadn't thought about arranging for a meal for my daughter on the
way home, but we had packed enough dry goods, she had enough to eat for the
trip.

 

I hope this helps someone who might be considering traveling to Aruba- we
found it to be a great island and it is improving itself all the time. 

 


Visit the Celiac Web Page at Http://www.enabling.org/ia/celiac/index.html
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