No Gluten for Me Please

No Dairy Products for Me Please

Sneaking up like an atomic bomb, my newly identified gluten and casein (milk protein) intolerance places me in the cautious traveler category. Eating in a restaurant has become a difficult proposition. Watching me eat a fast food hamburger without a bun brings up memories of a year old kid eating baby food. Oh yes, the ketchup, mustard and mayo are all over my face, hands and sometimes clothes.

How to avoid getting sick because of your food allergies or intolerances? In the year of dealing with a serious issue, I have learned a few solutions. If you read my blog, you know I travel as much as my life allows. My recent 14 day transatlantic on the Celebrity Summit was a real eye opener to the apparent prevalence of gluten issues. In my earlier blog article http://www.zippyreviews.com/travel_blog/cruises-and-cruising/celebrity-cruises-handles-gluten-free-diet I reported that Celebrity did an outstanding job of accommodating my eating quirks. It still amazes me how well informed they were right down to the assistant waiter.

Because of an upcoming trip to Italy, my apprehension caused me to do some research to find some help in Italian. I need to communicate my concerns in any Italian restaurant. Would you believe there is a company www.selectwisely.com that prints small laminated cards in a multitude of languages detailing different food allergies or intolerances or will even custom print one if their standard offerings don’t cover the language or allergy needed? They are very responsive and plainly nice people to deal with.

More hints:  Call your airline if meals are to be served and ask for a special meal. Carefully explain and emphasize the severity of your food issue Talk to the cruise line before you go. You will be surprised at how well they can deal with food issues. Tour companies might be less helpful due to less control over menus in a variety of restaurants. Carry some back up foods you can tolerate. I can always eat Larabars for a quick meal. They are a gluten free company and their bars are delish. They are small and don’t weigh enough to impact your baggage allowance.

Carrying digestive enzymes can lessen the blow if something sneaks through the safety net. It doesn’t totally remove the impact but certainly helps. Let me know if you have any more hints to share.

Upon boarding the Celebrity Summit this week in Barcelona, I approached one of the assistant maitre‘ds and asked about the lunch buffet. He offered to walk the buffet line with me to assure that I would know what was dairy and gluten free. It was my first inkling that Celebrity understands the nature of special diets and isn’t intimidated by them. At dinner our waiter made certain that everything that I ordered would be prepared according to my needs.

Here is the essence of the level of care and service that Celebrity provides: the dining room maitre’d brought me the menu for the next evening, told me to choose whatever I wanted and assured me my choices would be made to order – gluten and dairy free. Indeed they were and I have been accommodated in a royal fashion every evening. I am impressed.