Severe Celiac wants to see the world

RustyFH

Earning My Ears
Joined
Apr 19, 2019
My family's trip to Disney World last year was eye opening. It was our first vacation where my daughter's diet was not an overwhelming concern. She has Celiacs disease and on a severe scale. She will get liver damage if she consumes gluten so the stakes are high. Finding a restaurant with "gluten free" options is not enough. Consideration for how the food is prepared to prevent cross contamination is just as important. Disney World understands this and has my confidence that they will take the appropriate measures. The experience gave me the confidence to book a Disney cruise for later this year.

Now I am getting greedy. Will it be possible to actually see the world? Can Adventures by Disney be the answer? Please let me know your thoughts.
 
I think your next step is a cruise. I'm not sure ABD is. I haven't done an actual ABD, but I have a dd that had a severe PN allergy, so I understand cross contamination, etc, well. While ABD may have all the right intentions, they use a host of local restaurants. I'd be very concerned about the sheer variety and language issues that a land trip would entail. You might consider a river cruise with ABD. Most meals are from the same kitchen (though the smaller kitchen may make a separate dedicated gluten free area difficult or impossible?)

DCL handled my dd's allergy very well. You could even do a Med/Baltic cruise with them, and bring safe food for lunches when in port, eating breakfast and dinner on the ship.
 
As someone with many severe food allergies, I understand the forethought and concern that comes along with traveling especially in countries where you don't speak the language. I've been lucky enough to travel pretty extensively around Europe and have taken an ABD and European Disney Cruise. I would probably advise you that many of ABD's meals are prearranged with local restaurants and have a set menu. Now that's not to say that they wouldn't be able to accommodate but unfortunately the kitchens and restaurants will not have the experience and familiarity with food allergies like WDW and DL.

Personally I already have a hard time with certain menus abroad and I would assume avoiding gluten would be much more difficult. Also in other cultures food allergies are not always taken very seriously; so it's always a risk. As much as I'd love to visit Japan or China with ABD I'm not sure my allergies to nuts, legumes, soy and fish / seafood could be accommodated, which is a bummer because the food is a large part of the culture.

A Disney Cruise will be your best bet and like @aggiedog suggested the European / Alaskan itineraries might be of interest to your family. The kitchens on the ship take allergies VERY seriously, so much so that sometimes I end up arguing with the server that I can have the chocolate chip cookies even with my nut allergy. I hope your daughter gets a chance to travel and see the world, but keeping in mind that there's no other place that I've found that can match the WDW / DCL standard when it comes to being able to "relax" about food allergies.
 
I think Adventures by Disney River cruising would be something to look into. I have food allergies. Before the ABD cruise officially starts the chef meets with allergy people to learn what their issue is. The maitre-d brought me a lunch/dinner menu at breakfast so I could make my selection then and not be on the spot at mealtime. The menus and food that is put out have codes on them that alert you to the allergens. The only thing that gives me pause is the cross-contamination issue. I don't know how good they are with that.
 


I have been on many ABDs and we have had folks on our trips with allergies. I have a shellfish allergy myself, and the only time is was really an issue was one night when we ate on our own in Peru. I ordered steak, but there must have been cross-contamination in the kitchen. Interestingly, I do remember both hotels in Peru actually having separate gluten-free tables on the breakfast buffets.
I would call and ask about the trips you are interested in. You may be able to pre-order for most meals and carefully select items that wouldn't be likely to have cross-contamination. I know in Australia, for example, for the buffets they gave me a separate, pre-made plate of "safe" food so that I wouldn't have to risk the buffet. Perhaps you could request something like that. I wouldn't let the allergy get in the way of seeing the world. Worst case, bring a suitcase of things you know she can eat (and that will pass customs) and be more picky at the meals.
 
We recently returned from our first ABD (Costa Rica). They handled my sons PN allergy very well and we had no issues. I was nervous, however, as I knew we were further away from medical care if there were any missteps. There was another traveler on our trip with gluten/dairy allergies. Things also went well for them, but it was more difficult to accommodate. For example, we noticed the bottled water was labelled as containing gluten. I forget the brand, but it was something you could get here, and supposed to be only water. So why a gluten warning in Costa Rica? I agree that starting with a cruise might be a good first step. We started there too, and they were amazing.
 
We’ve done two ABD’s with our kids’ who both have Celiac. ABD did a great job making sure their food was GF and without cross contamination. They are working with outside vendors and restaurants, so there are some limitations. DCL would be a great choice too. My kids’ are in heaven on our cruises. So many GF choices.
 


Thanks all for the great information! We will start with DCL. We have a western Caribbean cruise booked and most likely choose Alaska next. I suppose the ABD/DCL "packages" might be a safer alternative to a typical ABD trip since some of the meals are on the ship.
 
I'd have to say that the ABD/DCL combos seem most like a money grab than a true ABD. They are just more excursions, but you're still paying DCL prices on top of the ABD premium. You get a bit more than regular excursions but for a LOT more money. You could pack 3 suitcases of GF food for a lot cheaper. Definitely read some trip reports. The 3 day pre/post stay ABD's might be a better intro to ABD for you.

Sorry, my 2 cents. Back to celiac and travel...
 
I'd have to say that the ABD/DCL combos seem most like a money grab than a true ABD. They are just more excursions, but you're still paying DCL prices on top of the ABD premium. You get a bit more than regular excursions but for a LOT more money. You could pack 3 suitcases of GF food for a lot cheaper. Definitely read some trip reports. The 3 day pre/post stay ABD's might be a better intro to ABD for you.

Sorry, my 2 cents. Back to celiac and travel...
It still makes me sad, because it wasn't like that the first year the cruise add-ons were introduced. I blame it on DCL, but that's just my 2 cents' worth.

Sayhello
 
My sister has Celiac, so I understand the cross-contamination issues. And that avoiding gluten isn't just a fad, but a necessity. As you know WDW is great with allergies. DCL is too.

A co-worker of mine also has celiac. They went to Italy (alone, no tour) and didn't have any gluten issues. She got some cards about eating limitations printed in Italian. They did eat only at real restaurants, and not vendors or quick service places, but she always found someplace to eat.

We are doing the Italy ABD this spring, partially because I'm concerned about international travel with my daughter's severe peanut allergy (recently got to "off the chart" status), as well as tree nut allergy. And I just got a shellfish sensitivity (not an allergy, but very unpleasant). I know from a different co-worker, ABD will work with you on these issues, so that makes me a lot more confident.

Good luck. Try not to let these issues limit your exploring the world. (We did, and now I regret that.)
 
I had these cards recommended to me by someone when I discovered my dairy allergy. They are translation cards for allergies and can be created in almost any language. https://www.selectwisely.com/?gclid...7AiYt6xXlYZ-eItJ3JRMYYWvxArcgouxoC-EgQAvD_BwE

I haven't used them myself as where I travel I haven't had any issues communicating it.

One thing I do, whether I'm doing a private tour or a group tour is try to find out where the set meals will occur and contact the restaurant directly myself. I just let them know I'm travelling with XYZ tour company and will be dining there on X date and that I have a dairy allergy. I've had great success with this so far as it gives the restaurant advance warning that someone will be coming with an allergy and they can plan accordingly. For my upcoming trip one of the restaurants we will be dining at let me know they have created a completely separate menu for me to accommodate my allergy.
 
I had these cards recommended to me by someone when I discovered my dairy allergy. They are translation cards for allergies and can be created in almost any language. https://www.selectwisely.com/?gclid...7AiYt6xXlYZ-eItJ3JRMYYWvxArcgouxoC-EgQAvD_BwE

I haven't used them myself as where I travel I haven't had any issues communicating it.


Those are actually decently priced. Before I went on my ABD I thought about buying some but they were ridiculously expensive.
 
I had these cards recommended to me by someone when I discovered my dairy allergy. They are translation cards for allergies and can be created in almost any language. https://www.selectwisely.com/?gclid...7AiYt6xXlYZ-eItJ3JRMYYWvxArcgouxoC-EgQAvD_BwE

I haven't used them myself as where I travel I haven't had any issues communicating it.

One thing I do, whether I'm doing a private tour or a group tour is try to find out where the set meals will occur and contact the restaurant directly myself. I just let them know I'm travelling with XYZ tour company and will be dining there on X date and that I have a dairy allergy. I've had great success with this so far as it gives the restaurant advance warning that someone will be coming with an allergy and they can plan accordingly. For my upcoming trip one of the restaurants we will be dining at let me know they have created a completely separate menu for me to accommodate my allergy.

I second these. I travel a lot and have used them successfully in many locations for my food issues.

I always like to try to figure out what food are naturally gluten free when I travel. It makes things easier for me if I know that it would normally never touch gluten. I can’t say that I’ve never got glutened whole travelling though. China was actually quite challenging for me - moreso than I thought it would be - so much soy sauce!
 
My family's trip to Disney World last year was eye opening. It was our first vacation where my daughter's diet was not an overwhelming concern. She has Celiacs disease and on a severe scale. She will get liver damage if she consumes gluten so the stakes are high. Finding a restaurant with "gluten free" options is not enough. Consideration for how the food is prepared to prevent cross contamination is just as important. Disney World understands this and has my confidence that they will take the appropriate measures. The experience gave me the confidence to book a Disney cruise for later this year.

Now I am getting greedy. Will it be possible to actually see the world? Can Adventures by Disney be the answer? Please let me know your thoughts.

My family also has a child with severe celiac - hospitalizations, delayed growth etc. So I understand your anxiety. Also traveling with a celiac child is very different than adult in my experience. I sometimes read GF travel and restaurant boards and think nope a salad without croutons is not an adequate GF menu. I have celiac too but I have the ability as an adult to see food as fuel and just eat the grapes if that's the only thing available. We have not yet tried adventures by Disney. However when we travel we almost always stay with a kitchen or at least a kitchenette. I sometimes pack and check an entire suit case full of certified GF food. Disney World is a wonderful exception, they are so fabulous. However I cannot say the same for Disney Land but we have not returned since 2015 so hopefully they have improved. That being said Gluten Free living mag often has advertisements for some great travel agents and travel packages for international travel to be successfully gluten free. Also we just returned from NYC and it was the best GF safe eating we have ever had. Completely Gluten free restaurants, and completely separate dedicated kitchen space at others. If you'd like a list I'd be glad to post it even though this is a dis board. My next goal is Aulani - we've been to Hawaii before but its a challenge to eat out there - even with lots of research some experiences were great others not.

A huge factor for me is the health care infrastructure of the country, community we are traveling too. So I am a bit afraid of cruises to the Caribbean and Mexico. We purchase international travel health insurance but still . . . If you do an Adventures by Disney please post how it goes!
 
My family also has a child with severe celiac - hospitalizations, delayed growth etc. So I understand your anxiety. Also traveling with a celiac child is very different than adult in my experience. I sometimes read GF travel and restaurant boards and think nope a salad without croutons is not an adequate GF menu. I have celiac too but I have the ability as an adult to see food as fuel and just eat the grapes if that's the only thing available. We have not yet tried adventures by Disney. However when we travel we almost always stay with a kitchen or at least a kitchenette. I sometimes pack and check an entire suit case full of certified GF food. Disney World is a wonderful exception, they are so fabulous. However I cannot say the same for Disney Land but we have not returned since 2015 so hopefully they have improved. That being said Gluten Free living mag often has advertisements for some great travel agents and travel packages for international travel to be successfully gluten free. Also we just returned from NYC and it was the best GF safe eating we have ever had. Completely Gluten free restaurants, and completely separate dedicated kitchen space at others. If you'd like a list I'd be glad to post it even though this is a dis board. My next goal is Aulani - we've been to Hawaii before but its a challenge to eat out there - even with lots of research some experiences were great others not.

A huge factor for me is the health care infrastructure of the country, community we are traveling too. So I am a bit afraid of cruises to the Caribbean and Mexico. We purchase international travel health insurance but still . . . If you do an Adventures by Disney please post how it goes!
I would love to see your gluten free restaurant list for NYC. Thank you!
 

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