Cruising with Disney – Gluten Free Style, Part 2: Breakfast

If breakfast is indeed the most important meal of the day, you will have no problem filling up with a delicious gluten free meal while on-board a Disney cruise ship!  Breakfast was actually the meal I was most concerned about prior to embarking on our recent vacation, given its propensity towards all things gluten, but I needn’t have worried.  Not one bit.

Disney’s Gluten Free Breakfast Options at Sea

Breakfast is served at multiple locations on the Disney Fantasy and while most of the restaurants offer a buffet, The Royal Court on Deck 3, offers a full sit-down menu.  If you have a gluten-mediated medical condition and/or other food allergies, it is recommended that you dine at The Royal Court for breakfast so you can place your order directly with the head waiter (who will then consult and work directly with the chef) and your breakfast will be prepared in the safest manner.

Buffets

Yes, there are many gluten free options available on the buffets as well, but as with any buffet, the risk of cross-contamination is always present…you cannot always see/control the actions of others who have preceded you on the buffet line.  That being said, I really wish I had gotten up early enough to take a photo of the buffet setup (before the hungry crowds descended), because I was very impressed with the segregation of gluten-containing food options from gluten free food options.

• Glutonium-filled breads, muffins and pastries were kept totally separate from gluten free items such as scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, deli meats, smoked salmon, etc.

• Fresh sliced fruits were kept in an enclosed case and served by a Disney crew member.

• Oatmeal had it’s very own buffet station and cold cereals came in pre-sealed individual containers   **there were no gluten free cold cereal options available, but you could probably take some on-board the ship, if that is what your child prefers (they do allow you to bring bottled water and a limited amount of alcohol aboard, so I presume gluten-free cereal would be okay too), before you make the effort though, ask a Disney representative when booking your vacation.** 

We did eat off the buffet the first morning, before we were told that The Royal Court would be the safer option (but after the chef came out to personally show us the “no gluten added” food options and tell us what he could provide us from “behind the scenes.”  See below for that list of goodies!).  While my celiac self is not prone to the more immediate physical reactions of accidental gluten ingestion, my non-celiac gluten sensitive husband (and youngest son) are quite sensitive to even the slightest exposure and they did not have any problems whatsoever.

This is just a quick sampling of the breakfast options available.  I made a deal with Mike that he would let me take my camera to meals as long as I didn’t take it to all of them (true to my word, I did skip lunch on Wednesday!).  You will notice in the photo (above), that I did allow myself a small indulgence of cream cheese with my smoked salmon, so for those of you who can have dairy, this is a real treat, especially atop fresh, crispy cucumber slices (way better than bread or crackers in my opinion). 😀

Of course, for the kiddos…the “real” treats usually belong in the gluten free refined carbs category (hey, that’s what vacation is for, right?). 😀

Gluten free Baked Goods Available for the Asking:

Cinnamon Donuts (Kinnikinnick)

Chocolate Chip Muffins (Kinnikinnick)

Blueberry Muffins (Kinnikinnick)

Pancakes

Waffles (Kinnikinnick)

My crew certainly had more than their fair share of gluten free chocolate chip muffins, cinnamon doughnuts and waffles, but I also *tried* to get in a fair amount of protein to counter all the sugar.

Smoothies

For those smoothie diehards like me, there is a smoothie bar on Deck 11 that offers dairy and dairy free options (either coconut or soy milk) at an additional charge ($3.25 for a small and $5.25 for a large).

When I first saw the above photo, I thought, “Wow, those teenagers must have been very impressed with Sam’s shuffleboard form…”

Then I realized they were just waiting to see if the crazy Mom lying on the ground with her camera would get hit in the face with the puck.  😉