Are you heading on a Disney Cruise and have food allergies or dietary restrictions? Discover the best Disney Cruise gluten-free dining options; scroll down for our complete guide!
This Disney Cruise Gluten Free Dining Options post was co-written by family travel expert Marcie Cheung and contains affiliate links, which means if you purchase something from one of my affiliate links, I may earn a small commission that goes back into maintaining this blog.
This article on Exploring Disney Cruise Gluten-Free Dining Choices is a guest post by Adriane of Put on Your Party Pants
Disney Cruise Line is gluttony at its finest. The cruise fare includes the vast majority of the food, which leads to a level of indulgence that one may not normally engage in.
Disney Cruise Line’s slogan should be “Where the skinny get fat, and the fat get fatter.”
Since a cruise is only a few days here and there, and you can always lose weight when you get home, you might as well go to town.
But what about people with food allergies? Will Disney Cruise Line have good options for them?
As someone with a gluten intolerance, I can state with confidence that eating out is a whole lot less fun when your options are limited to salad or salad. It is hard to justify the exorbitant cost of a Disney cruise if your food choices are slim.
Are there enough gluten-free choices to make the trip worthwhile? The answer is a resounding yes.
A Complete Guide to Disney Cruise Gluten-Free Options
Notify Disney Cruise Line of Your Dietary Restrictions Before You Sail
Regardless of your dietary restriction, it is best to notify Disney Cruise Line before sailing. They will accommodate just about anything.
It is easy to do this during your online check-in.
Giving them a heads-up ahead of time makes the process smoother, but regardless of whether you remember to do this, they will work with you. You will definitely not go hungry.
Find out what else to do before your Disney Cruise.
What is Included?
Disney Cruise Line offers several dining options, most of which are included in your fare.
Each ship has different restaurants, but they all offer buffet and sit-down options for breakfast and lunch, sit-down dinners in the main dining rooms and a less formal dining room, quick services, self-serve ice cream, and room service.
Soft drinks are included at self-serve drink stations and in the dining rooms, and most non-alcoholic beverages are included.
You will pay extra for specialty, adult-only restaurants. There is also a charge for alcoholic beverages, soft drinks directly from a bar, concessions sold outside the theater, and some room service items.
Find out how to save money on your Disney Cruise
Buffets
The buffets, although chaotic, have a lot of gluten-free options.
If you are concerned about cross-contamination, ask an employee to walk around the buffet to answer questions.
They will also bring you safe food from the back and make gluten-free versions of things that are normally not, but be prepared for this to take a considerable amount of time.
Disney Cruise Line takes allergies VERY seriously. They don’t let just anyone write down your allergy order or hand you a cup of yogurt. Only managers with years of experience grasping things in their hands can do that.
The breakfast buffet has all the typical breakfast foods you would expect, like eggs, omelets, fruit, and breakfast meats. There were great smoothies and cheese options.
The chef will make gluten-free Mickey waffles and pancakes, and gluten-free bread is also available.
For lunch, there are some decent seafood and salad options. Again, the cheese (God’s gift to middle-aged women).
Like Disney World, Disney Cruise Line loves its Udi’s products. Pretty much every prepared Udi’s treat is on the ship somewhere. If all else fails, the cookies and brownies will be there.
Main Dining Rooms
The main dining rooms vary by the ship, but each has three.
Disney Cruise Line
Disney Cruise Line offers breakfast and lunch at one of the main dining rooms daily. Items on the menu are marked as gluten-free, and they can work with you to get you what you want.
For dinner, you will rotate between the three main dining rooms throughout the cruise. The serving staff comes with you, and you will have the same server each night.
If you notify Disney beforehand, your serving team will know about your dietary restrictions before you are seated on the first night. If you didn’t do that, you can discuss it with them the first night.
Taking the serving team with you each night is awesome. The servers are great about remembering your likes and catering to your needs.
After the first night, I had gluten-free rolls and a Diet Coke waiting for me each night when I arrived.
You can review the dinner menu for the following day with your server each night and request that they make certain items gluten-free. You can also request that they bring you something from a different main dining restaurant.
The main dining rooms encourage you to eat as much as you want, more than anywhere else. If you want to order multiple entrees, have at it. You can ask for something else if you don’t like what you get the first time.
Our server always asked if we wanted another entree after he served the first round, and he always seemed a little surprised when we declined. Freshmen Cruising Fifteen is real.
I had a lot of good food from the main dining rooms. They always had soup, salad, entree, and dessert options that could be made gluten-free.
I particularly enjoyed the iced lobster and jumbo shrimp from Royal Palace, the dill and lemon marinated shrimp from Animator’s Palate, and the caramelized sea scallops from Enchanted Garden on the Disney Dream.
Quick Service
If you didn’t like your dinner in the main dining room, or it is 4:00 p.m., and you cannot possibly make it to dinner at 5:30 p.m. without ingesting more calories, hit the quick service option on the pool deck.
On the Disney Dream, the gluten-free pizzas at the quick service are actually really good.
Like the buffet, it takes longer to order gluten-free items. You have to call a skilled manager and write down “Gluten Free Cheese Pizza” on a piece of paper before they can make it, but at least you know it’s really gluten-free.
With all the precautions in place, I cannot imagine you will ever have an issue.
There are also self-serve ice cream machines near the quick service on the pool decks. The ice cream cones are not gluten-free, but you can get a cup to use from the soft drink machine (also located nearby).
Room Service
Room service is available twenty-four hours per day. Most items on the menu are included, so tipping the person who drops them off will only cost you a couple of dollars.
Some of the items have an extra charge. The charges are clearly marked.
They include gluten-free items such as salads, fruit, cheese plates, gluten-free donuts, and Mickey Mouse ice cream bars.
Specialty Dining on the Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy
Palo
Palo is an Italian specialty restaurant for adults only. No children allowed.
In other words, this is where you go to regain your sanity after cruising with 2,000,000 children for days on end. It serves dinner nightly and brunch on sea days only. The charge is $40 per person at the time of this writing.
The wait staff at Palo is amazing. They encourage you to take your time. Our server was awesome about suggesting gluten-free items and bringing me special food from the back.
Palo has a buffet with cheese, fruit, meats, and seafood, including king crab legs (thanks, Sig).
There were several gluten-free desserts on the buffet that were quite tasty. Most were a variation of creme brulee. Our server brought me some desserts from the back with slight modifications (like omitting a cookie), so I had several choices.
In addition to the buffet, they encourage you to order from a menu. Gluten-free options include gluten-free pizzas and some pasta. The food we ordered was fine, but it just got in the way of the king crab legs.
Palo is definitely worth a try if you are gluten-free. $40 for this meal is a steal if you eat the seafood.
Remy
Remy is a French restaurant. It is also for adults only. The cost is $125 per person at the time of this writing. Several courses come with the meal, and they can accommodate gluten allergies.
Read the complete guide to Disney Fantasy Dining Options
Disney Cruise Gluten-Free Options on Castaway Cay
Castaway Cay is Disney’s private island in the Bahamas. Most Caribbean sailings on Disney Cruise Lines stop here.
They serve a basic barbecue lunch on Castaway Cay.
You can return to the ship to eat if you want, but it isn’t necessary. You can preorder food the night before from your server at dinner to ensure you have gluten-free food.
In fact, your server will probably offer to do this without you even making the request.
They offer gluten-free buns for burgers and will make your food separately to avoid cross-contamination.
Final Thoughts on Disney Cruise Gluten-Free Food
Disney Cruise Line is a perfect option for people traveling with any dietary restriction. It goes above and beyond to make everyone feel safe and happy.
Disney Cruise Line has no shortage of food. There are tons of gluten-free options from which to choose.
They will make special food for you upon request, both in the buffets and sit-down dining areas. The staff takes extreme measures to ensure the food meets each guest’s dietary needs.
Do not let your fear of traveling with food allergies stop you from trying.
Make sure you notify them of your needs when completing your online check-in so you can enjoy your vacation without worrying about addressing these issues onboard.
If you have additional questions or concerns, contact your travel agent or Disney directly.
Try Disney Cruise Line. You will not regret it.
About Adriane
Adriane runs the travel site Put on Your Party Pants. Her blog focuses on her travel experiences with her family, money-saving tips, information on points and miles, and gluten-free dining while traveling.
Looking for more dining tips while on your Disney vacation? Check out my articles like Food Allergies at Disney World: 5 Tips to Save Your Trip, The Best Vegan Food at Walt Disney World, Top 5 Healthy Food Options At Disneyland, Is the Disneyland Princess Breakfast Worth It?, and How to Get Groceries at Disney World: Essentials Tips + Mini Guide.