Annual Convention: Pit Bull’s a Godfather!

Having a food allergy is never easy, especially while traveling.   Attending large conventions/corporate events can be just as much of a challenge.  You know how it goes; you pay to attend the event and it probably covers your hotel, event attendance and some meals.  I wish more event planners would recognize that there are enough folks with food allergies to pay attention.  Here’s an idea: Send out a questionnaire to find out what the allergies are and then communicate how they are going to accommodate.  If they can’t, that’s ok too; just say so, so the attendee can plan accordingly.  As you can see by this ranting, I had a mixed experience attending my annual convention.  I guess it’s just a work in progress.

After 5 days of convention, the day was finally here:  we’re heading to Miami to board the brand new Norwegian Escape!  

Side Note!  Pit Bull was awesome!!!  That’s right Pit Bull is the Godfather of the Escape and after the inauguration he gave us a mini-concert.  It was very hot outside, but well worth the wait.

The Escape has several restaurants to choose from to dine.  Some charge a small fee and others are complementary.  I didn’t get a chance to try any of the specialty restaurants, however what I did try was great.  First off, the two main restaurants are not Tabor and Sabor…Donna!  Lol…she renamed them after a few drinks.

Before dinner, our company had a private happy hour party.  The drinks and Hors d’oeuvres were free flowing…however not one option was GF…not one.  How hard is it really to do a bacon wrapped asparagus?  Thank God wine is gluten free; but as you can imagine, I had to watch how much wine I consumed on an empty stomach.  I was starving by the time we got to dinner.

For dinner I joined my friends Donna, Ozzy and Gerry at the restaurant Sabor…I mean Savor.  After reviewing the menu, I decided it would be best for me just to tell the server that I have a gluten allergy and have him suggest some options.  He took our drink order and quickly brought me GF bread.  As you can imagine, I was very excited to have bread to snack on while we waited for our dinner.  So far so good, right?...Wrong.  I found out very quickly he had no idea exactly what gluten was; he just knew to bring me GF bread.  So I took it a step further and asked him to speak to the chef and see if either of the two options I was interested in could be prepared GF.  I pointed out a shrimp dish and a filet dish (I don’t eat beef often, but I was considering it).  My friends and I were talking, laughing and catching up.  All of a sudden we’re being served….I quickly pondered what was under my cloche?  To my surprise, lobster…I never even asked for lobster.  I guess the server or the chef took it upon himself to select a meal for me without even checking with me first.  So as you can imagine, I wasn’t very happy.   I didn’t want to spoil the evening, so I let it go and chalked it up to NCL working out the quirks.

For breakfast we all met up in the morning in the Garden Café.  It’s like every other cruise ship with multiple breakfast options.  So at least the mornings were pretty uneventful. 

For lunch we dined at Taste (i.e. Tabor…lol).  The menu had a lot of different options that could be GF.  I decided to go with Chicken Nachos and I was not disappointed, it was fabulous.  I did make this decision on my own without informing the server; she just looked too frazzled to handle one more thing.            

Our second and final dinner was in The Manhattan Room.  Same start as the night before, but I lucked out and actually had a server who understood gluten….Praise the Lord! She was able to point out options and the one thing I really wanted was a Shrimp Pasta.  She said that she didn’t think they could make that GF, but she would ask.  Just in case I selected one of the options she pointed out.  A few minutes later, she tells me that I can have the Shrimp Pasta with GF pasta…I swear the gates to heaven were opening.  Why oh why can’t it be like that all the time?  It just takes education and experience.  Imagine, Norice (GF friend from Scotland)… I had bread and pasta on board….it didn’t taste bad at all; in fact it was very tasty.   For dessert, I had Pistachio Creme Brulee!  There is also a bake shop on board…I wonder if they have anything GF?

 

The Escape also has a brew-house, but unfortunately I had to stick with a Corona.  Apparently Japan has a tasty beer that is naturally GF, but they didn’t offer it.  The draft house also has a photo booth…that’s a mistake.  Donna, Gerry and I decided to get in and here are the results….it was a lot of fun. Can you tell?

Gerry, Lina & Donna

One of the highlights for me was watching and meeting Iron Chef Jose Garces.  He has a restaurant on board called Bayamo; which is Seafood with a Latin twist.  Featured prominently on The Waterfront, the Iron Chef’s first restaurant at sea offers a diverse selection of authentic flavors as vibrant as Cuba itself.  He did a cooking demonstration and it was fantastic.  We also got to ask questions, and you know me…Lina: “Do your restaurants offer gluten free options?”  Jose:  “all of my restaurants have plenty of gluten free items to choose from”, Lina: “Even the one in Washington D.C.”, Jose: “Especially that one..” Lina: “Great, then I’ll have to drive up there and try it out”, Jose: “Please, and let me know what you think”…Boy did he open a can of worms…lol.  Dave and I are going to try it out soon and let you know how it goes…you know I won’t hold anything back.  

The NCL Escape has a lot of dining options and I want to plan a cruise with them to see how the ten specialty dining restaurants hold up to my challenge… Who wants to go with me?  

Wish I could have tasted it...