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Celiac Disease and Eating Gluten Free
Looking for info from other celiacs who have traveled with Tauck to find out how what their experiences were with eating gluten free. We are slated to do an Ireland land tour in the fall. Thanks
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JoannR, i just returned from Italy where one of the guests is gluten free. She had no problem finding alternatives. Gluten free pasta, breads etc. be sure to let Tauck know, so TD can plan for your dietary needs.
You'll also need to talk with hotel wait staff to be sure they understand your needs. We had a woman on this tour with multiple allergies who spoke with the restaurant staff at every dining stop. Relying on just the TD is a recipe for problems.
The very first time we went to Africa, I think, there was a woman on our tour who was something like a President of the Celiac society. We sat down to a buffet type dinner at one of the camps and she asked the waiter which food was gluten free. He immediately got the chef, who then took her around the buffet, pointing out what was gluten free. By the time she sat down with her food, he had appeared with gluten free bread. Then later with a flourless chocolate cake. I was so impressed. This is way before it became trendy to eat gluten free in the US even when it wasn’t medically necessary.
I would certainly inform Tauck before you go and speak to the staff at every hotel.
Ireland should understand. It was certainly easy to buy gluten free foods when I lived in the UK over 25 years ago. All food is clearly labeled
I am not celiac, but don't eat red meat or shellfish. I send a note to Tauck a month befre my trip and tell my tour director when I check in. they always take 100% care of me.
My response was flagged???????????? Why? Are you only supposed to tell the TD and hope for the best? Hope that every sous chef and waiter on a tour gets the word?
Claudia - I am beginning to think the flags are more personal than subject related. The Flag option should be removed and maybe a report to admin button instead so they can remove a post or leave things alone. Many comments in a lot of threads are being "flagged" when they are related to a Tauck tour. It really makes zero sense and is very aggravating but appears to be targeted to certain people who post. It's not right especially when the comments are usually very helpful and informative.
Feel free to vote or respond on my other thread specifically about this.
To Claudia. Your post is appropriate and your flagger should be brave enough to post a real name and reason for the flag.
My guess is the flagger is either a pimply faced teenager or some sad person in a home that can only dream of taking vacations such as these. In any event insults have not worked. We should embrace our sad flagger(s) as he/she/they/them/it is not going away. I doubt they have the self respect or courage to identify themselves.
Generally I ignore or laugh at them, but flagging a reply to a post with the intent to keep someone safe from a condition that could truly hurt them, they've gone too far. Maybe the flagger has issues with language comprehension.
I've done two Tauck tours; China and just finished Israel/Jordan. I am not Celiac AFAIK, but am highly gluten and msg sensitive. I/J breakfast and dinner in the hotels were not an issue for me, but the lunches at some of the local restaurants were, primarily from cross contamination. I tried to stick with plain meat dishes and simple salads, but still was glutened and my legs swelled up very badly, affecting my right knee to the point of getting patella tendinitis from the extensive walking on this tour and the pressure from the very bad swelling. Luckily I only missed walking down to the Dead Sea, just too many stairs, and the day at Petra, because my knee was hurting too bad, even to ride a golf cart. I also chose to skip the farewell dinner, because I felt like there would be too much flour dust in the air inside the Bedouin tent.
One person on our I/J trip ended up with what I believe was some type of stomach bacteria infection early on, and ate very little the rest of the trip.
In China at some of the lunches they couldn't think of what to substitute for me and one other person, except boiled/poached meat and plain vegetables. I carried gluten free soy sauce packets to help add some flavor to the meats. For breakfast we needed to explain to the hotel staff not to drain the bacon on bread, which was common at all the hotels. The meals on the ship were fantastic and so were the dinners.
Anytime I eat out, whether at home or abroad, I risk getting glutened, but it's not going to stop me from traveling. I will just deal with the symptoms. I travel with a product called Glutenese which helps ease some of the symptoms, but it's not a cure all. Normally I'm usually ok by the next morning, but not on the I/J trip. We just switched our Egypt trip to Jordan/Egypt so I'll be going back to the Dead Sea and Petra to see what I missed. Will I get glutened on this trip? Likely, but I'll just deal with it, because I'm not going to stop traveling, because of my gluten sensitivity.
Claudia - Best oto ALWAYS ignore the flaggers. Because their lives are so pathetic, they crave attention.
Gluten free eater here...our TD in Morocco made sure every restaurant was aware...I had some specific dishes made for me at times, or was told what contained gluten and what to avoid. I never got sick, and felt very safe at all times. It was a wonderful experience, and I ate very well.
If I couldn't eat the bread, they often provided raw veggies or crackers to make up for it. Or I just drank more wine!🍷
Hi, we are doing a Bridges tour to Italy with one of our grandkids that has Celiac. Does anyone with experience on eating GF in Italy? Thanks.,
There are lots of fantastic risottos, my favorite
While on the Classic Italy tour just 10 days ago, our TD said half of Italy’s population has either Celiac or issues with gluten. Just keep asking each place where your grandkids eat what the options are. They are very accommodating.
Thanks, franlovestravel. We found restaurants with GF menus for the nights we eat independently but have no idea where Tauck will take us for lunch. Sandman
The gal on our trip asked at every restaurant. The waitstaff was totally aware that someone in the group was gluten free. They’ll be prepared.