We chose the Emerald Princess because I read that they could feed me gluten free safely. We were told repeatedly that immediately upon embarking we should find the Matre D'. We dropped off our bags and went directly to our dining room where the person at the door told us we could not speak to the Matre D' wand would need to wait till dinner. I argued my point several times but they refused to allow the conversation. At dinner we ordered a hazelnut crusted salmon with veggies. We were served a plain, overcooked piece of salmon and a few veggies. At dessert the Matre D' came over to show us the menu for the next day. He laid the menu on the table with the bread crumbs from our table mates present all over the table. I immediately grabbed it and said "please don't let it touch the bread" at which point he said "oh this is a real issue, most of our gluten free diners just prefer it" so I explained celiac disease and luckily the entire attitude shifted immediately. I was fed safely the entire trip with dinners and breakfast being the clear winners. The lunch staff clearly did not have the time/desire to feed us nearly as well and we were mostly served plain chicken with some salt and some plain veggies with salt. No butter, no sauce, nothing fun. We tried to get around it by ordering something not on the menu but that just ended up being plain fish with a bit of butter and plain veggies with a bit of butter. Tea time I was served a delicious gf scone the first tea but then they failed to appear until I finally asked on Friday and discovered they had them all along just didn't tell me. Desserts were hit and miss, and they don't offer options they just hand you something and expect you to like it. One night the "chef's special" was literally a bowl of jello with fruit in it and ICE CREAM on top. I'm sorry but that is just not a dessert I expect to be served! Luckily we found early on that the International Cafe had gf items about half the time. That particular day they had chocolate mousse and strawberry macaroons! We had some delicious meals as well. The staff was exceptional at searing meat well, one night we had tiramisu and when the regular menu had apple pie I asked if they could make a gf version and they did! It was amazing and the same day the international cafe had some little apple/raspberry desserts with pie crust (sort of a cake shape with pie crust on the bottom and top, it was odd but delicious. The Matre D's were all wonderful, our waiter and his assistant were amazing and by the end of the 2nd day I never had to utter the words gf again. They all knew, would announce it to one another, and the food would appear. My iced tea was quickly replaced as soon as I finished it, my water glass always full, and amazingly the staff didn't treat me as if my diet was inconvenient for them even though I know running to the allergen ktichen to get my food had to be a pain for them.

Our room steward was amazing. I do not know how he knew when we left our room but every time we came back from breakfast and dinner he had been there cleaning/straightening/etc. Our room lacked for nothing and he always greeted us by name. I couldn't have asked for anything more from him.

We did Movies Under the Stars one night and though it was a fun experience they have very few chair pads and very few blankets so it was extremely cold which detracted from the experience. Read more