We had never been with Holland America before so were unsure what to expect. Other passengers on the cruise said that the line used to be better, but as there is only one opportunity to make a first impression, unfortunately Holland America has missed the mark here.

Firstly - if you are coeliac, don't bother. Hubby is, and unless he would be satisfied with eating salad 100% of the time, there was very little to eat in the Lido (buffet). He could have had some lettuce or salad vegetables (taking care with the dressings of course), sometimes there were fries or plain rice, sometimes there were desserts - there was always ice-cream though. Apart from those items - there was a lot of bread, or foods cooked with gluten. The food was mostly the same every day. It wasn't just hubby being difficult to please either, he came across another coeliac who was also unhappy with the food options (or lack thereof).

The restaurant was better, most (but not all of the time) they could adapt a meal for a coeliac. The same system applies here as with other lines - you are given tomorrow's menu to indicate what you would like and they try to accomodate you. There were a couple of times they couldn't, but mostly they could. Unfortunately the advance notice system came gloriously unstuck when hubby had his birthday. The waiters gathered around for the celebratory song and then presented him with a slab of cake. Yep, that's right, it was the same cake presented to every person, food allergies or not. So of course, he couldn't eat it, nor could he eat the cupcake that the cabin stewards presented him with. I have to say here - how hard would it be for the cruise line to have a few packets of gluten free & dairy free cake mix on board - it would take no time to whip up a batch of cakes, but that didn't happen. Read more