National Geographic/Lindblad Expeditions - Antarctica

As I planned this trip I thought "What if this wonderful trip is ruined by gluten?", "What if I am gutenized AND seasick?"  I am not normally anxious about gluten when traveling.  I simply bring some Larabars or GF pretzels and if I can't find something GF than I'm okay.  Antarctica, however, doesn't have  a lot of GF restaurants and due to the customs rules in Chile, bringing food was not necessarily going to be an option.  Bring on the anxiety.  I tried to keep things in perspective.  I could live on fruit or salad for 2 weeks.  Right?

There was little discussion regarding who we would travel to Antarctica with.  National Geographic all the way.  Reliable, small, scientists on board... nerds unite!!  I called Lindblad Expeditions/National Geographic regarding my dietary restrictions before we booked.  I was told, "Don't worry.  We deal with dietary restrictions regularly.  Just be sure to write it down on your medical form when you send it in."  Too easy?  I would just have to see.

My first food experience on the Explorer was a delicious adult coffee.  They made a little Lindlad symbol on top.  Very detail oriented and encouraging.
Once I had checked out our room and settled in a little I sought out the restaurant manager, Gaylord, to start my gluten free quest.  He advised me to just contact him prior to every meal and he would make sure I stayed GF.  I could do that.

After the safety drills, announcements, etc., it was time for our first on board meal.  Dinner that evening was a buffet.  All but 2 of our dinners on board were real sit down, 3 course meals.  I was easily able to find Gaylord at the buffet line and he took me around, directing me to what was safe and away from what was not.  It was that easy.  For dinner I had rice salad, tomato and avocado salad, green bean casserole, roasted vegetables, perch with verde sauce and beet crisp, potato leek soup and some cheese for dessert.  All delicious.  I went to bed full, exhausted and without a tummy ache (if you don't count the sea sickness that started in the middle of the night as we hit open sea.)

The next morning, breakfast was again a buffet, as were all that followed.  Unfortunately, many of the brands were South American and all of the labels in Spanish.  Also, I did not have my trusty iPhone or an internet connection to check on things.  That meant no yogurt for the duration.  There was plenty to eat though.  Most mornings there was a collection of fresh and dried fruit which I placed in a bowl and poured a little milk over.  There was also a variety of eggs each morning to chose from.  I did not go hungry.  My first morning Gaylord even offered me some GF toast.  I happily accepted.  I thought "this is great!"  until I saw it.  It couldn't have been more than a little tapioca starch and some water.  Sad.  I certainly did appreciate the effort though.

Lunch was always a buffet similar to our first dinner.  Always mostly gluten free.  Each time Gaylord was there to let me know what was safe.  If there wasn't anything or I really wanted something that wasn't GF  he would have the chef make a special GF one for me.  One afternoon after a long day of hiking and penguin watching, I walked into the dining room to find a smorgasbord of pizza.  I thought I might cry a little.  How could they do this too me!!!!!  Gaylord immediately saw me standing there shell shocked and walked up to me. "What do you like on your pizza?"  he asked as he pointed to all of the options on the buffet. I could not believe he was asking me this.  After all our time together had he just not understood the concept of gluten?  In fact, he was offering me my own GF pizza with any toppings I desired.  I regret not taking a picture.  I was too busy eating I guess.  It was good!  The crust was obviously all white flours but it was thick and not resembling cardboard at all.  The toppings and sauce was delicious.  I was so excited.

No penguin burgers?

Dinners were usually very good.  They always had ice cream available and often had other options as well.  I simply told my waiter that I wanted my meal gluten free, picked what I wanted and the chef made it gluten free for me.  In a few days in every waiter would hand me my food and say "gluten free".  The gentleman who brought me my morning beverage would even set down my water or coffee and say "Your coffee ma'am, gluten free."
I did have a few close calls.  There was a pudding dessert that I was told was safe and when I took a bite it had little chocolates that crunched on top.  Crap.  Gaylord did not know what they were "some kind of cereal".  That did not instill confidence.  There was also something about once a day that I was told was GF but I just didn't trust.  Apparently, on ship they made most things with cornstarch rather that flour but I just couldn't bring myself to believe something breaded was safe.  It is entirely possible but I went for safe not sorry.  Plus, there was so much food that was safe, leaving one thing off my plate was not going to kill me.
All in all a very good GF experience especially considering the situation.  Nat Geo/Lindblad won my vote for GF friendly trip!!!  Go Antarctica.