I could start crying at any moment as I write this post because I miss this vacation SO MUCH.  Just know the DR is the reason for the teardrops on my keyboard (bad Taylor Swift reference…anyone?).

So senior year of college, all of my friends tried to plan a big spring break trip together.  As often happens, this large group could not actually decide on one thing and we all ended up doing our own things haha So my then boyfriend, Adam, and I decided to just go somewhere together.  I had gone to the Dominican Republic in high school and had a blast so I figured maybe we could look into that.  My sister had used a company called Apple Vacations when she was in college so she recommended it.  Let me tell you, that was the way to go! They do all inclusive vacations and you basically tell them how much you want to pay and where you want to go and they find you the best deals.  So I thought I had done a lot of research before calling them…this was my first time taking a major trip with celiac disease and I was SCARED. I spent hours googling resorts and reading people’s reviews.  Most of them said that resorts would accommodate if you just sent an email to them ahead of time. Feeling confident, I called Apple Vacations and set up our reservation for a resort in Puerto Plata at a great price! Then after getting off the phone, I emailed the resort about my celiac and told them when I’d be coming….their response? “We don’t accommodate any food allergies. We apologize.”  I. PANICKED.   Totally lost it.  I was NOT spending $900 (great price, right?) to be sick and starving for 5 days!!

So I called Apple Vacations in a panic and the lady I spoke to was WONDERFUL.  It was no big deal to her.  She was like oh, I’ll just cancel it and look up resorts that do accommodate for allergies.  Who know I could even ask about that? She told me all the resorts that had gluten-free menus and all the ones that didn’t specifically have a menu, but could accommodate it.  It ended up being that the highest star resort with the best price didn’t have a gf menu, but would accommodate so I booked it. It was the Gran Ventana Resort in Puerto Plata, DR. I sent an email to the resort and this time the response was much different.  The head chef personally emailed me saying it was no big deal and they accommodate that all the time! They could make me lots of stuff, but if I wanted pasta I just needed to bring some with me and they’d make it for me. How nice?!

I decided that I would also prepare some celiac restaurant travel cards in Spanish, just in case.  It’s hard enough to explain was gluten is and what it’s in to people that speak your own language…I don’t speak Spanish so I knew I wouldn’t be able to explain it at all! I got my card off of glutenfreetravel.com. They have restaurant cards there in every language! The cards detail everything someone preparing your food might need to know! The english and spanish versions look like this:

 

 

I printed several copies of the spanish card and packed them in my suitcase.  I felt ready! When we got to the resort, it was beautiful! Anywhere with a pool bar and a beautiful beach is okay in my book.

 

 

One we dropped off our luggage in our gorgeous room, we headed to the beach to check it out.  We then realized we were starving so we tried the restaurant that was by the beach.  When I say restaurant…I really mean more of like a cafeteria-style lunch cafe.  You went up and told them what you wanted, went down the line, and got your food at the end.  I showed a staff member there my dining card and he looked confused so he got a manager to look.  The manager said they didn’t really have anything I could eat.  MY WORST NIGHTMARE WAS HAPPENING. Instantly my mind went to: “You’re just not gonna be able to eat anything this whole trip and this isn’t what you signed up for this is awful oh my god.” We went back to the room so I could have a snack…because obviously I planned ahead.  I figured if worst case scenario happened (like it was seeming to), I would bring enough food for me to live off of haha I brought a box of cereal, a loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter, a bunch of bananas/apples, a ton of larabars, a few packets of salad dressing that I knew was gluten free, and some crackers.  So I wasn’t going to starve…BUT I LOVE FOOD AND IT’S ALL I WANT IN LIFE. I was dramatic lol Adam was reassuring though and said they wouldn’t have told me what they did if they really couldn’t feed me.  We’d go try the buffet and see what happened.

So after a snack, which helped me not feel so desperate and starved, we headed to the buffet. I handed the hostess my restaurant card, not feeling too hopeful.  She looked at it and said she’d get the manager.  The manager came over, read the card, and said “Oh no problem. I’ll walk you through the buffet and show you what is gluten free.  I know buffets can be a little dangerous for cross contamination though, so I’m going to have the chef make you something separate anyways. Would you like beef, chicken, or fish?”  Then he escorted us over to a table and said he’d be back.  I ended up filling up a plate with salad greens, gorgeously fresh tomatoes, and oil/vinegar.  By the time I was done, he brought out a plate with golden chicken grilled to perfection, grilled vegetables, and crispy roasted potatoes.  It was beautiful and so delicious.  I was SO grateful.  He made me feel so at ease and like I was a special guest, not a hassle…and really, what more can a celiac ask for!?

Every time I went to the buffet, I showed my dining card to the hostess…but after about 2 meals, they all started to recognize me and affectionately called me “allergy girl.” Haha it was oddly reassuring.  The chef always tried to mix up what he made me and everything was delicious.  I swear I’ve never had more flavorful chicken in my life.  And I never got sick once, the whole trip, which is really icing on the (gluten free) cake!

Breakfasts were easy at the buffet too.  They had tons of fresh fruit so I piled my plate up with that and had 2 hard boiled eggs on the side.  The eggs were still in the shell so that’s pretty much as safe as it gets! Eggs and fruit plus coffee was the perfect breakfast every day and I was quite satisfied 🙂

And as for drinks….WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE. At every meal they offered you white or red wine (white please!).  Many of the drinks are rum based, so that makes for a safe celiac drink! I actually discovered my signature bar drink while on this vacation! It’s called a santo libre and it’s so perfectly refreshing.  Of course no one in American bars knows what I’m talking about when I order a santo libre, so I just order a rum and soda with lime juice. I find that so many of the gluten free options at bars are cloyingly sweet (cider and rum + coke, I’m looking at you).  This drink is perfect because it’s refreshing and doesn’t send me into a sugar coma by the end of the night.

All of the juices were fresh squeezed so I didn’t have to worry about any gluteny fillers there! I ended up being able to drink all of the delicious frozen drinks they had…the Gran Ventana was FANTASTIC and of course I drank my weight in pina coladas.  And being able to drink as much as you want without racking up a huge bar tab…priceless.

The resort had 3 fancy restaurants that you had to make reservations for and for some reason we only ended up doing that once.  We saved it for our last night…in hindsight, I don’t know why we did that.  I guess maybe we were comfortable at the buffet.

When we were seated at the restaurant, I handed the waiter my dining card.  He started to read the first sentence then immediately said “Oh, just gluten?? We do that all the time.  No problem.  Order whatever you want and we’ll make it gluten free.”  My jaw dropped….WHY DID I WAIT UNTIL THE END TO COME HERE.  We ordered ceviche for an appetizer and it was phenomenal.  So fresh and flavorful.  Adam and I both went for steak for dinner  and we finished off with creme brulee.  I was one happy girl! If we go back to this resort, we’ll be sure to book as many reservations at these restaurants as we can.  It was just fantastic.

We had the best time and I was so relieved to see that my celiac disease didn’t stop me from having a “normal” vacation.  I wasn’t consumed with worry about every meal and that is the best vacation I can ask for.

If you want to check out the resort we went to, you can head to the Gran Ventana’s website!