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This is my first post to the DCL forums because we are finally considering our first Disney cruise
Now that the 2016 summer itineraries are out we're choosing between a 4 night cruise or a trip to DL (both of which are new to us) but, I have questions and need help.
My boys (Tyler and Jason) both have food allergies to peanuts and tree nuts...but, my youngest (Jason) is also allergic to eggs, shellfish and beef. I know that if there is a cruise line out there that I could trust, it would be Disney. However, I have heard that they are overly cautious with the food they serve once you have told them about allergies. I completely appreciate this and wouldn't want it any other way. Having said that, It is a LOT of money for a Disney cruise. We would gladly pay it if we could be sure that our youngest would 1. have enough food and 2. be safe eating what they give him.
I'm a bit if a nervous mom with his allergies (oh, and asthma as well) so I figured this was the best place to get as much research and information I could get because there has to be someone out there who has cruised with Disney and multiple food allergies...maybe even some that Jason has.
Any information you all could give us would be greatly appreciated so that we cam make the most informed decision possible.
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DCL is great with food allergies. Make sure they are noted on your reservation. Your Head Server will speak to you about safe foods, and each night your boys will probably get to pre-order for the following day. It is advised to eat all meals at the MDRs, but it is possible to get safe food upstairs as well, though those locations do not have a separate allergy kitchen (the allergy kitchen is used for the MDRs).
DCL is great with food allergies. Make sure they are noted on your reservation. Your Head Server will speak to you about safe foods, and each night your boys will probably get to pre-order for the following day. It is advised to eat all meals at the MDRs, but it is possible to get safe food upstairs as well, though those locations do not have a separate allergy kitchen (the allergy kitchen is used for the MDRs).
Enjoy your cruise!
Thank you I'm assuming MDRs are the sit-down dining rooms? New here...LOL!
We're hoping there will be pizza he can eat...maybe some egg free pasta with butter and possibly some soft serve ice cream Then cold cereal like Fruit Loops or Trix will make it all perfect
I thought I remember some of the cereal being in single serve containers - like the little plastic bowls with the cover you peel off is what kind of cereal it is. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.
I thought I remember some of the cereal being in single serve containers - like the little plastic bowls with the cover you peel off is what kind of cereal it is. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.
I hope you get to cruise!!
Kelly, that would be perfect. Now I just need to find out more about the rest of the food
Re: cereal. On Dream/fantasy in Cabanas at breakfast they have those single serve containers of cereal. I know for sure they have Fruit Loops because that is what I would grab for a snack later in the day :-)
Also, there are things like bannas, apples, yogurt and such that are packaged/naturally packaged and thus easy to bring back to your room for later snacking (or, er, sleeping through lunch and needing food .... ).
Finally, i have half a mind for my next cruise to bring a small plastic food container to the MDRs. For example, in the morning they may give me 5 little muffins and donuts. i cannot eat that many, but the extras would make a great snack later and that way they would not go to waste. Not sure what DCLs policy is on doing that, but I think I will try it in December.
We vacation at WDW and cruise with DCL in part BECAUSE of how good they are with food allergies. They set the Gold Standard.
I have anaphylaxis-level allergies to milk, seafood (all fish, all shellfish, all crustaceans, all molluscs; the seafood allergy is AIRBORNE, not just ingestion), tree nuts (not coconut, silly FDA), and peanut. All of those allergens have been discovered "the hard way".
I also need to avoid artificial sweetners, especially aspartame. Aspartame gives me an instant severe migraine with even a small dose. The good thing is that while very unpleasant, it won't kill me !
We have now been on two Disney cruises (Dream and Fantasy) and have booked our third and fourth (b2b on the Dream). My experience based on those two, and what I expect for future ones:
The form has contact information (phone, fax, snail mail, email) for DCL's Special Services team.
BEFORE THE CRUISE
For my first cruise I called and then followed up with an email to DCL Special Services. I advised them of all of my food allergies. I had a great and informative conversation when I called. I learned all about how DCL accommodates food allergies, what my options were, etc. They also emailed me some useful information. I was also able to make two MDR requests we needed for dinners - to be seated at our own table and to be seated at a table in an area with good ventilation.
I did this months before our cruise. In response to the follow-up email I send, DCL confirmed that the info was on our reservation.
BRINGING YOUR OWN FOOD
DCL lets you bring some food onto the ship. It has to be commercially prepared, UNOPENED, and not perishable. So, for example, unopened shelf-stable coconut milk containers are acceptable. I bring some Enjoy Life products for snacks. I also bring some apple sauce pouches -- this came in very handy on the day of our first cruise when I accidently slept my nap through lunch and missed the MDR lunch time -- those apple sauce packets became my lunch. Did I mention wer had the LATE dining sitting for dinner ? I was starving by dinner, but very happy I had had the apple sauce (NOTE: I learned on the second cruise that eating at the quick service IS an option, though the options are limited; more below).
Note that the "fridge" in your room is really more a cooler. I would not trust it with something that actually needed to be refrigerated for danger of spoiling, though i did find it did a good job of keeping apple sauce and drinks cold. So, if you are bringing something like an alternate milk, give consideration to the size you are bringing and consider individual drink boxes if they are an option. While you may well be fine and it be cold enough, it is a risk.
DCL cannot store or prepare any food you bring.
Finally: you cannot bring back into the US anything you have opened, so be thoughtful about how much you bring in the first place and what you open. The only things we brought back into the US were products clearly labeled "product of the USA", that had been bought in the USA before the cruise (and I had the receipts to prove it). At US Customs we declared ALL FOOD we had with us. The CBP officer had an agriculture officer come over and speak with us; a few questions about what exactly we had and we were cleared to go. Really, I suggest NOT having any food to bring back into the US, as it is easier and quicker. Also: if you DO have food, DO NOT LIE -- the fines are HIGH (THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS). There are lots of signs warning you about this. DCL makes announcements; they have warnings in the navigator and leavings instructions. There are amnesty bins in the Customs Hall. There is NO EXCUSE for having undeclared food. Don't even think about it.
THE CRUISE
DCL strongly encourages people with food allergies to eat in the MDRs ONLY. They warn that the quick service places may or probably cannot accommodate -- for one thing, they do not have a separate allergy prep area. Room Service is even less of an option.
Our first cruise we did not use QS for this reason. Our second cruise, I decided to try to see what I could get at QS on the Fantasy. I told the CM taking orders that I had food allergies. They got a chef for me to speak with (I had to wait anywhere from a couple minutes to several). The chefs were incredibly helpful, willing to try, and made suggestions. I learned:
- they had allergy-friendly chicken fingers that were safe for me and that they have a separate fryer for;
- the french fries could be made safely for me;
- a hamburger could be made safely for me;
- a PEPPERONI PIZZA WITH "CHEESE" could be made for me !! (I had two during the cruise) -- the chef used an Udi's pizza shell (warning: has egg), their normal pizza sauce, pepperoni, and Toffutti "cheddar" slices (dairy-free fake cheese like these: Dairy Free American Cheese Slices - Tofutti Brands, Inc. ). The chef put it on its own aluminum foil to prepare and cook it (after cleaning the work surface, his hands and putting on new gloves). VERY YUMMY and I was so happy to get a pizza made for me because with a dairy allergy that is very rare !
- sliced fruit was available
This is useful to know, because when you sleep through lunch, it gives an option for food. In practice, I used it a few times for snacks, and ate breakfast lunch and dinner in the MDRs.
FIRST DAY
DCL will tell you that you should speak with the Dining services team on board during the session that is scheduled for people wanting to change their dining reservations.
This website ( Personal Navigators ? The Disney Cruise Line Blog ) has Personal Navigators from previous cruises. You can find ones from similar itineraries to yours and get an idea of what will be open when on your first day, and see the listing on the first page for the dining sessions. The dining sessions are only for a couple hours, and you want to go to the IN PERSON one, not the phone one.
When you go to the dining session, you may have to wait a bit, but then you will sit down and meet one on one with a dining services rep. Let them know you have food allergies. They will pull up your file and confirm the allergies they have listed. Adjustments can be made if needed. they will make sure you understand how allergies are handled and about eating in the MDRs. Then, they will bring you the menu for dinner that night. YOU WILL ORDER DINNER FOR THE ALLERGY PERSON. Get used to this because it will be a recurring theme. Pre-ordering gives the kitchen time to make alternations, substitutions, etc -- basically, to make a safe meal. Because there are only so many hours till that night's dinner they have a little less flexibility than other nights, but I have found they can do a pretty good job.
When we board we have four priorities, which all have equal weight and we consider MUSTs to be accomplished:
- eat lunch in the lunch MDR (it has limited hours; see the navigator for those hours)
- dining services session
- get length of cruise rainforest room passes
- sign up for desired special ticket events (e.g. gingerbread house making session; Elsa and Anna character meet)
Many of these have limited and overlapping hours, so it is a bit of a juggling fest to get it all done on time.
On our first cruise, we used the DCL transfer from WL and arrived at the port at about 1:00. We ended up missing the MDR lunch time slot, so had to eat at Cabanas. While they DID accommodate me by making me some special food in the kitchen, we decided after that experience that we would rather arrive at the port early. For our next trip we will spend the night before the cruise at the Hyatt at MCO and try to be on the first DCL transfer bus from MCO. This should leave plenty of time to get the four priorities done without being rushed.
In addition to those priorities there are also tours and other things happening at the same time on board. One of them, the Art of the Ship (or something similar) is EXCELLENT, but we discovered from the DCL Navigator app that it was also offered on later days, so we were able to not be as rushed on the first day.
MDRs
We eat all our main meals in the MDRs. For dinner, with rotational dining, your serving crew will get to know you and the food allergies very well. On our Fantasy cruise, for example, once our server found out I loved the sourdough bread, he made sure we had plenty each night (they ran out one night; he was very apologetic, and they did not run out the rest of the cruise ). Your crew will also let you know where they will be working for breakfast and lunch the next day (at least, ours did), though you are not obligated to go to those MDRs.
Each night towards the end of dinner, your server or the head server will bring you the menu for dinner the next night. You will order the food allergy person's dinner for the next night. The others can sneak a peak at the menu if you want. The night before Castaway Cay day, they will talk wit you about what the food allergy person would like for lunch at Castaway cay and you will place a lunch order. They will give instructions on where and when you can pick up that special lunch (e.g. Cookies Too between 12 and 2).
At the same time you are ordering dinner for the next night, you can also order breakfast (and I think even lunch, though we never did pre-order lunch) for the next day. If you want Allergy Mickey Waffles, they MUST be pre-ordered. We did NOT pre-order breakfast or lunch, but at those meals we were often asked if we had -- I got the feeling it was maybe prefered if we had, and I plan to try it for our next cruise. Besides, I want Mickey Waffles !
I found them very flexible for dinner. One night they had a wonderful butternut squash soup. I liked it so much on a later night when pre-ordering I asked if I could have it again even though it was not on the next night's menu. Yep, not a problem. I am not a big foodie, so I often ordered off the "lighter fare" menu, and also having only a soup or salad but not both (both was just too much food).
Desserts were yummy, though not as much variety as the full menu. I usually just let the chef decide. They had nice chocolate lava-type cakes covered with berries or chocolate. There was sorbet one night. I was pleased with what I got.
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
Our last cruise was during the Holiday cruises. One of the activites they had was gingerbread house decorating. I contacted special services months ahead of time to ask if the gingerbread house making would be allergen-safe for me. They assured me it would be. And it was ! I do recommend wearing gloves putting the icing on the house -- my hands got a bit irritated from the icing, but I think that was more it drying on them than an allergy (no rash or redness).
My son and our friends son both have allergies and a couple of things: first, let them know when you check in. When we registered at the kids club, they both got the yellow band indicating allergies, and it was noted in the club. At dinner, my son would order something and our waiter would say, no, that won't work, it has (whatever) you can't have. THEY WERE AWESOME!!!
Re: cereal. On Dream/fantasy in Cabanas at breakfast they have those single serve containers of cereal. I know for sure they have Fruit Loops because that is what I would grab for a snack later in the day :-)
Also, there are things like bannas, apples, yogurt and such that are packaged/naturally packaged and thus easy to bring back to your room for later snacking (or, er, sleeping through lunch and needing food .... ).
Finally, i have half a mind for my next cruise to bring a small plastic food container to the MDRs. For example, in the morning they may give me 5 little muffins and donuts. i cannot eat that many, but the extras would make a great snack later and that way they would not go to waste. Not sure what DCLs policy is on doing that, but I think I will try it in December.
Thank you...thank you for taking the time to give me all that information!! Shellfish on the cruise was one of my main concerns. Also the egg...it's in everything. But, if you can find things to eat with a dairy allergy...we should be fine. I'm still skittish about booking and really want to go. Maybe I could call and speak to someone at DCL before I even book?
Also, I had seen that DCL recommends eating in the MDRs, but I didn't realize that you could eat there other than dinner so I wasn't sure how that would work. Clearly I need to do a LOT of research before this cruise...if we go. There was a "commercial" before the movie we took the boys to today for DCL and they both said how much they wanted to go. I would of course be much more comfortable if it was me with the allergy and not my boys. But if there is a cruise line that could do it...I imagine it's DCL.
I also thought about bringing snacks for him from home and wasn't sure I could. Glad to find out I can and I'll just ditch whatever we don't eat instead of trying to bring it home.
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My son and our friends son both have allergies and a couple of things: first, let them know when you check in. When we registered at the kids club, they both got the yellow band indicating allergies, and it was noted in the club. At dinner, my son would order something and our waiter would say, no, that won't work, it has (whatever) you can't have. THEY WERE AWESOME!!!
The kids clubs were another concern I had and it's nice to hear that your son was able to go and have fun. My youngest would be 11 when we cruised and my oldest 14. I am not sure, but I think that would mean they wouldn't be together...again, I have got to do my research.
Do you mind my asking what allergies your son has?
At least one MDR (Main Dining Room) is open for breakfast and lunch. Hours will be posted, and you just show up like you would at a restaurant. Only dinner is assigned (time and location).
Edge is for ages 11-14, so your boys can spend time together if they so choose. They each also fall into the respective "overlap" ages and are welcome to attend both. The youngest can do the Oceaneer Club/Lab (ages 3-12) and the oldest can check out Vibe (ages 14-18) if they'd like.
At the Club/Lab there is no food served except at meal times, and it tends to be something like a cheese sandwich and piece of fruit. Kids are not required to eat, so your son can avoid it if he happens to be there at the time. He may not be allowed to participate in some cooking activities -- DCL errs on the side of caution and depending on the allergy and activity they may restrict participation. Edge and Vibe also don't serve food, though since these kids are old enough to go get their own, I'm not sure if there is a policy against bringing food into either space. They do sometimes make smoothies as an Edge or Vibe activity.
Thank you...thank you for taking the time to give me all that information!! Shellfish on the cruise was one of my main concerns. Also the egg...it's in everything. But, if you can find things to eat with a dairy allergy...we should be fine. I'm still skittish about booking and really want to go. Maybe I could call and speak to someone at DCL before I even book?
Also, I had seen that DCL recommends eating in the MDRs, but I didn't realize that you could eat there other than dinner so I wasn't sure how that would work. Clearly I need to do a LOT of research before this cruise...if we go. There was a "commercial" before the movie we took the boys to today for DCL and they both said how much they wanted to go. I would of course be much more comfortable if it was me with the allergy and not my boys. But if there is a cruise line that could do it...I imagine it's DCL.
I also thought about bringing snacks for him from home and wasn't sure I could. Glad to find out I can and I'll just ditch whatever we don't eat instead of trying to bring it home.
Thank you again so much!
You're welcome.
Based on my experience, and that of a lot of other people with multiple food allergies -- many much more complex -- who post on this forum and others, I really don't think you will have an issue with DCL being able to accommodate and doing it very well.
Obviously the allergies will limit some choices -- e.g. with dairy there are certain things I just won't be able to have (no Mickey bars!), but there are almost always alternatives available.
And yep, dairy is an Evil Allergy because it is in so dang many things, and it lurks where you least expect it. But it and the other allergies were NOT a problem for DCL.
For example, on our most recent cruise on the Fantasy, one night they had butternut squash soup. I absolutely LOVE butternut squash soup. But usually it has some form of milk (often cream) in it, so at most restaurants it is just not an option. When I was pre-ordering the dinner the night before I asked if they could make me safe butternut squash soup? My server's reply was "of course!". The next night I had the most wonderful butternut squash soup. A couple nights later when I was again pre-ordering dinner, I realized I did not really like any of the soups and salads on offer that night, so I asked if they could make the the safe butternut squash soup from the other night ? Yep ! :-) So that is the soup I had :-)
One of my big concerns before our first cruise was that, well, it was a cruise. Seafood is a big part of the menu. My seafood allergy is airborne (and contact, though contact so far just causes local hives and rash wherever I touch the stuff...), not just ingestion, though usually the reaction is not as bad as eating the stuff. There is a reason I don't even step into Red Lobster or restaurants with a very heavy seafood menu. And I cannot sit at the same table as seafood.
When i spoke with DCL special services in the process of doing the arrangements for our first cruise, I talked with them about my concern that with so much seafood on the menu and that therefore it woudl be in the air and here I would be in the MDR trapped with all that seafood-laden air. DCL was great. They talked with me about their air handling systems. I asked for, and they arranged for, my sister and I to have our own table, as sharing with others would mean they could not have any seafood for THEIR dinners and that was not exactly fair. Also, they gave us a table that was kind of out of the way and thus not as likely to be totally surrounded by seafood. I made the same requests for our Fantasy cruise.
As an example, in Royal Court our table was in a corner with a window on one side and a wall behind me -- great barriers !! On our first day on the fantasy when we went to lunch at Enchanted Garden, they sat us initially at one table, but then when we explained my allergies to the head server he moved us to another table, that was in one of the corners and therefore again had walls as barriers on two sides, and in this case was also isolated somewhat from other tables that had people -- the nearest occupied table was about 4 or 5 tables away one they got busy.
FWIW, I really like the "pods" in Enchanted Garden as they also have a nice barrier, and I started asking for those when we ate there for breakfast or lunch. :-)
Now, our two cruises were not totally without issues. I was never served something I was allergic to. HOWEVER:
My sister has a mild seafood allergy and chose not to inform Disney of it on our first cruise, so she just ordered things normally. On our first cruise, one day my sister decided to go to Cabanas for lunch (we had, er, taken a morning nap and slept right through the MDR lunch times). She chose items from the buffet that she thought were safe, and did NOT choose any seafood items. After coming back to the room she noted that she was a bit itchy, especially her eye, which she rubbed a bit. Then she got really tired and took a nap. About an hour later she woke up from the nap and was REALLY itchy, especially her eye. This time she went and looked in the mirror. Her eyeball was swollen. She said to me, "I have a problem" and showed me her eye. I told her "no Aquaduck for you! We're going to the medical centre RIGHT NOW." We left the room in such a hurry we even forgot to lock up our valuables. The medical centre was great and we were >$100 poorer on our onboard account :-)
LESSON LEARNED: (1) Do not eat FROM the buffets (non-obvious seafood ingredient or if it was from cross-contamination, but no more buffets unless the food item is commercially sealed and has ingredients listed, like Fruit Loop cups!); at somewhere like Cabanas they CAN make you food in the kitchen if you ask; (2) tell Disney about the allergy and let their protocols work their magic; we did this for her for our second cruise and it worked very well. (3) make sure you have medical insurance that will cover you while on the cruise. Just the doctor visit was not cheap, and it would have been even more expensive if the reaction had been worse and a bunch of meds or other care were required.
The second incident involved me. On our 7 night Fantasy cruise (our second cruise) on our first night in Animator's: I was about half-way through the entree when I suddenly started having what felt like an astham attack and I also felt a bit itchy. Shortly after I suddenly got hit with a wave of seafood smell in the air (there had been none up to that point). I called over our server and explained that I had to leave because the seafood in the air was too much and I was reacting. He called over the head server (who was about two tables away) and the two of them were great. Their first concern was my safety and that I was ok. The head server walked with me to the entrance vestibule area of the restaurant where the air was clearer. I took the meds I needed to. The head server and I talked about options. He said he woudl have the rest of my meal delivered to my room -- I said I could wait and take it with me, and after him checking if I really wanted to do that, that is what I ended up doing (even desert!!). Also, he said that (it was either one or two) nights later also would probably be a problem because lobster was on the menu and "almost everybody orders that". So, we arranged that my meal that night would be delivered to my room while my sister would go it alone in the restaurant. it worked out well, and that other night sure enough dinner was delivered to my room (by someone from the restaurant -- they were wearing the uniform) :-)
LESSONS LEARNED: (1) you may still react to something -- especially if you have airborne allergies; be prepared and know what to do and DO NOT BE AFRAID TO LEAVE AN AREA to get to a safer place (i.e. cleaner air); at the very least the head server coming with me to the vestibule interrupted the conversation he was having with the people at the other table, and probably interfered with or delayed other things he would have otherwise been doing at the time, but it was what was needed and his care and concern and assistance were very much appreciated; (2) do not go off to your room alone, bring a relative with you; I did NOT do this, but in hind sight that was not a wise choice -- if the reaction had gotten much worse and I had become incapacitated, it was a good 30 minutes before my sister came back to the room, and that could be way too late; unfortunately at the time I was not exactly thinking clearly, so establishing this "rule" ahead of time is a good idea; (3) when I got back home I talked with my doctor about how to handle these type of situations -- what meds to take, etc. The conversation confirmed that the meds I took where the proper ones in that circumstance, for ME. (4) ALWAYS bring your emergency meds (Epipen/Auvi-Q/Allerject, asthma rescue inhaler if appropriate, and Benadryl if appropriate) with you, most especially when eating. No epipen/meds, no food is my rule.
On the cruise I carry a small cross-body bag (DCL sells a GREAT one on their ships which is just the right size and that is what I use; they sometimes also sell it via the online Disney Store). In it I put the neoprene carrier that Epipen sent me for free (via their website) , and in that is an Epipen, asthma rescue inhaler and Benadryl. I don't carry two epipens/allerject on my person when on the ship because if I have to use the first I will always be directly going to the med center and will only be a few minutes from help who has more epinephrine. However, I think last cruise I brought about 6 Epipen/Allerject with me.
As for breakfast and lunch, yep ! On Fantasy both Enchanted garden and Royal Court were open for both breakfast and lunch during specified hours. For breakfast EG was buffet (but I never went to the buffet, they always brought food to me from the kitchen and I just told them what I wanted) and RC was off a menu. At lunch RC was off a menu and I don't remember what EG was. For our next cruises I will pre-order lunch and breakfast too, as that seems to be easier for them; also, it means I could get Mickey Waffles for breakfast :-)
finally, yep for snacks there are a few things to remember: commercially packaged and sealed and UNOPENED; NO perishables. And you absolutely cannot bring back into the US any opened food; you MAY be allowed to bring back extras of your original snacks -- DECLARE IT and be prepared to have to toss it.
I like to bring some Enjoy Life sunbutter bars -- yummy, some protein, and free of the top 8/11 allergens. Each bar is individually wrapped, so I can put a bunch of them into a ziploc bag. I also like GoGo Sqeez applesauce -- shelf stable until opened, pure apples/fruits (no sugars added, for example) and the pouch size is small enough to meet airplane carry-on rules, so it works great for on the airplane too ! And I bring some juice pouches. I like Capri Sun's 100% juice varieties, and we usually have grape and apple juice. The pouches are great because they are soft and mushable for packing.
I work in a restaurant and am surprised at how many "extra" ingredients are in things that you would not think there would be. For example our raspberry vinaigrette dressing uses kelp as a thickener. IDK if that is considered part of a seafood allergy but I thought of that Starwind when you said your sister ate at the buffet. Things that seem safe are not.
I have a few allergies. I made DCL aware before we cruised and made sure my waiter knew on night one. He doubled checked every night that my food was safe. He would also bring me the next nights menu and if there was something in there I couldn't eat, he would have it modified for me the next night.
My husband enjoyed it because he got a preview of the menu for the next night. haha.
I have also seen people put magnets on their doors that state allergies. I assume this is for room service and housekeeping. I know they always leave little chocolates on the bed for turndown. I assume it also has to do with fish extender gifts.