OP here
I have not been online all weekend and opened up this thread this morning to so many wonderful responses!
I was kind of afraid that I would get flamed for being a bad parent for not "making" my kid try different foods.
It is SO refreshing to read all of your responses and know that I am not the only one dealing with these issues! My DD will be 3 this week and we have been dealing with her oral sensory issues since birth!
She has reflux, in addition to her sensory issues and has had trouble tolerating most foods all her life. Her story is similar to all the ones I have seen posted here, her nervous system is simply not able to process the textures (or temperatures) of lots of foods. We have been doing feeding therapy and OT for the last year and a half, and while it has helped, we are obviously still struggling!
We are lucky in that she will tolerate the taste/texture of Pediasure, so we supplement a lot with that. For my DD, it doesn't really matter HOW hungry she is, if it is a food she can't/won't eat, then it's not going to happen.
I so appreciate everyone's help in letting me know what is available to eat on the cruise. The pictures were great! It looks like she will eat the cheese cubes, but the mac & cheese will likely be a no-go. I have never seen those pouches of Kraft mac & cheese before but I will definitely be hunting them down before we leave to see if she will eat it.
I know she won't starve. Like I said, she will eat cheerios and kix and goldfish and a few other things I intend to bring with me, but it would be nice for her to have an actual "meal" maybe once while we're gone
I have also contacted
DCL directly to see if they can help me out at all, but I have not received a response yet. I will definitely report back when I do.
Since everyone has been so nice, I will ask one more question. DD will only drink milk if it is warm (at least room temperature). I sort of assumed that I could ask for warm milk at meals on the ship and they would be able to do that for me. Is that true, or should I be planning for a way to warm it up on my own?
Thank you all so much! This has been a wonderful start to my day!