Will DCL work with a kid who has food allergies?

[LilLisaLou]

I'm trying to convince my friends to go on the Mexican cruise with us but one of their major issues is that their three-year old son has severe milk allergies.

At Disneyland, we know what he can eat and any time that we go in, they always have a chef come out and talk to us.

Does anyone have any info for them?

Thanks,

Lisa

 

[bats]

It's works exactly the same on DCL Lisa ... the chef will come speak to you and arrange appropriate dinners.

Don't worry .. the service is exceptional on DCL and they will do everything possible to ensure your son is fed accordingly.

Have fun!!

p.s. I can't have peppers or onions and they are superb with me! (they may go back into the kitchen and moan like Hell, but to my face .. they're brilliant)!!

 

[clten]

DCL is excellent in handling food allergies. We have been on galley tours and they show you the special way they handle meals for people with food allergies.

The easiest way to handle this is to send in information about the allergy. (It used to be part of the medical form but now you don't even need to complete it. Last time we did it, there was an e-mail address on the form and we just e-mailed the details of the allergies.)

Once you are on-board, the hardest day will be the first since you haven't met or made arrangements with your servers that will help you through the whole cruise. They recommend you stay away from the buffets just because they can't insure there has been no cross-contamination (other passengers may use the spoon for one dish to serve another) but the first day lunch is only buffet or quick-service. You can ask to speak to one of the head servers about your allergy. They will get someone who can walk you through the buffet or get you food from the kitchen so you know it hasn't been cross-contaminated.

At your first dinner, your server and head server should know about your allergies if you sent them in ahead of time. They will discuss the process with you that first meal. What they have us do is this: at the end of dinner, the head server will give us the menu for the next night. He/she will then take the order for the person with the allergy so it can be prepared with special handling and any part of the dish that needs to be altered because of the allergy can. So dinner in the Main Dining rooms are easy once you are past the first night. (The first night, they will still go over the meal and will tell you if there is something in it that the allergic person can't have. The meal has to be signed off on by the head server and the chef. If it is a severe problem and dinner that first night might be a problem, you can speak to Guest Services to get that first dinner ordered early too.)

At any of the fast food places, you can ask. If there is a language issue, ask for a head server and they will find one. If the allergy is noted in the record, the kids club will know that for any children and make sure they don't participate in any activities that may include that (like smoothies for kid's with milk allergies).

 

[MouseLovinMom]

We have a son with milk and soy allergies and have cruised with DCL 9 times. They are really easy to work with; we've never had any problems. The Head Servers have always kept a close eye on things and the chef's come out when necessary. We've had no problems finding things for our son to enjoy either.

 

[ssanders79]

I have a shellfish allergy and they are quite good at making sure it is kept away from me. In fact Disney in general is unite over protective if you tell them you have an allergy of any kind or severity. So much so that I've stopped telling them about my allergy.

The chef at 'Ohana has scolded me twice now. It turns out they are required to note the allergy in a log. Most likely as a way to cover themselves in any legal issues. On the other side it can provide them with data to better cater to guests with allergies even the less common.

 

[jcriket]

The server would tell my daughter what she could not have every night, you may have to be more careful when getting your food at the buffets. There are plenty of people around to assist you just the same.

 

[atinkerbellmom]

He is still young so I actually think it is easier when they are younger. The Milk allergy is an easy one to deal with. There are a ton of choices and a ton of alternatives on the ship. When we first started cruising DCL, my DD (2 @ the time) had a milk allergy and the milk allergy gave us the least problem. Have them note the reservation and meet with your HS the first night and remind them. Since there are soooo many alternatives and it is not a staple in most of the dishes, they will cruising DCL... Have her pop on over here to the DIS, there are a group of us FAAN parents here. BTW.... My DD does have a harder allergy to find alternatives for and we still would cruise DCL even though she is a bit of a challenge for them......

 

[KayR]

Only one other thing to add is that DCL are happy for you to bring onboard pre-packaged snacks that you know are suitable for your family. (For example snacks to take to movies / theater).

-Kay

 

[froggymomma]

We just returned from our second Disney cruise - my son also has a severe allergy to dairy. Our first cruise was 9 years ago when he was 3; our most recent was the 7/9 11 day Med cruise. I loved how Disney took care of him 9 years ago and I can report that things were even better on this trip.

As others have noted, the head server will talk with you about your allergy. Kapoor brough Michael the next day's menu during dinner each evening to allow him to select what he wanted and to ensure that it would be available. Dairy allergies often make dessert options very one note - soy ice cream; but Kapoor asked Michael what he wanted and once Michael said "chocolate cake" they provided a small chocolate cake with chocolate sauce and fresh berries. It was wonderful! Disney also provided fruit crumble/cobblers. For his entrees Michael had pheasant, Cornish game hens, duck, chicken and lots of his favorite steak! Kapoor even arranged to have special dairy free pancakes, sauages, bacon and hash browns available for him every morning with Chef Erick.

In the past I've always been discouraged from dining at the buffet due to cross contamination concerns. This cruise we needed to dine at Topsiders early on and we met Chef Serghei - he went above and beyond to provide Michael with safe, excellent options at the buffet. He knew what Michael likes and didn't like - made him special stir-fries, potato and vegetable options - too much to go into, but he was wonderful.

When Michael was three - he ate a lot of filet mignon, french fries, vegetables and fruit. All dairy free - all prepared especially for him.

When I returned from our wonderful Med vacation people asked me what I liked best - my first reaction was the fact that I could enjoy the vacation and my family without constantly worrying about my son's allergies. Any parent of a child with food allergies knows just how valuable that is.

You can assure your friends that DCL will absolutely take care of their son's allergies.