2/15/13 8 day Magic with Food Allergies (Gluten free and corn)

[elmo2200]

My trip report will mostly be focused on the food!! Another TR already covered the trip pretty well.
This was our 4th Disney cruise, my 2nd with food allergies. I know how stressful it can be to travel with food issues so I will do my best to put your mind at ease. Disney is THE way to go!!! Gluten free is easy for Disney but my corn allergy put them to the test. They were great about it!
The first lunch & dinner is always the hardest because the chef has not been able to prepare you a special meal. Please be patient! It does get better.
PRE-TRIP
I did alert DCL about my allergies. I don't know if it helped or not... A great thing I did was make a list of questions before going. I knew I would not remember everything on the spot. I inquired if the ice cream had corn syrup, if the ranch salad dressing had corn syrup, etc. They were not allowed to officially answer all my questions but the list absolutely helped. That was how I found out that the cranberry juice had corn syrup and that only the low-fat Italian dressing was safe. The list won't really help for people who are only gluten free but if you have an unusual allergy it could help. It seemed like corn was not a very common allergy for them to deal with and corn is EVERYWHERE.
LUNCH & DINNER-
Upon embarkation we had lunch at Parrot Cay. I asked for a chef to walk me around the buffet and I was able to eat several things but no dessert thanks to my corn allergy. That night I ordered dinner off the regular menu along with my family and had no trouble. BTW- I always tried to order the items easiest to adapt for me. I realize that cooking for me is a real challenge and I absolutely appreciated their efforts. You will see from the pictures that many of my meals were without sauce due to my corn allergy. I could not have ketchup, BBQ sauce, most salad dressings, etc.
After dinner each night the head server came over with the next days' lunch and dinner menus. He took my order and the chefs would make sure it was ready the next day. I would just go to Lumiere each day for lunch and tell the server that I had a pre-order. It was very easy! One day my family wanted lunch at Topsider so they made my food to-go and I had the best food at Topsider. Tip- lunch at Lumiere is awesome. (I will post menus.) Topsider will have some of the same things but certainly not all.
DESSERT-
Most of the time I had the chef surprise me with dessert because I didn't know what special ingredients they had. I did give the chef an awesome, easy GF brownie recipe but they did not have any GF flour, only GF pancake mix. (I never tried the pancakes.) Okay - GF, corn free dessert is not their strong suit. There were some dishes that I ate just to be polite. I did appreciate their effort!! Only 1 dessert was just not edible. It was a cake served to me twice and I did not figure out what flavor it was intended to be. After that I asked for "soft" desserts instead of cake. I could have requested vanilla Rice Dream ice cream but I did not. All the "regular" ice cream had corn syrup.

More information, menus, and pics to follow once I get them into Photobucket.

 

[elmo2200]

BREAKFAST & SNACKS-
Each morning we ate at Topsider and I got fruit, bacon, and the omelet of the day. I also grabbed an extra banana for later and used paper cups with lids from drink station on deck 9 to store salami & cheese for afternoon snacks. The cabin's refrigerator came in handy! My cabin was also stocked with non-perishable snacks brought from home. A few times I got french fries and fruit on deck 9 between meals. We had the late dinner seating which fit our schedule well as long as I had a before dinner snack.

 

[elmo2200]

Lunch 2/15/13- Embarkation Day
Buffet at Parrot Cay - Salad, Baked salmon, shrimp, & fruit. Overall nothing special.

Dinner 2/15/13 - Animator's Palate

Ahi Tuna - very nice and served "normal", Baked Potato Soup - Good,Grilled Veal Chop - good but would have been nice to have sauce like DH's

 

[esquirepd]

Thank you so much for giving me hints on the GF Eating on this cruise. I look forward to enjoying GF food that I didn't have to prepare or alter myself!!

I can't imagine trying to go without the corn too! Sounds like you have it down and it really isn't as hard going without it once you realize how much better you feel when you do!

I have read several times that meeting with the head Chef as soon as you board the ship helps with the meal preparations for you. I will do that and definitely take all your tips with me too!!

Thanks again! Can't wait to cruise in May!!

 

[elmo2200]

Tip- The head server encouraged me to order 2 entrees and sometimes even 2 appetizers as well. It freaked me out to order SO much food but he said it is better to just do it in case the changes made for me made the dish taste bad. (I don't remember his exact words) I got to try MANY dishes!!!

Lunch 2/16/13

Assorted Seafood Sampler - As good as it looks!!

Apple Walnut Salad - good, dressing a bit plain

Lemon Chicken Salad - good

Surprise dessert- Chilled souffle - taste like fluffy yogurt with berries

DINNER - Formal Night

Princess Madeline Salmon - very good - DD's "normal" salmon had honey mustard sauce

Beast's Potato & Sausage Casserole Soup - nothing like the description. It is basically lentils with sausage. We had someone allergic to peanuts at our table and it turns out that lentils are related to peanuts so beware if you have peanut allergy. Back to the soup- it was just okay.

Baked Fillet of Turbot - plain but good, not at all like the "normal" meal

Chocolate cake - not very good, especially without "normal" chocolate sauce that has corn syrup.

 

[elmo2200]

LUNCH - 2/17/13

Pomegranate Glazed Chilled Duck Breast - good

Strawberry Soup - Delicious as always!! I look forward to this dish every cruise and occasionally make it at home.

Poached Salmon - very good, very moist and it was nice to get sauce. I think it was hollandaise.

Surprise dessert - Flan - very good

Dinner - Parrot Cay 2/17/13

Parrot Cay Salad - Good, mine didn't have dressing, neither did the one for peanut allergy person beside me.

Jamaican Chicken Tenderloins - good

Mixed Grill - good, mine only had one type of meat.

Surprise Dessert - cake- I have no idea what the flavor is supposed to be. Inedible.

 

[elmo2200]

LUNCH - 2/18/13
Castaway Cay - I pre-ordered an angus burger cooked medium and fries. The burger was great! It had the best GF bun I've ever had. Too bad the chef ran out because I wanted more! They were going to find out the brand name for me but never did so I will look around the internet for one that looks like it.

DINNER - Lumiere
Escargot - this is something the head server encouraged me to order! We were brave and tried it but didn't care for it.

Shrimp - very good

Tomato Soup - very good

Tenderloin - bland

Sea Bass - Excellent!! I was still thinking about it a few days later.

Surprise dessert- chocolate cake rolled with filling - better than straight chocolate cake

 

[Mickey3Boys]

Thanks for the info! One of my 7-yr-olds is allergic to corn. He will be SO sad not to have ice cream on board! Could u eat the Mickey Ice Cream bars?

 

[elmo2200]

I'm sorry no Mickey bars. They absolutely have corn syrup. I am sure your 7 year old will eat well! If wheat is not a problem there will surely be more choices than what I had. I ate hamburgers and french fries with mustard. I also got fries on deck 9 and put pickles on top. If your child eats a lot of ketchup I would bring my own. Of course the sodas are all corn syrup. I brought a couple of my own cans of sierra mist. You can request juice and milk at meals and probably free from room service.

I am able to eat a small amount of corn syrup or starch if I take special digestive enzymes. It keeps my stomach happy but sometimes my joints will still hurt. The enzymes won't allow me to eat corn everyday or anything but occasionally it is nice to have a little ice cream at a restaurant with my family or enjoy a tostada. Also, my husband enjoys getting chicken teriyaki at the mall which highly likely has corn syrup so I will take 2 or 3 capsules. I have tried GlutenEase and Gluten Digest and I like both equally. The gluten digesting pills will not allow me to eat ANY wheat - only a little corn. They absolutely help when I have accidentally eaten wheat or corn. They make the reaction much, much less. BTW - my reaction is not anaphylaxis, it is digestive and wrecks havoc on my immune system.

Happy Sailing!!!

 

[Mickey3Boys]

Hadn't thought about drinks! Can we get milk or juice anytime by request or were there any diet softdrinks that were corn-free? Smoothies? He is not anaphylactic either, but gets bad stomach prob & can break out in hives. He has many other allergies too, but not wheat-that's my allergy! Soy, beef, shellfish, tuna, pineapple, grapes! Should be an adventure! I can hear the "It's NOT fair!!!" already!

 

[elmo2200]

Mickey3boys- Oh no!!! Hang in there. I would guess he may eat a lot of chicken tenders and fries. The mac & cheese may be safe for him or they will make some that is. There are diet sodas and the drink station on deck 9 is always open and has milk. My kids think the banana smoothie they had may have been made with milk not ice cream. Don't be afraid to ask for specific dishes that he likes even if it is not on the menu. They have "lighter fare" meals that are no frills and include things like chicken, baked potatoes, steamed veggies. The food at the table all looks amazing - you sure don't want your son to feel deprived. I would consider taking a few goodies from home.

 

[elmo2200]

2/19/13 Walt Disney World
We only had one meal at WDW but it was a good one!! I am very impressed with Be Our Guest. Lunch was reasonably priced and the atmosphere was wonderful. It is a must see especially for those with food allergies. They have a computer ordering system that will note your allergies and only show you the menu choices that are safe for you. I chose braised pork with green beans and mashed potatoes and Lemon raspberry cream puff that was GF and no sugar added. It was so easy and the food was good! I highly recommend it!!!

We were at WDW on one of the busiest days of the year and did not have dinner reservations so our only choices were quick service. We decided to have a late dinner back on ship. A chef walked me around the buffet at Topsider and there wasn't much for me but it was enough.

 

[micheleq]

Thank you for sharing! My DH recently discovered he has a gluten intolerance so I will certainly share your experiences with him.

 

[Mickey3Boys]

So did they print you a menu with only foods you could eat? Or u picked off the regular menu and they adapted it?

 

[BellaKruz]

Thank you so much for your review! My daughter (4) is anaphylactic to peanuts and treenuts and we are sailing on the Magic next month. I'm so glad to know they accommodated your food allergies.

 

[elmo2200]

Mickey3boys- I chose food from the normal menus and they adapted it. I don't think I was ever told something could not be adapted but I did choose dishes that looked easiest to adapt.

 

[elmo2200]

I forgot to mention the delicious cinnamon glazed almonds I had at WDW! The snack carts have a white binder with ingredient information. If you have a question you look up the item and read the ingredient list to decide for yourself if the item is safe for you.

2/20/2013

LUNCH- Burger that was served on the same bread that is served at dinner. They ran out of the GF bun that I loved. The fries are baked and I would recommend a different side. dessert was the unidentifiable cake, I didn't eat it.

 

[elmo2200]

2/20/13 PIRATE NIGHT - Arrrrr
Not everyone dresses up but we enjoy it. The photographers will come around and have you pose for pictures that you can buy. *Have your camera ready to take pics.*

The family we shared a table with. It was our first time to share a table and we enjoyed it!

DINNER -
Buccaneer's Pineapple with coconut covered banana - good, honeydew & watermelon soup - I never received it..., Ribs- very plain meal. I wished I had brought my own BBQ sauce because it really needed it. Mashed potatoes were fine the veggies were totally plain. Chocolate Mousse - good, nice texture, a bit too sweet for me.

This was just not a good night for our servers and overall no one was impressed with the food.

PIRATE NIGHT BUFFET- I did not know what would be safe and it is very chaotic so asking seemed out. I had a baked potato because I was still hungry after dinner. My family enjoyed the items they had.

 

[elmo2200]

2/21/13 - Key West was beautiful! The excursion was fun but took all our time. We definitely want to go back.
LUNCH -
Aged meat with mozzarella and tomato - good, Seafood Risotto- very good, Chocolate Mousse. This meal felt like eating "normal" food.

2/21/13 DINNER - Semi-formal

Aged Prosciutto - good, Garlic & herb shrimp - very good, Minestrone soup - good, yellow fin tuna - it was okay- a bit plain, Lobster tail - good - rice & beans - not so good, anniversary cake - my husband's "normal" dessert looked very good, my GF chocolate cake - I ate it to be polite.

 

[MeLaNie9]

Can I ask what you did once you got on board to make your allergies known? I sailed on the Dream last Aug with my two boys, one with a dairy allergy. I thought I was supposed to go to one of the restaurants and find our assigned head waiter and let him know and he was person that would help us throughout. (This was our first cruise and we had noted the allergy when we booked) When we boarded I asked someone where to go to speak to the head waiter about my son's allergy and that person said it was not necessary and basically directed us to Cabanas. Cabanas was probably the best place for him to eat because every time a chef came to speak to us. In the restaurants, our head waiter did nothing to help us. Our actual table waiter, who was generally running around like a chicken with his head cut off, was left to help us order meals for the next day while waiting on all his tables. As a result, we were always left in the restaurants until they were cleaning up from our dinner service just because he was so busy.
We are back on the Dream in Nov and I want to make sure we know the right process this time!
Thanks!