Allergies + Refrigerators

[Lunanh]

I will be going on a cruise in March and have a few questions....
My sister's child has food allergies (peanuts,dairy,eggs) upon request do they accomodate these things?
Also do they have small refrigerators in the rooms? if not can you rent them? and for how much? My sister would like to bring soy cheese to make sanwhiches.
She was also wondering if she could bring a sandwhich maker?? I'm not even sure what it is but she wanted to know.( her child is very food fussy.)
Any help would be appreciated!!
Thanks in advance,

 

[kcashner]

There have been several threads dealing with food allergies in the last 2 weeks.

Basically, your sister needs to fill out a medical form which she should request when the reservations are made. DCL will do everything possible to accomadate the allergy situation, up to and including bringing special food on board and cooking it separately for the child. They are very used to dealing with the peanut allergy situation. We will be travelling with a very allergic family, and DCL is able to handle their multiple allergy situation.

After the medical form, call them 1 month before the cruise to "remind" them....that way, they have time to get any special foods. There are refrigerators in the cabins...however, there is some discussion as to whether they have been replaced with "beverage coolers" since the dry doc remodelling. I haven't sailed since then, so can't be sure. You CANNOT use the ship's refrigerators, but they do have small ones available free for medications, etc. This would probably fall into the same category.

As to the sandwich maker, I think it depends on exactly what it is. You are not allowed to use irons, etc. in the cabins due to the fire risk (they can be used in the laundry room.) So, you probably need to ask DCL. My thought is that a heated appliance is probably not allowed. Your sister will not be able to do any cooking in the DCL kitchens, but they will specially prepare foods for the child per the mother's instructions.

 

[Lloyd Dobler]

They are apparently very accomodating of food allergies. If they let the wait staff know on the first night, they'll do what they can to take care of her. I've heard that one of the chefs will often come out and speak with the passenger just to make sure he/she understands what they can and can't eat.

The rooms have coolers in them. They're not full-blown refridgerators, but what I call "cold boxes." They keep cold stuff cold, but take a long time (i.e. days) to get warm stuff cold. They do have real refridgerators available to store things like medication. If you think your sister will need one, call the cruise line to request one, and they can swap it in for the "cold box." I'm not sure if there is a charge for this or not.

As far as the sandwich maker, I'm guessing this is a waffle-iron type thing that makes grilled sandwiches? If so, I don't think that she'd be able to use that in the stateroom, due to fire hazzards. For the same reason, they don't allow travel irons.

Hope this helps....

 

[froggymomma]

My 4YO DS has dairy and egg allergies. We sailed on the Wonder in October. DCL was wonderful with making it a great experience for him in terms of offering planty to eat; and for us in terms of the freedom to stop worrying about what he could eat.

We did complete the medical form in advance and we did have his allergies noted on our reservation. If your sister checks her child into the clubs they clearly note any allergies and restrictions, and they speak to you to make sure they fully understand your child's allergies.

When we boarded the ship and went to the buffet we told our server about our son's allergy. She brought the head server who had a chef walk me through the buffet pointing out what my DS could eat. At a breakfast buffet I just selected carved meat and fresh fruits. With the cross-contamination issues associated with a peanut allergy, she may want to avoid buffets (we did one buffet and ate in the dining rooms the rest of the time).

The head server and our server were unbelieveable. Paul, our head server, took care of our DS personally at every meal, bringing out the chef if necessary. The chef made up some specially breaded chicken strips that were dairy free, special desserts, etc. Paul would always inquire where we were eating breakfast and lunch the following day and offer suggestions; he arranged a special meal at Castaway Cay for our DS. I canot say enough about how helpful Paul and Daniel (sp) were. My DS ate a lot better than most kids - special barbeque ribs, filet, etc. As a parent of a child with allergies, please let your sister know she could not have made a better choice for her child.

 

[MNmom]

We just got off the Magic on Sat. with my DS4 who is allergic to milk, eggs and peanuts. I won't repeat everything the previous posters have said but I do totally agree that Disney was fantastic!!! They even made a special birthday cake made out of Jello and Strawberries for my sons birthday.

There is a fridge in the room...it is actually a "cooler" but it did keep our soy milk very cold. We brought about 6 soy milk boxes but our server said he would supply us with all the soy milk we needed for our room. They also had Toffutti-soy ice cream that my son loved!!! We were told we could ask for it at Scoops but the need never came up.

Bottom line...Disney was fantastic with our needs.

PS-- He even went to the club during lunch one day (Palo Brunch) and they had a one-to-one counselor with him to make sure he only ate what was safe and what I had pre-approved. THey were also fantastic!!!

 

[Lunanh]

Thanks to everyone that replied to my questions!! You've given me great info!!!