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 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".
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:
USEFUL RESOURCES
DCL's info about special dietary needs:
https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/...uise-plans/faqs/onboard-dining/special-diets/
DCL's Special Service's Information Form:
http://dcl.wdpromedia.com/media/dcl...nter/Media/SpecialServicesInformationForm.pdf
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, their normal pizza sauce, pepperoni, and Toffutti "cheddar" slices (dairy-free fake cheese
like these:
http://www.tofutti.com/dairy-free-cheeses/slices/american-slices/ ). 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 (
http://disneycruiselineblog.com/personal-navigators/ ) 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).
Hope this helps.
-SW
