Child with wheat, milk, egg allergies...

[Starwind]

Do they not require orders from allergy passengers to go through the head waiter anymore? Two years ago, I could not order ANYTHING without my server and assistant server going to talk to the head waiter for a peanut SENSITIVITY (not even full-blown allergy). In my case I should have paid attention when we sailed concierge and our host asked me about it and I explained I just get itchy and wheezy and Benadryl knocks it out, he took it off since I was ok with asking. They changed things I'd eaten on that cruise to totally different things (the Cookies and Cream sundae for example), and my CM sister had to swear she would take responsibility if anything happened from the rum-soaked chocolate cake (neither of which have peanuts in them).

As I understood it, the head waiter is the gate through which all allergy orders passed. If it has gone to the individual servers, that is concerning.

We sailed B2B on the Dream in December 2015. I have anaphylaxis to milk, seafood (fish and shellfish), peanuts and tree nuts. UNLIKE our previous 2 cruises (Dream, Fantasy) where the head waiter took my nightly meals for the next day orders, this past December our server took the order. HOWEVER, while he wrote it down on the pink form, he gave it to the head waiter who signed off on it (this was both explained to us and on a couple nights I saw it happen).

I was a little disconcerted by this the first night, but it soon became clear that our server knew his stuff and I became comfortable with it.

As for actually serving my food, that was done usually by the server with help from the assistant server, but a couple times the head server brought my food to me.

I will note that an error was made once: they serverd me the normal salad with cheese on it; I looked at it and questioned "is that cheese?" at the same time that the server saw it and realized what had happened. They swiftly removed the plate, apologized profusely, and the assistant server went to go retrieve the proper/safe salad.

I had no issues getting what I wanted; for example, I LOVE the butternut squash soup and they make a safe version of it for me. Er, more than once, too Ditto french onion soup (DCL is the only place I get to eat that! obviously, no cheese and no bread, but I am totally ok with that). My entrees and such were pretty easy because for the most part I prefer plain food. But for the more complex meals I wanted there was never an issue with modifying it to make it safe. Do keep in mind I ordered things that reasonably could be modified or made to work. So strawberry shortcake ? I explained I would really like it, but if they couldn't make safe shortcake, something else would be ok. The chef used what looked/tasted like cinamon donuts cut up to make the "shortcake" and then strawberries YUM! and I was pretty impressed by the shortcake substitute


SW

 

[Starwind]

I have posted previously (a long post) about my experiences with DCL and food allergies: http://www.disboards.com/threads/special-dietary-requests.3398539/#post-53417650 The entire thread has lots of good discussion.

Somewhere I think I have one about WDW, too, but I can;t find it right now, sorry.

SW

 

[Dug720]

We sailed B2B on the Dream in December 2015. I have anaphylaxis to milk, seafood (fish and shellfish), peanuts and tree nuts. UNLIKE our previous 2 cruises (Dream, Fantasy) where the head waiter took my nightly meals for the next day orders, this past December our server took the order. HOWEVER, while he wrote it down on the pink form, he gave it to the head waiter who signed off on it (this was both explained to us and on a couple nights I saw it happen).

I was a little disconcerted by this the first night, but it soon became clear that our server knew his stuff and I became comfortable with it.

As for actually serving my food, that was done usually by the server with help from the assistant server, but a couple times the head server brought my food to me.

I will note that an error was made once: they serverd me the normal salad with cheese on it; I looked at it and questioned "is that cheese?" at the same time that the server saw it and realized what had happened. They swiftly removed the plate, apologized profusely, and the assistant server went to go retrieve the proper/safe salad.

I had no issues getting what I wanted; for example, I LOVE the butternut squash soup and they make a safe version of it for me. Er, more than once, too Ditto french onion soup (DCL is the only place I get to eat that! obviously, no cheese and no bread, but I am totally ok with that). My entrees and such were pretty easy because for the most part I prefer plain food. But for the more complex meals I wanted there was never an issue with modifying it to make it safe. Do keep in mind I ordered things that reasonably could be modified or made to work. So strawberry shortcake ? I explained I would really like it, but if they couldn't make safe shortcake, something else would be ok. The chef used what looked/tasted like cinamon donuts cut up to make the "shortcake" and then strawberries YUM! and I was pretty impressed by the shortcake substitute


SW

Yeah, I never ordered with the head waiter, but whatever I ordered had to be cleared by him first. Or adapted. (I will just note for anyone with peanut allergies, though the cookies and cream sundae is perfectly peanut-free (I had it before with ZERO issues - again, mine is a sensitivity so me or food being in proximity is not an issue for me - if it is for you or your kid, do yourselves a favor and don't order that one), the substitute is pretty gross - I got vanilla ice cream with ginger snaps and chocolate sauce. Nasty. My sister and I ended up ordering Mickey Bars from room service,)

 

[MunFam]

As mentioned previously, we had a very shocking and disappointing food experience on DCL. DD is anaphylactic reaction induced to peanuts, treanuts and egg. She is also allergic to milk. We were on the WBPC cruise and they offered a "dine in the club" option. We ordered DD a burger that we "knew" was safe. But I decided to check the meal in advance, because I am paranoid like that. We get to the club as they are serving her...a burger with coleslaw on the side...that had egg in it!!! They assured us that it would be safe, but it was not.

Situations like this happened a few more times. I had read incredible reviews about the chefs making special meals or desserts on board. I have to admit, my expectations were a little high. One time, they made her a safe cake. One time in 15 days aboard. We asked and hoped for another...but that was too much to ask.

She was offered frozen waffles (I read the box, so I know they were frozen). They served her a boxed mac and cheese that was frozen. She kept refusing to eat it. We told her no wasting food. Finally, I tried it...it couldnt be THAT bad, right? It was flipping sour and tasted of curdled milk and mold!! I felt terrible. I almost threw up at the table. My partner tried it and confirmed it was rotten. To make matters worse, our head server argued with us that nothing was wrong...even though our waiter smelled it and said it smelt bad.

Two other passengers on our cruise ended up in medical because they had anaphylactic reactions to meals that they were told was safe.

Other times, things were good and they brought out safe breads and saved her prosciutto for every dinner's app because she loved it.

My advice to future passengers with allergies...check, check and recheck. Do not assume, do not trust. And do not set your expectations too high.

 

[jtba]

My advice to future passengers with allergies...check, check and recheck. Do not assume, do not trust. And do not set your expectations too high.

hear hear!

 

[kuhltiffany]

We've been on the Dream, Fantasy and Magic. I know the Dream and Fantasy both have separate allergy kitchens, the Magic and Wonder just utilize a separate area within the main kitchen. I have a DS with an anaphylactic peanut allergy and my DH has a wheat intolerance. We definitely noticed a difference in the quality and options for their allergies when on the Dream and Fantasy vs. the Magic...

 

[bafleyanne]

Reading this with interest because we are trying to convince friends to go on the Fantasy with us next January but their daughter has a very severe allergy to gluten. I will say we had a table next to us with a child who had a set of multiple allergies, not sure what they all were, on the Magic last April and their service seemed wonderful. The head waiter came to their table each night after dinner to go over the next nights meals and plan exactly what she would have, and there was at least one time she didn't care for the safe dessert they brought and they found her another option. I think most servers want families to be happy and safe!