Feeding Tube - Food

[Grumpy_74]

I am travelling with my Dad in May. Unfortunately, it looks like he will not be able to eat via mouth by then. He currently uses a feeding tube and the canned supplement ordered by his doctor. With this said - does anyone have experience with this? More so - is this something we are able to ship ahead of time to have put in his stateroom? We are on a 7 day cruise, and there is no way he will be able to carry as many cans as are necessary through the airport to get to the ship. We are flying out of different states, so I can't even assist him in navigating through the airport - he's meeting me at MCO. Any recommendations as to how we can get them all there ahead of time and waiting for us?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I am travelling with my Dad in May. Unfortunately, it looks like he will not be able to eat via mouth by then. He currently uses a feeding tube and the canned supplement ordered by his doctor. With this said - does anyone have experience with this? More so - is this something we are able to ship ahead of time to have put in his stateroom? We are on a 7 day cruise, and there is no way he will be able to carry as many cans as are necessary through the airport to get to the ship. We are flying out of different states, so I can't even assist him in navigating through the airport - he's meeting me at MCO. Any recommendations as to how we can get them all there ahead of time and waiting for us?

It sounds like you need to get in touch with the Special Needs department. I do know you can't mail packages to yourself at the ship that include liquids or food, so that wouldn't work.
https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/guest-services/guests-with-disabilities/

Good luck.

 

[Tasmen]

Are you flying in the day before? If you do that, you can ship to the hotel. You could help him in baggage claim with the boxes? That would still mean transporting from the hotel to the ship, though.

 

[kerry1379]

My son requires special formula for his g-tube. We shipped it to the hotel we were staying in the night before like Tasmen suggested and had no problems at all that way. You will need to carry it on to the ship though. You are not supposed to leave it with the luggage that will be delivered to your room because if it leaks, it will create a huge mess.

 

[shoes99]

If he can't ship, my sister is tube fed and she is a frequent cruiser. She packs as many supplement bags into a roll on carry on. If he declares it as a medical necessity with the airline, he can have more than one roll on carry on bag. He should also ask for tsa assist going thru security. My sister has had good and bad experiences going thru TSA with supplements. Remember to tell him that TSA should use clean gloves when touching his supplies. This freaks out my sister when they don't.

 

[MickeyEarrings]

We did this several years ago at wdw, but not on DCL. However, our failure point was when we arranged to have part of my son's monthly formula shipment sent to wdw, they sent hospital bags instead of the usual cans. Someone, somewhere in the warehouse saw the tubing to deliver the bag of formula was back ordered...so they simply didn't send any. So we had formula but no way to deliver it (except that Mom, being paranoid, brought a bag/tubing setup from home. I opened he hospital bag with nail clippers and dumped it into the home bag). Lesson? Be prepared for things to fall apart and have a small supply of your own in your carry-on bag. Start the process by talking to your home health care provider.

 

[lanejudy]

As a PP mentioned, contact DCL's Special Needs Department at (407) 566-3602. They also have a form you can download, but you'll want to call in addition to the form:

DCL does not accept shipment of food for passengers. Any liquids must be carried onboard. You can do this with a rolling suitcase, luggage cart with cases, or in whatever manner works for you. Just be prepared to carry it on and keep it with you until the staterooms are available. You might try arriving closer to 1pm so you have little wait before cabins are available typically around 1:30pm. If he will be arriving at MCO the day prior to embarkation, he should be able to have his supply shipped directly to the resort or hotel.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[Grumpy_74]

Thanks everyone! Seems I need to make a call to our hotel tomorrow once there's a manager available to confirm exactly how early we can ship. I'd like it to be early enough that they have it - can confirm it's there so we can be assured that we don't still have to figure out how to get it on the plane with him.

I was afraid you were going to say no go with shipping it to the warehouse to be delivered directly to his room - that would have been too simple Worst case, I guess I could have it shipped to my house and take it with me so he's not dealing with it.

 

[DahliaRW]

Definitely give DCL a call. They may be able to help out since it's a medical necessity. You never know unless you ask.

 

[shoes99]

Thanks everyone! Seems I need to make a call to our hotel tomorrow once there's a manager available to confirm exactly how early we can ship. I'd like it to be early enough that they have it - can confirm it's there so we can be assured that we don't still have to figure out how to get it on the plane with him.

I was afraid you were going to say no go with shipping it to the warehouse to be delivered directly to his room - that would have been too simple Worst case, I guess I could have it shipped to my house and take it with me so he's not dealing with it.

Just to add that my sister works with her provider, and they have shipped supplies to a pre-cruise hotel before but not directly to the cruise line.

 

[Deanna Simmons]

Has anyone had to carry a CPAP machine on board? Can it be checked with your luggage or do you have to carry it around? I sent a form I just happened to see after we booked our embarkation time that I mailed into the DCL a week ago. Guess you have to have this form to plug in medical equipment. It even said they would deliver a gallon of distilled water to the stateroom. Any experience with this would be greatly appreciated. Deanna

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Has anyone had to carry a CPAP machine on board? Can it be checked with your luggage or do you have to carry it around? I sent a form I just happened to see after we booked our embarkation time that I mailed into the DCL a week ago. Guess you have to have this form to plug in medical equipment. It even said they would deliver a gallon of distilled water to the stateroom. Any experience with this would be greatly appreciated. Deanna

I wouldn't suggest checking it with the checked bags. They are less than gentle with the checked bags getting them onboard and to your room. This is one of the luggage storage areas on the Fantasy where bags accumulate before being taken to the rooms. And, yes, some of those bags were tossed onto the pile.

 

[Deanna Simmons]

Oh my!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Guess I better keep it on my person. Hate to lug it around. It won't fit in a backpack either or not with anything else...thanks for the info. No wonder it takes forever to get to your room. I would think they would have areas for each deck. How do they let you know when your stateroom is ready? thanks deanna

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Oh my!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Guess I better keep it on my person. Hate to lug it around. It won't fit in a backpack either or not with anything else...thanks for the info. No wonder it takes forever to get to your room. I would think they would have areas for each deck. How do they let you know when your stateroom is ready? thanks deanna

They do have areas for each deck. That picture was just one of the areas on one deck.

It can vary as to how you find out the rooms are ready. Some cruises I've been on, they announce it. Other cruises, people just "knew" to start heading toward their rooms around 1:30.

 

[Grumpy_74]

As a PP mentioned, contact DCL's Special Needs Department at (407) 566-3602. They also have a form you can download, but you'll want to call in addition to the form:

DCL does not accept shipment of food for passengers. Any liquids must be carried onboard. You can do this with a rolling suitcase, luggage cart with cases, or in whatever manner works for you. Just be prepared to carry it on and keep it with you until the staterooms are available. You might try arriving closer to 1pm so you have little wait before cabins are available typically around 1:30pm. If he will be arriving at MCO the day prior to embarkation, he should be able to have his supply shipped directly to the resort or hotel.

Enjoy your cruise!

Thanks so much for the number! After playing phone tag a few times, I was finally able to speak with someone. There are special accommodations for this as it's medically necessary, so we are able to ship it to a special address and have it delivered to Dad's cabin. This is a definite relief! Thanks everyone for pointing me in the right direction!

 

[Starwind]

Has anyone had to carry a CPAP machine on board? Can it be checked with your luggage or do you have to carry it around? I sent a form I just happened to see after we booked our embarkation time that I mailed into the DCL a week ago. Guess you have to have this form to plug in medical equipment. It even said they would deliver a gallon of distilled water to the stateroom. Any experience with this would be greatly appreciated. Deanna

As another poster noted, I would not trust a CPAP or other fragile item to checked baggage, whether for the cruise or flying.

When flying from the US or Canada (not sure about other countries) carryon bags that contain ONLY medical equipment/supplies/medications do NOT count towards your carryon allowance. They key is that the bag should still meet carry-on size rules (there are some exceptions for certain oddly shaped medical equipment, but it still has to fit somewhere and some just won't fit in the spaces in the cabin...) AND NOTHING ELSE EXCEPT the medical stuff is in the bag. The airline is allowed to look in the bag to confirm it is only medical things.

I travel with three carry-on bags: normal carry-on + personal item + medical bag. The medical bag has a nebulizer, extra batteries for it, a whole bunch of medications, some medical supplies, and some distilled water and vinegar (needed to disinfect the nebulizer if used; i bring enough for two days in case of travel delays). The medical bag is a small softsided bag with wheels that fits under the seat in front on an airplane, though it gets stowed up above since the personal item is under the seat in front. After the first trip using it where I got asked questions each leg I bought a red tag that says "MEDICAL" on it and attached that to the bag. Since then I have not been asked about it.

As for the distilled water on the cruise. I have asked for and received a gallon of distilled water on each DCL cruise. I arrange it ahead of time through special services and I complete the medical form. On our first two cruises the distilled water was in the room when we arrived at the room: basically it is a one gallon bottle of brand name distilled water like you would buy in the grocery store.

On our recent B2B cruise the water was NOT in the room when we arrived at it. I let the room steward know. The distilled water showed up the second day; that evening guest services followed up with a phone call to make sure it was there and to apologize, and they also send a card apologizing for the inconvenience and a care package of treats to the room (which surprised me and I did not think was necessary; but we did enjoy the Mickey head rice crispy treats). Now, for me this was not a big deal, but for a CPAP user it would or could be. In that case if the water isn't there I would go to guest services and ensure it got there the first day.

Finally, for a CPAP you may or may not need an extension cord. DCL will provide you with an approved extension cord: you can arrange that in advance through special services as well.

SW