Food Allergies & Other Info.....please help!

[wandep]

Hello. We are fairly new to cruising. This only being our 3rd cruise. The first was on Carnival about 13 years ago. The second was on DCL which was March 2014. This next cruise we would like to take a 5 night cruise on the Brilliance of the Seas.
My question is how are they when it comes to food allergies. I read on their website where you are suppose to notify them 45 days in advance of your allergies. I am gluten and dairy free. I was hoping to get some personal feedback as to how they handle the situation and what all they have to offer.
When we cruised with DCL they were awesome. I didn't get sick once while on board. They always catered to me and I did have to wait a little for my food but that was okay.
Thanks in advance for your help.

ps...any other info about Brilliance of the Seas would be helpful too. We will have an 11 and 9 year old traveling with us. Hubby and I will be 45 at time of cruise. Plus we may have grandparents joining us too.

How does the drinks work on RCL? Soda, water, coffee, teas...unsweet and sweet. What do they have to offer if you do not buy the packages of drinks they have to offer?

 

[FreeTime]

Hi,
They are great with gluten free. If you look at their menus posted online they have them marked with gluten free options.

Free
Beverages are coffee, milk, tea at all
Dining venues and raspberry (maybe) type flavored tea at the buffets.

 

[woody73]

. . . Free Beverages are coffee, milk, tea at all Dining venues and raspberry (maybe) type flavored tea at the buffets.

Also free OJ at breakfast, and lemonade at lunch.

Woody

 

[DVCkidsMOM]

Hello. We are fairly new to cruising. This only being our 3rd cruise. The first was on Carnival about 13 years ago. The second was on DCL which was March 2014. This next cruise we would like to take a 5 night cruise on the Brilliance of the Seas.
My question is how are they when it comes to food allergies. I read on their website where you are suppose to notify them 45 days in advance of your allergies. I am gluten and dairy free. I was hoping to get some personal feedback as to how they handle the situation and what all they have to offer.
...

OK, I hope we had an unusual experience with Dairy Allergy; but we will NEVER sail on RCCL again. We did notify them per the then current policy of my dairy allergy and the notification was acknowledged. Long story short: I ate smoked salmon and fruit for the first 36 hours on-board. Our dining room servers (reserved table, same servers/time/table every night) just consistently told me what I could not eat - there were never any accommodations made. If veggies had butter, there was no option to get steamed veggies instead. I was not permitted a dessert in the dining room for the entire 7-day cruise - nothing was able to be dairy free. The buffet folks were usually clueless about what I could have and the one day that I found someone to actually help, I was allowed to eat taco meat. All "vegetarian" dishes, I was told add extra butter for flavor so they were all off-limits. This was Mariner of the Seas in December three years ago.
If you go with a dairy allergy, I would get DF options for your intended sailing in writing before booking. Then take lots of safe snacks with you just-in-case. Or stick with DCL. We've also had our food allergies handled well on Carnival - go figure...

 

[buckeyemom16]

I know this isn't exactly the type of info you're seeking but I thought I would share a little anecdote from our trip on the Jewel of the Seas in May. Our DS3 has a very mild allergy to strawberries, so much so that we don't mention it, just screen his food. So we go to the Royal Chocolate breakfast or whatever they called it in the Main Dining Room and he orders chocolate pancakes with no mention of strawberries anywhere. They come out with a heaping strawberry topping, so of course we have to send them back. Our server who was not our regular server sort of admonishes (in a nice way) us for not telling her and then informs us we need to let our regular server know.

We get to dinner that night and our fabulous server rushes right over as soon as we sit down and mentions he was told the little guy has a strawberry allergy and basically admonishes us (in a nice way lol) too. We have no earthly clue how he found out. We did not swipe our card, identify ourselves, or sit at our table at breakfast. The head waiter also came over and mentioned that they had noted it and would help us moving forward. I told all concerned parties that I wasn't a very big deal and I appreciated all the concern.


It did make me feel as if they took the issue very seriously and were obviously very concerned. Of course it may be different for each ship/crew.

 

[woody73]

. . . I thought I would share a little anecdote from our trip on the Jewel of the Seas in May.

. . . Our DS3 has a very mild allergy to strawberries, so much so that we don't mention it, just screen his food.

. . . The head waiter also came over and mentioned that they had noted it and would help us moving forward. I told all concerned parties that I wasn't a very big deal and I appreciated all the concern.

It did make me feel as if they took the issue very seriously and were obviously very concerned. Of course it may be different for each ship/crew.

We had a similar positive experience on the Liberty OTS in May. I went to the Promenade Cafe and asked the person at the counter whether the plain rolls contained eggs or dairy. At the time, my DW was on a restricted diet. He said he didn't know and would find out.

He brought over the head pastry shelf who offered to take my DW's name a cabin number so they could make something special for her every day. I really didn't want them to go through all the trouble, as my DW can work with what's already offered as long as she can find out what an item contains.

We were quite pleased with the Liberty OTS staff's concern and willingness to accommodate my DW's dietary restrictions.

YMMV

Woody

 

[happypooh]

OMG I hope you are wrong DVCMOM!
We sail on the Jewel this saturday and my DD has severe food allergies. No major problems on either DCL or HAL but this is our first trip on RC and so I will report back how it all goes. Pray nothing happens and that they do a good job.
I have three epipens with us.
Hoping not to use any!

 

[bumbershoot]

Also free OJ at breakfast, and lemonade at lunch. Woody

But not the fresh squeezed oj. Just the from-concentrate type.

 

[bumbershoot]

There was an "allergy family" next to us on Freedom in January. After dinner, the mom had three sheets of paper and had menus for the next day, and she was marking off what would be ordered.

I think royal is doing well with allergies.

Not sure what happened on Monarch but generally on cruises, ask and you stand a good chance at receiving. Want steamed veggies? Ask for them. On our first cruise, which was on RCCL, we waited for suggestions from our lackluster server (who was dazzled by our tablemates who ordered wine and ate lobsters and steaks, compared to our vegetarian selves and me being brand newly pregnant) and therefore got to eat eggplant most of the trip. Boring. Then we learned that we could have come up with things to ask for. Might not have gotten them but we might have, and it would have been more interesting than eggplant.

 

[woody73]

But not the fresh squeezed oj. Just the from-concentrate type.

HAL offers free fresh squeezed orange juice at breakfast.

Woody

 

[Chelley00]

I have wheat and dairy allergies (and tomato, egg and peanut) RCL has always been fantastic. The only time I ever got something I shouldn't have was when DH and I went to one of the specialty restaurants. I had informed the restaurant that day but I didn't inform the waiter because I hate being a hassle. I ended up with something that had egg in it an it made me sick. RCL was so apologetic and took great care of me, even giving us a refund of the meal cost plus an OBC so we could try again later. I told them it was my fault because I didn't inform the waiter but because I had it marked on my reservation, they took the blame.

Since then, anytime we cruise, I make sure and tell every waiter, even if we stick with the same table in the main dining room and have the same waiter every night, I make sure I tell everyone what I'm allergic to, and I've never had a problem cruising since.

 

[wandep]

OK, I hope we had an unusual experience with Dairy Allergy; but we will NEVER sail on RCCL again. We did notify them per the then current policy of my dairy allergy and the notification was acknowledged. Long story short: I ate smoked salmon and fruit for the first 36 hours on-board. Our dining room servers (reserved table, same servers/time/table every night) just consistently told me what I could not eat - there were never any accommodations made. If veggies had butter, there was no option to get steamed veggies instead. I was not permitted a dessert in the dining room for the entire 7-day cruise - nothing was able to be dairy free. The buffet folks were usually clueless about what I could have and the one day that I found someone to actually help, I was allowed to eat taco meat. All "vegetarian" dishes, I was told add extra butter for flavor so they were all off-limits. This was Mariner of the Seas in December three years ago.
If you go with a dairy allergy, I would get DF options for your intended sailing in writing before booking. Then take lots of safe snacks with you just-in-case. Or stick with DCL. We've also had our food allergies handled well on Carnival - go figure...

Thanks. I will be mindfull. We cruised with DCL last year and its just too expensive. I never got sick tho. It was nice being catered too. LOL I hope RCI will be the same. Keep fingers crossed..i've learned to ask for no butter in dishes and things like that.

 

[wandep]

We had a similar positive experience on the Liberty OTS in May. I went to the Promenade Cafe and asked the person at the counter whether the plain rolls contained eggs or dairy. At the time, my DW was on a restricted diet. He said he didn't know and would find out.

He brought over the head pastry shelf who offered to take my DW's name a cabin number so they could make something special for her every day. I really didn't want them to go through all the trouble, as my DW can work with what's already offered as long as she can find out what an item contains.

We were quite pleased with the Liberty OTS staff's concern and willingness to accommodate my DW's dietary restrictions.

YMMV


Woody

Very nice on both counts!!!