How good is Disney Wonder personnel on dietary restrictions?

[gironbea]

Hello! I'm traveling on the Disney Wonder this march and i was wondering if i could have some feedback on the restaurants/personnel and how good they are with dietary restrictions? I am triggered by dairy, wheat, flour, tomatoes and gluten (well gluten I can eat like once a month). I've read some good feedback from people traveling on other ships of the Disney Cruise line (particularly Dream and Magic) but what I did find about Disney Wonder has me a bit worried. Thank you!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Hello! I'm traveling on the Disney Wonder this march and i was wondering if i could have some feedback on the restaurants/personnel and how good they are with dietary restrictions? I am triggered by dairy, wheat, flour, tomatoes and gluten (well gluten I can eat like once a month). I've read some good feedback from people traveling on other ships of the Disney Cruise line (particularly Dream and Magic) but what I did find about Disney Wonder has me a bit worried. Thank you!

As long as you note the restrictions on your reservation, and talk to the head server the first night in the dining room, you'll be good. I'm thinking the less than stellar reports on the Wonder you may have seen were really just bad servers (and that can happen on any ship).

 

[czmom]

I have sailed the Magic and the Wonder with multiple dietary restrictions. While I was always given safe food on both ships, the Magic was 100 times better than the Wonder. I think it came down to my server and head server.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

I have sailed the Magic and the Wonder with multiple dietary restrictions. While I was always given safe food on both ships, the Magic was 100 times better than the Wonder. I think it came down to my server and head server.

Agree with this, I have a sea food / fish allergy and always been looked after, bar the Wonder. One night there were two soups, I asked to try a non fish one, - not seen before so didn't know the colour, it came up, but it was the alternative fish soup one, disaster was avoided, but caused a stir.

However on the Magic last week, they served plastic in a soup on our table. Head chef came out to apologise.

 

[cruisehopeful]

They are very good with gluten and dairy. I haven't seen as good of results with a nightshade allergy. We had an excellent head server in the past and one that wasn't so good on the Wonder when dealing with allergies.

 

[dcassetta]

In the past two years I have sailed on the Wonder, Magic and Dream. Friends and family members with food allergies were well taken care of on all three ships. One of my friends needs to avoid egg and all types of nuts. That seem to be the hardest one to accommodate, but she was pleased with all of her meals. On our most recent Wonder sailing, traveled with my cousin who is celiac and has some lactose intolerance. Took great care of her also.

 

[Sir William]

DW is soy and gluten intolerant and I'm allergic to bell peppers (and typically avoid food with any kind of peppers). On the whole, we've had excellent experiences on all 4 ships, but it does depend on your servers. Some are far more alert to these food issues than others. Fortunately, for us, all of our servers have been very diligent in keeping us informed as to what we can and cannot eat, but the ones we've had for breakfast or lunch are sometimes less attentive to our requirements. DW likes Cabanas and invariably one of the chefs will come out and identify foods she cannot eat, and often offers to make some of the items on the line GF for her. On our last two cruises, our servers provided us the next night's menu after dinner so that we could make our selections ahead of time so that they could be prepared especially for us.

 

[cmph]

Any recent cruisers have advice on Wonder servers to request, who are particularly good with food allergies? I have one name from someone on a different forum, but I obviously can't guarantee they'll still be there when we sail in Dec. Conversely, happy to hear who to avoid... via PM if you don't want to call someone out publicly. Whatever we can do to avoid DH getting sick, we'll do, and it seems like the server is key. Already have the allergy noted on our res.

Happy to hear that Cabanas chefs will come out and prepare food in back. I was hoping they'd be similar to parks' buffet chefs in that respect.

 

[chris31997]

For my Sis it did not matter which server. All the ones we had were great for her. When we saw our servers who rotated with us, they went out their way to make sure she was being taken care of. We would see them in Cabanas or on deck. We were on the Wonder

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Any recent cruisers have advice on Wonder servers to request, who are particularly good with food allergies? I have one name from someone on a different forum, but I obviously can't guarantee they'll still be there when we sail in Dec. Conversely, happy to hear who to avoid... via PM if you don't want to call someone out publicly. Whatever we can do to avoid DH getting sick, we'll do, and it seems like the server is key. Already have the allergy noted on our res.

Happy to hear that Cabanas chefs will come out and prepare food in back. I was hoping they'd be similar to parks' buffet chefs in that respect.

A bit off topic, but when requesting specific servers it's best to only request one. Either just the regular server, or the assistant server, or the head server. If you request a full team (both the regular server and assistant server along with the head server) it's quite possible they are not working together any longer (promotions, end of contract, vacations, whatever) and DCL won't know who to place you with. And thus, you won't get any of them.

 

[cmph]

A bit off topic, but when requesting specific servers it's best to only request one. Either just the regular server, or the assistant server, or the head server. If you request a full team (both the regular server and assistant server along with the head server) it's quite possible they are not working together any longer (promotions, end of contract, vacations, whatever) and DCL won't know who to place you with. And thus, you won't get any of them.

That makes sense. I guess I wasn't even thinking of requesting an assistant server at all. The person recommended to me was a reg server who was since promoted to head, and that's literally the only name I have so far. Happy to take recommendations for either, really, and go with the best rep for allergy-handling! We have mostly had great experiences in the parks and at Aulani, but DCL is somewhat more nerve-wracking, b/c it's the same servers for every dinner... For example, we brushed off one bad Boma experience, knowing we wouldn't be back there during our trip. But that's not true on a cruise, and man, that will be stressful if our bad experience is the first night or two, knowing how many more chances a "mistake" might happen!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

That makes sense. I guess I wasn't even thinking of requesting an assistant server at all. The person recommended to me was a reg server who was since promoted to head, and that's literally the only name I have so far. Happy to take recommendations for either, really, and go with the best rep for allergy-handling! We have mostly had great experiences in the parks and at Aulani, but DCL is somewhat more nerve-wracking, b/c it's the same servers for every dinner... For example, we brushed off one bad Boma experience, knowing we wouldn't be back there during our trip. But that's not true on a cruise, and man, that will be stressful if our bad experience is the first night or two, knowing how many more chances a "mistake" might happen!

Actually, even on a cruise, you aren't "married" to your server. If the two of you don't gel, just talk to the head server about switching servers. It's really not a problem.

Luckily, I have no food issues, but, if I did, and there was a mistake made, I'd speak up about it immediately, and not wait to see if things worked out. It's supposed to be a vacation, you shouldn't have to fret over mistakes.

 

[ajo]

We've travelled on the Wonder twice with kids with dietary restrictions. Both times the serving team was great in talking with us about the options and preordering each day's meals the night before. We've also sailed on other ships and had great experiences each time. I think the key was communicating clearly with Disney Special Services in advance and with the dining team onboard (both at embarkation and at the first dinner). Everything turned out great.

 

[Starwind]

We have sailed with Disney 4 times, on the Dream and the Fantasy, so I cannot speak specifically to the Wonder. However, all of our servers and head serves have been excellent.

Some advice:

You have already noted it on your reservation, but I suggest doublechecking with DCL that it is listed. Have them read back to you what they have noted.

When you board the ship, in the Navigator it will list a time and location where people who want to make dining changes should go. Go to this. Explain you have food allergies/sensitivities (whichever it is) and that you want to make sure they have been noted and everything is good to go. They should read you the list they have noted. Also, you can ask them if the dining team you are assigned to is really good with handling food allergies/sensitivities. Each of our cruises I have not had to ask, the head server we were meeting with volunteered that the team was very good with allergies. On our first two cruises, at that dining session we were also shown the menu for dinner that night and placed out order then -- this gives them time to prepare alternatives. THe third cruise they did not do this and it meant fewer options at dinner. I prefer to pre-order during the dining session if it is an option.

I always carry a "chef card" with me - a 4x6 pale yellow index card on which I have printed my food allergies and a reminder about cross contamination. I modeled the wording on suggested wording I found online (there are many places that have chefs cards now). I used Word to create it and print it. I am on about version 6 or so as I have tweaked the wording over the years. I print a bunch of them and carry them with me whereever I go. I also have one I printed onto white photo paper and then laminated -- that one stays with me. The yellow index cards I can give to wait staff or chefs and they can keep them as I have more.

On the first MDR dinner, I show the yellow card to our waiter. They have always already known my allergies, but they take the time to read it.

Each night in the MDR, we have been shown the menu for the next night's dinner and ordered then -- this gives 24 hours for the chefs to come up with alternatives and means many more things are possible. Our last cruise we also ordered lunch and breakfast them, letting them know which restaurant and about what time we expected to go for those meals. This allowed things like eating breakfast at Cabanas -- my preordered breakfast was prpeared in the back while my sister could do the buffet. Also, by pre-ordering I could get allergy safe Mickey Waffles every morning Our waiter would tell us what restuarants they would be working the next day for beakfast and lunch and we usually chose the same ones, though not always. For Castaway Cay day we preordered lunch and they let us know which Cookies to go to to pick it up and between what times.

I found the DCL app on my smartphone very helpful -- I could read all the menus for the entire cruise at any time. This helped quite a bit with the pr-ordering each night: I had already read the appropriate menu on my phone and knew what I wanted, so reading the paper menu was just a quick check and then order. It made it go much faster than pre-app when we would have to read the menu and decide after dinner. This way it was a fast confirm and order.

Dining in MDRs is recommended for those with food allergies and sensitivities as it is much harder and sometimes impossible to provide a safe food at the QS locations on the pool deck. HOWEVER, I have discovered at least on the Dream and Fantasy that there are still some options at the QS locations if one gets hungry outside of meal times. For example, there is fresh fruit. There are sealed bags of potato chips. They had allergy friendly chicken fingers and could make me safe fries (dedicated fryer) in the hambuger QS. And at the pizza QS the chef was able to make me an amazing personal pizza using an Udi pizza crust, normal pizza sauce, normal peperoni, and Tofutti cheese slices. I was able to watch and he cleaned his hands and work area and hands again, used aluminum foil as a shield under the pizza, and he showed me the containers of the pizza crust and tofutti cheese so I could verify the ingredients. these may or may not be an option on the Wonder, but as I discovered -- without ASKING you never know

Finally: I bring some safe food on board as a fallback option. On our first cruise, I accidentally slept through lunch one day. Oops. But I was STARVING when I woke up and at the time did not know that the QS could make something safe. So, I tucked into some of the safe food I had brought on board. I still bring safe foods, but now I also know that Qs can be a limited option if they are open.

For excursions: some excursions will include a meal. We try to just avoid ones that do, but we have had a couple that did. We spoke with special services at DCL well in advance of the cruise about whether the excursion provider would be able to accommodate my allergies. DCL was able to speak with the vendor and confirm that they could and what I needed to do action-wise on the excursion to ensure I got safe food. Both times it worked out fine, though took longer to get my food (so build that extra time in).

Find out what the rules are at each port for bringing off and on food. At the very least it will have to be commercially prepared, factory sealed products. Some ports do not allow ANY food off the ship. Others will allow a restricted list. When food ia allowed I will bring things like a couple squeeze pouches of apple sauce and a couple Enjoy Life bars -- enough to tide me over should safe food not be available when I need it.

SW

 

[Starwind]

One addition:

ALWAYS visually check the food you are served to make sure it LOOKS "right".

We have had one error (that we know of) happen: I ordered the romaine salad with no cheese (dairy allergy). The plate put down in front of me by the assistant server was romaine salad and it had what looked like shaved cheese on it. As I was asking "is that cheese?" the waiter saw and realized what had happened and was taking the plate away and apologizing. They went and got the proper plate and apologized again.

Not at Disney, but while eating out, I have been server hamburgers with cheese -- hidden under the bun so you cant see it from the outsdie, you have to life each layer, bun and patty, to verify there is none hiding.

So, visually check. If it does not look right, speak up right away before eating it. Mistakes CAN happen and eventually probably will happen, so it is important that you not let your vigilance down.

SW

 

[MomoMama]

We sailed on Magic and Wonder with DD who has multiple food allergies. They took care of her food very well on both ships. While I did feel the personnel on Magic were more used to how to deal with allergies, we did not have problems on Wonder. On Wonder last December, sometimes they would bring out the food packages so I could verify the ingredients myself. That did not happen on Magic in 2013, not sure if that is a new procedure.
You never know who will be serving on Wonder next March, but hope you will get a great serving team like we did!

 

[MomoMama]

One addition:

ALWAYS visually check the food you are served to make sure it LOOKS "right".

We have had one error (that we know of) happen: I ordered the romaine salad with no cheese (dairy allergy). The plate put down in front of me by the assistant server was romaine salad and it had what looked like shaved cheese on it. As I was asking "is that cheese?" the waiter saw and realized what had happened and was taking the plate away and apologizing. They went and got the proper plate and apologized again.

Not at Disney, but while eating out, I have been server hamburgers with cheese -- hidden under the bun so you cant see it from the outsdie, you have to life each layer, bun and patty, to verify there is none hiding.

So, visually check. If it does not look right, speak up right away before eating it. Mistakes CAN happen and eventually probably will happen, so it is important that you not let your vigilance down.

SW

This is so true! Some ingredients are well hidden and hard to tell, but if anything does not look right, always ask.

While we were on another cruise (not DCL), a bad error happened. DD must avoid gluten and eggs, and one day we ordered (pre-order breakfast and dinner like on DCL) gluten-free & egg-free pancakes. She liked it, so we ordered again for the next day. But this time, they served gluten-free pancakes with eggs in them. Few bites and DD got sick. Then I looked at the pancakes closer, and I could tell eggs were used in them. I just wished I had checked better before letting her eat! They admitted eggs were used and apologized, but it ruined our day.

While our error was on another cruise line, I have read reports that few mishaps happened to them on Disney. You just have to be careful and do what you can on your part.

 

[Starwind]

We sailed on Magic and Wonder with DD who has multiple food allergies. They took care of her food very well on both ships. While I did feel the personnel on Magic were more used to how to deal with allergies, we did not have problems on Wonder. On Wonder last December, sometimes they would bring out the food packages so I could verify the ingredients myself. That did not happen on Magic in 2013, not sure if that is a new procedure.
You never know who will be serving on Wonder next March, but hope you will get a great serving team like we did!

On both the Dream and the Fantasy in the MDRs they have occasionally brought out a package to me to read the ingredients check if it was ok. Earth Balance margarine, Namaste chocolate cake mix, Rice Dream ice cream, Tofutti ice cream. At the QS when I got the magical pizza the chef showed me the Udi's pizza crust package and the Tofutti "cheese" slices package.

I wonder if it is because it is a prepackaged item and there are multiple allergies ? That is the only thing I could think of as to why... Also, for me at least the same things were not checked on each ship even though clearly it was the same products being used (e.g. earth balance margarine has a distinctive colour, consistency and taste, and once you are used to it you will recognize it).

SW

 

[Sir William]

Luckily, I have no food issues, but, if I did, and there was a mistake made, I'd speak up about it immediately, and not wait to see if things worked out. It's supposed to be a vacation, you shouldn't have to fret over mistakes.

Typically, when I dine out anywhere I just ask our server to tell me if I can't eat something I'm interested in as I'm allergic to bell peppers (makes eating at Italian and Mexican restaurants an challenge at times). On the first night of our first DCL cruise, after identifying and confirming our various allergies with our head server and main server, I made my order. As luck would have it, both the appetizer and the soup I ordered that night had bell peppers in it and our server was really embarrassed when he realized he kept serving me something I couldn't eat. Not a big deal, especially for the first night, and there were plenty of other options to choose from. By the time we ordered dessert we had turned the incident into a running gag which lasted the rest of the cruise, but I never worried about getting peppers, even accidentally, in my meals after that first night.

My one experience on RCL was a dining disaster. I kept telling our servers about my allergy and yet they kept bringing me dishes I couldn't eat, even after telling me they were OK. I even brought the issue to the attention of the head server and MDR manager but it never seemed to sink in and each night was a challenge to find foods I could eat.

 

[ludari]

Personally I have no first hand experience with food issues, however I have traveled with a friend both multi-day visits at the parks and on cruises and she said that Disney is absolutely the best when it comes to her food preparations for her food allergies.