Packing lunches for excursions ashore? Food Allergies?

[mycutiepatooties]

My daughter has a long list of very severe food allergies and I prefer to take food off the Fantasy ship to our two ports (Tortola and St. Thomas) for lunch. She can survive on prepackaged sealed up snack items that I bring from home but is allergic to uncrustables and small cereal boxes etc. that I read others successfully take off the ship. If I bring my own Ziploc bags am I allowed to take fruit and veggies from the ship ashore for our lunch? We are planning to go on our own for excursions to Virgin Gorda -The Baths and also planning a little shopping in Charlotte Amalie and a taxi ride to Magen's Bay. Typically our family avoids eating at a restaurant when our daughter has to eat a packed lunch because that's just no fun for her to watch us getting served yummy food while she brown bags it. We just all eat a picnic lunch in these instances. Will Disney allow me to pack a small 12x12x12 cooler of food only for her or can I bring lunches for everyone in our family? I tried to search for prior threads on this subject and found that people said different ports have stricter rules. So I wanted to ask about these two specific ports of call and see if anyone can help. This is our first adventure leaving the US with her and don't want allergic reactions in a foreign country! Thank you!

 

[apathetic]

You can't take any fresh fruits or vegetables on or off the ship. Any open packages are also prohibited. Only prepackaged and sealed items are allowed on or off. It is not a DCL thing, that is the law at every port in the world. Introducing foreign insects and contaminants to an area can have devastating effects, which is why they prohibit any fresh items pretty much everywhere. Since the food on the ship came from another port, it can't be let off the ship

 

[Maggie'sMom]

My daughter has a long list of very severe food allergies and I prefer to take food off the Fantasy ship to our two ports (Tortola and St. Thomas) for lunch. She can survive on prepackaged sealed up snack items that I bring from home but is allergic to uncrustables and small cereal boxes etc. that I read others successfully take off the ship. If I bring my own Ziploc bags am I allowed to take fruit and veggies from the ship ashore for our lunch? We are planning to go on our own for excursions to Virgin Gorda -The Baths and also planning a little shopping in Charlotte Amalie and a taxi ride to Magen's Bay. Typically our family avoids eating at a restaurant when our daughter has to eat a packed lunch because that's just no fun for her to watch us getting served yummy food while she brown bags it. We just all eat a picnic lunch in these instances. Will Disney allow me to pack a small 12x12x12 cooler of food only for her or can I bring lunches for everyone in our family? I tried to search for prior threads on this subject and found that people said different ports have stricter rules. So I wanted to ask about these two specific ports of call and see if anyone can help. This is our first adventure leaving the US with her and don't want allergic reactions in a foreign country! Thank you!

Taking fruit and veggies off the ship is not allowed. It is prohibited by law at most ports and can cause you to be fined heavily. And by heavily, I'm talking in the thousands of dollars. Fruits and vegetables are a known way for invasive insects to be introduced to areas. You are restricted to taking off factory-sealed, pre-packaged food only.

 

[lorimay]

Fines for bringing food ashore can be in the thousands and thousands.

 

[Starwind]

I have multiple food allergies and understand the concern of finding safe food off ship: when we cruise we don't eat food that isn't from the ship or that we didn't bring with us.

As others have said, *IF* food is allowed off at all, it is only commercially packaged, factory sealed food that is allowed off. And certain specific foods will not be allowed off even if commercially packaged and factory sealed [think fresh veggies and fruits and meats]. Some ports do not allow any food off at all.

It has nothing to do with DCL. It is Customs and/or Agriculture regulations of the country you are visiting. The USA has their own version of the regulations; every country does. As others have noted it is to protect a country and its agriculture from invasive pests and diseases, and to protect its human and animal population from pest and disease. Also, DCL doesn't allow certain foods to be brought on the ship by guests in the first place because of similar health and agriculture regulations the ship has to meet.

The fines in most countries for violating these rules are rather high -- thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. Possibly jail time if they consider you to be smuggling. Agriculture rules are something countries do not mess with, because an invasive species getting in can and in the past has decimated entire crops [along with the resulting toll on the economy, jobs, and potentially survival if it is a staple crop].

What we do is ensure we get a large pre-excursion meal on board ship, bring along enough allowed commercially packaged factory sealed snacks to tide us through the excursion [not eating a meal during the excursion -- to use just as grazing to tide through the time off ship -- means you don't need as much food, and snacks will usually work just fine] and then when we get back on board one of the first things we do is get a meal.

Your best bet is to write DCL and ask the specific regulations for the two ports in terms of what if any foods are allowed off. You can also try contacting the relevant customs authorities. For example, I contacted US CBP with questions I had about returning to Port Canaveral with food at the end of our cruise, since DCL and the signs in the port say no food. CBP provided me good advice on what was actually allowed and not and what documentation I needed to bring remaining food I had back into the US.

SW

 

[FigmentSpark]

Just to add, bringing something that's prohibited, even food, across a border is smuggling. So just don't do it.

If you can't trust the restaurants in port, have a big breakfast on the ship, take whatever prepackaged stuff you can and call it a day a little earlier than you might have so you can eat on the ship. By the way, bottled water is allowed.

 

[professorandmom]

We are planning to go on our own for excursions to Virgin Gorda -The Baths ..... Will Disney allow me to pack a small 12x12x12 cooler of food only for her or can I bring lunches for everyone in our family?

I've been to the Baths and you DO NOT want to be carrying a cooler...the walking requires careful attention (especially for smaller folks with shorter legs) - especially the pathway back to the parking lot. We used a string bag to bring some prepackaged snacks and water bottles...and, while a pain to keep out of the water at times, was definitely the most we would have wanted to carry, IMHO

 

[mycutiepatooties]

I appreciate all the comments as this is our first ever cruise. I had no idea that this was such a big issue so I'm glad that I asked. I never dreamed that we might not be able to bring the unopened prepackaged snacks back with us into Port Canaveral so I'll need to plan carefully as her allergy safe foods cost 3x what regular snacks cost. I will work on finding out what pre-packaged foods are allowable for St. Thomas and Tortola.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I appreciate all the comments as this is our first ever cruise. I had no idea that this was such a big issue so I'm glad that I asked. I never dreamed that we might not be able to bring the unopened prepackaged snacks back with us into Port Canaveral so I'll need to plan carefully as her allergy safe foods cost 3x what regular snacks cost. I will work on finding out what pre-packaged foods are allowable for St. Thomas and Tortola.

Bringing unopenened, factory sealed packaged foods back is fine. You just can't bring back opened packages, fresh fruits and veggies, and meats.

 

[Starwind]

I appreciate all the comments as this is our first ever cruise. I had no idea that this was such a big issue so I'm glad that I asked. I never dreamed that we might not be able to bring the unopened prepackaged snacks back with us into Port Canaveral so I'll need to plan carefully as her allergy safe foods cost 3x what regular snacks cost. I will work on finding out what pre-packaged foods are allowable for St. Thomas and Tortola.

One of CBP's advice to me was to Bring your receipts with you, to show that the snacks were originally purchased in the USA [i.e. so you can show the paper trail you bought them in the US, boarded the ship with them and are now returning with them into the US - they have never actually asked me to show them this paperwork, but we always have it]. Even better if they also have a "product of the USA" label on them.

DECLARE ALL FOODS ALWAYS to appropriate customs authorities. Not declaring food will get you in trouble. When I return to the US (and at the end of the entire trip when I return home to Canada), I make a written list of all the food we have with us, down to the last Enjoy Life bar. If at all possible I have it all in carry-on since if Customs decides they are seizing a food item, it is usually easier to get it out of a carryon then to fish it out of checked baggage. We declare it all, give them a list of the foods if asked [verbally by reading form the written list or just hand them the written list], go through secondary or agriculture inspection when required, and are fully prepared to have any or all of the food items confiscated. At Port Canaveral we have had to talk with the Agriculture officer a couple times, which meant clearing customs took longer, but it was just an extra couple minutes and they were very nice.

The US CBP website has quite a bit of information about importing foods, including the foods that are just never allowed to be imported. I have also found them responsive to phone and email questions. We check with them before each cruise to make sure the rules haven't changed.

As for the cruise itself, have you reached out to DCL Special Services ? You are likely to find that they can accommodate her allergies on board and so you may only be looking at a small number of snacks being needed. Most people with allergies I know who sail DCL and bring food end up not needing any or most of it because DCL can accommodate them just fine.

SW

 

[Starwind]

DCL has an excursion to the Baths - https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/port-adventures/tortola-virgin-islands-tour-to-virgin-gorda/ - that is 4-4.5 hours long and does not include a meal (the longer Day at the Baths includes lunch). We were scheduled to take it until our Eastern got changed to a Western thanks to the hurricanes. For ours, the departure time would have been 08:15 with the tour lasting to 12:30 pm. Easy to get breakfast before the tour, bring a couple packaged things for a quick snack mid morning, and then you are back on the ship very early afternoon in time to get a proper lunch. No need for massive meal planning for the excursion.

SW

 

[mycutiepatooties]

Thank you Starwind...you are so helpful!

 

[MeLaNie9]

Sometimes the cruise ships have prepackaged snacks for those with allergies. One time, we were given a whole box of Enjoy Life cookies for our son and we saw a CM giving a similar box to another girl in Cabanas. We also were given a box of Enjoy Life donuts. However, you probably shouldn't count on it but do ask if they have anything suitable for you.

 

[mom2brooke76]

I just wanted to say as a mother of a child with a rare food allergy, please call DCL and make sure to give them the heads up about your daughter's allergy. Once you're onboard find out who your head server will be (you can ask almost anyone that works for DCL once you have your dining rotation and they'll let you know). I find that my best bet is asking during embarkation lunch the first day. The head server will meet with you and go over what your daughter can and cannot have. For my daughter, each night she has her own special basket of rolls that are safe, etc. They'll ask for her breakfast requests the night before and will ask the day before about Castaway Cay. They even offered her special ice cream. We're fixing to go on our 11th Disney cruise, and most of those she's dealt with her food allergy and I can honestly say they've been amazing! Feel free to pm me if you ever need to chat about any of this