Peanut allergy...

[AP77]

We are going on our first cruise ever and our youngest has a peanut allergy (age 4). Does anyone have experience with this? We did Disney world last year and were very happy with how they accommodated the food allergy and made us feel confident in her safety. Do you find that they are as accommodating on the cruises?

At the ports...this is a bigger concern for me. Can we pack her a lunch to take off the ship just so that we can feel comfortable about her eating? We are going to Key West, Grand Cayman, Cozumel & Castaway. It makes me nervous about getting her food at a local vendor. She may be sensitive to cross contamination and I'm not sure how trained they would be on this.

Any experiences, tips or advice would be appreciated!

 

[Quellman]

Hi! Welcome. You will be happy to know you should have similar experiences with DCL as you do on land. They take care of people with dietary restrictions.

This link should give you some great reading on cruising with peanut allergies.

In the meantime, you can make a note in your reservation, or a travel agent can, that you have a food allergy and what it is. You will also mention it to the servers in the main dining room. When you arrive to any quick service location, state your allergy in advance. At the Cabanas buffet on the pool deck let them know when you enter. They will have a chef come out and walk you through the line.

Have a great cruise!!

 

[DynamicDisneyDuo]

DCL handles allergies very well and are normally quite accommodating with them. If your server gives you problems, speak to the head server. It is recommended to eat as many meals as possible in the main dining rooms as they are better set up for dealing with allergies.

As for ports, that's trickier. You can only take pre-packaged items off in port and even then there can be restrictions. The places you are going, if you stick to chain restaurants, shouldn't have a much problem with common allergies. You can always return to the ship for meals if necessary.

 

[MomoMama]

My DD has peanut, eggs, gluten allergies. DCL took great care of her when we sailed twice in the past.
You can pre-order the special meals the day before (lunch and dinner, served at the main dining only), and they even deliver the pre-ordered lunch to the Cookies at Castaway Cay.

When we stopped at Key West, I only let DD have a smoothie...we were not spending all day there. I usually carry something safe for her to eat, rice cakes, chips, etc. in case we don't see anything she could eat. If peanut is the only thing you need to avoid, you probably have more options to dine or pre-packaged food you can bring.

have a great cruise!

 

[lanejudy]

The only food allowed off the ship in ports has to be pre-packaged and unopened. No fruit and non-perishable. Think mini boxes of dry cereal, single-serving packages of crackers or rice cakes, granola bars, etc. Depending on your plans at port stops, I would bring a stash of snacks for your DD in case the meal options aren't safe. For CC, they'll prepare her a safe meal and tell you where to pick it up.

Have the allergy noted on your reservation. You'll speak with your head waiter the first night, then pre-order dinner each night going forward. You may want to stick with the MDRs for breakfast and lunch as well, though people have reported safe options available at Cabanas and the quick serve locations. Other than meals, food is not served in the Club/Lab; but if you planned to have her do any cooking activities, be prepared that they will be super-vigilant and may not allow her to participate unless you clear it first.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[MunFam]

As a food allergy family that travels extensively, my food list includes tuna kits, pull top-single serving cans of chicken and tuna, individual packs of beef jerky, individual pepperoni sticks, single serving of chips (which we could not find on board, so we were glad we packed them), goldfish cracker packs, oreos, fruit cups, popcorn, fruit snacks and fruit leathers...

 

[Starwind]

I am anaphylactic to milk, seafood (fish, shellfish, etc), peanut, tree nuts. For medical reasons, I also can't have artificial sweeteners (esp aspartame which triggers an instant severe migraine).

I have written previously extensively about how DCL has handled our food allergies: http://www.disboards.com/threads/special-dietary-requests.3398539/#post-53417650 The entire thread has lots of good info and the post linked has links to other resources for info.

I will add to that that on our Dec 2015 B2B on the Dream (taken since that post), we pre-ordered ALL meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) the night before and it worked out very well and it will be what I do in the future.

For two excursions where lunch was provided, we worked through DCL special services to have a safe meal available to us on the excursion. These were to Atlantis and to Blue Lagoon, both in the Bahamas.

For our Fantasy cruise we chose partial-day morning excursions with no lunch and ate lunch on the ship after the excursion. We will do this again for our Dec 2017 Fantasy B2B.

If allowed by the specific port, I bring off commercially packaged, still-sealed allergy-safe snacks that I have brought from home onto the ship. Enjoy Life brand and some others make allergy-friendly bars that are GREAT for this purpose. Small, easy to pack in whatever I am carrying, and no need to worry about keeping cold. IN A PINCH can serve as a meal. I keep a stash of them at work for just this purpose, too

We travel to WDW and with DCL in large part due to how well they handle my (and now my sister's) food allergies.

A final caveat: ALWAYS VISUALLY CHECK YOUR FOOD before eating it. Mistakes happen. They have (rarely) happened to us at WDW and on DCL. BUT THEY WERE CAUGHT IN TIME because I visually checked my food before eating it to make sure it "looked right" and it didn't. On DCL, the server saw the problem at the same time I did (grated cheese on top of romaine wedge) and was grabbing the plate out from the table at the same time I was asking "is that cheese?". I was quickly brought the romaine I SHOULD have been served with many apologies.

SW

 

[tee11]

This is all really good advice.
I have not seen anyone handle food allergies as well as Disney.
That said, especially with peanuts (anaphylaxis against peanuts), take all your usual precautions, carry Epi-pens, and discuss with the Kids club, and with your kid as well. (It is not unthinkable that another kid has a peanut snack in their pocket.)

With a 4 year old we rarely do excursions that are more than a few hours long - so I would plan that most of your meals will be on the ship. Key West will be just like you handle any other outing in the US. Castaway Cay is as if you are on the ship (preorder meal).
Don't assume anyone knows or cares or understands about cross contamination, or could tell, if something had any contact with peanuts etc. when out of the country.

 

[MunFam]

I agree with Starwind. Always be mindful and do not let your guard down simply because its DCL. Additionally, I would always travel with passports, even if not required in case of a medical evacuation (for example, our WBPC dropped a family off in GUATEMALA!). Also, travel insurance is important.

 

[MaryPatPA]

The only thing I could add is that even at Palo and Remy they were extremely careful with my DD's allergy.

 

[Bear3412]

It's also not a given that ports of call will allow prepackaged items. Yes, they usually do allow prepackaged items. But I have seen ports confiscate everything for some reason. ? ? ? Including water.

Just be aware.

Ports don't xray you yet into their country currently.
Like they xray everything when you reboard the vessel.

Obviously those are ports that ask pax and search pax.

Obviously not every port could ask/search all cruise pax.

Which are far fewer than those that ask nothing.

Cozumel could be the potential port which asks the most. Don't lie in Cozumel fwiw.
They may ask if you have snacks in your bag. If you say no, then they search, and find snacks, you could be screwed.
Passports and travel insurance are recommended for all pax when lying to Customs in any port/country.

Often there are large signs on pier indicating what cannot be brought ashore.

Cayman is more relaxed, but they pull the same thing with cruise pax for entertainment IMO.
But if Customs is asking questions, .... it is no joke.
They ask some basic questions. Half the stupid tourists lie, then get a tour of the Custom building.

Of course more than half the time there is little customs inspections or questions.

The host countries get $$$, the pax and family is shamed, often delayed, travel disrupted, custom violation on record.
It's a win for the host country for some snacks or a banana. ..... Oh my.....

Tell the truth, then you will proceed, perhaps with less snacks/baggage/weight. It's a win win.
Often always if you tell the truth and turn over your sandwiches from the buffet, etc., customs will still allows you to proceed in country.

Point is, if asked ashore in a foreign country, tell the truth. Especially about snacks, food, and fruit.
Otherwise you may have a state sponsored excursion not offered by DCL. lol
That excursion may be problematic with kids. And may last days. IYKWIM

JMO

 

[Staceroo]

When are you sailing? I was surprised on our Halloween cruise last year how many candies containing peanuts the CMs were giving out at the trick or treat parties. I really wasn't expecting it.

 

[bbel]

When are you sailing? I was surprised on our Halloween cruise last year how many candies containing peanuts the CMs were giving out at the trick or treat parties. I really wasn't expecting it.

There is a nut free option, you just have to ask for it. Usually hidden from view because (at least in the past) its been bigger/fancier chocolate that everyone would want if they saw it, but its a lot more limited availability than the regular candy.

 

[Staceroo]

There is a nut free option, you just have to ask for it. Usually hidden from view because (at least in the past) its been bigger/fancier chocolate that everyone would want if they saw it, but its a lot more limited availability than the regular candy.

While I think it's great that they offer alternatives, I'm used to almost everything involving kids being nut free. Having a pile of kids with peanut laced candies running around is quite dangerous for those who are allergic.

I'm fortunate that my daughter has no allergies. It just struck me as odd for a ship catering to kids to see so many nuts.

 

[Starwind]

I have found Disney is pretty good about notifying passengers about which ports do and do not allow food products to be brought ashore. PAY ATTENTION to anything they give you about the ports and listen carefully the the announcements. Also, the port adventure desk or guest services should be able to give you info.

SW

 

[Starwind]

Passports and travel insurance are recommended for all pax when lying to Customs in any port/country.

Travel insurance usually has a big exclusion for engaging in criminal activity. And lying to Customs and smuggling (which is what bringing food and not declaring it when you are supposed to is) are generally a crime one way or another. So one's travel insurance is unlikely to help with the extended visit and disrupted trip.

SW

 

[AP77]

When are you sailing? I was surprised on our Halloween cruise last year how many candies containing peanuts the CMs were giving out at the trick or treat parties. I really wasn't expecting it.

Dec 4th. We were at Disney world last year for halloween and most candies that they handed out had peanuts. I was shocked. I am from Canada and here most kids events/schools/etc are all peanut free zones. Disney world did allow us to trade in our bag of candy for some peanut free stuff

 

[lanejudy]

While I think it's great that they offer alternatives, I'm used to almost everything involving kids being nut free. Having a pile of kids with peanut laced candies running around is quite dangerous for those who are allergic.

I'm fortunate that my daughter has no allergies. It just struck me as odd for a ship catering to kids to see so many nuts.

Dec 4th. We were at Disney world last year for halloween and most candies that they handed out had peanuts. I was shocked. I am from Canada and here most kids events/schools/etc are all peanut free zones. Disney world did allow us to trade in our bag of candy for some peanut free stuff

Sorry you were caught off-guard and surprised Disney isn't peanut free. When traveling, it's best to assume most places are NOT peanut free. While many U.S. schools are peanut-free, I don't think it's the majority - only 1 out of the 4 schools in my community is peanut free. Most facilities and events in the U.S. do not ban peanuts or peanut products, even if kid-centered. Both DCL and WDW do a good job with alternative offerings, but it is possible to be exposed to peanuts around the ship or the parks.

 

[kuhltiffany]

I have a son with a peanut allergy, we've done 5 cruises now. Our last one was in August, I was surprised when I was told that all items (including desserts) on the kids menu in the dining rooms are now peanut free. We've always had to pre-order for him, so that made it easier!

We tend to pack a lot of safe granola bars to take with us, but also plan excursions if we can where we can eat right before, or come back at mealtime so we don't have to worry...