Anyone travel with food allergies?

[momof1cutie]

We are going on our first cruise on the Elation in May. My 3 year old daughter has some severe food allergies. I've been told by our TA that special foods can be prepared for her at each meal as long as we eat in the dining room. Does anyone have any advice/experiences to share?

Sandy

[jleq]

While I have no food allergies myself, I've traveled with people who do. Contact Carnival (Guest Relations, if memory serves) and inform them. You also should notify the waiter the first night. They will "steer you" to menu items correct for you.

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[marygal]

I have peanut and chocolate allergies , just make sure they know about it ahead of time. Our waiters were great they made sure I didn't eat anyting in the dining room that i was not supposed to. Contact Guest services you will have to fillout a form and there should be no problem when you eat in the dining room

Mary

[cruznovice]

I took my four year old on the Elation in February and he has life=threatening nut allergies. I give our staff in the dining room full credit for doing everything they could to keep his food from being contaminated. [Unfortunately, it is not possible to eat every meal there.] The hostess came to our table and took his order specially. She then went to the kitchen, got the order herself and brought it directly to our table. [She actually even cut up his meal a few times.] Both she [Lina]andour waiter were very good.


The same can not be said of the staff in self-serve restaurant [Tiffany's on the Elation]. It was almost impossible to get any information about what was in any particular dish because the service staff do not have any knowledge of the food prep process and most do not speak good enough English to even understand the question. I was careful to always his epi-pen on to this restaurant and on deck with us so he could have snacks like all the other kids.

After a scary incident with some cereal in Tiffanys, I resorted to ordering breakfast from room service because I was told to call and ask for a certain person who spoke very good English and understood the issue.

I did contact Guest Relations, got the medical form and filled it out in detail and returned it well in advance of our sailing date.

[momof1cutie]

Thanks for your replies. Our TA did contact guest services and we faxed in the medical form. We were told they would have extra soy milk for her. She is severely allergic to milk, eggs, and peanuts and we carry an epi-pen for her. We will be in a cat 11 room because it comes with a refrigerator so I'll be bringing lots of extra snacks for her. I guess as it gets closer to our vacation I get more nervous thinking if it will be safe for her.

[jleq]

Don't be nervous. It'll "work out"

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[shirleygr]

I have a severe allergy (life threatening) to nuts and I've never had a problem on a cruise. The dining room staff have always been awesome, taking extreme care with my food preparation. I've also had pretty good luck in the alternative restaurant since after dealing with this allergy for 30+ years, I have a pretty good handle on what is most likely not going to be safe (dessert items, pesto, etc). I can see where milk, eggs and peanuts are going to be more of a challenge, but as the previous posters stated, be prepared with meds and your own snacks, eat as many meals as you can in the dining room, and try to find someone in the lido restaurant who may be able to help you. You might try asking your dining room server for help in this as they all rotate through the different dining areas.
Hope all this helps and have a truly wonderful, safe cruise!

Shirley
cruising-courtesy-kindness

Family Cruise on Fascination . . . May 3, 2004

NCL Majesty 11/98
CCL Ecstasy 1/01
CCL Fascination 11/01
CCL Fascination 4/03
RCI Majesty of the Seas 8/03
CCL Imagination 12/03
CCL Fascination 5/04

[NancAngel]

Momo1,
sounds like you well prepared. I have a severe allergy to pepper, black, white, cayenne...etc.
I faxed the health form to them and they advised me on the day the cruise sailed to go right in and contact the head waiter of our resturant, which i did. our waiter and his helper were wonderful.by the 2nd night of the cruise our tablemates as well as the wait staff referred to me as mrs no pepper http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif i did however have one little incident in the diningroom but our waiter and his helper were right there the helper went and got the headwaiter and he was on the phone with the health office. i was fine ,used my inhalers and everything went back to normal. i found the staff on the paradise to be very helpful and concerned for my needs.

Oceanic 9/86
Fantasy 5/97
paradise 9/28/03
Carnival Valor 2/20/05
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[momof1cutie]

thanks for making me feel better about having a safe trip! I also rescheduled my daughter's allergist appointment before our trip where she will get her annual testing. We are hoping for some good news!