How are food allergies handled on Carnival?

I'm a seasoned cruiser, but this fall I'm going on a 5 day cruise with a couple of girlfriends who have never cruised before. One of them has a peanut allergy. I made the notation when booking the cruise and we plan to visit the main dining room after boarding the ship. Anything else we can do? She will have her Epi Pen with her. Anyone have any experience with nut allergies and cruised safely? Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

We have cruised a few times with my nephew who has a shellfish allergy (how unlucky -- living in Louisiana with shellfish allergy). Anyway, the staff have always been quite accommodating. They even had his parents choose his meals from the kids' menu the night before so they could be prepared separately with no cross-contamination. His parents had his EpiPen and Benadryl just in case, but we never encountered a problem.

We rarely, if ever, eat on Lido. That might be a different situation.

Just let them know ahead of time and confirm with the maitre'd when you board.

On embarkation day, I informed the maitre d of my allergy and then told my headwaiter as well. They were good at letting me know in advance if any meals had tree nuts in them.

At the buffet, I'd ask an employee which items had tree nuts and then avoid those.

I never had any issues.

My mom has a severe allergy to MSG and often gets to choose her meals the night before.

I have a peanut allergy and do what was said above. I let the maitre' d know when we board. After dinner each night, the waiter will bring the menu for the following night and allow you to preselect your dinner. I have never had a problem!!

I once heard a lady ask the maitre d if she could cook her son's meals. I wish I would have been there long enough to hear the outcome!

I have a peanut allergy and do what was said above. I let the maitre' d know when we board. After dinner each night, the waiter will bring the menu for the following night and allow you to preselect your dinner. I have never had a problem!!

thanks pam. my son has nut and fish allergies and RCCC was great. Have not sailed on Carnival with our son.

I have a poultry allergy, and considering how much chicken broth and such gets slipped into all kinds of recipes, eating outside my home can be challenging. Thankfully, Carnival has always done an excellent job steering me clear of dishes that contain poultry ingredients. In my experience, the Matire D and Head waiter will be the ones to talk to in the MDR, and in the Lido, there will be a manager there at meal times and will guide you through the items on the buffet and other venues on that deck.

This is my basic post about allergies..... We travel with a group that combined has allergies to peanuts, treenuts, shellfish, egg whites, chocolate, MSG and liquid dairy. Only had issues with 'user' error, no issues with Carnival. If you have a nut allergy, know that Carnival classifies seeds as nuts.

Each ship seems to do things a little differently. This has been our experiences on the West Coast ships.

If you have an odd allergy contact Special Needs before your cruise. If you have a 'normal' allergy no need to do so.

https://www.carnival.com/about-carnival/special-needs/dietary-needs.aspx

See the Hostess at embarkation when the Maitre 'd has hours. Hours will be in the FunTmes, usually starting around 1pm. The hostess will take that night's order. Each night the hostess or your waiter will bring you the next day's MDR menu-breakfast, brunch/lunch and dinner. If deciding between two entrees, order both. For brunch don't hesitate to order a breakfast and lunch if you want to eat both meals in the MDR. At ATD, an order slip will be generated and given to your waitstaff when seated. They will confirm the order with you.

Only issue we've ever had was one cruise DD's food arrived before mine.

For room service, they cannot make special for you but they can tell you the ingredients. No special area so there is always the possibility of contamination

Buffet is a minefield. Ask the Hostess or the Head Lido Chef or the Food and Beverage crew in the officer whites. DO NOT ask the line cooks or those serving desserts. They mean well but do not know the full recipes. Cross contamination is always a possibility.

Onshore--- we bring allergy cards. I made our own but you can buy some at selectwisely dot com.

You can only bring off commercially prepared food. We bring cereal bars, boxes of cereal, bottled water, hard candy etc.

Many ports will check. Some will do a physical search, others use dogs. You do not want the cute Labrador to sit next to you. I've had them alert on my Lemonheads.

Kids clubs have a form to fill out. There are some snacks served at times. The younger kids meet up at the dinner buffet certain nights. Ask the counselors what's on the menu.

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My daughter has a severe tree nut allergy. I carry her epi pen and benadryl and put it on my special needs note. I also add it to the kids club and they give me a form to put what she can and can not have. Luckily hers is not airborne though, she has to actually eat it.

We don't order ahead from the dining room or anything and she eats from the buffet but we are mindful. I read all ingredients and if I'm not sure, she doesn't have it. She doesn't eat the cookies for risk of cross contamination. She never wants much from the buffet, she would eat guys burgers for every meal if she could. She is a huge burger fan, so that works out well since they are "safe" for her. She doesn't usually eat the deserts since they can have nuts that we dont realize, unless it's jello or something, but again, even without the allergy, she would live off guys and softserve.

She definitely doesn't feel held back or limited and I really don't worry. I just use judgement. But she's 11 and knows to ask, and avoid if there is any uncertainty. She started cruising at 8 or 9, and has always known that she has to double check. She loves Asian food, but knows there is often a risk of cashews, which is the nut that alerted us to her allergy, so she doesn't have anything from chopsticks. But she knows fried chicken, carved meats, bbq, blue iguana, etc are usually safe. The only thing that bums her out is the cookies. They are listed as possible nut contamination, so she doesn't eat them. But she would like to. Double ice cream for her. lol

My daughter has a severe tree nut allergy. I carry her epi pen and benadryl and put it on my special needs note. I also add it to the kids club and they give me a form to put what she can and can not have. Luckily hers is not airborne though, she has to actually eat it.

 

We don't order ahead from the dining room or anything and she eats from the buffet but we are mindful. I read all ingredients and if I'm not sure, she doesn't have it. She doesn't eat the cookies for risk of cross contamination. She never wants much from the buffet, she would eat guys burgers for every meal if she could. She is a huge burger fan, so that works out well since they are "safe" for her. She doesn't usually eat the deserts since they can have nuts that we dont realize, unless it's jello or something, but again, even without the allergy, she would live off guys and softserve.

 

She definitely doesn't feel held back or limited and I really don't worry. I just use judgement. But she's 11 and knows to ask, and avoid if there is any uncertainty. She started cruising at 8 or 9, and has always known that she has to double check. She loves Asian food, but knows there is often a risk of cashews, which is the nut that alerted us to her allergy, so she doesn't have anything from chopsticks. But she knows fried chicken, carved meats, bbq, blue iguana, etc are usually safe. The only thing that bums her out is the cookies. They are listed as possible nut contamination, so she doesn't eat them. But she would like to. Double ice cream for her. lol

My son is 16 and is a great self advocate for his food allergies. If is even in question- he won't eat it. I am glad to hear the cruise line is careful and will accommodating to his needs.

This is my basic post about allergies..... We travel with a group that combined has allergies to peanuts, treenuts, shellfish, egg whites, chocolate, MSG and liquid dairy. Only had issues with 'user' error, no issues with Carnival. If you have a nut allergy, know that Carnival classifies seeds as nuts.

 

Each ship seems to do things a little differently. This has been our experiences on the West Coast ships.

If you have an odd allergy contact Special Needs before your cruise. If you have a 'normal' allergy no need to do so.

 

https://www.carnival.com/about-carnival/special-needs/dietary-needs.aspx

 

See the Hostess at embarkation when the Maitre 'd has hours. Hours will be in the FunTmes, usually starting around 1pm. The hostess will take that night's order. Each night the hostess or your waiter will bring you the next day's MDR menu-breakfast, brunch/lunch and dinner. If deciding between two entrees, order both. For brunch don't hesitate to order a breakfast and lunch if you want to eat both meals in the MDR. At ATD, an order slip will be generated and given to your waitstaff when seated. They will confirm the order with you.

Only issue we've ever had was one cruise DD's food arrived before mine.

 

For room service, they cannot make special for you but they can tell you the ingredients. No special area so there is always the possibility of contamination

 

Buffet is a minefield. Ask the Hostess or the Head Lido Chef or the Food and Beverage crew in the officer whites. DO NOT ask the line cooks or those serving desserts. They mean well but do not know the full recipes. Cross contamination is always a possibility.

 

Onshore--- we bring allergy cards. I made our own but you can buy some at selectwisely dot com.

You can only bring off commercially prepared food. We bring cereal bars, boxes of cereal, bottled water, hard candy etc.

Many ports will check. Some will do a physical search, others use dogs. You do not want the cute Labrador to sit next to you. I've had them alert on my Lemonheads.

 

Kids clubs have a form to fill out. There are some snacks served at times. The younger kids meet up at the dinner buffet certain nights. Ask the counselors what's on the menu.

.

 

 

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One comment about this. They used to have a hostess with a pretty good command of English take the next day's order and supervise in the galley. Unfortunately now they leave it to the headwaiter whose English is not so good and relies on his two assistants to go to the galley to get the food.

As a result this has become hit and miss. For example DW has food allergies to vegetables growing above ground. We tell MD and headwaiter about this the first day and all to often she will get say chicken covered with spinach or something else that would trigger migraines.

I have peanut allergy, and DW has several allergies that pretty much makes any processed foods off limits for her. I do ok as long as I avoid fried foods since they may have been fried in peanut oil, and stick to items not normally prepared with nuts. We typically just stick to eating at the lido area where we can see the food and how its prepared. We manage to always get plenty to eat on the ship.

The food service workers on the Sunshine in Dec 2017 were awesome at handling our allergy lists. There was a time and place to meet with the maitre d on embarkation day, and there were quite a few people lined up there. An assistant walked down the line, checking to see what the various issues were, if the people needed the maitre d specifically, or if someone else could handle their need. A lovely lady took us out of the line and we sat with her at a table to fill her in on our needs. We were able to pre-order supper for the MDR for that night, and every night after our meal, our waiter brought the menu book over and let us pre-order the next night's meal.

In the Lido buffet, all the workers were very good about answering questions about the food items on offer. One even asked us to wait a minute, and she went in the galley and got one of the head chefs to come out and speak to us!

Everyone we encountered was so friendly and matter-of-fact about it. No one made us feel like we were causing extra work or taking too much of their time.

I have peanut allergy, and DW has several allergies that pretty much makes any processed foods off limits for her. I do ok as long as I avoid fried foods since they may have been fried in peanut oil, and stick to items not normally prepared with nuts. We typically just stick to eating at the lido area where we can see the food and how its prepared. We manage to always get plenty to eat on the ship.

They don’t use peanut oil onboard.

We have 2 in the family with Gluten Allergies and the MDR has always been great at accommodating the requests. The only "problems" we've had there is that some of the waiters like to add "buffer" food (meaning they added extra items just in case, mostly just sad for the waste really), we once were given a brunch menu to order from, only to find they were doing breakfast and lunch (Journey's cruise) and they just started bringing out random items instead of what was ordered, and occasionally we've had a waiter make a whoopsie but it is (thankfully) usually something obvious (like an onion ring on a prime rib).

The buffet is a whole different story. Most of the time they end up saying they can get a plain burger or a plain chicken breast and maybe some potatoes or veg. Some people have definitely been more helpful/accommodating than others. You have to be EXTREMELY careful of cross contamination, and not just from the other customers. I.E. we were told what was safe on mongolian wok, but when we went to "order" the guy was using the same utensils for everything. So if you're allergic to one sauce, they've all been potentially contaminated.

I recently disembarked from a Carnival Horizon cruise and was extremely disappointed in how my allergies were handled. I notified Carnival of my dangerous food allergies when I booked my sailing, as I do before every cruise. I informed the wait staff, head waiter and hostess of my allergies to mushrooms and asparagus once on board. They cause anaphylactic shock. A couple of nights into the cruise, I was served Beef Wellington and was told they prepared theirs without mushrooms. I also asked the waiter to check with the chef before sending anything because Wellington is traditionally prepared with mushrooms.. Obviously, they didn't check, brought the Wellington and it had mushrooms. I had my husband check the food before I ate anything.

A couple of nights later I ordered a BBQ chicken flatbread appetizer. I received mine and waited for the whole table to be served. My daughter's fiance ordered the same item, cut into it, and quickly told me not to eat it (as I was about to eat a piece). There were mushrooms layered under the chicken and cheese. The staff was very apologetic and offered to get me anything else I wanted but I refused to eat the food in the dining room because  I was scared. Carnival did not keep me safe. The head waiter told me he did not know there were mushrooms in that appetizer. I spoke to guest relations on board, the maitre d', guest relations at the Carnival post cruise number and wrote an email. I received word last night that they will get back to me within 30 days.

When I did speak to the maitre d' about the incidents, he suggested I had not properly informed the dining staff of my allergies. When he spoke to the staff, they acknowledged that they were aware. Then he informed me of a policy where the wait staff is supposed to provide me with a menu so I could choose my meals the day before. I had never heard of that policy on any of my sailings, it was never suggested to me on any sailing and the people I spoke with affiliated with guest relations were all unaware of that policy. I stressed to the maitre d' how dangerous food allergies can be. He said he knew and that I "would not believe the incident they had in the dining room last month".

The Lido buffet is a dangerous place for food allergies, cross contamination from people grabbing random utensils to get items or food spilling into another tray from careless cruisers is common. I just asked the staff to get me food from a tray that hadn't been put out yet and they were good about doing that. The staff was not aware of all ingredients in the food, so be careful. I went to a couple of specialty dining venues and had no issue with allergens in those settings. Even the cooking demonstration. Every singe item in the cooking demonstration, except dessert, had mushrooms in it. When it came to tasting, they made me items on the spot without mushrooms.

Bottom line, be vocal, be verbal and submit your menu the day before to prevent problems.