Adventures with a Child with Food Allergies II - Disney Magic (12/18/15-12/23/15)

Preface

This will not be a typical cruise review. This review will mainly detail how DCL handled serving a child with food allergies. If I get around to my general thoughts of the cruise, it will be a bonus.

Miss Swede is a proud 11-year-old tween who is a competititive gymnast (Xcel Gold), excellent snow skier, and fantastic soccer player. At a very early age, she was diagnosed with asthma along with allergies to dairy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, and sesame--amongst other things which she has now outgrown. She is NOT allergic to soy or gluten. Her allergies to eggs and peanuts have been diagnosed as life-theatening, which requires carrying an Epi-Pen at all times. In short, we have to cook as if living a vegan lifestyle--while regularly enjoying meat (she loves steak and bacon).

Traveling with a child with food allergies has many challenges. How can we make sure she is safe from being accidentally exposed to peanuts and other nuts (from airline-provided snacks or nearby passengers who bring their own) while hurtling 35,000 feet in the air in a giant metal tube traveling at almost the speed of sound--sometimes over the Atlantic Ocean? How can we make sure the food made on a cruise ship hundreds of miles from land doesn't contain dairy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, or sesame--or isn't accidentally cross-contaminated by handling? How can we make sure she enjoys her time on a cruise when everyone else will be enjoying ice cream, cakes, cookies, and other sweet treats? Such is the life of a parent of a child with food allergies.

On our last cruise in 2011 (reviewed here*), we were very impressed with how Carnival were able to make allergy-friendly food for Miss Swede using receipes provided by us as well as utilizing food items we brought on-board. How would Disney compare?

* - apologies that review was left incomplete, but the most important part of the story (Carnival's handling of food allergies) was written. Life got in the way. I hope not to repeat that with this review.

The Travel Party

pseudoswede - me, father of two beautiful daughters

Mrs. Swede - my beautiful wife

Miss Swede - you met her above

Baby Swede - energetic 8-year-old with no food allergies

We also traveled with three other families, detailed further below.

Planning and Booking

We had heard that Disney Cruise Line, being so family-friendly, were also very allergy-friendly. The great majority of reviews (found on food allergy forums) confirmed as such. However, given the price premium DCL charges, we were not sure if it was worth it--we are not frequent cruisers, and our vacation budget normally goes towards annual trips to visit Mrs. Swede's motherland to visit her parents and sisters.

All the way back in July 2013, we had a reunion with a group of friends in the Colorado mountains. They were former residents of Denver who have since moved to other places in the US and world, gotten married, and started their own families. Over that fabulous weekend, the seed was planted to have another reunion on a Disney cruise around (but not during) Christmas 2015. After lots of e-mails once the iternaries were released, we decided on a 5-night cruise on the Magic. Out of the 12 or so families that were initially asked to join the fun, four families took the plunge and made the deposit in June 2014. It all seemed so far away. We even took two trips to Sweden during that time. Before we knew it, December 2015 was here.

I had some minor issues with my TA (found via Cruise Compete) regarding an additional $100 in OBC that was promised, but Disney had trouble acknowledging. It was eventually resolved after a few e-mails after embarkation. Otherwise, our TA was perfectly acceptable. I also took advantage of the Kroger-brand grocery 4x fuel points promotion in late November and pre-loaded our on-board account with a few hundred dollars using Disney gift cards. The other day, we enjoyed filling up our cars at $0.76/gal thanks to a $1/gal fuel points discount. We will have another $1/gal discount to use by the end of January.

I started scouring United Airlines for award tickets starting in January 2015. I eventually found four saver tickets (12.5k miles each) in February for DEN-IAH-FLL leaving on 12/16, arriving at 11pm. That meant the kids would miss 1.5 days of school. A few months later, I booked a rental car (minivan, actually) and the Hyatt Regency Miami for two nights. The other three families we would be cruising with also booked at the Hyatt for Thursday night. About a week prior to departure, the price on our hotel room dropped $20/night; a quick call to Hyatt to cancel and rebook our room saved us $40.

We intially had plans of staying in Florida after the cruise to celebrate Christmas and New Year's with Mrs. Swede's family, but the cost to rent a house for 12 people, plus airfare back to Denver right after New Year's ($600+/person, yikes!) made it prohibitively expensive. This is what happens when you only try to plan this stuff 3-4 months in advance. Fortunately, flights (non-stop, to boot, from MIA) back to Denver on disembarkation day were still very cheap ($125/person), so I booked those.

DCL Special Needs Department

Mrs. Swede had a very friendly conversation with the Special Needs Department a few months before sailing. If we didn't get a warm fuzzy with their answers, we still had time to get a full refund of our cruise deposit. They did state, contrary to what Carnival allowed for us, that we could not provide them with any recipes or foods. They also stated that their chefs are very aware of food allergies and will take the appropriate steps to ensure as safe of a meal as possible for Miss Swede. As stated many times on their website, passengers with food allergies need to fill out the special needs form at least 60 days prior to sailing. We submitted the form via fax about 90 days prior; an e-mail or phone call acknowledging receipt of the form would be nice. About a week before embarkation, Mrs. Swede learned through a Facebook group regarding food allergies that DCL does stock allergy-friendly foods on-board. She called DCL to confirm that they do, in fact, carry the following items on-board:

• Follow Your Heart vegan cheese
  
• Tofutti vegan sour cream
  
• Tofutti vegan cream cheese
  
• Rice Dream vanilla ice cream
  
• Earth Balance vegan butter
  
• Rice milk (brand unknown)
  

Disclaimer: This should not be considered a guaranteed list. Always consult with DCL prior to your trip to ensure allergy-friendly products are available.

Based on this alone, DCL has already trumped RCCL (handily) and CCL with accomodating people with food allergies.

As there are no guarantees in life except death and taxes, just as a precaution, we picked up some rice milk, sunbutter, vegan butter, and vegan cheese--as well as a plethora of allergy-friendly snacks and desserts--to bring on-board from the Whole Foods across the street from our hotel.

Pre-Cruise (skip if you don't want to read about non-cruise stuff)

As "luck" would have it, Denver got buried under 14" of fresh snow the day before our departure. Schools were closed, and I worked from home while also spending time shoveling the driveway. Over 600 flights were cancelled out of DEN that day. Warm weather couldn't come soon enough. On Wednesday morning, I took the kids to school to drop off holiday gifts to their teachers--which was supposed to be done on Tuesday, then we packed the car and left for the airport. I wasn't thinking about the chaos that ensued at the airport yesterday, and I grossly underestimated the time needed to clear security. On a normal Wednesday, well before schools are off for the holidays, security should only take about 15-20 minutes; this day, it took close to an hour. We always get stopped by TSA because we bring many allergy-friendly snacks and drinks for Miss Swede, as well as all of the Epi-Pens that we have in our carry-ons. After the usual bomb detection swabs and viewing the doctor's note, we made it to the gate with about 25 minutes to spare. I think because of the long security lines, the plane was barely half-full; but it left almost full by the time the doors were closed, a few minutes later than scheduled.

As a mild airplane geek, the DEN-IAH segment was flown on United's new-ish 787 Dreamliner, our first time on this beauty. It's so rare (and nice) to be flying on a widebody jet on a domestic route these days. The kids and Mrs. Swede watched "Inside Out" on their AVOD screens while I decided to watch "Entourage"; my other three family members viewed the better movie, for sure. The flight was smooth and quiet; I would be more than happy if United started deploying this plane type on some of their European routes. After a long walk and brief layover in IAH, we boarded our flight to FLL. That, too, was uneventful; and we all napped briefly. We collected our bags, then the minivan at Avis, and then made the 30-minute drive to downtown Miami. We checked into the Hyatt Regency around midnight, and the bellman/concierge was incredibly nice helping us bring our luggage to our room; he even comped us two PPV movies to enjoy on Thursday. We finally got to bed around 1:15am.

On Thursday, we took the minivan out for a few errands, stopping at Publix and a few other stores. Trying to plan a dinner at a restaurant for 16 people can be pretty daunting, especially since it would be most unlucky if Miss Swede got an allergic reaction the day before the cruise. I contacted a PF Chang's located near the hotel, as we had heard that chain is great for people with allergies. I stopped by the restaurant and spoke with the manager. He was very helpful, and informed us the restaurant has a computer that can print out a menu which will exclude foods with the allergens. As it turns out, you need to give the restaurant at least three days' notice if you have a food allergy. All of their proteins arrive at the restaurant pre-marinated, and the marinade contains dairy and/or eggs. The three days' notice will allow coporate to deliver unmarinated proteins to that restaurant. Lesson learned. As it approached lunchtime, we drove back to the hotel and walked to some of the nearby stores. Subway has been great when it comes to accomodating food allergies. We've been always able to request them to wash a knife and put on clean gloves without questions. Lately, we've been asking them to prepare her sandwich (typically a 6" ham and turkey on white with lettuce, cucumbers, and salt/pepper) on one of their plastic salad trays to help reduce any possible cross-contamination that may linger on their preparation board. This Subway in downtown Miami, on the other hand, wanted none of that. The employee simply ran water over the knife and wiped it down with the same gloves he had used with the previous three sandwiches. When I asked to prepare her sandwich on a salad tray, he said that he would have to charge us for both a sandwich and salad! This was also confirmed by the manager. I was pretty ticked off, so we left. Fortunately, we had picked up some Oscar Meyer Lunchables sandwich boxes from Publix, and Miss Swede had one in the hotel room. I went down to the hotel's restaurant, Riverwalk Cafe, and I spoke to the manager about a table for 16 people that evening. He said no problem. I also talked to him about accommodating people with food allergies. As it turned out, the sous chef, Tony, was in ear shot. He came over, introduced himself, and said he would be more than happy to take care of Miss Swede and any allergies she may have. We arranged for a 6:30pm dinner time.

At 3pm, Mrs. Swede walked a few blocks away to a nail salon to get a manicure (Symbols Beauty Salon--she said they did a great job at a reasonable price). I took the kids to the swimming pool. The other three families slowly arrived to the hotel, and it was a great start to our reunion. The adults enjoyed beer pool-side while the kids (eight girls (!!!) between the ages of 2.5 to 11) swam. We all reconvened in the hotel bar at 6pm for happy hour drinks and gift exchanges. Time flew, and we didn't sit down for dinner until 6:45pm. Tony came back out and personally took Miss Swede's dinner order (steak, roasted potatoes, and roasted vegetables), and he gave us a detailed account on how each item would be prepared. Miss Swede said it was great. It was great catching up with our friends over drinks and dinner, and we were getting more and more excited about our cruise.

Rating the restaurants from Thursday:

PF Chang's - 3/5 (at least they tried, and they were very apologetic)

Subway - 0/5 (rude and unapologetic; nothing at all like how it is here in Denver)

Riverwalk Cafe - 4.5/5 (they received a very generous tip from us; half-point deduction for overcooking my steak)

Embarkation Day - December 18

We all got the 12:30-1:00pm PAT, so we could take it easy in the morning. At 11am, we packed the minivan, filled it up with gas, and returned it to the downtown Avis/Budget office, located about a block from the hotel. They only have one van that shuttles passengers to/from the Port of Miami, and it's not very large, nor does it hold much luggage. If there are a lot of people waiting, you could be waiting 30-60 minutes. We lucked out and were the second family waiting in line. We arrived at Port of Miami around 11:35am. The other three families, who took taxis directly from the hotel, arrived at about the same time. We walked into the terminal around 12:05pm. At the security screening, Mrs. Swede and I each had two bottles of wine in our carry-ons. We were only required to show the tops of the bottles to the screener before being allowed to move on. They didn't seem to be very thorough or picky. One couple was able to bring on a bottle of rum that way.

We entered the large, check-in hall and were immediately directed to a desk. The whole process was painless and we were given our KTTW cards. As we walked down the hall toward the youth registration, we encounted a character meet & green with Minnie. Naturally, we all took pictures with her; and we lucked out as only about two additional families behind us were able to stand in line before others were turned away. After picture, we proceeded to register our children in the youth programs and get their Oceaneer bracelets. Finally, it was time to board the ship. The children actually got to walk with Minnie some of the way. After some more pictures with the professional photographers, we gave the last names of the four families, and we were all announced together as we entered the Deck 4 atrium.

It was approaching 1:15pm, and we headed to Carioca's for lunch. It was a delicious buffet, but a cross-contamination nightmare for anyone with food allergies. We spoke with the head server for our section, and he worked with us in picking out foods that Miss Swede wanted to eat (carved roast beef and spaghetti noodles). After a few minutes of waiting, he came out from the kitchen with a heaping pile of each. Miss Swede wolfed most of it down. The head server also helped us with pre-ordering dinner for the evening (grilled salmon, steamed white rice, and steamed broccoli).

After lunch, we put our carry-ons into our cabin (7056, Cat 5A). Our room attendant, Anthony, also delivered our luggage. We briefly explored the ship before attending the muster drill. Afterwards, we went to the Oceaneer's Lab/Club and Edge. We spoke with the counsellors at each location about Miss Swede's allergies. Miss Swede would be carrying an Epi-Pen in her purse; and all counsellors are trained to administer it. At Edge, she would carry it herself in her purse (along with her phone if she needed to communicate with us via the Disney Cruise app); at the Oceaneer's Club/Lab, she would have to check the Epi-Pen in/out at the desk. We avoided any activities at the youth clubs that involved food (except for the marshmallow games). Please note that we are not this overly cautious at home; it's the simple fact that we would be traveling long distances in open seas.

We went back to our cabin to unpack and get ready for early seating. Our dining rotation was LAACL. Lumiere's had the most desirable menu of the three (IMO), so I was happy. I had linked all four families' reservations together, so we were assigned tables 18 & 19. We kind of rotated every evening who sat with whom. Our server was Ivan, assistant was Gabriel, and the head server was Deneval. Ivan was absolutely fantastic. We spoke with him about Miss Swede, and he said, "You are on vacation. I want you to relax and have a good time. I will make sure Miss Swede's food is safe and delicious." Miss Swede enjoyed her dinner, but the best part of the meal for her was the Rice Dream ice cream.

Star Wars

One of the most exciting things to happen on the cruise was that it coincided with the official opening night for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens". I believe the cruise was sold-out by the time the opening date was announced, so it was an added bonus for everyone on the ship. On embarkation day, it was shown four times: twice in the Buena Vista theater in 2D at 5:15pm and 8:15pm. It was also shown, in lieu of the "All Aboard!" show, in the Walt Disney Theater in 3D at 5:30pm and 8:30pm.

After dinner, we started lining up around 7:45pm for the Walt Disney Theater showing. The line was already stretched all the way to the gift shops. There were many people in Star Wars t-shirts and quite a few (both children and adults) dressed up in costume. Once the doors opened, it was a rather orderly flow into the theater. There were 10 of us in our party that evening, and we were able to snag 4th row center very easily. Compared to a movie theater, way up front is not so bad since the movie screen itself still is a good distance away. By the time the lights dimmed, after an introduction by Cruise Director Ray, the theater was about 80% full (at best). After the movie, my kids immediately purchased a BB-8 stuffed toy each; they also each got a commerative Star Wars/DCL t-shirt . The merchandising force is strong with this film.

The movie was shown one more time in 3D in the Walt Disney Theater the next day at 11am. It was shown five additional times in the Buena Vista Theater (three times on the second at-sea day), but only once in 3D, the remainder of the cruise. That meant it was shown 10 times during our 5-night cruise, which was lower than what I had expected.

I have about two more sections to go. I hope to power through them this weekend.

I have about two more sections to go. I hope to power through them this weekend.

Enjoying the review so far!

Looking forward to the rest of it!

ex techie

Thanks for the detailed trip. We have done lots of Disney vacations because of their ability to deal with food allergies. I'm always fearful of trying something else because I don't know if other lines would be as good at it.

We usually stick with the same restaurants at home, too, because so many people have no idea whatsoever what we are talking about when we say someone can't eat deadly nightshades. At least people finally know what gluten is. 20 years ago, nobody working in restaurants did.

Really enjoying your review. We got off the Magic the day you got on, so i can truly visualize your check-in, seeing SW, etc. I bought a boatload (pun intended) of SW souvenirs, including the bb8 cups and dart Vader and tie fighter popcorn holders...

Miss Swede's Dining Experience - the rest of the cruise

We didn't explore all dining options and possibilities because we were on a 5-night cruise. We probably could've done a lot more had we been on a 7-night cruise. As with past cruises, we pre-ordered Miss Swede's meals for the following day with Ivan or Deneval: this included breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Each meal was written on a "pink sheet" and were stored somewhere. We would notify the server at a restaurant (including Cabana's) that Miss Swede had a special meal and give our cabin number; he/she would disappear and return with the pink sheet in their hand. Her meal would be delivered shortly thereafter.

Once we determined that Miss Swede could eat the french bread rolls served the first night in Lumiere's, Ivan made sure she had her own basket of the rolls every night at dinner--including a plate of vegan butter--regardless of the bread actually being served each night.

December 19 - First Day at Sea

Breakfast (Lumiere's) - pancakes, bacon, orange juice

Lunch (Lumiere's) - cheeseburger, fries

Dinner (Animator's Palate) - steak, baked potato, broccoli, vegan chocolate cake

December 20 - Grand Cayman

Breakfast (Lumiere's) - pancakes, bacon, orange juice

Lunch (on deck 9) - ham sandwich, fries

Dinner (Animator's Palate) - chicken soup, spaghetti bolognese with vegan cheese, vegan cookie dessert

The tender back to the ship took much longer than expected, and we arrived to Cabana's (the planned lunch venue) after closing. The employee who was directing people away from Cabana's was very helpful in finding the pink sheet; she then consulted with Deneval, who was working at Pete's Boiler Bites. In short order, her meal was delivered to us. Deneval also found us later on deck 9 to make sure everything was satisfactory with Miss Swede's meal.

December 21 - Second Day at Sea

Breakfast (Cabana's) - cereal and rice milk

Lunch (Lumiere's) - tomato soup, fries, bread rolls w/ butter

Dinner (Carioca's) - roasted chicken breast, steamed rice, veggies, Rice Dream ice cream with berries

Rice milk is located in the fridge under where they serve cereal; ask an employee for a glass of it when needed.

December 22 - Castaway Cay

Breakfast (Lumiere's) - waffles, bacon, tea

Lunch (Cookie's BBQ) - cheeseburger, fries

Dinner (Lumiere's) - steak, veggies, Rice Dream ice cream

They also included a pre-packaged cookie with Miss Swede's lunch. Unfortunately, it was not allergy-friendly. Mrs. Swede spoke with the staff about it, and they came back with a plate of Enjoy Life soft-baked chocolate chip cookies.

December 23 - Disembarkation Day

Breakfast (Lumiere's, second seating) - waffles, cereal, orange juice

Ivan said he was only going to work the first seating. Upon hearing that we were planning on going to the second seating, he made sure to stay. Even though we were not seated in his area, he personally delivered Miss Swede's final breakfast on the ship.

Criticisms

I believe our biggest complaint with the dining experience was the timing. As opposed to our experience on Carnival, where the kids' meals were served immediately upon being seated, no matter how many times I said we'd like the childrens' meals to come out faster than the adults', they rarely did so. Had such an approach happened, I feel that the kids could've been fed and back in Oceaneer's Club/Lab or Edge by 6:30; which would've given them a solid 90 minutes to play before the evening shows. On most nights, they were not into the youth clubs until 7:30. I'm not sure how this could be improved, but, again, it's a minor complaint. Perhaps it's a logistical nightmare on a ship with so many more children on-board compared to other cruiselines. I'm not sure how Dine & Play works since we were early seating, but I wish there was that option for us, too.

I also would have liked to see more dessert options for Miss Swede. I think sorbet, which is served in Palo, would be a fabulous option for passengers who cannot have dairy and/or egg. Had we been on a longer cruise, we may have asked the kitchen to "push the envelope" on making more creative desserts.

Final Thoughts

As food allergy awareness continues to grow, I have read the strides the cruise industry has made in order to accommodate those passengers. However, upon reading recent reviews, it appears that many cruiselines still have a long way to go to ensure that passenger comparable similar meals compared to regular passengers. If we could get a willing dining staff and kitchen like we did with our Carnival cruise, and we were able to provide recipes and other foods for them to cook with, I'm confident we would be totally fine while saving thousands of dollars. I have heard good things about Norwegian, and we'll most likely try them in a year or two (or three).

In other good news, it appears that some of Miss Swede's allergies are growing less severe. She outgrew her shellfish allergy at an early age. A few years ago, we determined that she could have dairy baked in baked goods; and just two months ago, she ate her first (real) mozzarella cheese pizza (per her doctor, any cheese baked above 400-degrees for at least 15 minutes should be good); however, she still failed drinking actual milk. Her allergy scores with most tree nuts have also fallen considerably in recent years, and we will be testing those over the next few years. That means many of the dietary restrictions we've had to deal with throughout her life will be but a memory. Miss Swede has always been a pretty picky eater. As she grows older, and her palette becomes more adventurous, I believe that she will enjoy many more things that the dining room could prepare.

Of the three lines we have cruised with so far, Disney was, by far, the most allergy-friendly. Is it worth the massive premium? That depends. Yes, the service is outstanding; and the dining staff kept Miss Swede safe. As much as we have enjoyed our visits to Disneyland, Miss Swede and Baby Swede (nor Mrs. Swede and I) aren't fanatics of Disney brand itself. We tagged along with three other families because they wanted the Disney experience. More importantly, we got to try a new cruiseline, Miss Swede never had an allergic reaction, and all 16 of us had a fantastic time.

Our 13 yo dd is peanut/treenut allergic. Disney has always been the least stressful travel we've done. I'm glad your trip went well.

Would you consider posting your review here:http://foodallergysupport.olicentral.com/index.php

It's been my source off most things FA for a long time. Foturnately, dd went thru PA desensitization a few years ago and life has been much easier for us.

Post-Cruise

Disembarkation was quick and painless. It helps that our flight wasn't until 6:40pm so that we didn't have to wake up extremely early to rush off the ship. We had a leisurely breakfast in Lumiere's at 8:15 with one other family from our group (who were driving to Orlando to celebrate Christmas with their extended family); the other two families disembarked at 7am for their early flights home. We left Lumiere's around 9:20am. The ship seemed empty, but the line on Deck 4 to get off the ship streched all the way into Shutters, and it moved quickly. We got a porter, found our bags pretty quickly, and were out the door in no time.

I didn't realize the airline luggage service had to be booked by 12/20. I got the dates mixed up with booking airport transportation (12/21). I panicked mildly since I had rented a small car from Avis to drive around in for the day. After a somewhat lengthy wait for the Avis/Budget shuttle outside the terminal, we got to the rental office, and I upgraded to a small SUV for an extra $10. We then drove to the airport to check-in our bags. Unfortunately, United doesn't allow early check-in, so we had to schlep our bags back to the rental car and figure out what to do. 30 minutes and $4 parking wasted. We drove back towards South Beach to look at the art deco buildings, then both kids fell asleep. We then decided to drive up to Ft. Lauderdale to enjoy the ocean drive. Both kids suddenly woke up again in North Beach. So we turned around and found a parking garage in South Beach. I normally wouldn't leave all of our luggage exposed in the back of the SUV. I did back the SUV into the parking space to make it less visible and more difficult for any potential thief to extract it through the back door.

From our previous cruise and post-cruise stay on South Beach, we knew there was a Johnny Rocket's on Ocean Drive, so we ate lunch there. We lucked out and got a booth right next to the street for maximum sun and people watching. The manager was well-versed in food allergies, and he even dropped the phrase, "corporate has directed us to...". Sadly, there isn't much on the menu available for Miss Swede. We ordered an all-beef hot dog and fries for her, and she was happy with that. After lunch, we took a brief stroll up Ocean Drive, then onto the beach, where the kids played for about an hour, washed off our feet, then made our way back to the parking garage. After a brief stop at Publix to pick up Lunchables for the kids for the plane ride home, we arrived at the MIA RCC to drop off the car, check-in our bags, and proceeded through security.

The flight home was bumpy, but uneventful. All three of our checked bags were one of the first 20 off the carousel. Going from 80-degree weather to 30-degree weather is not something I enjoy--especially while wearing shorts. Thank goodness for heated seats. :D

Random ratings from our post-cruise excursion:

United Airlines - 2/5 (many airlines allow early bag-check, some even overnight, why can't you?; flight was fine and arrived on-time)

Avis PortMiami office - 1/5 (they need more shuttles--at least one more, maybe two)

Johnny Rocket's Miami Beach - 4/5 (pleasant dining experience; just wish they had more allergy-friendly options)

Miami Airport Terminal G - 0/5 (calling it old and depressing would be an insult to old and depressing airport terminals)

Additional Thoughts - Adult Perspective

This are my thoughts about the cruise outside the scope of dealing with food allergies.

Miami

Let me get this straight, Walgreen's and CVS in downtown Miami, your stores are located just miles from a beach and even closer to a major cruise port that takes passengers to many other sandy beaches, but you do not regularly carry sand toys? Instead, you carry ... snow sleds? Really?

Food

It's all very subjective. Mrs. Swede and I are not food snobs by any means. We thought the food in both the MDRs and Palo were not anything special. There were some bright spots here and there, but I found most foods to be pretty bland. The pancakes and waffles served at breakfast were especially awful. The best food item I ate was the lamb biryani in Cabana's on the second at-sea day; Mrs. Swede said her's was the fijoles negro soup in Carioca's. I also enjoyed the escargot in Lumiere's, and I was disappointed they offered a different menu on our second visit there. Since we had to order Miss Swede's meal the previous night, I shared my disappointment with Ivan. He came though and presented me with escargot on the final night. Another decent food option were the gyros at Pete's Boiler Bites. I wish I had taken more advantage of the late-night food snacks at O'Gills, but we never really visited that part of the ship since our kids were usually with us after the evening show until bedtime. The pizza was a nice snack between meals, and I took advantage of the desserts and warm croissants at The Cove.

We dined at Palo on Pirate Night. The appetizer plate at Palo was nice, as were the two kinds of ravioli I tried (lobster and beef); however, while it was better than the MDR menu, it was not worth the $30/person (plus $20/person gratuity) up-charge.

We thought dining service the whole cruise was pretty slow, borderline painfully slow. Drink service was very inconsistent, borderline non-existant, getting refills and wine/beer took a very long time, which I guess falls on the assistant server. Dinner at Palo took almost three hours, which caused us to almost miss the fireworks on Pirate Night--and a surprise costume change for Mrs. Swede and I.

Customer Service

Our interactions with Guest Services and Port Adventures were always pleasant. We lost three items on our cruise, and we were able to recover two of them (safe travels, where ever you may go, Miss Swede's headband). Our room attendant was always friendly. Actually, he was also made aware of Miss Swede's allergies, and he asked us if he should leave the chocolate coins in our room. That was a thoughtful touch. Mrs. Swede and I enjoyed some sparkling wine and white wine in our cabin in the afternoons, and Anthony kept the ice bucket nice and cold.

Cabin

It was a nice cabin. It's not like we spend much time in there, so it being 40-50sqft larger than other cabins we have cruised with is pretty irrelevant to us. The raised bed to keep luggage under was a plus--then again, we've been able to do that on all of our cruises. The bathrooms definitely showed signs of wear; the showerhead was quite leaky. The balcony was nice to be out on, but you could see signs of rust all over the place. The three other families got adjoining cabins on the 8th floor, and had the dividers removed. They spent the late evenings after the kids fell asleep drinking wine on their triple balcony. That sounds nice, but we value privacy.

Our toilet overflowed once. A quick call to Anthony, who was on break, was transferred to another room attendant, who showed up at our door within minutes. Maintenance took care of the issue somewhere else, and we heard our toilet flushing a few times. About 30 minutes after the incident, Anthony returned and cleaned up the bathroom.

Drinks

I purchased the beer mug on Embarkation Day at the stand they erected near Carioca's. What annoyed me was that the sign posted said $16.95; another bar on the ship said the mug was $16. My receipt said $14.95. Is it that difficult to re-print all of the signs to indicate the correct price? The draft beer selection was somewhat disappointing, and I didn't like how only certain bars had certain beers, which could prove very inconvenient depending where you were. My friend said the IPA served in The Cove was good--I'm not an IPA fan.

Mrs. Swede took advantage of the DotD every day. She thought they were tasty. The $4.50 mimosas in the mornings in The Cove were also nice. It also seems that you have to be "in the know" to find out when the 2-for-1 special hour is on Castaway Cay. We lucked out and bought some drinks with 3 minutes to spare.

The free sodas in the dining rooms and on Deck 9 was nice, but I didn't really take advantage of it--neither did the kids, really. I've now come to realize that soda packages on the other cruiselines would be a waste of money for us; so would the adult beverage packages, but if they are "included" with the fare, that's fine with me.

Ports of Call

I've always been a fan of Grand Cayman. Our snorkeling excursion with DCL got cancelled due to rough seas (more like cloudy seas), so we had to scramble to find an alternative. We hopped into a taxi and went to Royal Palms Beach Resort. It was a nice place; I probably would have preferred a more quiet setting. We paid for three chairs and an umbrella ($45); we were never asked to pay the entrance fee. The family to the left of us and the couple to the right of us tried to skip out on paying for their chairs ("We're just going to be here for an hour. We shouldn't have to pay." "That is way too expensive!"); eventually, the manager came out and laid down the law. I asked about snorkeling, and the beach gear rental guy said the water is way too cloudy. The kids had a blast playing on the beach and in the waves. Mrs. Swede and I enjoyed cold, expensive beers and sunning/swimming. I bought a Tortuga rum cake, only to realize when I got home that the original flavor contains walnuts. Oops! Should've gotten the chocolate one!

Castaway Cay is fantastic. I took the kids snorkeling, and they had an amazing time seeing all of the colorful fish (and one long-spined sea urchin). It makes me sad that we couldn't snorkel in Grand Cayman to see fish in actual coral reefs, not the artificial ones laid by Disney. My daughters crushed all three ropes courses. I would be so much better to spend two days at this island; I would gladly give up another port for another day here. Because of the rough seas and windy conditions, many sea-based excursions were cancelled.

Cell Phone Service

As T-Mobile customers, it was great having free data (albeit at Edge speeds) and free texting on both Grand Cayman and Castaway Cay. On Grand Cayman, it took quite a few tries (turning airplane mode on and off) in order to connect to Digicel. Once it did, service was solid, and being able to check e-mail and post a few pictures on Facebook was nice. On Castaway Cay, connecting to BTC was easier.

DCL App

It was a great way to communicate with everyone else within our traveling party. I just wished it worked on Castaway Cay. The Wave Phones were very hit-or-miss.

Enjoying the review so far!

Thank you!

Thanks for the detailed trip. We have done lots of Disney vacations because of their ability to deal with food allergies.

We actually had a very poor experience at one of their restaurants at Disneyland. Other restaurant experiences there have been okay to good, but nothing spectacular.

Really enjoying your review.

Thank you!

Would you consider posting your review here:http://foodallergysupport.olicentral.com/index.php

I will look into posting there. I will trim down the review to make it FA-specific. I'm rather shocked there are so few Disney-related (and recent) threads on there.

Three more things...

Oceaneer's Club/Lab

Baby Swede had a great time, and she got a kick out of the hand washer. On the first sea day, I got a text on my Wave Phone that she wanted to be picked up. Since the seas were a bit rough, we thought she might be feeling a little seasick. It turns out EVERYONE with a child in Oceaneer's Club/Lab got that message.

It could have been really easy for DCL to have stationed one employee outside the Lab and one outside the Club saying that there was an error with the messaging system. Instead, there were massive lines outside both entrances with no one learning about what happened until some other parents told those waiting in line what was going on. About 45 minutes after that incident, we got a message on our Wave Phones apologizing for the error.

Edge

Miss Swede thought it was okay, but mainly boring. I think it's really difficult to make friends on a 5-night cruise, especially when kids can freely go in and out.

Entertainment

The nightly live shows were top-notch; except we skipped Wednesday night due to being at Palo. I skipped all shows from our previous two cruises (mainly because I wanted to be in the casino), and I was told I didn't miss much. Tangled: The Musical was definitely the best. We decided to go to the 2pm show and started waiting in line at 1:15pm. It got us 8 front-row seats and 8 seats directly behind. Miss Swede could also eat the popcorn, so that was also a big plus.

Post-Cruise

 

 

Miami

Let me get this straight, Walgreen's and CVS in downtown Miami, your stores are located just miles from a beach and even closer to a major cruise port that takes passengers to many other sandy beaches, but you do not regularly carry sand toys? Instead, you carry ... snow sleds? Really?

 

Welcome to Florida. Our department stores also stock winter jackets and put the bathing suits away. Corporate offices NEVER think about Florida as being warmer than the rest of the country.

 

We dined at Palo on Pirate Night. The appetizer plate at Palo was nice, as were the two kinds of ravioli I tried (lobster and beef); however, while it was better than the MDR menu, it was not worth the $30/person (plus $20/person gratuity) up-charge.

 

They are charging 66% tip at Palo??

 

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I appreciate your review. While I don't have allergies, I know many people who do and this is very helpful. I love to see everyone's perspective of different cruise lines. Not everything thinks or responds the same to an experience, which is a good thing!

We are headed out on the Magic this coming Sunday :)

Regarding Palo, there is the $30 service charge. On top of that, you can add gratuity "at your discretion". After reading some threads on there, it seemed that many were adding $20-30 per person.

A good and very through resource for anyone cruising with someone in their party with food allergies.

Well done Sir!

ex techie