Food Allergy

[mccannme]

Has anyone traveled NCL with a food allergy? My DS is allergic to eggs. I emailed the access desk as I was told to do from our booking agent. I just got an email back that said I need to meet with the restaurant manager as soon as we board and also meet with the kids camp supervisor. I just wondered if anyone else had already experienced this and what to expect. We eat out and monitor what he gets and have never had a problem - but some things like chicken nuggets, pizza crust and mac and cheese are often ok - but the email said that I should never feed him from the buffet because ingredients are unknown??

 

Thanks for any advice I just want to make sure I do what I need to for him!

[zqvol]

Has anyone traveled NCL with a food allergy? My DS is allergic to eggs. I emailed the access desk as I was told to do from our booking agent. I just got an email back that said I need to meet with the restaurant manager as soon as we board and also meet with the kids camp supervisor. I just wondered if anyone else had already experienced this and what to expect. We eat out and monitor what he gets and have never had a problem - but some things like chicken nuggets, pizza crust and mac and cheese are often ok - but the email said that I should never feed him from the buffet because ingredients are unknown??

 

Thanks for any advice I just want to make sure I do what I need to for him!

 

NCL and all of the cruise lines deal with people every day with food allergies. Follow the directions that you have been given and you should have no more problems than you have eating out at home (and probably even fewer because they do this so often.)

 

Have a great cruise.

[suzequ]

I'm dairy allergic and we have cruised for 16 years. I always ask my waiter, who sometimes has called the chef out to talk to me! I've never had any problems on board. The food service personnel always seem well able to handle this.

[newmexicoNita]

you can be assured, NCL as someone said and all cruise lines bend over backwards to address issues people have in relationship to alergies.

 

Nita

[BalconyBreeze]

When are you sailing? We are taking our son on the Sky this April and he has a few food allergies. We were in touch with the access desk and were told the same thing, about meeting with the restaurant manager when we get on board. We are very concerned but after several emails I do feel confident that they accommodate my son's diet.

 

If your cruise is after April 9th, I can let you know exactly how it went. We were told the same thing about staying away from the buffet.

[mccannme]

When are you sailing? We are taking our son on the Sky this April and he has a few food allergies. We were in touch with the access desk and were told the same thing, about meeting with the restaurant manager when we get on board. We are very concerned but after several emails I do feel confident that they accommodate my son's diet.

 

If your cruise is after April 9th, I can let you know exactly how it went. We were told the same thing about staying away from the buffet.

 

 

We are sailing the middle of May - I would love to know how it goes for you!!! Thanks so much! I am just nervous that we will be very restricted if we can only eat in one location - we take every where we go now and can always find him something I wouldn't think this would be different but I just don't know what to expect!

[BalconyBreeze]

Hi....I added you to my contact list, so that I will remember to reply with our experience. We sailed on the Jewel in December '08.....great ship! We are worried to about how the dining experience will work out...but I am hoping for the best. I have read so many posts, that I do feel pretty confident that they can prepare items to suit any diet.

 

I'll give you the review when we return in April.

[BruceMuzz]

On any cruise from North America, approximately 40% of the passengers will claim some sort of food allergy.

The cruise lines have very extensive experience with this.

 

As this food allergy business seems to be almost exclusively an American thing, many cruise ship waiters will not completely understand. Better not to trust their answers.

 

Best to speak with the F&B Director and Maitre d'hotel and explain your needs. They have excellent experience in these matters and can safely guide you.

[uppitycats]

If you meet with the restaurant manager as directed, he'll be able to tell you what foods to avoid, what foods would be "safe'..and will meet with you every day to help you select choices for the next day, but only for meals in the main dining room. That's not because food in the buffet is "strange", or "unknown" -- but because he won't meet with you up there (you'll be going up there at random times) to discuss everything that might be on the buffet.

 

If You go up there, and are relatively confident about what is before you, then of course you can go ahead and prepare a plate for your child. But the cruise line will only offer specific identification service for the MDR, so you would be expected to mainly eat there.

[cruznut1111]

You can enter the search term 'allergies" on the "Cruise Foodies" Conversation Board.

 

That's where I've entered all my allergy information and others have done the same. NCL really shines in this area. Each ship will have one asst. maitre d' who is in charge of special diets - your new best friend.

 

In addition to the MDR you can get very knowledgable help and specially prepared meals in the specialty restaurants.

[mccannme]

Thanks so much for all of your help!

[alwalaska]

We are sailing the middle of May - I would love to know how it goes for you!!! Thanks so much! I am just nervous that we will be very restricted if we can only eat in one location - we take every where we go now and can always find him something I wouldn't think this would be different but I just don't know what to expect!

 

This will be my first NCL cruise, but I have been on other cruises. My food allergies are not life threatening, so it is easier for me. I treat the buffet on the cruise like other buffets, I simply avoid any foods that could be questionable. I eat things like meat, fresh fruit, salads, etc, that are safe. The cruise line needs to tell you to avoid the buffet to protect themselves. I have friends with severe allergies that can never go to any type of buffet.

 

I have given up on trying to get ingredient lists at the buffet, but typically they take really good care of you at the dining rooms.

 

I'm sure everything will work out great. Have a great cruise.

[cookie9]

Hi, my food allergy is life threatening, but NCL did a great job for me on past cruise. We are cruising again with them in March/April. Just remember to bring your own epi-pens if you need. Also remember these are "liquid", so needed to be treated as such on any plane travel. God luck. Happy traveling!

[VonChap]

I have been cruising with NCL because they do an excellent job with my food allergy--gluten.

 

The key to enjoying all the restaurants on the ship is to meet with the Food and Beverage Manager and/or the Maitre 'd. If you tell them that you want to dine in a certain restaurant, they will pave the way to a great meal in that restaurant. I eat in all the restaurants including the specialty restaurants and the buffet. If they know to expect you in a specialty restaurant-or the buffet-they will have someone there to greet you and show you what you can eat.

 

Their concern (and yours should be too) is that tongs and serving spoons sometimes get moved from one dish to another in the buffet by guests. It depends on your allergy as to if that matters. Because I will get sick if someone swaps spoons, I only go to the buffet when it first opens and only pick food from certain areas.

 

My trick is to go to the MDR on embarkation day for lunch. (usually open noon-2PM) and ask to speak to the Maitre 'd. Show him/her your note from the Special Needs Department. They will get things rolling with lunch and then help you decide about dinner. This is much faster than going to the reception desk and asking to speak with a manager, etc. Give the Maitre 'd a list of where you want to eat, and they will make sure to contact the managers of each restaurant the day you want to eat there. They can even show you menus in advance for each restaurant and help you decide on the meal.

 

PS: If you are also GF, then you can pre-order lots of great food with NCL. You do need to order a few months before your cruise but you can order GF cookies, pizza, bread, pasta, etc.

 

Have a great cruise!

 

Kim

[mccannme]

I have been cruising with NCL because they do an excellent job with my food allergy--gluten.

 

The key to enjoying all the restaurants on the ship is to meet with the Food and Beverage Manager and/or the Maitre 'd. If you tell them that you want to dine in a certain restaurant, they will pave the way to a great meal in that restaurant. I eat in all the restaurants including the specialty restaurants and the buffet. If they know to expect you in a specialty restaurant-or the buffet-they will have someone there to greet you and show you what you can eat.

 

Their concern (and yours should be too) is that tongs and serving spoons sometimes get moved from one dish to another in the buffet by guests. It depends on your allergy as to if that matters. Because I will get sick if someone swaps spoons, I only go to the buffet when it first opens and only pick food from certain areas.

 

My trick is to go to the MDR on embarkation day for lunch. (usually open noon-2PM) and ask to speak to the Maitre 'd. Show him/her your note from the Special Needs Department. They will get things rolling with lunch and then help you decide about dinner. This is much faster than going to the reception desk and asking to speak with a manager, etc. Give the Maitre 'd a list of where you want to eat, and they will make sure to contact the managers of each restaurant the day you want to eat there. They can even show you menus in advance for each restaurant and help you decide on the meal.

 

PS: If you are also GF, then you can pre-order lots of great food with NCL. You do need to order a few months before your cruise but you can order GF cookies, pizza, bread, pasta, etc.

 

Have a great cruise!

 

Kim

 

 

Thanks for your help! Where do I get a special needs letter - no one has mentioned this to me!

 

My son is allergic to eggs - so the common child favorites are most of the time ok - but sometimes - Ice cream, chicken nuggets and mac and cheese are made with eggs! These are the things that I was most concerned with. I know he can't have cakes and cookies - pancakes and such. Gennerally he eats grilled meat and vegetables but sometimes he wants the kid fare like all the rest and so that is what I was hoping to find out! So I guess I will wait and ask when we are aboard!

 

Thanks so much for sharing the info on going to the other restaurants! I am excited to hear that - I had not looked into them to much as I didn't know if we would be able to but it sounds like I better do my homework so I am prepared to tell them where we would like to go!

 

Thank you thank you!!!

[VonChap]

Thanks for your help! Where do I get a special needs letter - no one has mentioned this to me!

 

My son is allergic to eggs - so the common child favorites are most of the time ok - but sometimes - Ice cream, chicken nuggets and mac and cheese are made with eggs! These are the things that I was most concerned with. I know he can't have cakes and cookies - pancakes and such. Gennerally he eats grilled meat and vegetables but sometimes he wants the kid fare like all the rest and so that is what I was hoping to find out! So I guess I will wait and ask when we are aboard!

 

Thanks so much for sharing the info on going to the other restaurants! I am excited to hear that - I had not looked into them to much as I didn't know if we would be able to but it sounds like I better do my homework so I am prepared to tell them where we would like to go!

 

Thank you thank you!!!

 

When you go to the NCL web site, you can click on the "contact us" button and there is an email for the Access Desk/Special Needs Dept. Send them an email to alert them of the allergy and they will respond. They will mark your reservation with the allergy too. I always print out this email chain and bring it with me.

 

You can browse past posts on this board for the menus of the MDR and the Specialty Restaurants. I always make a list of what I think that I can eat and then ask them to double check. Many times, the chef will alter a dish so that I can eat it.

[BalconyBreeze]

We are sailing the middle of May - I would love to know how it goes for you!!! Thanks so much! I am just nervous that we will be very restricted if we can only eat in one location - we take every where we go now and can always find him something I wouldn't think this would be different but I just don't know what to expect!

 

 

I have to tell you - NCL did an amazing job taking care of our son's dietary needs. Like another poster stated, you pre-order the day before and they can create a meal that meets your needs. One tip that I will share - It takes longer to prepare special meals. Since our son is 4, the idea of waiting in the main dining room for nearly 30 minutes for a meal to arrive is not realistic. After learning our lesson on night number one, we would go to the Maitre D (not sure of the spelling) about 20-30 minutes before we wanted to eat. This way the would start prepping his meal. This worked out great! We would come back about 20 minutes later and the meal would arrive in 5 minutes! :) Again - NCL gets an A+ in this category. We were worried b/c the cruise consultants and the access desk can't tell you all of the specific ingredients - they just tell you that they can meet your needs. I am happy to report that they did!!!!

[alwalaska]

I have to tell you - NCL did an amazing job taking care of our son's dietary needs. Like another poster stated, you pre-order the day before and they can create a meal that meets your needs. One tip that I will share - It takes longer to prepare special meals. Since our son is 4, the idea of waiting in the main dining room for nearly 30 minutes for a meal to arrive is not realistic. After learning our lesson on night number one, we would go to the Maitre D (not sure of the spelling) about 20-30 minutes before we wanted to eat. This way the would start prepping his meal. This worked out great! We would come back about 20 minutes later and the meal would arrive in 5 minutes! :) Again - NCL gets an A+ in this category. We were worried b/c the cruise consultants and the access desk can't tell you all of the specific ingredients - they just tell you that they can meet your needs. I am happy to report that they did!!!!

I have to totally agree. Although all cruise lines have been good with my allergy, NCL was the first to say that I could meet with a manager at any dining location and they would be happy to help me out. They even said I could talk to the manager at the buffet if there were certain items where I needed to check ingredients. If there was something on a menu for the next night that I wanted that I could not have because of my allergies, they would try and make it special for me if they could.

 

I did email before my cruise and they called my stateroom and told me who to talk to when I went to dinner the first night.

 

Definitely A+ in this category. :)

[pumpkin228]

I don't think its so much that they don't know the ingredients of items in the buffet as it is cross contamination issues?! Also for the kids klub your child will get a bracelet that has special stars on it signifying an allergy. The staff is always great as the access deck said meet with the appropriate people and make sure you always ask ask ask, you are your own advocate!!!!

[alwalaska]

I don't think its so much that they don't know the ingredients of items in the buffet as it is cross contamination issues?! Also for the kids klub your child will get a bracelet that has special stars on it signifying an allergy. The staff is always great as the access deck said meet with the appropriate people and make sure you always ask ask ask, you are your own advocate!!!!

 

Yes, the definitely warn about cross contamination. Mine are not serious enough for that to be an issue, but I am allergic to citrus which can hide in unsuspecting buffet items. When I have been on other cruise lines, I was not able to get information on what was in the items on the buffet (not that they didn't know - but that they didn't want to take the time to find someone to talk to me) so I just avoided anything that could possibly be a problem.

 

On the other hand, on NCL, they told me to simply ask for the supervisor at the buffet and he would help me out. I was very impressed.

[Chestnut1]

I sailed the Pearl and have celiac disease (can't have gluten). Talk to the maitre'd of each MDR or of the specialty restaurant you are dining at. It is best to pre-order dinner the night before. They will let you see the next days menus. This worked great for me.

 

NCL was very good about it. The maitre'd in the MDR even said they would make me a special gluten-free chocolate cake one night. It was great! Another night I ordered just vanilla ice cream. I saw the waiter coming with it and they had put a wafer on top. The Asst. Maitre'd spotted this and she flew right in front of him and grabbed the ice cream plate before he got to our table. Well, the ice cream went flying and all over the carpet. :eek: It was pretty funny. They made sure no gluten got near me. LOL

[can'twaittogoagain]

Has anyone traveled NCL with a food allergy? My DS is allergic to eggs. I emailed the access desk as I was told to do from our booking agent. I just got an email back that said I need to meet with the restaurant manager as soon as we board and also meet with the kids camp supervisor. I just wondered if anyone else had already experienced this and what to expect. We eat out and monitor what he gets and have never had a problem - but some things like chicken nuggets, pizza crust and mac and cheese are often ok - but the email said that I should never feed him from the buffet because ingredients are unknown??

 

Thanks for any advice I just want to make sure I do what I need to for him!

 

I, too, was anxious about what to expect with my soy allergy. I have found NCL to go above and beyond to help me with my soy allergy and we just finished out 11th cruise with them.

 

Meet with the Maitre d' in any restaurant you may attend, and meet with the kids camp supervisor first thing. The Maitre d' will show you a menu ahead of time and your son (or you...) can place your order and they will make sure it meets his dietary needs. If you want to eat at specialty restaurants, meet with the Maitre'd the day before your planned dining experience, if you can. That way they can have time to meet your needs, and not have to scramble around at the last minute, which could potentially hold up the whole table while you wait for your son's dinner. I have had good luck in the buffet. I get to know the chef early on and tell him my dilemma and ask for his help in identifying foods in the buffet that are on my safe list. This last trip on the Jewel in March was fabulous in that regard. The chef would actually walk the buffet with me. I've had them go back to the kitchen to read labels, etc, if they are not certain. There is a chance of cross-contamination in the buffet, but I have not had a problem.

 

I carry my epi-pen in my clutch and have refills in the cabin.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[Vasrb]

:eek:We sailed with HA in Oct. Reported severe allergy to shellfish before boarding. i always tell the wait staff I have a severe allergy to shellfish. The night I was given cross contaminated food, I told the waiter twice because our seat mates ordered crab cakes. Used my epi pen, spent 4 hrs in sick bay being pumped full of cortisone, steroids, and antihistamines. Taken by wheelchair back to my room. Still had an IV port in my arm in case of rebound. Missed Bar Harbor the next day. Slept all day. The swollen tongue and throat were better but still had swollen lips the next evening. Total failure in their kitchen. Afterwards I was contacted by the asst Dining manager. Mr. I Wayan Suadnyana who watched over me at every meal for the rest of the cruise. I deeply thank him for his help for I was now afraid to eat anything.

We got a bill for almost $900! Lost our excursion fees.

HA has not contacted me in the month we have been home from what was suppose to be a celebration cruise for us. If I ever hear from them, I'll repost to let folks with Severe food allergies know how :eek:they handled it after the fact.

[blackwing]

:eek:We sailed with HA in Oct. Reported severe allergy to shellfish before boarding. i always tell the wait staff I have a severe allergy to shellfish. The night I was given cross contaminated food, I told the waiter twice because our seat mates ordered crab cakes. Used my epi pen, spent 4 hrs in sick bay being pumped full of cortisone, steroids, and antihistamines. Taken by wheelchair back to my room. Still had an IV port in my arm in case of rebound. Missed Bar Harbor the next day. Slept all day. The swollen tongue and throat were better but still had swollen lips the next evening. Total failure in their kitchen. Afterwards I was contacted by the asst Dining manager. Mr. I Wayan Suadnyana who watched over me at every meal for the rest of the cruise. I deeply thank him for his help for I was now afraid to eat anything.

We got a bill for almost $900! Lost our excursion fees.

HA has not contacted me in the month we have been home from what was suppose to be a celebration cruise for us. If I ever hear from them, I'll repost to let folks with Severe food allergies know how :eek:they handled it after the fact.

 

I presume "HA" is Holland America? This is the NCL board.

 

In any event... my son also has severe food allergies. He is allergic to nuts and shellfish. In my opinion, it's not enough to just tell them before you get on board or to tell your wait staff. If your allergy is severe, you need to be meeting with the Assistant Maitre D every night to pre-order your food for the next day. You need to have them prepare your food separately in advance so it doesn't get cross contaminated. When you show up the next evening, they bring you out the food they have prepared especially for you. You can never be too safe, always take as many precautions as you can.

 

Sorry this happened to you, I know firsthand that living with food allergies stinks.

[Vasrb]

Thanks, we're sailing Norwegian in April.