Help! Would you send this?

[grenouille]

Ok- I want some honest opinions as to whether or not I should send this to HAL. It's a situation that I consider important, but I'm wondering if I'm overreacting.

 

(And- who should I send it to?? Paper copy?? email???)

Thanks!!!

 

***************

 

I am writing this letter to make you aware of an unsafe and somewhat worrysome situation that occured while onboard the Westerdam on the Western Carribean itinerary from January 30th to February 6th.

 

Approximately 50 days prior to our sailing, I emailed a letter to Laine Reno of Holland America, informing her of my food allergies. I am allergic to nuts, peanuts, fish, shellfish, and seafood. Ms. Reno responded that she had forwarded the information to the Food and Beverage Manager onboard.

 

Upon our arrival at the Vista Dining room for dinner (early seating, Table 6) , I proceeded to confirm, with the 2nd Maitre D’Hotel as well as my Dining Room stewards (Indra and Eko), my food allergies. Everyone seemed very respectful and mindful of my allergies, and the menus were given to me one day before to allow them time to check on any items, or make any modifications.

 

One evening, after dinner, I had requested the double strawberry cheesecake, but asked the Steward to verify that it was indeed nut-free. He proceeded to check, and was told that there were no nuts in the cheesecake. I ate some of the cheesecake, only to realize that the crust did indeed have nuts in it. I immediately stopped eating, informed the Steward, who in turn spoke with the 2nd Maitre D’. Both came over and apologized profusely. We left the dinning room upset, disappointed, and worried.

 

In this situation, I do not find fault with the Steward. He asked the chef, and was told there were no nuts. When the 2nd Maitre D’ asked the chef, he also received the same answer. He then investigated a bit further, and spoke directly with a “head” chef (pastry chef perhaps) who promptly told him that yes, there were in fact nuts in the crust of the cheesecake.

 

I find it very discouraging and almost frightening that someone in the kitchen staff would chose to “guess” about the nut content of a menu item, rather than ask the appropriate person. In this situation, it is obvious that the “head” chef knew the crust had nuts, and would have gladly told the “regular” chef had he been asked.

 

Furthermore, I cannot understand how a kitchen “chef”, who has a hand in most of the food preparation for passengers, cannot easily identify items with nuts. I am most certain that I am not the first person with nut allergies to sail with HAL, and would have thought that there would be some system in place to easily identify those problem foods, be it for a nut, or dairy or wheat allergy, for example. Also, these desserts have been served onboard for months, so I find it somewhat alarming that some of the kitchen staff have no knowledge of the ingredients. Or perhaps they have knowledge, but choose to dismiss food allergies as non serious.

 

In this case, I was lucky and the situation did not become an emergency, as I left the dinning room with a tingling sensation in my throat, and an upset stomach for the remainder of the evening. But let me remind you that it could have, very easily, turned into a life threatening situation for me.

 

To make matters worse, the following evening, I was told that every single main dessert item had nuts. I became slightly suspicious when, for example, they could not tell me exactly which part of the chocolate cake contained nuts, and which kind of nuts. I did not think that this was an acceptable alternative or solution (prohibiting every single dessert) and was under the impression that the kitchen staff simply could not be bothered to actually check the ingredients of the desserts. I strongly believe that a kitchen should be aware of the ingredients in the food it serves.

 

Another example of this seemingly negligent behavior occured on the “surf and turf” evening, where, obviously, I requested only the filet mignon, and not the lobster tail. Upon receiving my plate, it had numerous small pieces of lobster on it, making it obvious that the tails had originally been on the plate, in contact with the rest of the food, and then removed minutes prior to serving. Upon pointing this out to my Steward, he immediately proceeded to get me a fresh plate, with beef that had not been in contact with lobster.

 

All in all, we had a wonderful cruise, but unfortunately, these complaints we have are of a rather serious nature, and makes me question how serious HAL is about food allergies. I hope that somoene will take notice of the points raised here, and perhaps re-examine the kitchen procedures for dealing with food allergies. In the meantime, I may have to reconsider my options for my next cruise.

[zdude]

I think I would shorten it to the point it fits on one page and realy find someone important to send it to -- i.e. directly.

[doone]

I would absolutely send this. In your case, you were very lucky, another passenger may not be in the future. Send it so HAL is aware and can correct the situation. I have always believed that no one can correct something they aren't aware of.

 

I am glad everything turned out ok for you and your well.

[Bookish Angel]

I write the arts and cultural calendar for my local public radio station. Here are some tips based upon mistakes I have made:

 

Please hard-copy proofread your letter as spell check does not catch everything. "Worrisome" has no "y," "Caribbean" is the correct spelling, etc. (I am sure you know this, however we all get fumble-fingered on the old keyboard from time to time!) The letter will have more impact if shortened - two concise paragraphs should suffice.

 

I would NEVER send a letter for which I expected a reply via e-mail. I would send it return receipt so that someone has to sign for the letter and you get confirmation of delivery. It also lets the recipient know you are serious and that you expect nothing less than professionalism.

[tomc]

You are definitely not over-reacting. HAL took the right steps, the onboard crew (in general) handled it right, as I have seen this done before for other allergies, but someone in the kitchen just didn't get it, just didn't see the importance or something.

 

They've already seen your letter, or will see it today, but send it as advised in Angel's post.

 

(How come an Anglo-Canadian uses a French-Canadian screen name? :) My family lives near Quebec City and I'm always calling my SIL a grenouille -- behind her back.)

[sail7seas]

I agree that your letter has already been read.

 

I do think you should condense it (no longer than one page) and send it to Seattle. The suggestion to send it Certified, Return Receipt Requested is a good one IMO

 

I am happy to hear you did not become seriously ill from this episode.

[Esme]

You definitely are not over reacting and I would send a letter, but shorten it as Bookish Angel has suggested. I would send it to

 

Mr. Stein Kruse, CEO

Holland Americal Line Inc.

300 Elliott Avenue West

98119

Seattle, Washington

 

mark it "Personal" and send it registered mail.

 

We have a grandson who is allergic to peanuts and do know how serious this allergy is. He carries an Epi-pen with him at all times when he is out of the house.

[grenouille]

Thanks for your replies!

I thought it might be a bit long, so I will try and condense it. (and run the spell check!)

 

One last question- is Mr. Kruse really the best person to send this to? I don't want to send it to Head Office in general either, but is there someone else (ie Food and Beverage Manager ashore?)

 

Esme- I too have an epipen with me. One is physically with me at all times, the other is a spare in the medicine cabinet at home.

 

TomC- HA!!! Who says I'm anglo-canadian??? 100% french canadian here!!:D

[tomc]

One last question- is Mr. Kruse really the best person to send this to? I don't want to send it to Head Office in general either, but is there someone else (ie Food and Beverage Manager ashore?)

 

Right to the top. It's a life-or-death situation and the President needs to know.

[Esme]

Yes, Mr. Kruse is the best person to send it to - he will probably then send it on to the VP of Hotel Operations-Marine Division, who used to be a Hotel Manager on HAL ships until he went to HO about 15 years ago.

 

Good luck - this is one of the reasons why I am hesitatant to take my grandson (12) on a cruise with us - maybe when he is older, but then he probably won't want to go with the "old' folks. :)

[Sage]

Grenouille,

 

I also have an allergy. Mine is a pepper allergy, not only black peppers but also chili peppers and the like. So I also know how hard it is to dine away from home. I too think that you should send the letter to Mr. Kruse. He should know of such things so that the can better serve the needs of their passengers. Good luck to you.

[JDee]

Grenoulle: Certainly agree with the other posters to bring this to the attention of HAL. However, I would like to make a few comments on my own personal observations:

 

The Cheesecake: I would almost bet the ranch, they were not baked on board. Many, many times I have observed the delivery truck from The CheeseCake Factory made deliveries to HAL and other cruise ships at various piers. They provide the usual plain, plus other varieties of chocolate or fudge running through, etc. This may explain why nobody knows if it contained peanuts or not.

 

Lobster & Steak on same plate: Knowing the entrees are pretty well mass produced, everthing on the same plate, etc.., I absolutely hate gravy or sauce of any kind on my plate. When ordering, I specifically ask and remind the waiter, no sauce/gravy on food, around the food, under the food, etc. I also hate the taste and smell of garlic. When they have a dish with garlic mashed potataos (UGH), I specifically tell the waiter I do not want to see or smell anything that looks like the mashed potatoes were on that plate. Majority of the time, no problem, but every now and then, things slip by.

 

Recall another time the menu has some kind of steak with pounded in peppercorns or something like that. Again, requested that a separate steak be grilled and I wanted to sign of peppercorns. Your guessed it. I got the steak w/peppercorns scrapped off & sent it back....

 

Happy cruising and sure hope they can take c/o of the peanut situation. That surely is cricital.....

[ExpCruiser]

Yes, send the letter to Kruse, copies to Kirk Lanterman

 

Chairman of the Board and CEO

 

Holland America Line, Inc

 

300 Elliott Avenue West

 

Seattle, WA 98119

 

 

Micky Arison

 

Chairman of the Board and CEO

 

Carnival Inc.

 

3655 N.W. 87th Avenue

 

Miami, FL 33178-2428

 

A fellow passengers on the Noordam in 2004 also had a food allergy. She asked (and asked) about the foods to no avail. She was told EVERYTHING came on ship prepared! ANd I agree with other poster, the desserts aren't made on the ship. We were on the Lido dining in Jan and they were serving the cheesecake out of a frozen cardboard box. Very classy!:rolleyes:

[grenouille]

I agree than many things, especially desserts, are not baked onboard. I have no problem with that, and I know it's common practice.

 

But somewhere, I think someone in the kitchen staff has to be responsible for the food they are feeding the passengers. Even if it comes from an outside company, there should be a list of ingredients, somewhere. (even if it's on the side of a cardboard box!!:p ) That just makes logical sense in my opinion, when you're running an operation of this size.

 

As far as mass produced entrees, I agree that it's how they prepare *most* food. However, and maybe I'm wrong here, but isn't it to avoid these situations that I informed them of my allergies in the first place?? I mean, I told them about my allergies, reviewed the next days' menu, did everything right, yet they still serve me foods that I'm allergic to?

 

It's just frustrating.... :(

[HeatherInFlorida]

Little bit after the fact, but I just want to agree with everyone that you should definitely send an abbreviated letter to the people suggested above.

 

You might want to try to keep it from being quite so accusatory and make it more a letter of alarm and concern. I think you'll find you get a better response. You don't want to make the reader defensive which they'll often become when they feel confronted.

I hope you'll let us know how they respond. I would be very interested because clearly this was handled badly and thank heaven you were so aware and no serious harm was done.

[Without Tessa]

Grenouille - definitely send it as everyone else suggests.

 

My DH has the same allergies as you (sounds like) - peanuts, nuts, fish and shellfish. We also send a letter ahead of time when we cruise and the maitre d' provides the menu ahead of time for my husband's perusal (I swear him to secrecy because I like the surprise!). I was under the impression (just as you probably were) that by ordering the night before, the kitchen staff could take extra precautions to make sure that his meal was not in contact with the offending items. We also try to get a table for two so that our order can stay separate to reduce risk of plates being mixed up.

 

Perhaps it is the growing number of individuals who are allergic to different foods that have people confused. I know some people who say they are allergic to wheat, yet eat it from time to time (cause a sore stomach they say) or are allergic to milk (lactose intolerant) but for many who are allergic, it can mean life or death (like you and my DH).

 

Maybe if the kitchen staff saw someone they loved gasping for air within 10 minutes of eating something they might have a different perspective - I know I never want to see that again myself.

 

Whether the food items are prepared off the ship or not, they all will have ingredient lists and if not, the staff should err on the safe side and say they are not sure rather than risk someone's life. (my DH actually ordered Jello every night because of the tendency for desserts to contain nuts - it started to be quite a joke by the end of the week!!).

 

Hopefully this is an isolated event and a very good learning opportunity for HAL.

[Ziggy7]

Send ......Send....Send!!!!

[Sage]

Grenouille,

 

By any chance do you wear a Medic Alert bracelet? I wear one for my food allergy as well as the medications I allergic to and find most wait staff know what it is and ask if I have a food allergy. I have even had them inquire at the bars on the ship. Please let us know what response you receive from the letter.