Camp Carnival and Allergies

[nattie]

I have just realized this after reading some posts about Camp Carnival - how do they handle kids with food allergies? This will be our first time trying to attend camp and the point might be moot anyway if he refuses to go.

 

My DS has not life threatening allergies to all nuts. This is not a big issue for us, since we are not big peanut butter/nuts in general people and they are pretty easy to avoid. Since his symptoms are just itching/rushes and bad behaviour (poor thing gets so wired and cranky), we have never limited his dining options, except for obvious nut containing foods. At this age he is not really interested in eating something totally new anyway. He goes to in-home daycare, but she obviously knows about allergies and doesn't do nuts in their foods.

 

So my question is, how do they handle kids with allergies at Camp Carnival? I am not planning to let him eat meals at Camp, but what if he really wants to? Also, are there any snacks served? I heard I can't bring my own, understandably so, but I want to make sure they don't serve PB&Js either.

 

All in all, we are pretty lucky, worst case scenario DS will sleep it off with dose of Benadryl, but there are some families who have it much worse. Anybody with allergic kids and Camp carnival experience?

[Julienatul]

They have you fill out an allergy form for registration. They also do not serve meals except for dinner and some lunches during port days. Dinner they list out all the foods in the Camp Activity schedule (fun times) and when you drop them off they ask exactly what your child will be eating. They dont serve foods or snacks in camp.

[parrotthead]

The form is online too, so you can fill it out before you board.

[SadieN]

Unless Carnival has changed the form you will need to write in nuts and peanuts.

 

DD has peanut and treenut allergies like your child's. For the younger kids Lido dinner I never saw a nut. Dinner seemed to be pizza or chicken nuggets and fries and peas & carrots (more for the parents than the kids;)). She never had a problem in any of the clubs.

 

Watch out for MDR meals. Not all things with nuts are described as such. The duck appetizer and the cheese plate are two items that come to mind. You could ask the hostess to order his meals a day ahead of time.

DD now refuses to do this, didn't like the attention. We just work around it and have had only a few mishaps.

 

There are a couple of cakes on the Lido that have ground nuts in them.

[Lady_Jag]

My hubby and I both are allergic to shellfish, so we always assume my 5-year-old daughter has the same allergy. I make sure to specify this when we book our cruise, and have the Carnival rep note it on our reservation. Sometimes the maitre d or assistant MD in the MDR will visit us the first night and indicate which items to avoid on the weekly menu.

 

For Camp Carnival, we write in "shellfish/iodine" on the registration. Kids with food allergies have red name tags at camp, and a sticker on the back with the allergen listed. That way, the counselors know at a glance who not to give certain foods to.

 

Have a great cruise!

[Manitoba Mom]

We traveled on Carnival last year and our DS has a nut allergy. He was not given any food unless it was authorized by us, one night there were cookies and they told him he could not have because they were unsure but the gave him a nut free option, I think it was ice cream or jello. He did have a special name tag that showed he had allergies.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[nattie]

Unless Carnival has changed the form you will need to write in nuts and peanuts.

 

DD has peanut and treenut allergies like your child's. For the younger kids Lido dinner I never saw a nut. Dinner seemed to be pizza or chicken nuggets and fries and peas & carrots (more for the parents than the kids;)). She never had a problem in any of the clubs.

 

Watch out for MDR meals. Not all things with nuts are described as such. The duck appetizer and the cheese plate are two items that come to mind. You could ask the hostess to order his meals a day ahead of time.

DD now refuses to do this, didn't like the attention. We just work around it and have had only a few mishaps.

 

There are a couple of cakes on the Lido that have ground nuts in them.

 

Thank you so much! Great to know. DS has cruised 3 times with us before and we never had issues (keep fingures crossed here), but he is not the kind of guy to eat duck appetizer either :)

Cruising has broadened his eating habits for sure though and I am grateful for that. I can't imagine living with extremely picky eater, it will frustrate the heck out of me (KUDOS to moms who can do it!)

We will just keep going as ususal and stick to ice cream, jello and cookies for desert. He has "all you can eat" ice cream on his favorite thing about cruiseship list anyway :)

[nattie]

Thank you all for replies again!

Definitely eased my mind. Great to hear about "non nut" option for dessert too! I am not planning to let him eat at Camp, but who knows.