Royal Caribbean and Food Allergies

[Pattycake28]

Thinking about taking our daughter on her first cruise- specifically the Oasis of the Sea. She is allergic to milk, eggs, and peanuts. Anyone have great experience with this cruise line? Anyone have bad experience with them accommodating food allergies? I plan to bring her lots of snacks, her milk and probably things for desserts but am wondering about the main dining rooms and also the buffet.

[Clarea]

Royal is very good with dietary restrictions. Contact [noparse]special_needs@rccl.com[/noparse] to arrange.

[Argana]

We sailed on Independence of the Seas in April, and my son has an allergy to eggs (we carry an epi-pen for him). He is also Autistic, and super picky on food items he will eat. I emailed them ahead of time to let them know of the issues, and they accommodated my request for a four-top table in a quite area of the dining room. As far as the food allergies, that information didn't get passed on.

 

I told them my son liked pizza, so they brought him a pizza, but the dough looked "thick" so I asked, "that doesn't have eggs in it does it?" and they checked and it did. :eek:

 

That was on night one, and from them on, the dining room manager arranged his food the night before with us, and was SUPER accommodating.

 

My suggestion is to contact the email mentioned above, but let your waiters know immediately on day one, and you should be okay.

[Ourusualbeach]

Thinking about taking our daughter on her first cruise- specifically the Oasis of the Sea. She is allergic to milk, eggs, and peanuts. Anyone have great experience with this cruise line? Anyone have bad experience with them accommodating food allergies? I plan to bring her lots of snacks, her milk and probably things for desserts but am wondering about the main dining rooms and also the buffet.

 

My wife has a dairy allergy and can find it challenging at times. Royal will do a great job of ensuring that your meals are allergen free however sometimes this can mean very boring food. Many times meals would consist of a plain protein a dry baked potato and a bowl of fruit for dessert.

 

Lately we have been eating more in the specialty restaurants as the chefs there go above and beyond to create some interesting dishes with dairy free sauces.

 

We have had no issues in the WJ, just make sure that you get one of the chefs to walk you through the buffet as the servers are not always fully aware of the ingredients in the different dishes.

 

In the dining room you will be asked the night before for your selections for the next day.

[klfrodo]

Currently on the Rhapsody.

 

Everywhere we've eaten (that has a waiter taking your order) the very first question is does anyone here have any food allergies.

[mommyloves2cruise]

We have cruised twice on Royal and leave next week on the Anthem with our son who is allergic to milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts and shellfish.

We have found Royal to be very accommodating to our allergies. On our two previous sailings we have had Head Waiters who have worked with us directly and they have both gone above and beyond to make sure that our needs have been met.

Of course, you still have to be vigilant and the first dinner might take longer until all of the kinks get worked out- but as a food allergy mom you are used to that!

We don't eat at the buffet- the few times that we have had to, they bring his previously order meal from another kitchen. We do bring our own snacks for ports and desserts- the milk and egg allergies do out a limit on the variety of desserts offered- lots of jell-o.

 

 

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[knittinggirl]

I have a nut allergy, and in spite of the warning before the dinner at Giovanne's, their desserts were pretty limited because all but one or two had nuts. They didn't seem to be interested in creating nut free desserts in spite of them telling saying they prepared something "especially for you." We were stuck w/ whatever they normally have.

[Pattycake28]

Thank you for all the replies! Glad to hear that they were so accommodating to so many. Makes me feel a little bit better!

[forecruiser]

We were just on the Liberty 3 weeks ago. My son has a soy allergy and the chef in the windjammer told us the all the beef and chicken on the ship is marinated in soybean oil. Everything is fried in soybean oil and the pasta is tossed in soybean oil. WOW! He did accommodate a couple of days at lunch by preparing a plate of pasta for him specially so he could eat. He does not have an issue with dairy so breakfast was not a problem. In the main dining room each night, they would provide us with the menu for the next night and the chef would prepare him a special meal (usually baked fish, shrimp, or chicken) with vegetables and a baked potato. It was rough at first, but they did their best to make it work. His allergy is not a contact allergy, but only when ingested, so that was good. We did communicate with the special needs dept prior to sailing, but never heard back from them. Not complaining, because we had a fantastic cruise, but it was difficult at first.

[cymru cruiser]

Hi I'm celiac (gluten allergy) and royal have always been brilliant with me.

[gagirl7143]

Our experience with special needs is worthless. Your very best bet is to go to the dining room and speak with the coordinator and they will take care of you. Remind your waiter and you will be good to go.

[kdnurs]

I agree with many of the previous posters. RC accommodates you in any way they can. I also have an autistic grandchild with multiple food allergies and on top of it, is VERY particular about what he eats. Trust me, you can almost count on one hand what he WILL eat. We spoke to (dietary) special needs people prior to sailing and also once we boarded, (early) headed straight to dining area to face to face discuss his needs.

It was super!!!!Starting with the first dinner, as we requested, he was served first. When we got to our table a bowl of grapes and a banana were waiting for him. Within a few minutes of our large party being seated, his steak, broccoli and french fries arrived. This helped to keep him calm as a large, busy, noisy room can be challenging for any child, but especially an autistic child.

They alternated his dinner every night with grilled/baked chicken and well done steak. The broccoli and fries stayed the same as that is all he will eat...We took care of lunch since you cant mess up a naked hotdog or pizza. Again it was fries and broccoli as sides along with bananas, apple sauce and grapes...It was smoooooooth sailing for our party and RC helped :D

 

**We are doing another cruise in a few months and are planning to make arrangements for him ahead of time once more...Enjoy your cruise and time with family:)

[2specialkidsforme]

We too have sailed with a child who has special needs in addition to severe peanut and tree nut allergies. Spoke to special needs department so it was noted in our account and found the staff on independence of the seas and liberty of the seas to be excellent. We also brought snacks and his favorite treat - plain Hershey chocolate bars so he would have dessert.

 

We did carry our son's epipen with us entire time (which we do at home as well). Our allergist always has us carry two in case one didn't work. We also make sure to mix the pens so have from different lots. So when we fill for 4 2 packs ( leave 2 at school and grandmas) I open the boxes and then take a pen from 2 different boxes.

 

For our son, he wears an epipuppy - so easy to not forget it. Then we can sling it on our shoulder if he is swimming, etc. in it I also put a document listing his medical conditions, current height and weight as well.

 

Link to epipuppy - we love it!!!

http://www.epipuppy.com/

 

 

Have a fantastic, safe cruise!!!!

Edited July 7, 2016 by 2specialkidsforme

[Pattycake28]

I love the Epi Puppy! We have to get one of those. We also mix our epi pens from different lots and usually carrry two just in case. Thanks for the comments! We are looking forward to taking her on a cruise!

[2specialkidsforme]

I love the Epi Puppy! We have to get one of those. We also mix our epi pens from different lots and usually carrry two just in case. Thanks for the comments! We are looking forward to taking her on a cruise!

 

I think your daughter will love an epipuppy. We have had ours for 5 years already and it works great!!!! Glad you carry the mixture too and multiple pens - better to have too much than not enough. Let us know how the cruise goes. It is our favorite type of family vacation!!!!