Son needs specific yogurt/drinks for medical reason Customer Service HORRIBLE CARNIVAL

[Homosassa]

I read your previous thread from 2022 where you stated that your son will only eat banana yogurt.

 

Just an FYI in case this is the food service supplier for your cruise:

 

On numerous cruises on lines across different companies/corporations, I have noticed that many have a food service supplier of Upstate Farms for yogurt and other dairy products.

 

Upstate Farms, per their website, does not have banana yogurt in their food service packs. The closest that may be available is banana strawberry. 

[Mommapadraig]

When looking at the special needs link that was posted on the very bottom it also gives this email address. Access@carnival.com.Have you emailed them?  Rather than all of the phone calls I think you would get the answer in writing by emailing them rather than calling. If they say you can bring the food just print out the email and bring it along.

[luckybecky]

10 minutes ago, TreyB said:

Can someone enlighten me on how only a specific flavor of yogurt and a packet of Carnation Instant Breakfast is a medical dietary need?  I mean, plain yogurt won’t work? Greek yogurt? Vanilla yogurt?  Strawberry yogurt?  It has to be specifically banana?

 

To me, this sounds like a personal choice  of a picky eater that would be far outside of the scope of a reasonable accommodation by Carnival. Not trying to be insensitive, but I don’t see how this is reasonable. 

 

I have no idea what is the case for the OP's son, but I can say that many people on the autism spectrum have food issues of all kinds including aversions to certain textures, smells, flavors, etc. Although this does seem an extreme case. In the case of people with autism, it is not a medical need like a food allergy would be, but it can be very difficult to get a person with autism to try new foods. I speak from experience. Again, I don't know if that is the case for this person.

 

Whatever the case may be, I agree with you that this is beyond what would normally be expected as an accommodation. If it were me, and there was simply no substitute for those two foods, I would never expect any cruise line (or resort/ hotel/ restaurant etc) to stock those foods specifically for my son. It's not the same as asking for a gluten free diet, or avoiding nuts in the case of a nut allergy, or the many other types of needs they are trained and able to accommodate.

 

I agree with the several others who suggest taking those foods on board with you and notifying the special needs department. If it is that crucial to have ONLY those foods, I would want to be sure I had them in hand.

[lazydayz]

When my mom cruised with us, or my oldest grand when she had active POTS, I noted special needs on the booking and filled out the paperwork right away.  My daughter’s mother-in-law does the same.  It helps to work with a good PVP at Carnival when you have specific needs, as they can help you through the system.  It seems to me the right answer here is for OP to bring her son’s dietary items and request a mini-refrigerator be placed in the cabin.  Seems pretty straightforward.  If it is autism, Carnival has a special program that OP should check out.  

[Elaine5715]

55 minutes ago, lazydayz said:

When my mom cruised with us, or my oldest grand when she had active POTS, I noted special needs on the booking and filled out the paperwork right away.  My daughter’s mother-in-law does the same.  It helps to work with a good PVP at Carnival when you have specific needs, as they can help you through the system.  It seems to me the right answer here is for OP to bring her son’s dietary items and request a mini-refrigerator be placed in the cabin.  Seems pretty straightforward.  If it is autism, Carnival has a special program that OP should check out.  

The provided mini refrigerators are not cold enough to store yogurt for a long time.

[Parkcharoli]

I completely understand your frustration, I have a son with ARFID and 100% understand the need for brand specific things. I often bring boxes of pop tarts, nutrigrain bars, fruit cups, in very specific brands and flavours. Lots of people just don’t have the knowledge about different eating disorders. I don’t think you will have a problem at all, as long as they’re in sealed , unopened containers. I would just pack them and carry them on and if anyone gives you a hard time, tell them about the eating disorder. 

[Parkcharoli]

2 hours ago, TreyB said:

Can someone enlighten me on how only a specific flavor of yogurt and a packet of Carnation Instant Breakfast is a medical dietary need?  I mean, plain yogurt won’t work? Greek yogurt? Vanilla yogurt?  Strawberry yogurt?  It has to be specifically banana?

 

To me, this sounds like a personal choice  of a picky eater that would be far outside of the scope of a reasonable accommodation by Carnival. Not trying to be insensitive, but I don’t see how this is reasonable. 

You need to read up on Sensory Processing Disorder and the eating disorder called ARFID. My son would actually allow himself to die before eating something that isn’t exactly the same every time. It is medically diagnosed and very hard to treat. Some kids get to the point where they are tube-fed only. Not your fault that you don’t know about it, but OP’s concerns are very real and her child’s health depends on it.

[Elaine5715]

37 minutes ago, Parkcharoli said:

I completely understand your frustration, I have a son with ARFID and 100% understand the need for brand specific things. I often bring boxes of pop tarts, nutrigrain bars, fruit cups, in very specific brands and flavours. Lots of people just don’t have the knowledge about different eating disorders. I don’t think you will have a problem at all, as long as they’re in sealed , unopened containers. I would just pack them and carry them on and if anyone gives you a hard time, tell them about the eating disorder. 

I believe the OP is expecting the requested foods be provided for them by the cruise line.  

[Ferry_Watcher]

OP, if you do decide to bring the yogurt and instant breakfast items along with you, you might want to reach out to the management team at which ever port you are sailing from.  If they are aware of your situation, they will give the security team a head's up as to what you are carrying on board, and there should be no problem.

 

Also, if the folks at the terminal can offer expedited boarding to you and your son, whether he is severely disabled, or if he autistic.  The Carnival program is called KultureCity.

 

https://www.carnival.com/about-carnival/special-needs/kulturecity-sensory-certified

 

[maryann2]

2 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

The provided mini refrigerators are not cold enough to store yogurt for a long time.

The fridges on Venezia are very very cold. Freeze water bottles.

[Elaine5715]

1 minute ago, maryann2 said:

The fridges on Venezia are very very cold. Freeze water bottles.

The Venezia is a new type ship, the other ships do not get very cold.

[SmoothFlying]

49 minutes ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

OP, if you do decide to bring the yogurt and instant breakfast items along with you, you might want to reach out to the management team at which ever port you are sailing from.  If they are aware of your situation, they will give the security team a head's up as to what you are carrying on board, and there should be no problem.

 

Also, if the folks at the terminal can offer expedited boarding to you and your son, whether he is severely disabled, or if he autistic.  The Carnival program is called KultureCity.

IMPO this OP needs to take a DEEP breath, calm down reach out to KultureCity seeif they can give them some helpful advice about getting the necesay foods for his son-either provided by Carnival OR brought on board by the father. If needbe get a letter from the Dr (on his letterhead) stating the need by this patient. I'm sorry if this advice has already been posted and I didn't see it. Don't mean to waste anybodies time here.

Mac

49 minutes ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

https://www.carnival.com/about-carnival/special-needs/kulturecity-sensory-certified

 

 

[thundercrack]

26 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

The Venezia is a new type ship, the other ships do not get very cold.

 

I was just on the Miracle, an older ship.  If you leave the door to the cabinet the fridge is in slightly ajar to let air circulate, they do get very cold.  I usually wedge a napkin at the top to keep it about an inch open, I actually learned that trick on this site.

Edited June 18, 2023 by thundercrack

[sgttami]

1 hour ago, Elaine5715 said:

The Venezia is a new type ship, the other ships do not get very cold.

My beers froze in the fridge on Pride every time I was on and I never stuck anything in the door to keep it open.  

[Parkcharoli]

2 hours ago, TreyB said:

So Carnival is expected to accommodate this and supply the food?  No way. 
 

If the OP can bring the food onboard then fine. But in no way shape or form should Carnival be responsible for providing these items, which seems to be what the OP is expecting.  Her son has to be fit for travel, that is the expectation with any purchase of a ticket. 

Ah, sorry, I must have misunderstood that part…. I always bring my own stuff, so just assumed she was too.

[Illbcruzn4life]

3 hours ago, thundercrack said:

 

I was just on the Miracle, an older ship.  If you leave the door to the cabinet the fridge is in slightly ajar to let air circulate, they do get very cold.  I usually wedge a napkin at the top to keep it about an inch open, I actually learned that trick on this site.

worked for us too but every day when the cabin steward did the room he closed it completely. 

[notscb]

On 6/17/2023 at 11:57 AM, Cruising_Addict said:

you can bring with you whatever you need. 

Not to mention, land vacations give the benefit of running to Walmart to get more if some of it goes bad for whatever reason.

[Elaine5715]

4 hours ago, thundercrack said:

 

I was just on the Miracle, an older ship.  If you leave the door to the cabinet the fridge is in slightly ajar to let air circulate, they do get very cold.  I usually wedge a napkin at the top to keep it about an inch open, I actually learned that trick on this site.

That has never worked for me on any ship

[Etta1213]

4 hours ago, thundercrack said:

 

I was just on the Miracle, an older ship.  If you leave the door to the cabinet the fridge is in slightly ajar to let air circulate, they do get very cold.  I usually wedge a napkin at the top to keep it about an inch open, I actually learned that trick on this site.

Is that probably true for other cruise lines? I'd love this!

[SweetCinNY]

On 6/17/2023 at 12:01 PM, TreyB said:

Not trying to be insensitive here, why in the world would you not have checked into this before booking?  With needs this specific it would seem to have been the wise thing to do. 🤷‍♂️

Because when we booked with RC & Norwegian it was never an issue; so I figured the same with Carnival. My bad.

[luckybecky]

1 hour ago, SweetCinNY said:

Because when we booked with RC & Norwegian it was never an issue; so I figured the same with Carnival. My bad.

 

So both of them were able to supply unlimited amounts of those two very specific products? 

 

I'm sorry that you have to deal with this issue. It can't be easy for you and I don't want to be insensitive, as I have spent the last 30 years also dealing with difficult disability issues. 

 

But I have cruised on a few different cruise lines, including all those you mentioned, and have never seen these two very specific items available. So were the other cruise lines able to source these items especially for your family? How did that work? Were you able to go to the dining room and request these off menu items? Did they deliver them to your room? How were you able to be sure that there would be enough for the entire cruise?

 

I'm not trying to be difficult here, I am truly bewildered about how this would work and curious about how those other cruise lines handled it since those are not items that they normally would have in stock.

[jimbo5544]

9 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

That has never worked for me on any ship

50+ cruises on Carnival (only 2 on ships without mini fridges) and it always helps for us….

[MadManOfBethesda]

15 hours ago, sgttami said:

My beers froze in the fridge on Pride every time I was on and I never stuck anything in the door to keep it open.  

When we were on the Pride two months ago, my wife and I both commented on how cold the mini-fridge was. Having such a cold mini-fridge was an unexpected and pleasant surprise. 

[aborgman]

21 hours ago, TreyB said:

Thanks, I’m not insensitive to special needs but I do have an issue with the OP’s characterization of Carnival’s customer service as “HORRIBLE” in all caps on the title of this thread. Based on all I’ve read here that is uncalled for and over the line. 

 

Eh... it sounds like they called customer service, and customer service gave them conflicting answers and never passed them on to (or even mentioned) the special needs group.

 

I'd call that pretty horrible customer service.

 

I totally get if they cannot accommodate the child's needs - but they absolutely should be able to answer the questions and they absolutely should know who in the company has the answers.

[Elaine5715]

1 hour ago, SweetCinNY said:

Thank you! He does have a medical condition that is scenary & has not eaten anything besides foods listed (& Pediasure prior) since he was 14 months old. He is now 14 years.

 

1 hour ago, MadManOfBethesda said:

There most certainly was, and I didn't assume anything. The second paragraph of the OP's initial post began with "My son has a feeding condition...."

 

It should be patently obvious that feeding condition equates to a medical issue and not simply a matter of someone's dietary choice.

See the Mom's response.