Food Allergy

disneypals3

Earning My Ears
Joined
Dec 3, 2012
We are going on the Mariner of the Seas next month, this is our first time on Royal Caribbean. My daughter has a tree nut allergy. I sent an email to Royal Caribbean noting our special dietary needs and plan to talk to the head waiter in the main dining hall on embarkation day.

How do they handle food allergies at the buffets and at the restaurants on the private island?
 
We just found out my 17 year old does as well. (cashew & pistachio) How did they handle it?
 
I know that for some of the "uncommon" foods (primarily South and Southeast Asian) they'll note if it's GF/DF/Vegetarian/Vegan. What I can't remember is if they list some of the more common food allergens. If you can't find the pertinent information, ask! Better safe than sorry, right?

We just found out my 17 year old does as well. (cashew & pistachio) How did they handle it?
OP has the right idea here - email Royal noting the dietary restriction and then talk to your head waiter and table captain about it as well. Again, better safe than sorry.
 
The whole thing makes me nervous. How does one just get a tree nut allergy at 17? Now we have epi pens and have to worry about foods. I will contact RC when it gets closer and definitely talk to the chef. We are going on a 12 day in Europe so I am very concerned with eating while at all the ports.
 


OP here, we travel frequently to Disney and they handle food allergies really well. I too was really nervous about our cruise, but they were very accommodating. I sent an email to Royal Caribbean regarding my daughter’s allergy before our trip, it was noted on our reservation when we boarded the ship. Then, I went to Deck 3 and checked in with the main dining hall, they recommended having a set dining time to ensure that we would have the same wait staff to take care of us each night. Every night the manager (not sure what his title was) would bring the dinner menu for the next night and write down my daughter’s order. For the buffet, we asked the chef about any foods we were concerned about. Most of the items at the buffet and at Coco Cay were safe for her to eat. Even our room attendant noted my daughter’s allergy and used different cleaners to clean our room. My daughter was 6 when we found out about her allergy. It’s a new normal. Hope this helps, enjoy your trip!
 
We sailed on Symphony with my daughter, who has anaphylactic reactions to tree nuts. You can read about our experience in my trip report (in my signature) but overall it was great. I sent an email in advance, and we chatted about their procedure. When we boarded we ate at a specialty restaurant and mentioned DD's allergy.

At dinner in the MDR we mentioned the allergy to our team, and were connected with the manager? head server? I don't remember, but he was great and he checked on us every night. He also put together a special dessert for us, which actually ended up having one of DD's other allergies. He was so focused on the tree nuts he forgot about the coconut, so you still have to be super aware of everything that is served, but that applies wherever you are.

There was bread in the basket that contained tree nuts (WHYYYYYYYY???????) so after the first night they gave DD a plate with nut-free bread.

Aside from the one dessert faux-pas (which again, was a dessert they don't usually serve in the MDR so the ingredients were not as familiar to our serving team) DD had dessert every night. Actually she had dessert that night, just not the one that had coconut.

We avoided the buffet on this cruise, but we have dined at buffets on other cruise lines and it was fine. DD prefers things that are normally nut-free like fettucine alfredo or burgers and fries, so buffets are not a huge deal for us.

You need to be aware, and be proactive, just like you would at any restaurant or resort. But Royal will be able to handle the allergy. They are very aware and there are hundreds of people with allergies sailing every day. They will do their best!
 

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