Tree Nut Allergy/NCL Gem

Does anyone know if there are any nut free options offered for dessert on the Gem? I'm traveling on the July 9th sailing and I am a nervous wreck about my daughters allergy! NCL is aware of the allergy- they have told me the reservation is noted and I just need to mention it to staff each time we eat anywhere which is fine with me but I'm worried that there will be no dessert option for my daughter when everyone else is having theirs😞😞

Does anyone know if there are any nut free options offered for dessert on the Gem? I'm traveling on the July 9th sailing and I am a nervous wreck about my daughters allergy! NCL is aware of the allergy- they have told me the reservation is noted and I just need to mention it to staff each time we eat anywhere which is fine with me but I'm worried that there will be no dessert option for my daughter when everyone else is having theirs😞😞

There's always ice cream.

They always offer a fresh fruit plate and I'm sure you can order jello.

They do soufflés' often, crème brulee and ice creams and sherbets'.

Dessert isn't all that great on Norwegian, so not to worry...they are pretty tasteless.

Our son has severe peanut and tree nut allergies and when we cruise we always bring him Hershey bars and rolos. Each night he chooses one for dessert. Desserts can be so hard to find safe options. Our son loves sherbet but we could not let him have it because they were using a few cream scoops for all the hard ice cream and sherbet and would clean them off in a container of water. So potential for cross contamination was too great. The soft ice cream machines were safe and they always have vanilla and chocolate. Our last NCL cruise with him was June 2015 - so definitely ask to see that container with the soft serve ice cream mixture that they pour into the machine so you can verify that it is still a peanut and tree nut free product as changes could happen.

Hope all of you have a fantastic and safe cruise!!! We know how worrisome it is when dealing with severe food allergies.

Our son has severe peanut and tree nut allergies and when we cruise we always bring him Hershey bars and rolos. Each night he chooses one for dessert. Desserts can be so hard to find safe options. Our son loves sherbet but we could not let him have it because they were using a few cream scoops for all the hard ice cream and sherbet and would clean them off in a container of water. So potential for cross contamination was too great. The soft ice cream machines were safe and they always have vanilla and chocolate. Our last NCL cruise with him was June 2015 - so definitely ask to see that container with the soft serve ice cream mixture that they pour into the machine so you can verify that it is still a peanut and tree nut free product as changes could happen.

 

Hope all of you have a fantastic and safe cruise!!! We know how worrisome it is when dealing with severe food allergies.

Another trick is to bring your own scoop.

I also have a tree nut and many other food allergies. Always best to bring an epipen. Cross contamination call always occur in restaurants including cruise ships.

I would email the special needs desk (same email you used to advise them) or call them again and ask about the buffet. Also, the first day on board you should be meeting with someone from NCL to go over choices, and they would be good to ask. My only experience in this was with a fellow traveler who had celiac disease, and that was a few years ago.

I don't know how sensitive your daughter is - I had a co-worker who's grandson reacted to peanut dust from several feet away at a land-based buffet. I would be very concerned too, but I'm sure NCL has experience with this.

Our son has severe peanut and tree nut allergies and when we cruise we always bring him Hershey bars and rolos. Each night he chooses one for dessert. Desserts can be so hard to find safe options. Our son loves sherbet but we could not let him have it because they were using a few cream scoops for all the hard ice cream and sherbet and would clean them off in a container of water. So potential for cross contamination was too great. The soft ice cream machines were safe and they always have vanilla and chocolate. Our last NCL cruise with him was June 2015 - so definitely ask to see that container with the soft serve ice cream mixture that they pour into the machine so you can verify that it is still a peanut and tree nut free product as changes could happen.

 

Hope all of you have a fantastic and safe cruise!!! We know how worrisome it is when dealing with severe food allergies.

Thank you so much for your response!!! My daughter loves soft serve and I was hoping someone would touch on that!! I will certainly ask to see the container before giving it to her. As you said- desserts are always hard and I'm petrified of cross contamination. I just wanted to able to find one option and she can have that every night. I also bring safe foods from home when I take her on vacation but I just didn't want her to get bored or see the other children we are traveling with enjoying ice cream, she is special needs also so sometimes it's hard for her to understand the whole "food allergy" thing.

Thank you again, I can relax now knowing we will have an option for her!

Another trick is to bring your own scoop.

You could bring your own scoop but you'd still have to worry that the ice cream became contaminated with the child's allergen from the previous scoop that touched the ice cream. These allergies can be life threatening so once the allergen has touched the ice cream- it's off limits for my daughte

I also have a tree nut and many other food allergies. Always best to bring an epipen. Cross contamination call always occur in restaurants including cruise ships.

I do always carry the epipen & Benadryl but, thankfully, have never had to use it and I wouldn't want this cruise to be the first time..lol!!

I would email the special needs desk (same email you used to advise them) or call them again and ask about the buffet. Also, the first day on board you should be meeting with someone from NCL to go over choices, and they would be good to ask. My only experience in this was with a fellow traveler who had celiac disease, and that was a few years ago.

 

I don't know how sensitive your daughter is - I had a co-worker who's grandson reacted to peanut dust from several feet away at a land-based buffet. I would be very concerned too, but I'm sure NCL has experience with this.

Thank you! I spoke with the special needs desk and they said to steer clear of the buffet for fear of cross contamination. We can eat in the dining rooms, that's not a problem- they also told me to just remind every person we come in contact with at the restuarants that my daughter has a food allergy.

Thankfully, my daughters allergy is not airborne so anyone eating near her wouldn't pose a threat, as long as she doesn't actually ingest it- we are good!

Dessert isn't all that great on Norwegian, so not to worry...they are pretty tasteless.

Try telling that to an 8 year old who is watching her cousins enjoy ice cream everyday! Lol..

They always offer a fresh fruit plate and I'm sure you can order jello.

She is allergic to fresh fruit too😩😩 but jello is an option, thanks!

It will be a great cruise. I'm CC so maybe we'll meet at the meet and greet

Thank you! I spoke with the special needs desk and they said to steer clear of the buffet for fear of cross contamination. We can eat in the dining rooms, that's not a problem- they also told me to just remind every person we come in contact with at the restuarants that my daughter has a food allergy.

Thankfully, my daughters allergy is not airborne so anyone eating near her wouldn't pose a threat, as long as she doesn't actually ingest it- we are good!

Yeah, that would be my guess about the buffet too. Too many people serving themselves to know if something was put on a plate touching something with nuts, and then put back. I hope the soft serve ice cream turns out OK for her!

I hope you and your daughter have a great cruise!

My husband is highly allergic to tree nuts too. We fill out the firm that the access desk emails to us, our Ncl specialist is aware of it. Also when you board make sure you get in touch with the head matre de. Ncl takes very good care of my husband. If we go to the buffet for breakfast he will get sausage, bacon, cut up fruit and they make him an omelette. Or usually we eat in savor for breakfast. We always ate in savor. , this way the waiters remembered us and were always making sure he was taken care of. Also the maître de would would give my husband the menu the night before for the next days dinner. His food is prepped in a separate kitchen and they would give him baguettes as the bread basket the put on the table has different kinds of bread and rolls mixed in. They always came around to check to see if he was satisfied with his food. Get their business cards in case you wanted to call them with a question. And yes she can have dessert. My husband had a different dessert every night. It was wonderful and they went out of there way. They were just great. If you have any other questions, please let me know. Enjoy your trip

My husband is highly allergic to tree nuts too. We fill out the firm that the access desk emails to us, our Ncl specialist is aware of it. Also when you board make sure you get in touch with the head matre de. Ncl takes very good care of my husband. If we go to the buffet for breakfast he will get sausage, bacon, cut up fruit and they make him an omelette. Or usually we eat in savor for breakfast. We always ate in savor. , this way the waiters remembered us and were always making sure he was taken care of. Also the maître de would would give my husband the menu the night before for the next days dinner. His food is prepped in a separate kitchen and they would give him baguettes as the bread basket the put on the table has different kinds of bread and rolls mixed in. They always came around to check to see if he was satisfied with his food. Get their business cards in case you wanted to call them with a question. And yes she can have dessert. My husband had a different dessert every night. It was wonderful and they went out of there way. They were just great. If you have any other questions, please let me know. Enjoy your trip

Thank you so much!! I didn't get anything emailed to me and I asked the person I spoke to on the phone from "guests with special needs" if there was anything else I needed to do- she said no??? I will make sure to talk with the head Waiter/matre de when we get on the ship.

Thanks again!

Yeah, that would be my guess about the buffet too. Too many people serving themselves to know if something was put on a plate touching something with nuts, and then put back. I hope the soft serve ice cream turns out OK for her!

 

I hope you and your daughter have a great cruise!

Thank you!! I definitely feel better about going now after getting everyone's input on how Ncl deals with food allergies.

Pecan Pie with no pecans> Enjoy!

Pecan Pie with no pecans> Enjoy!

Are you being "funny" about a life threatening allergy? Really?

My son has a peanut and tree nut allergy as well. I think it's good that you called special needs in advance. But I don't think that's necessary. Your travel agent or PCC should indicate on the reservation that there is a food allergy. On the first day, you should go to the main dining room and meet with the maitre D (or AMD) and explain what your needs are. Then you should order her food in advance. It's a lot easier to get food specially prepared and be assured it is free of cross contaminants if you have her meal prepared in advance. The afternoon of your first day, ask to look at the dinner menu and order her food in advance. Then each night at dinner, ask the AMD to see the menu for the next night, and put in your daughter's order.

I would suggest going to the same main dining room each night, because that way the AMD and perhaps the waiters will become accustomed to you. Also, it's a good idea to avoid the regular bread that is placed on the table. Some of it may have nuts. But the mini french baguette looking rolls are fine. So when you place your order in advance, also ask for a basket of just the french rolls.

I don't think it's necessary to completely avoid the buffet. My son ate breakfast and lunch there every day. Breakfast is pretty much the same stuff every day so you can ask a chef to walk you down the line on the first day and tell you what to avoid. For lunch, it's best to do this every day. I would avoid all desserts in the buffet. It might not have nuts, but the cake next to it might, and there is a high risk of other passengers cross contaminating items.

As far as the soft serve machine... we never used it, but make sure there are no nuts offered as a topping choice. If there are, I would avoid. Like I said, you never know what other people could do. There could be peanut residue on the spoon used to scoop peanuts, someone touches it, puts nuts in their bowl of ice cream, then decides it's not big enough, goes to get more, touches the lever for the ice cream, decides they want to smush down the ice cream to get that Dairy Queen ripple effect, the opening touches the nuts, etc.

Scooped ice cream... I would always check to see if there was an offering in the case that had nuts. Butter Pecan is the obvious offender, and perhaps Rum Raisin. If there was... then no ice cream for my son. Even if there wasn't I would ask questions and ask if those scoops and water containers were fresh and washed and there hadn't been any butter pecan that day.

I know some people reading this probably think I am paranoid and a bit extreme.... but for those of us parents who have a nut-allergy kid, you all know that you can never be too safe. I've read far too many stories of kids dying from a school lunch because the teacher and restaurant didn't realise that it was not ok to cook in peanut oil. Or the day care provider that almost served brownies with walnuts because she wasn't aware that walnuts were a nut, she thought that only peanuts were a problem.

Some people sometimes say to me, you should just put your kid in a bubble. I say to them, well, no. It's not that extreme. But you can take precautions where you can. If it was your kid and your kid's life, you would probably do the same.

My son has a peanut and tree nut allergy as well. I think it's good that you called special needs in advance. But I don't think that's necessary. Your travel agent or PCC should indicate on the reservation that there is a food allergy. On the first day, you should go to the main dining room and meet with the maitre D (or AMD) and explain what your needs are. Then you should order her food in advance. It's a lot easier to get food specially prepared and be assured it is free of cross contaminants if you have her meal prepared in advance. The afternoon of your first day, ask to look at the dinner menu and order her food in advance. Then each night at dinner, ask the AMD to see the menu for the next night, and put in your daughter's order.

 

I would suggest going to the same main dining room each night, because that way the AMD and perhaps the waiters will become accustomed to you. Also, it's a good idea to avoid the regular bread that is placed on the table. Some of it may have nuts. But the mini french baguette looking rolls are fine. So when you place your order in advance, also ask for a basket of just the french rolls.

 

I don't think it's necessary to completely avoid the buffet. My son ate breakfast and lunch there every day. Breakfast is pretty much the same stuff every day so you can ask a chef to walk you down the line on the first day and tell you what to avoid. For lunch, it's best to do this every day. I would avoid all desserts in the buffet. It might not have nuts, but the cake next to it might, and there is a high risk of other passengers cross contaminating items.

 

As far as the soft serve machine... we never used it, but make sure there are no nuts offered as a topping choice. If there are, I would avoid. Like I said, you never know what other people could do. There could be peanut residue on the spoon used to scoop peanuts, someone touches it, puts nuts in their bowl of ice cream, then decides it's not big enough, goes to get more, touches the lever for the ice cream, decides they want to smush down the ice cream to get that Dairy Queen ripple effect, the opening touches the nuts, etc.

 

Scooped ice cream... I would always check to see if there was an offering in the case that had nuts. Butter Pecan is the obvious offender, and perhaps Rum Raisin. If there was... then no ice cream for my son. Even if there wasn't I would ask questions and ask if those scoops and water containers were fresh and washed and there hadn't been any butter pecan that day.

 

I know some people reading this probably think I am paranoid and a bit extreme.... but for those of us parents who have a nut-allergy kid, you all know that you can never be too safe. I've read far too many stories of kids dying from a school lunch because the teacher and restaurant didn't realise that it was not ok to cook in peanut oil. Or the day care provider that almost served brownies with walnuts because she wasn't aware that walnuts were a nut, she thought that only peanuts were a problem.

 

Some people sometimes say to me, you should just put your kid in a bubble. I say to them, well, no. It's not that extreme. But you can take precautions where you can. If it was your kid and your kid's life, you would probably do the same.

I don't think you are extreme at all. My daughter is 8 years old and last year, a boy in her grade died from an anaphylactic reaction..it did not happen in school but his Dad felt it wasn't important to carry an epipen and couldn't administer until he got the kid home.

I agree with every point you made - I thought it would be a good ideas to eat in the same main dining room every night so that the staff was familiar with my daughters needs. I also agree with the buffet breakfast & lunch, I will meet with the chef to make sure of what's safe for her there..my main concern is always dessert - I wouldn't change any scooped ice cream or any cakes/cookies from the buffet. People always assume peanuts are the only culprit. My daughter CAN eat peanuts, she lives on peanut butter!! I had no idea that tree nuts were different until she ate a walnut and reacted to it- a scary experience that I never, ever want to relive.

Thank you so much for all your advice- I appreciate it!

Just a bit of moral support and some info from the parent of a tree nut allergy son (age 15). We will be having our first NCL cruise with him soon. Royal and Disney have both done great with the allergies. It was very similar to what others have described.. order meals a day ahead and getting some extra help at the buffet. Sometimes they would just bring out what he wanted from the back.

I think that just a note on reservation is best. The forms from the special access desk cover all disabilities, etc. and will have about 5 pages of questions that do not pertain to food allergies. We travel with two epipens, Benadryl and travel insurance that includes med evac.

I understand how difficult it can be for younger children to have a limited menu. Fruit and yogurt are not dessert :) I will try to post after our trip with info about the soft serve and other dessert options.

I am continuing to learn about hidden allergens. Pesto is a funny thing as sometimes but not always may contain pinenuts. Recently learned that mortadella (type of Italian salami) contains pistachios - compliments of an episode of the Big Bang theory.

Hope you have a great trip!

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