pseudoswede

On 6/17/2018 at 7:04 AM, MsPoppadom said:

Hi, sorry to jump in and hijack the thread but wondered if any recent vegan cruisers on Princess can answer my question.

 

Last time we sailed w Princess (2016) we couldn't even get dairy-free spread onboard. No dairy-free ice cream. Cheese in a lot of veggie dishes. We dined great in the MDR but buffet was often a struggle, having to find staff to tell if the vegetarian marked soup was indeed vegan or veg served with butter. And the cheese in veggie dishes... or ham in otherwise beautiful salads.

 

I've recently sailed on the new Carnival Horizon and they could do a vegan burger at Guy's and vegan pizza if I took vegetables from the buffet (and my own dairyfree cheese & vegan salami). Any idea if the veggieburger discussed elsewhere on this forum is vegan too?

 

Anyone had almond milk? Cruise personaliser only offered soya (disagrees with me) and rice milk, which I find kinda watery. UK sister brand P&O have sometimes even had dairy-free yoghurts and cheese for passengers... so wondered if Princess have picked up on the growing vegan trend.

 

Trying to plan what I should bring onboard with me 🙂 Any recent cruisers here? We're sailing the Med on Crown, btw. Just in case someone's been on that ship recently. Thanks!

How was your vegan experience on Princess? Definitely interested in hearing if they now offer vegan spread, ice cream, and cheese. My wife prefers almond milk in her coffee. While my daughter outgrew her milk allergy, she still prefers rice milk with her morning breakfast cereal.

4 minutes ago, TheRabbit said:

Hmmmm, 2 parent, 3 cabins. Is this a new King Solomon dilemma?

Well, at least get Elite benefits in two out of three cabins.

8 minutes ago, TheRabbit said:

It has been our experience it does not cover across to those traveling with an elite. We had 4 rooms booked in 2018 and our status did not carry over to the others.

Embarkation priority is not always followed. How early is your group showing up? The big thing they are trying to avoid is long lines by spreading arrival times out. Are you arriving with a Princess transfer? If so, they typically will take you right in. We have seen groups taken from our hotel as early as 9:30 with no preference to Elite.

Also, is this a medallion cruise? If so has everyone ordered their medallions? If everyone has a medallion, embarkation will be quicker.

We haven't even booked the cruise yet. We were supposed to go on an overseas trip, but things happened recently, so we decided to replace it with an Alaskan cruise.

So the other strategy would be to book my parents each into a different cabin, correct?

I'm surprised how difficult the answer to this question is to find, so I'll ask here...

My parents are CC Elite. They are looking to book a cruise for a total of 9 people (them, their children, and grandchildren) in three cabins. Will their elite status be carried across all three cabins if it's paid/booked by them? The on-board amenities would be nice, but I think priority embarkation and debarkation would be the most valuable as a whole family.

Thank you so much for your contributions.

I'd like to bump this thread to see any updates from any cruise line. Thanks in advance.

We returned last week from our second cruise on Royal and they were phenomenal with the allergies again. My son is allergic to milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts and shellfish.

I wish there was a private message function on CC. I'd love to compare notes with you. My daughter has the same allergies except for shellfish.

They were super cautious. We wanted to order a hot dog for my son, but they didn't have the labels for the hot dogs so they couldn't verify the ingredients.

I actually find this unacceptable. Any pre-made food loaded onto the ship needs to have accompanying ingredients list available. On our last RCCL cruise in 2009, it took them over three days to find the ingredients list for their dry pasta (to see if it contained egg). When pasta is an essential part of my daughter's diet, it severely limited her choices.

Here are my two reviews specifically related to food allergies...

Carnival Miracle (2011/2012)

Disney Magic (2015)

What do you eat at home? Well, that's available on the ship, too!

Really? Cookies, cakes, muffins, cinnamon rolls, and waffles that don't contain eggs? :confused: Being egg allergic on a cruise ship is a real PITA when it comes to breakfast and desserts; it's especially harder when it's a child (like my daughter).

We did an RCCL cruise about 7 years ago, and it took the staff four days (asking three times a day) to determine whether their pasta contained egg. I hope they find out faster for you.

You can also call ahead and pre-load your gift cards into your on-board account so you don't have to deal with standing in line at Guest Services. Take your cards with you just in case.

I'd like to tag along on this thread and ask a few questions. Given that X has actually been cheaper than RCCL (and NCL) on the cruises I'm looking at, I am considering sailing X next time now.

My daughter has allergies to dairy, eggs, peanuts, sesame, and some tree nuts. This basically means we have to cook vegan-style, but we eat meat. Disney was phenomenal with handling her food allergies, but the price premium is prohibitive. We also had great success with Carnival. We also did RCCL many years ago, and that was not a great experience.

• Do they stock vegan cooking products? (Such as vegan margarine, vegan "cream cheese", vegan "sour cream", etc.)
  
• How about vegan desserts? (Cookies, ice cream, etc.)
  
• Can you request rice milk be stocked on the ship?
  
• Were you able to give them recipes for them to use? (There are some very easy vegan pancake/waffle recipes that don't require anything out-of-ordinary.)
  
• Can you not arrange for food items at the buffet to be plated from untouched trays in the kitchen?
  

If someone has similar allergies, what kind of food was served to you on a daily basis? (You can reference this post for my Disney review.)

Thanks in advance.

I sailed on the Radiance of the Seas back in December 2003. We could not tender at Grand Cayman due to rough seas. The captain authorized a two-hour open bar. Pandemonium ensued. Good times.

The Pawn Stars episode with art purchased on a cruise ship should tell you everything about whether it's a worthwhile investment (if you haven't seen the episode, not at all). That said, if you really like the piece, then it's up to you whether the price you pay is worth it.

There was a TV channel on my cable lineup called Nuvo TV. It showed old episodes of Cash Cab, which my kids and I enjoyed watching--plus lots of good stand-up comedy that weren't kid-appropriate. 95% of the commercial were in Spanish. All of the shows were in English, and none of the shows were ever subtitled.

This thread is PERFECTLY FINE without pics.

As far as making things with recipes you give them, we usually bring on a box of bisquick with instructions written on a label we place on the box to add milk only (you could use water) to make pancakes. He was never a huge fan of their allergy friendly pancakes, that were also gluten free.

Thank you for your post, and congrats on your son's milestone. I guess I'm lucky that Miss Swede has no problems with eating either gluten-rich or gluten-free food. How do your Bisquick pancakes turn out without egg in it? I make Bisquick pancakes at home with egg replacer and soy milk.

And thanks to PNW Traveler and printingchick for your responses, too. Much appreciated.

Sorry to bump this thread, but I was hoping someone could provide me with answers to my questions. Thanks in advance.

We sailed with RCCL in 2009. Our daughter (Miss Swede) has allergies to dairy, egg, peanuts, and tree nuts. It took them three days for them to confirm that their dry pasta did not contain egg. That certainly did not instill confidence that they accommodate food allergies very well. When we looked for our next cruise in 2011, it still seemed like RCCL still didn't have their act together. Instead, we took a Carnival cruise, and we were pleasantly surprised at how well they were able to accommodate her food allergies.

This thread (and Facebook posts in some FA groups) shows that RCCL may be improving now, which makes me think we'll have to choose between RCCL and NCL for our next cruise. I also read on an (older) official RCCL blog that they do have a separate cooking area for special dietary needs; is that still the case?

I'm looking for anyone who can compare and contrast between RCCL and Disney regarding food allergies. (My DCL review here)

My questions are:

• Do they stock vegan cooking products? (Such as the items listed in my DCL review.)
  
• How about vegan desserts? (Cookies, ice cream, etc.)
  
• Can you request rice milk be stocked on the ship?
  
• Were you able to give them recipes for them to use? (There are some very easy vegan pancake/waffle recipes that don't require anything out-of-ordinary.)
  
• Can you not arrange for food items at the buffet to be plated from untouched trays in the kitchen?
  

With all that said, we don't mind bringing aboard a lot of allergy-friendly food items (like snacks, cookies, rice milk, etc.); although we would love it if Miss Swede could have ice cream for dessert.

We took a foam sword. No questions asked.

Regarding Palo, there is the $30 service charge. On top of that, you can add gratuity "at your discretion". After reading some threads on there, it seemed that many were adding $20-30 per person.

Three more things...

Oceaneer's Club/Lab

Baby Swede had a great time, and she got a kick out of the hand washer. On the first sea day, I got a text on my Wave Phone that she wanted to be picked up. Since the seas were a bit rough, we thought she might be feeling a little seasick. It turns out EVERYONE with a child in Oceaneer's Club/Lab got that message.

It could have been really easy for DCL to have stationed one employee outside the Lab and one outside the Club saying that there was an error with the messaging system. Instead, there were massive lines outside both entrances with no one learning about what happened until some other parents told those waiting in line what was going on. About 45 minutes after that incident, we got a message on our Wave Phones apologizing for the error.

Edge

Miss Swede thought it was okay, but mainly boring. I think it's really difficult to make friends on a 5-night cruise, especially when kids can freely go in and out.

Entertainment

The nightly live shows were top-notch; except we skipped Wednesday night due to being at Palo. I skipped all shows from our previous two cruises (mainly because I wanted to be in the casino), and I was told I didn't miss much. Tangled: The Musical was definitely the best. We decided to go to the 2pm show and started waiting in line at 1:15pm. It got us 8 front-row seats and 8 seats directly behind. Miss Swede could also eat the popcorn, so that was also a big plus.

Not to hijack but if you were to buy a case before boarding, how would you carry it on? Would you try to cram a 24 pack into your carry-on or can you slap a luggage tag on it and treat it as such?

We brought two 16.9oz 12-packs (purchased at Publix) in a Whole Foods paper bag on-board. No questions asked, but it sure was heavy lugging them around until our stateroom was ready.

Really enjoying your review.

Thank you!

Would you consider posting your review here:http://foodallergysupport.olicentral.com/index.php

I will look into posting there. I will trim down the review to make it FA-specific. I'm rather shocked there are so few Disney-related (and recent) threads on there.

Enjoying the review so far!

Thank you!

Thanks for the detailed trip. We have done lots of Disney vacations because of their ability to deal with food allergies.

We actually had a very poor experience at one of their restaurants at Disneyland. Other restaurant experiences there have been okay to good, but nothing spectacular.

I called Disney and she said the form found on the online check in was all we needed and it did not have to be notarized.

 

Can I trust them to be giving me the correct information?

I'm quite surprised DCL actually told you that.

If you are flying to port, you may not even get past the the check-in agent at the airport if that note isn't notarized. If an unfortunate situation happens in another port, it could cause a lot of headaches.

Fill out the one posted by DCL. Also fill out the one linked by Loonbeam. Get it notarized.

Post-Cruise

Disembarkation was quick and painless. It helps that our flight wasn't until 6:40pm so that we didn't have to wake up extremely early to rush off the ship. We had a leisurely breakfast in Lumiere's at 8:15 with one other family from our group (who were driving to Orlando to celebrate Christmas with their extended family); the other two families disembarked at 7am for their early flights home. We left Lumiere's around 9:20am. The ship seemed empty, but the line on Deck 4 to get off the ship streched all the way into Shutters, and it moved quickly. We got a porter, found our bags pretty quickly, and were out the door in no time.

I didn't realize the airline luggage service had to be booked by 12/20. I got the dates mixed up with booking airport transportation (12/21). I panicked mildly since I had rented a small car from Avis to drive around in for the day. After a somewhat lengthy wait for the Avis/Budget shuttle outside the terminal, we got to the rental office, and I upgraded to a small SUV for an extra $10. We then drove to the airport to check-in our bags. Unfortunately, United doesn't allow early check-in, so we had to schlep our bags back to the rental car and figure out what to do. 30 minutes and $4 parking wasted. We drove back towards South Beach to look at the art deco buildings, then both kids fell asleep. We then decided to drive up to Ft. Lauderdale to enjoy the ocean drive. Both kids suddenly woke up again in North Beach. So we turned around and found a parking garage in South Beach. I normally wouldn't leave all of our luggage exposed in the back of the SUV. I did back the SUV into the parking space to make it less visible and more difficult for any potential thief to extract it through the back door.

From our previous cruise and post-cruise stay on South Beach, we knew there was a Johnny Rocket's on Ocean Drive, so we ate lunch there. We lucked out and got a booth right next to the street for maximum sun and people watching. The manager was well-versed in food allergies, and he even dropped the phrase, "corporate has directed us to...". Sadly, there isn't much on the menu available for Miss Swede. We ordered an all-beef hot dog and fries for her, and she was happy with that. After lunch, we took a brief stroll up Ocean Drive, then onto the beach, where the kids played for about an hour, washed off our feet, then made our way back to the parking garage. After a brief stop at Publix to pick up Lunchables for the kids for the plane ride home, we arrived at the MIA RCC to drop off the car, check-in our bags, and proceeded through security.

The flight home was bumpy, but uneventful. All three of our checked bags were one of the first 20 off the carousel. Going from 80-degree weather to 30-degree weather is not something I enjoy--especially while wearing shorts. Thank goodness for heated seats. :D

Random ratings from our post-cruise excursion:

United Airlines - 2/5 (many airlines allow early bag-check, some even overnight, why can't you?; flight was fine and arrived on-time)

Avis PortMiami office - 1/5 (they need more shuttles--at least one more, maybe two)

Johnny Rocket's Miami Beach - 4/5 (pleasant dining experience; just wish they had more allergy-friendly options)

Miami Airport Terminal G - 0/5 (calling it old and depressing would be an insult to old and depressing airport terminals)

Additional Thoughts - Adult Perspective

This are my thoughts about the cruise outside the scope of dealing with food allergies.

Miami

Let me get this straight, Walgreen's and CVS in downtown Miami, your stores are located just miles from a beach and even closer to a major cruise port that takes passengers to many other sandy beaches, but you do not regularly carry sand toys? Instead, you carry ... snow sleds? Really?

Food

It's all very subjective. Mrs. Swede and I are not food snobs by any means. We thought the food in both the MDRs and Palo were not anything special. There were some bright spots here and there, but I found most foods to be pretty bland. The pancakes and waffles served at breakfast were especially awful. The best food item I ate was the lamb biryani in Cabana's on the second at-sea day; Mrs. Swede said her's was the fijoles negro soup in Carioca's. I also enjoyed the escargot in Lumiere's, and I was disappointed they offered a different menu on our second visit there. Since we had to order Miss Swede's meal the previous night, I shared my disappointment with Ivan. He came though and presented me with escargot on the final night. Another decent food option were the gyros at Pete's Boiler Bites. I wish I had taken more advantage of the late-night food snacks at O'Gills, but we never really visited that part of the ship since our kids were usually with us after the evening show until bedtime. The pizza was a nice snack between meals, and I took advantage of the desserts and warm croissants at The Cove.

We dined at Palo on Pirate Night. The appetizer plate at Palo was nice, as were the two kinds of ravioli I tried (lobster and beef); however, while it was better than the MDR menu, it was not worth the $30/person (plus $20/person gratuity) up-charge.

We thought dining service the whole cruise was pretty slow, borderline painfully slow. Drink service was very inconsistent, borderline non-existant, getting refills and wine/beer took a very long time, which I guess falls on the assistant server. Dinner at Palo took almost three hours, which caused us to almost miss the fireworks on Pirate Night--and a surprise costume change for Mrs. Swede and I.

Customer Service

Our interactions with Guest Services and Port Adventures were always pleasant. We lost three items on our cruise, and we were able to recover two of them (safe travels, where ever you may go, Miss Swede's headband). Our room attendant was always friendly. Actually, he was also made aware of Miss Swede's allergies, and he asked us if he should leave the chocolate coins in our room. That was a thoughtful touch. Mrs. Swede and I enjoyed some sparkling wine and white wine in our cabin in the afternoons, and Anthony kept the ice bucket nice and cold.

Cabin

It was a nice cabin. It's not like we spend much time in there, so it being 40-50sqft larger than other cabins we have cruised with is pretty irrelevant to us. The raised bed to keep luggage under was a plus--then again, we've been able to do that on all of our cruises. The bathrooms definitely showed signs of wear; the showerhead was quite leaky. The balcony was nice to be out on, but you could see signs of rust all over the place. The three other families got adjoining cabins on the 8th floor, and had the dividers removed. They spent the late evenings after the kids fell asleep drinking wine on their triple balcony. That sounds nice, but we value privacy.

Our toilet overflowed once. A quick call to Anthony, who was on break, was transferred to another room attendant, who showed up at our door within minutes. Maintenance took care of the issue somewhere else, and we heard our toilet flushing a few times. About 30 minutes after the incident, Anthony returned and cleaned up the bathroom.

Drinks

I purchased the beer mug on Embarkation Day at the stand they erected near Carioca's. What annoyed me was that the sign posted said $16.95; another bar on the ship said the mug was $16. My receipt said $14.95. Is it that difficult to re-print all of the signs to indicate the correct price? The draft beer selection was somewhat disappointing, and I didn't like how only certain bars had certain beers, which could prove very inconvenient depending where you were. My friend said the IPA served in The Cove was good--I'm not an IPA fan.

Mrs. Swede took advantage of the DotD every day. She thought they were tasty. The $4.50 mimosas in the mornings in The Cove were also nice. It also seems that you have to be "in the know" to find out when the 2-for-1 special hour is on Castaway Cay. We lucked out and bought some drinks with 3 minutes to spare.

The free sodas in the dining rooms and on Deck 9 was nice, but I didn't really take advantage of it--neither did the kids, really. I've now come to realize that soda packages on the other cruiselines would be a waste of money for us; so would the adult beverage packages, but if they are "included" with the fare, that's fine with me.

Ports of Call

I've always been a fan of Grand Cayman. Our snorkeling excursion with DCL got cancelled due to rough seas (more like cloudy seas), so we had to scramble to find an alternative. We hopped into a taxi and went to Royal Palms Beach Resort. It was a nice place; I probably would have preferred a more quiet setting. We paid for three chairs and an umbrella ($45); we were never asked to pay the entrance fee. The family to the left of us and the couple to the right of us tried to skip out on paying for their chairs ("We're just going to be here for an hour. We shouldn't have to pay." "That is way too expensive!"); eventually, the manager came out and laid down the law. I asked about snorkeling, and the beach gear rental guy said the water is way too cloudy. The kids had a blast playing on the beach and in the waves. Mrs. Swede and I enjoyed cold, expensive beers and sunning/swimming. I bought a Tortuga rum cake, only to realize when I got home that the original flavor contains walnuts. Oops! Should've gotten the chocolate one!

Castaway Cay is fantastic. I took the kids snorkeling, and they had an amazing time seeing all of the colorful fish (and one long-spined sea urchin). It makes me sad that we couldn't snorkel in Grand Cayman to see fish in actual coral reefs, not the artificial ones laid by Disney. My daughters crushed all three ropes courses. I would be so much better to spend two days at this island; I would gladly give up another port for another day here. Because of the rough seas and windy conditions, many sea-based excursions were cancelled.

Cell Phone Service

As T-Mobile customers, it was great having free data (albeit at Edge speeds) and free texting on both Grand Cayman and Castaway Cay. On Grand Cayman, it took quite a few tries (turning airplane mode on and off) in order to connect to Digicel. Once it did, service was solid, and being able to check e-mail and post a few pictures on Facebook was nice. On Castaway Cay, connecting to BTC was easier.

DCL App

It was a great way to communicate with everyone else within our traveling party. I just wished it worked on Castaway Cay. The Wave Phones were very hit-or-miss.