Food Allergy

[slatts10]

My husband as an allergy to peanuts. I faxed over the health form to Carnival and I know that we are to speak with the MD on the first day to plan his dinner meals in the main dinning room. But does anybody know if the food on the Lido Deck, mainly the burgers and fries are free from peanut oil? Thanks for any help you can give.

[docs wife]

I can't help you with the buffet food, but I know when we sailed on the Freedom a couple years ago, the dining room was great with my grandson. They brought the menu for the next day to my daughter each night and she could order his next night's meal at that time and they made sure it was not made around anything with peanuts, peanut oil, etc.

We're hoping RC will be as good about it when we sail on them next month because he allergies are getting worse as he gets older!

[rebric12]

I was very impressed with the level of care in the main dinning room with my shell fish allergy. They brought a menu everynight for the next night for me to look at. It was much easier for me to eat at the buffet with my allergy than it will be for your family because it seems there are peanuts EVERYWHERE, and where you would least expect them. I would stick to the main dinning rooms for your meals, as they serve breakfast and lunch also. Or just talk to someone once on the ship who will be able to answer your questions about the food on the buffet.

[stargate fan]

My husband as an allergy to peanuts. I faxed over the health form to Carnival and I know that we are to speak with the MD on the first day to plan his dinner meals in the main dinning room. But does anybody know if the food on the Lido Deck, mainly the burgers and fries are free from peanut oil? Thanks for any help you can give.

 

I also have an allergy to peanuts, and mine is very severe. (Adult onset, 12 years ago out of the blue. Boy do I miss Reese's PB Cups, Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch, and Moose Track Ice Cream. :()The maitre d's had my allergy listed on their computers. I have found that there are actually very few peanut products on the ships. Tree nuts-yes, but not peanuts. I have never had an issue eating the burgers and fries. (The fries are delicious, btw, while the burgers are nasty pieces of shoe leather.) But diligence never hurts, so have your husband ask the buffet servers anytime he has a question. We've been on six cruises so far and I've never had a reaction.

 

Sometimes I found there was an open container of peanut butter in one section of the buffet area along with jelly for PB&J addicts, but I steered clear of that.

 

If you husband carries an Epi-Pen, make sure he brings it along.

 

Hope this eases your mind a little.

[LHP]

I would take the same precautions that you take every time you go out to eat at a restaurant at home.

 

Upon getting on the ship, I would confirm with the Maitre' D...but then make sure your waiter and assistant waiter knows as well.

 

From what I have read, the Main Dining Room is the most controlled area.

I would not expect the same controls on Lido.

 

Your safest bet is to eat as many meals in the Main Dining Room as you can and IF you have to eat on Lido, you will have to check and double check (just like you do when you eat out at home).

[Muumuu]

Severe allergy to mangos and I have always notified MD and espically my waiter and his assistant.

I did order something once and they said no no as it did have mango but not listed or abvious.

[salty dingo]

Peanut oil is rather expensive and the cruise lines tend toward using the cheapest ingredients, so I really doubt you will find food fried in peanut oil.

[slatts10]

Thank you for all of the responses. I also was thinking peanut oil is more expensive to use than other oils. If I ran carnival, that's where I would cut costs. My husband will be happy that the fries are safe. But we will be sure to double check before he eats. Thanks again.

[MamaParrotHead]

My son is also allergic to peanuts and I was told that they do NOT use the peanut oil for frying onboard at all.

 

They were quite thorough, the only issue that we had was actually a contact issue (he's also allergic to eggs) that hadn't occured to me. He sat in what must have been the minute remains of someone's scrambled eggs on the upholstered bench in the buffet area. Thankfully his reaction wasn't severe, Benadryl and a quick trip to the infirmary were all that was needed.

[yogi2929]

DD is allergic to peanuts and treenuts-never had a problem with the fried food. Most of the food in the buffet is nut free. Those with nuts usually have pieces that can be seen. The exception is a few of the cakes.

 

DD also avoids the Mongolian Grill. We do not know what is in the sauces and the pans just get a cursory wipe to clean them.

 

In the MDR the hostess will bring over the next night's menu. If he cannot make up his mind, he can order several different items.

[Seafor2]

My daughter is allergic to milk and WAS allergic to nuts (tree and peanuts) on our last cruise. (Thankfully she has outgrown her nut allergy since then.) My husband is allergic to nuts. We found the Carnival staff to be very helpful and knowledgable. They have suggested we stay away from the buffet and eat in the main dining room. As you know, sometimes that isn't always possible. The hostess that assisted us with the allergy meals would see us in line to get food and she would ask what our daughter wanted and then would go back and get it herself. We never had any problems.

 

One thing I would suggest is to carry an allergy card with you. Our card has a photo of our daughter, along with her name and allergies listed. One side is English, the other Spanish. This is a great help when going in port and eating. We ate in Cozumel and I just simply handed the card to our waiter. He took the card to the kitchen and they determined what she could eat safely. It took a lot of burden off having to try to explain the food allergies and know the person I was discussing it with understood what I was saying.