Will my son be safe in MDR/WJ on RCCL?

[emtb12]

This is our first family cruise (DH & I have only one under our belt). My DS has a peanut allergy:eek:. Will the MDR or Windjammer give me an ingredients list? Anyone know what kind of oil is used for cooking?

[reallyitsmema]

There is a really good food allergy review on the RCI board right now from someone who just got off the Explorer. Here is the link.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1433327

 

They really go into detail on how the handled the MDR and WJ. They had one problem in Chops but other than that, the staff really went out of there way to help.

[cb at sea]

If you have allergies or specific dietary needs, you MUST contact the "Special Needs" dept. prior to sailing to alert them to your condition. That way, they will be aware and ready to help you. All cruiselines have some form of special needs. They are very accomodating.

[emtb12]

If you have allergies or specific dietary needs, you MUST contact the "Special Needs" dept. prior to sailing to alert them to your condition. That way, they will be aware and ready to help you. All cruiselines have some form of special needs. They are very accomodating.

 

Thank you. I have contacted the special needs department and they have emailed the form to fill out. This is our first experience with a mass dining room experience, so I am very nervous.

[adoptmom]

I don't have any experience with those cruise lines, but we have cruised on RC and Carnival with kids who have corn/peanut and milk/sesame allergies. RC was a bit dicey but Carnival was amazing. The head came to our table with a book with the entire list of foods. Also, when in doubt, the staff at Camp Carnival called us before giving our son a snack. We're lucky though as our children only have level one reactions, so no risk of breathing or swelling issues.

 

Personally, I would take some "backup plan" foods. Most cruise lines allow a 12x12 cooler. We didn't take food, but we did take things like safe cookies and organic fruit snacks so that when dessert/snack was questionable, we were able to come up with an alternative.

[ducklite]

I've got severe tree nut allergies, moderate alelrgies to scallops and coconut, and mild peanut allergies. My experience on Disney was fantastic, they really bent over backwards to make sure I was safe.

 

On RCCL Mariner in the dining rooms I felt safe, however the buffet was a nightmare, and I actually had the chef at the pasta station tell me pesto was safe for me to eat. "Uh, what part of walnut/pine nut don't you understand?"

 

Bottom line, you'll be safer in the dining room than at the buffets, and do not be afraid to be pretty forceful and doubt anyone who says something that doesn't make sense and ask for a supervisor.

 

By the way, I strongly suggest taking some prepackaged snacks for consuming on shore excursions--the food at many port vendors is highly suspect for a variety of allergens, and they'll yes you to death.

[SadieN]

On the first day go to the MDR and let the Maitre 'd know. They might not be able to prepare something special the first night but they can tell you what is safe to eat

 

On Carnival we travel with a group that has nut, peanut, shellfish, egg white and chocolate allergies. We are able to look at the next night's menu and preorder our food.

 

Usually the MDR is open during sea days. We could have preordered breakfast and lunch if needed. Do not know if the MDR is open for port days on RCL.

 

The buffet is dicey. After many cruises we have learnt to avoid most asian cooked-to-order stations and some of the baked goods. If in doubt I will taste it for my DD17. If I'm not with her she knows what she can have.

 

If RCL is like Carnival there will be an allergy form to fill out when signing up for the kids club.

 

Even though our experience has been on Carnival, and a lessor extant HAL, I'm sure RCL is the same. I have never heard anything to the contrary. On this site. believe me, we would have heard about it.;)

[SadieN]

On RCCL Mariner in the dining rooms I felt safe, however the buffet was a nightmare, and I actually had the chef at the pasta station tell me pesto was safe for me to eat. "Uh, what part of walnut/pine nut don't you understand?".

 

We have this problem even with people whose first language is English.

 

At an icecream shop we asked "Does that has nuts?" Nope, so DD got it and noticed almonds in it before she ate it. Evidently lots of people think "Nuts" are walnuts. Like my kindergarteners think iceberg lettuce is "Salad". grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

OP--last summer we went to Italy. I made up business cards saying that she is allergic to - nuts, pinenuts, treenuts, walnuts, peanuts, almonds, hazelnuts, filberts and any other nut I could think of. When we ordered food we would show them the card. It worked beautifully.

I used Google translate. Syntax might have been off but she was never served a nut of any kind.

[ducklite]

I'll be cruising to Italy, Montenegro, Croatia, and Greece next year, and was thinking about doing something similar with a business card that lists the allergies in the various languages.

 

And I agree, many don't consider pistaccios, almonds, and filberts nuts because it doesn't have the word "nut" in it. :::heavy sigh:::

[emtb12]

Thank you so much for your replies. I guess we are pretty lucky that is only food allergy is peanuts. He has many other enviormental, but is medicated for those.

So glad to hear about MDR. We have 3 sea days on our cruise, so I guess we shall be eating there! My concern about the buffet is the cross contamination of food, handles of serving spoons etc. He is a very picky eater:eek: so trying new foods is out! Will the buffet staff look oddly at him if he wears a serving glove to handle the serving spoons? He is going to be 16, so mom making his plate is out;).

[junglejane]

Thank you so much for your replies. I guess we are pretty lucky that is only food allergy is peanuts. He has many other enviormental, but is medicated for those.

So glad to hear about MDR. We have 3 sea days on our cruise, so I guess we shall be eating there! My concern about the buffet is the cross contamination of food, handles of serving spoons etc. He is a very picky eater:eek: so trying new foods is out! Will the buffet staff look oddly at him if he wears a serving glove to handle the serving spoons? He is going to be 16, so mom making his plate is out;).

 

Our older DD is allergic to peanuts, and the younger DD is allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, sesame and certain fish. When getting food in the buffet, I would urge your DS to look around the serving dish and see if there's anything nearby that is suspect. Someone else may have used that serving spoon to scoop food or toppings out of a nearby container. So wearing gloves may not protect him from cross contamination, because the serving portion of the spoon may be contaminated. For example, self serve ice cream toppings, or make your own stir fry stations, are prime areas for passenger-caused cross contamination. But it can happen anywhere that a nut food is placed in proximity to another food.

 

Before our trip, we ordered allergy cards on the internet from a company called Select Wisely. We used them in port and they were great. Select Wisely made us nice laminated cards in Italian, Greek and Turkish that described the kids' allergies in strongly worded terms. There was one card just for nuts that listed and translated many kinds of nuts (or nut-like allergens such as peanuts) and even had a mini-photo of a variety of nuts. It was very helpful. We showed it to our Turkish guide in Istanbul and he was very impressed and said it was translated well.

[ducklite]

Wandering off to check out this "Select Wisely" site---thanks!!