RCI not diabetic friendly

[Dem920]

My son has been diabetic since he was 9 months old. He has been cruising since he was 4. We have never bot been able to find him food. He was diagnosed with celiac at 17 which was 4 years ago. This makes the carbs more challenging but RCCL has been incredibly accommodating with both diseases. They give him gluten free foods to bring back to his cabin and he brings snacks and sugar filled drinks to his room for emergencies along with his glucagon. The cruise line also brings him a sharps container to dispose of his diabetes pump supplies and tester strips and lancets. You need to tell them about your illness and take some responsibility for the disease. My son has been as far asAfrica with both diseases. He takes control of them, he doesn't let them control him. Your other option is to stay home I guess.

[cruisenfever]

Just a quick question.... does Enchantment have fridges/coolers in each cabin? If so how easy to just pop in there your evening snack....

We had one in our cabin when we were on Deck 8 and anything we put in there kept surprisingly cold.

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

Room service and your waiter are your best source to accommodate you.

 

It is unfair to call RC unfriendly to diabetics when you have plenty of sources to help you. Plan ahead with snacks, fruits and juices and you should be fine.

 

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[debandbruce]

Our first cruise was on the Enchantment and we did find the food options very scarce after 10pm. We had an inside cabin and did not have a fridge, we kept DH insulin on ice. This was 3 years ago before she was in drydock so these things may have changed. Being our first cruise we weren't really aware of our options but we have learned since that food is only a phone call away and we pack some snacks too. It also helps to get in the habit of grabbing some fruit from the Windjammer to have in your cabin for later.

[jobu]

I too am a diabetic, and I have never had a problem finding food of some kind on any ship, as has already been discussed. Now, as far as keeping the insulin on ice. We have cruised a number of times and at booking I always ask if the room has a refrigerator. On the few occasions that it didn't, I asked for one to be brought to my room along with the sharps container. Never been a problem.

[Kellie Poodle]

I am on ENOS now i am on early seating at 5 30 by 930 i need something to eat the wj closes at 9 solarium at 10 opens on ccl i can go to the deli or pizza on princess the buffet is open 24/7

 

 

My DH is insulin dependent. He has a pump so he's always getting a basal dosage of insulin and needs to be wary of lows.

 

If you are fighting a low and there is noting to eat, pay for a can of regular soda and drink enough of it to bring you back up. Your meter is your friend. Use the 15-15 method. 15 grams of carbs, wait 15 minutes and test your BG.

 

It seems really unfair to me to criticize an entire cruise line just because one is having difficulty managing their disease. Thousands of diabetics sail on cruises and don't have the OP's problem.

[Kellie Poodle]

we bring our own snacks from home to keep in the room for diabetic husband. He plans his exercise and pump boluses according to what he ate at a meal. RCI has no problem with me hauling onboard juice boxes and peanut butter snack cracker packs (Austin brand). I also bring Twizzlers or Jolly Rogers, I don't have to convince him to eat those if I suspect he's going hypoglycemic on me. Twice he has had seizures in the middle of night due to getting too low, I was able to take care of it myself with what I had stashed instead of calling medical. The point of all this, as noted by other posters, is that you plan and prepare to take care of yourself.

 

 

I have the same situation. I travel with a glucogon kit. I have had to use it only once on a cruise ship and that's because he was sick with something else. I hate needles. I save his life with the glucogon needle then I cry while I wait for him to come around.

 

We were on an excursion on a cruise and we hadn't thought we were going to be so long from lunch and the glucose tablets didn't do much, so we bought a can of regular Coke and he drank it. Sometimes it's easier to go a little high and compensate with a bolus than to worry about a low.

 

I'm very proud of him. We did a 13 day cruise in January including 3 days pre-cruise in Buenos Aires and his A1C was 5.6!

[Kellie Poodle]

Would second seating have been a better choice ? Or like other posters have said you can always use room service , I am sure if you spoke to the head waiter he would give you something to take with you for your cabin ,when we cruised with our grandsons they didn't want a dessert , the waiter appeared with a tray of cookies for them to take back to the cabin ,we didn't even ask for them , I am sure if you spoke to your waiter or head waiter they would help ,I do think that you need to prepare for your health requirements yourself and plan better , royal is not to blame if you don't speak up .

 

My DH is insulin dependent and we've had to forgo second seating. It is much later than we eat at home and he'd have to reprogram his pump for the spacing of meals.

[Kellie Poodle]

Just a quick question.... does Enchantment have fridges/coolers in each cabin? If so how easy to just pop in there your evening snack....

 

Even on ships with those little "cooler" fridges, you can ask for a medical fridge and they will bring a separate dorm-size one into the cabin for you.

[debandbruce]

I too am a diabetic, and I have never had a problem finding food of some kind on any ship, as has already been discussed. Now, as far as keeping the insulin on ice. We have cruised a number of times and at booking I always ask if the room has a refrigerator. On the few occasions that it didn't, I asked for one to be brought to my room along with the sharps container. Never been a problem.

 

We didn't know any better on our first cruise. That's where this forum is great for all the little tips we didn't know. We figured if there wasn't a fridge that was that but we know better now. Haven't come across this problem again as all our cabins since have had a fridge. The wonderful thing about cruising is if you need something ask, they will do their very best to help accomodate you.

[Langley Cruisers]

We did a 13 day cruise in January including 3 days pre-cruise in Buenos Aires and his A1C was 5.6!

 

Nice! A success story and one of many, in this thread and daily onboard ships in the RCI fleet. :D

[Wilda]

I don't recall Princess having a 24 hour buffet:confused: And isn't there stuff (candy bars, etc.) in the fridge/mini bar or did they do away with that?

[Langley Cruisers]

And isn't there stuff (candy bars, etc.) in the fridge/mini bar or did they do away with that?

 

There are items in the fridge but they are not the kind of healthy snacks a diabetic needs. Our first choice would be a protein combined with a small amount of carbs - nuts, cheese, one small fruit would fit the bill nicely. :)