BEWARE IF YOU HAVE ANY FOOD ALLERGIES!!! Carnival was not accommodating at ALL when i

[pkrchkr]

I have a severe allergy to Celery.. yes Celery...so anything that has Celery in it or Celery salt, as well as Kiwi and Avacado will set me into anaphylasis.. I told my PVP and the maitre D and never a problem.. even asking the servers in the Lido and the Bartenders to wash their hands before they pour my drink..everyone is great..

This just my experience I can only hope everyone else has been so lucky

[hansolosmom]

 

I in no way am denying that Carnival may have dropped the ball here (or at least, a specific employee), but all she needed to do was move up the "food chain" - if I were in a situation where I "had nothing to eat", I'd demand to see the Food and Beverage Manager if that's what it took.

 

on.

 

This!

We had an issue on another line, started with the head waiter, issue not resolved, went to the matre d & customer service. Everything was resolved. We even got calls the next 2 days making sure everything was ok. I have always found any line wanting to fix anything they could because they know in the electronic age news travels fast, so they want to make sure it's good news.

[RelaxNCruz]

I have been reading through all of the idiotic postings on this thread, and I am totally amazed at how many people are so adamant that a bad experience with Carnival did not happen. None of you were there, none of you know me or my sister, none of you know our TA (who by the way is amazing and extremely competent), none of you know the specifics of the medical conditions that my sister and her son deal with on a daily basis, and none of you apparently remember how wide-eyed and unknowing you all were when you went on your first cruise. The original post was meant to provide helpful insight to anyone planning on traveling on Carnival who does have any condition that impacts what they can eat. It was also meant to illustrate that no cruiseline is infallible, and that any of us, ANY OF US, at any time, may have a bad experience. How you have the nerve to argue with the facts of the matter is certainly beyond me, yet for many of you, you are making personal attacks about statements that you insist are lies merely because you have not had the same experience. It is truly sad that you are so closed-minded, and that instead of offering suggestions you are offering criticism. You should be ashamed of your behavior. And to all the rest of you who have offered suggestions and support, THANK YOU. We appreciate the information and the understanding.

[iamsteph]

I have been reading through all of the idiotic postings on this thread, and I am totally amazed at how many people are so adamant that a bad experience with Carnival did not happen. None of you were there, none of you know me or my sister, none of you know our TA (who by the way is amazing and extremely competent), none of you know the specifics of the medical conditions that my sister and her son deal with on a daily basis, and none of you apparently remember how wide-eyed and unknowing you all were when you went on your first cruise. The original post was meant to provide helpful insight to anyone planning on traveling on Carnival who does have any condition that impacts what they can eat. It was also meant to illustrate that no cruiseline is infallible, and that any of us, ANY OF US, at any time, may have a bad experience. How you have the nerve to argue with the facts of the matter is certainly beyond me, yet for many of you, you are making personal attacks about statements that you insist are lies merely because you have not had the same experience. It is truly sad that you are so closed-minded, and that instead of offering suggestions you are offering criticism. You should be ashamed of your behavior. And to all the rest of you who have offered suggestions and support, THANK YOU. We appreciate the information and the understanding.

 

You obviously didn't read all the posts, or you would have seen mine. I know EXACTLY what you go through on a daily basis.

 

Here is a suggestion for you: the next time you drop a ton of money on a vacation, do a little research. All you had to do was google ''carnival gluten free'', and you would have had a world's worth of information at your fingertips. Ok, so you went to the MD to inform them that you needed gluten free food. When gluten free food didn't appear before your very eyes, WHY DIDN'T YOU ASK SOMEONE?! Gone back to the MD? Gone to customer service? If you had asked someone, you would have been helped.

 

Here is another suggestion for you: always have a backup. There is no reason you could not find gluten free food on the ship. Salad is gluten free. Salad toppings are gluten free. Fruit is gluten free. Eggs are gluten free (are you worried about how they're prepared? Get a hard boiled egg!). Grits are gluten free. There are tons of food that are gluten free, so you shouldn't have had a problem! What do you do when you're out in the real world and gluten free food doesn't just appear before your eyes?

 

I've had people say to me ''oh gluten free is that like sugar free?'' :eek: Having Celiac disease takes patience and you have to be prepared (I carry gluten free granola bars with me EVERYWHERE). Next time, be prepared.

[quickrate]

Hey Sis! Glad you showed up!! These Carnival beasties are questioning the veracity of my claims on your behalf!! Hmph! At least now they are hearing directly from you, and I don't believe they have had the nerve to accuse you of lying, at least not yet. Interesting to hear people claim they know something when they clearly do not (but you will find that all over cruisecritic - just ask MDH!)

 

THANK YOU to all of you whom have offered suggestions for ways to handle this situation in the future, and to those who have provided ideas for how MDS can address the situation to her satisfaction with Carnival.

 

To those of you who have jumped all over me, it seems apparent that you never learned effective social skills. What more can I say?

 

.... actually I do have more to say. KARMA baby.... what goes around comes around, and I can only wish that you get a taste of your own behavior from someone of the same gene pool soon. Maybe you won't be so quick to judge next time, and maybe you'll learn to be more tolerant of people who may be different than you without finding the need to criticize them. Isn't there a commandment about that somewhere??? If not, there should be. :p:p:p

Not sure where you are coming from with this tirade. Many people have offered great suggestions and I don't see where people have jumped all over you. Can not understand why your sister would choose not to eat in MDR where a hostess goes over menu choices each and every night that are gluten free. The buffet has many gluten free choices and if you have an allergy, you should be well informed as to what you can and can't eat.

Pat

[Trytorelax]

Sorry to have to say this but, why bother talking to the matradee if you aren’t even going to eat in the area of his charge, the main dining room. That’s like talking to the ship’s doctor about the proper weight oil to run in the main engines, or reporting a bank robbery to a Firefighter. Why would the matradee not expect you were asking or talking about his area, if you ate in the MDR and had a problem then yes that would be a major issue, but you cannot reasonably expect he can control the buffets on the lido deck, his responsibility is the sit down MDR and if you specifically ask he helps relay info for the steakhouse.

 

Although the above poster had a better result maybe they more sufficiently relayed the message to the matradee , resulting in a better response

Well, if the maitre d didn't talk to the buffet chef, then why was it when we talked to him he said that yes he was aware that we were on board, and that if he had only had advance warning he would have been prepared? I guess it goes back to. Pricking the right paople. Again...we were cruising for the first time, and didn't even realize that there might be a chain of command or a difference between dining establishments. Where I come from, dining services are dining services period....and to some extent this held true as he HAD been notified, just not timely enough.

[Trytorelax]

Not sure where you are coming from with this tirade. Many people have offered great suggestions and I don't see where people have jumped all over you. Can not understand why your sister would choose not to eat in MDR where a hostess goes over menu choices each and every night that are gluten free. The buffet has many gluten free choices and if you have an allergy, you should be well informed as to what you can and can't eat.

Pat

 

We chose not tomeat in the MDR because we were traveling with two teenagers, and we thought at the time, that it would be easier to buffet it. Hind sight is always lends to good suggestions. I can see that now. At the time, we just wanted to relax and enjoy ourselves. We didn't thin of complaining, or talking to other people (other than guest services) or jsuat going to the MDR. I'm the first to admit we were naive travelers. We made the best of the situation without rocking the boat-so to speak. If this had happened at a land locked restaurant, we would have been very vocal or would have just walked out. I guess we felt we didn't have a voice, so we didn't say much.

[Trytorelax]

You obviously didn't read all the posts, or you would have seen mine. I know EXACTLY what you go through on a daily basis.

 

 

Here is a suggestion for you: the next time you drop a ton of money on a vacation, do a little research. All you had to do was google ''carnival gluten free'', and you would have had a world's worth of information at your fingertips. Ok, so you went to the MD to inform them that you needed gluten free food. When gluten free food didn't appear before your very eyes, WHY DIDN'T YOU ASK SOMEONE?! Gone back to the MD? Gone to customer service? If you had asked someone, you would have been helped.

 

Here is another suggestion for you: always have a backup. There is no reason you could not find gluten free food on the ship. Salad is gluten free. Salad toppings are gluten free. Fruit is gluten free. Eggs are gluten free (are you worried about how they're prepared? Get a hard boiled egg!). Grits are gluten free. There are tons of food that are gluten free, so you shouldn't have had a problem! What do you do when you're out in the real world and gluten free food doesn't just appear before your eyes?

 

Well youmare right to an extent.....imwas able to eat because I will eat fruit and salad. My son ate eggs in the mornings, because he is picky. I've said several times that we DID ask several people and we did not get help. VECAUSE of their advertising, and us being naive and I'll-equipped we didn't think we were going to have to bring along food. We thought this was going to be different than the "real world"

[Trytorelax]

Well, again, being new to cruising, I took as many proactive steps as I thought I need to. Perhaps this is why I got so angry. We did talk to people on board, and if you have read the thread, which no one is forcing you to do btw.....then it boggles my mind how the head chef at the buffet could say he could have handled it if he had had advance warning....he knew we were there BEFORE we spoke to him, just didn't have the food to do anything special. He did us know what we could eat which was basically the eggs.

 

Like my sister said. She originally posted for informational purposes, not to be attacked. If you tske it personally, that is your problem, not mine. I have admitted several times I am new to cruising and pretty much didn't know what I was doing so why the need to be so critical? Nothing better to do with your time?

 

Take a long walk off a short ship...

[bobsfamily]

 

Take a long walk off a short ship...

Yes, that's about sums up what you did on this trip... You start a thread with BOLD letters stating something that is just not true, admit that they offered to accommodate you in the MDR, decide NOT to use the MDR and then get offended that they did not KNOW you (and about 2000 others) were coming.

 

Yep, you really told us!

[MsTabbyKats]

There is a difference between a cruise that can accommodate someone with special needs....and a cruise for someone with special needs.

 

You expected the buffet chef to have "whatever" on hand, upon demand. You said that he knew people with needs were on board...but didn't have anything special.

 

Can you really expect him, or the chef at any venue, to be prepared for the myriad of special needs that would be on any sailing, at all times? If you had done things correctly...whatever you needed would have been there for whenever you needed it....but not for every meal/everyday.

 

You admit you didn't bother with the MDR. It's hard to believe that the staff were so rude to you...and not one person suggested the MDR.

 

It's rather obvious that you are putting the blame for your lack of taking responsibility on Carnival. Probably it's hard to admit to your son that his trip was ruined because you didn't do what you should have.

 

Why don't you blame your TA...and ask her for the commission back? Perhaps it was her fault, because she should have told you to eat in the MDR.

 

Or blame your sister...since she reads CC and had cruised previously....so she should have known to tell you to eat in the MDR.

 

If 3000 passengers are on a sailing...the crew cannot have everything to accommodate everyone "special"....at every place....at all times...on the entire ship.

 

Your sister won't take responsibility for not informing you, your travel agent won't give up her commission for not informing you....and Carnival has the deep pockets.

 

I don't see any false advertising....I see blame shifting.

 

The world doesn't revolve around you....you have to adjust to the world.

[beerman2]

And I'll repeat CARNIVAL does go to extra lengths in MDR as I witnessed it first hand on our April 1st sailing on the Victory.

 

And the lady who had some kind of special dietary needs left the MDR happy.

 

You can't possibly expect a BUFFET to cater to everyones needs. It is what it is A BUFFET with a PRE-PLANNED MENU.

[lillian marie]

I am not a CCL cheerleader but as i said in a previous post my child has serious food allergies where we must use an epi pen. She has cruised many times on CCL. I call customer service before the cruise even though her allergies are listed in her file and then speak right after I board with the maitre d. You then choose the food each day for the next day with a hostess and then your or your childs food is prepared without the allergen foods. We have always been accommodated. There are celiac choices in the dining room. We have had them all. I'm sorry that these cruisers didnot have a good experience but maybe they didn't realize the protocol involved. I'd suggest they mention their food needs when they book their next cruise and speak to customer service before they cruise.

[donaldsc]

Well, again, being new to cruising, I took as many proactive steps as I thought I need to. Perhaps this is why I got so angry. We did talk to people on board, and if you have read the thread, which no one is forcing you to do btw.....then it boggles my mind how the head chef at the buffet could say he could have handled it if he had had advance warning....he knew we were there BEFORE we spoke to him, just didn't have the food to do anything special. He did us know what we could eat which was basically the eggs.

 

..

 

The buffet is open for many hours per day. You actually expected them to have your special food on hand for the entire time that they were open so that they were ready when you decided to come in. What did you expect them to do for the food they were holding when you were not there - throw it out?

 

DON

[sfo2008]

..The original post was meant to provide helpful insight to anyone planning on traveling on Carnival who does have any condition that impacts what they can eat. It was also meant to illustrate that no cruiseline is infallible, and that any of us, ANY OF US, at any time, may have a bad experience...

 

Hardly. I think you thought you would get a lot of sympathy and perhaps support for your request for a credit.

 

Instead you got other people's 180-degree contrary experiences showing that Carnival .

 

Nobody has denied that your sister had a bad experience. But I do not think at this point ANY of us think your sister deserves a penny.

[yankee46]

One thing strikes me as unusual you have still not identified the Carnival ship or when your sister sailed/ why???

[SMSACE6]

What bothers me about this complaint is; one, that it is not made by the person who cruised, but is second hand. It is easy enough for the OP, to have sister log on as a new member and state problem. Two, what I have a bigger problem with is that, Carnival as well as all cruise lines have to deal with these physiological/medical problems, and have been doing so for as many years as these problems have been identified as illnesses, or disorders, and are very real, and seem to be becoming more common.

 

Celiac disease, lactose intolerance, egg allergies as well as numerous other food allergies, and Lord knows how many other allergies and food intolerances are out there ( sooo many these days ), the cruise lines are very keen on providing special services to these people, as they dont want to have medical emergencies, and bottom line they want to please their passengers/customers, and of course even those with special needs. Hence, the special needs department.

 

Celiac disease is no longer a rare disorder. And I do know that to suffer the effects of this disorder is very unpleasant. I cant imagine that the OP's sister went on this cruise, without having notified the cruiseline of her medical problems, and dining needs. So, until I hear from the sister directly, I take all this complaint with a grain of salt. If you tell Carnival that you have Celiac disease, they will offer you options that will keep you happy and healthy. Just my opinion though.

[spleenstomper]

The sister posted. She stated she was a new cruiser and didn't know to eat in the main dining room, even though she went there to make arrangements.

[Jdfireman]

is the popcorn i am eating reading all of this gluten free

[room010]

is the popcorn i am eating reading all of this gluten free

 

Post of the day! :D:D:D

[bobsfamily]

is the popcorn i am eating reading all of this gluten free

 

Post of the day! :D:D:D

pop pop pop YOU wIN~

[Mr XFT]

Ok, the OP and sister have made it abundantly clear that they did not care to provide any details. They say they talked to the Maitre'D but somehow did not know they could eat with NO PROBLEM in the MDR. They claim they talked to the buffet people, but they didn't know in advance...So wait a minute, did they talk to the buffet people on the last night of the cruise or something? Because they could have very easily said at any time, "Hey, you didn't know in advance, but we'll be coming to the buffet on (day 2) can we have some stuff waiting?"

 

Throughout the thread, these two have exposed their attitude enough for me to surmise what happened. Here goes: As another poster said before, They went in expecting the Gluten Free fairy to follow them around the ship a couple steps behind, this is their definition of readily available. They "talked to the ship's staff." Translation: they are unpleasant and whiny people who went and wagged their fingers at people, and wouldn't listen to anything they were told. This is why they never figured out they could eat at the MDR. And instead of talking to the buffet people and requesting something for the future meals, they probably went and blasted everyone and snapped about the fact nobody showered them with gluten free food at the snap of their fingers.

 

They sound like they feed off of being put-upon and desperately want everyone to feel sorry for them because they were treated so horribly (in their mind) instead of taking some responsibility. I believe someone from customer service may very well have told them that if it was such a big deal, they should have brought their own stuff...The reason for this is probably the backstory that they didn't tell us...how they probably called customer service (many times) demanding compensation, ranting, acting indignant, and spouting off about karma. The customer service rep, probably at the end of their rope, gave them the "if it's such a big deal..." line, rather than cursing them out like they probably deserved.

[Geldhart]

I also claim that something is missing from the story.

 

Only ever cruised once, and that was with RCCL. I am extremely sensitive to ingested alcohol (1 standard drink for me is like someone else having 10). Normally this isn't much of a problem for me as I don't generally eat in places where alcohol is used as a condiment.

 

For the cruise my wife and I took on Freedom of the Seas in 2011, I didn't actually make arrangements ahead of time - knowing that it is easy to avoid. When I saw the menus and the descriptions, I realized I could be in trouble so I mentioned it to my waiter. Within minutes I found myself speaking to the headwaiter and the maitre d'. There wasn't much they could do for that day's meal except go to the chef and find out what was safe for me - and there were safe choices. I ended up eating vegetarian that night. For the rest of the cruise, like others in this thread have mentioned, I was given the menu for the next night to place my orders. The headwaiter also told me to seek out the Windjammer manager for assistance in the buffet.

 

I would indicate 1st choice and 2nd choice for each appetizer, entree, and desert. Usually I got my 1st choice, often I got my 2nd choice, and one night, I ended up with neither for the dessert (but still had something wonderful). I felt safe even ordering stuff that clearly mentioned alcohol (Banana Cream Pie with Kahula). My wife sometimes ordered the same dish as me, and we could clearly see some differences between our plates. She liked the looks of my version of the Banana Pie better - had darker chocolate.

 

One night we were in Chops which could not/cannot allow for special meals. I simply had to refrain from ordering certain items which the waitress was very good at helping me out with. She was honest about what she didn't know, and would ask the chef and return with the correct answer. Had this been the level of service in the MDR, I wouldn't have minded, but it was a bit of a minor let down after being catered too so much.

 

The side dishes were "communal" and I ordered broccoli and my wife some mushrooms. My wife took some of the broccoli onto her plate, and I was about to take a mushroom, when the waitress yelled "DON'T TOUCH THOSE". My wife enjoyed all of the mushrooms, but later that night was feeling tipsy and actually drunk (she can drink, but generally doesn't). To this day we talk about how she got drunk from her "magic mushrooms".

 

We have recently found out my daughter inherited my liver dysfunction, and I have welcomed her to the teetotaler club. We will be cruising as a family this time in August, and the only change we will make is to inform the cruise line ahead of time, and speak to the Maitre d' right after we board, so we can perhaps order our food for Night 1 ahead of time to have more choice. When we informed RCCL of the allergies, we were told in no uncertain terms, that the Main Dining Room is the only location they can guarantee allergen-free food and they recommend only eating there if at all possible.

 

For me, in the buffet, I simply avoided stuff in sauces that I was not familiar with, and would have my wife do a quick taste test if my smell test was inconclusive. In the end, if I wasn't sure, I simply wouldn't eat it. Fortunately, cross contamination isn't an issue for me since it's not a true allergy.

 

It is in the cruise lines best interests to accommodate allergies. The Main Dining Room is able to bend over backwards and cook special - other locations don't have that luxury, but WILL help you choose a meal that won't hurt you.

[bobsfamily]

I also claim that something is missing from the story.

 

Only ever cruised once, and that was with RCCL. I am extremely sensitive to ingested alcohol (1 standard drink for me is like someone else having 10). Normally this isn't much of a problem for me as I don't generally eat in places where alcohol is used as a condiment.

I have never felt the effects of alcohol in any dish except one that the alcohol was introduced after any cooking. If a chef uses alcohol it's more for the flavor it will impart as all (OK 99%) will evaporate above boiling temps. I did not realize that RCCL had such a heavy hand with booze... I'm not disagreeing with you, glad to see how much they went out of the way, just have not seen MDR menus with so many booze influenced dishes.

[Grimacus]

Last October, I was on the Freedom of the Seas, and was restricted to a gluten free diet, for the most part they tried to accommodate me, the maitre d' would show me the menu and offered what he recommended, most of the time I did not have any problems, but on the last two nights, I did get sick, so I presumed it it must have been from cross contamination. The buffet was pretty bad about listing what was gluten free.