Food Allergy Fail @ Carnival Triumph

[bellbull]

We recently returned from our cruise on the Triumph after a pretty terrifying experience. My son has gone into anaphylaxis before but never in the middle of the sea with a doctor that we were losing faith in by the second. Had Carnival had any real process, this could have been completely avoided.

 

My 12 year old son has a severe milk allergy and I identified it during the online booking process. Although I spent 2 hours at Guest Services during the first two days trying to figure out their process for food allergies, I was either told I needed to talk to someone else or told that they would get back to me within hours (which they never did).

 

With the help of the waiter, we did our best to order him safe food the first night and our waiter pre-ordered his food for the next night... which was to include a milk-free sorbet. Lunch the next day was even more difficult and my 2nd escalation to guest services didn’t seem to make a difference.

 

The second night my son finished his pre-ordered dinner and I inquired about the sorbet. The waiter said that he would check on it and I asked him to make sure that it was milk-free sorbet and not sherbet. The waiter came back with the “sorbet” and said that he double checked to make sure it was safe. Minutes later my son started to have an allergic reaction. I quickly gave my son a double-dose of Benadryl and headed down to the medical station with the epi-pen ready.

 

The doctor arrived and took his vitals while I filled out the form indicating the issue and the medication that I had administered. My son started complaining of nausea and a dry throat (it was closing). His blood oxygen levels dropped dramatically and the doctor ordered a Hydrocortisone IV. Over the next hour my son got worse. Hives covered his body, he struggled to breathe without oxygen, his lungs constricted, his heart raced and his skin was lobster read. The doctor appeared to be nervous and did everything from lecture us about how we could not trust anyone (including the chef) with our son’s food to proposing that my son was allergic to Benadryl.

 

At this point I was fearful about administering the epi-pen since he had an IV pumping medication into him. His heart was already pounding and looked like it was going to pop out of his neck. I feared killing him while trying to save him. The doctor didn’t seem to have any idea what to do and just kept repeating that he was tachycardic with constricted lungs. He left the room (presumably to figure out what to do next) and I gave my son more Benadryl which turned everything around within minutes. My son was in full anaphylaxis and had I listened to the doctors theory about Benadryl being the culprit and not administered more of it, I’m not sure how much worse it could have become.

 

I’m disheartened by the lack of awareness, process and attention to passengers with special needs such as food allergies. Had the cruise shown the same amount of vigilance before the reaction as they did afterwards, it could have been avoided. We are not happy with Carnival as a whole although we were happy with the few people that did their best to reduce our angst for the rest if the trip.

Edited December 1, 2014 by bellbull

[KPfromCT]

:eek::eek: I cannot even IMAGINE!!!! I am so glad to hear your son got better after the 2nd dose of Benadryl.

Total FAIL on the part of the CHEF/dining room staff.

Scary stuff.

Hope you were able to enjoy the rest of your cruise.

 

Just curious, did they charge you for that visit to the Medical room?:confused:

[Sailor's Momma]

Scary. Glad to hear your son is better.

 

 

2008 Carnival Holiday

2012Carnival Elation

2013 Carnival Splendor

2013 Carnival Dream

2015 Carnival ??? is in the works

[dickinson]

Sorry about what you and your son went through. I would send this info to corporate because they should have been more diligent and taken this more seriously.

[MadManOfBethesda]

My 12 year old son has a severe milk allergy and I identified it during the online booking process. Although I spent 2 hours at Guest Services during the first two days trying to figure out their process for food allergies, I was either told I needed to talk to someone else or told that they would get back to me within hours (which they never did).

 

With the help of the waiter, we did our best to order him safe food the first night and our waiter pre-ordered his food for the next night... which was to include a milk-free sorbet. Lunch the next day was even more difficult and my 2nd escalation to guest services didn’t seem to make a difference.

 

What a horrifying experience! I am confused, however, on a couple of points. First, why were you dealing with Guest Services rather than Dining Room Management? My wife has a gluten allergy and she received a letter upon boarding that told her to coordinate her needs with the maître d'. As with your son, each night she would receive the next day's breakfast, lunch and dinner menus and would pre-order her selections. Upon arriving at the dining room the following day, all of her selections were on a printout at the hostess's stand, presumably vetted by appropriate dining staff, and then handed to the waiter. We did not have to rely on the waiter knowing what was and what was not gluten free. I bring up this point in order to seek clarification on your comment below:

 

The second night my son finished his pre-ordered dinner and I inquired about the sorbet. The waiter said that he would check on it and I asked him to make sure that it was milk-free sorbet and not sherbet. The waiter came back with the “sorbet” and said that he double checked to make sure it was safe. Minutes later my son started to have an allergic reaction. I quickly gave my son a double-dose of Benadryl and headed down to the medical station with the epi-pen ready.

 

Does that mean that the sorbet was not pre-ordered the night before with the rest of the meal? If so, that partially explains, but does not completely excuse, the confusion regarding the sorbet. If it had been pre-ordered the night before with the rest of the meal, there would be no excuse whatsoever for dining staff not knowing whether it was appropriate to serve it to your son.

If you first inquired about it after the meal, I can partially understand (again, but not excuse) what happened.

 

In any case, I'm sorry for what happened to your son and I hope that neither you nor he ever have to go through something like that again.

[Butterbean1000]

Yikes!!

[knitdiva]

As the mother of a son with a severe peanut allergy (he also has pretty bad asthma) I know how you feel.

My son's allergy specialist keeps repeating to give the EpiPen as soon as there is a sign of an allergic reaction, that the Benadryl can actually delay some of the allergic reaction making it harder to manage the episode. Having experienced anaphylaxis myself, no matter how hard my heart was beating, the epinephrine made a huge difference in how I felt and very quickly.

The dose in the Epipen is very safe.

I always carry 2 Epipens in case I need to give a second dose.

 

Maybe you should see your son's specialist to make sure what needs to be given when.

We have been on many cruises and land trips and so far there have been no accidents. But peanuts are easier to avoid than milk.

 

Scary, serious situations!

[SadieN]

Sorry you had a horrible, life threatening experience onboard. I know it is very scary. It's unfortunate that you found CC after this incident. There are many threads about traveling with allergies.

 

DD has severe nut allergies. After 15 cruises (13 on Carnival) we haven't had a problem.

The first thing we do when we get onboard is go to the MDR (around 1pm) and speak with the Hostess. She takes DD's order for the first night, then seeks her out every night after that. She has the ingredient list for every menu item.

When seated (we do Anytime Dining) the Hostess takes DD orderslip to the waitstaff. Only problem we've had is when DD orders several items (she's undecided) and they bring her everything.

 

The allergy area of the galley is a self contained-unit, with it's own specially trained staff and line. DD even gets special bread. If the sorbet was not preordered it was probably taken from the regular area. It is possible that the scoop had dairy on it.

 

***

 

There is a problem in the buffet with cross-contamination because of the passengers. For new items she either avoids them or asks the Lido Chef. Many with allergies will get to the buffet as soon as it opens.

 

***

When traveling overseas I have made allergy cards for DD in the languages of the countries visited and English. Thru CC I've found http://www.selectwisely.com/ for allergy cards.

 

Our other (non allergy) DD had an allergic episode in Marrakesh to an unknown substance. That was very frightening as the medical facilities are even worse than what's on the ship.

[russianmom]

Despite following all of the procedures, making a note on my reservation, meeting the maitre d', pre-ordering etc... the only time I have ever mistakenly been given food w/ nuts was in the MDR on Triumph....

 

Very scary for you and your son, I'm sorry you had to experience that.

I carry 2 epi-pens, a bottle of liquid Benadyl and Prednisone pills and I'm not afraid to use them!!!

[shipty2]

I had a situation on the Splendor recently at the Chef's Table experience. When contacted prior to our dinner I informed the caller that I have an allergy to pecans and walnuts. I repeated it twice as my sister died from an allergic reaction so I found one must be diligent when others are not. So imagine my surprise when the dessert served at the Chef's Table contained pralines which unbeknownst to me are made with pecans. Of course having not eaten pecans or having them in my home in decades I had no idea that a praline is a pecan.

Thank goodness for my son who did know and quickly informed me.

[bradboy]

I'm glad he's ok. That's very scary. Thank you for your post. It reminds me to be watchful of my sons allergies at all times. Thankful that we have carried his pen for 10 yrs and not had a situation to where it has had to be used. Again, glad he's ok

 

 

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[Rh2458]

How incredibly scary, but what I'm completely confused about is why wouldn't you immediately upon determining the allergy administer his epi pen? A little naive and uninformed pretty much about allergies and epi pens but I thought that was the whole purpose of carrying one.

[Cruising4]

I'm so sorry you had to experience this as it was completely preventable. My niece has life threatening food allergies.

 

What was the response from the food manager? Have you contacted CCL?

 

I hope they learn from this, no one should go through what you and your son went through.

[vwrestler171]

My daughter is allergic to dairy as well. Before any cruise you need to contact special services and make aware of the situation. Many times the dining staff are unaware of how little things can be a big problem. The person you needed to discuss this with was the Maitre'd. He is the one person in charge of the restaurants and could take care of most of the issues. Just a heads up for next time, I was told that Carnival doesn't carry sorbet on their ships yet.

[love my grandkids]

So sorry that this happened and glad your boy is ok.

 

shocking that the DR seemed to have no idea what to do.

[vwrestler171]

How incredibly scary, but what I'm completely confused about is why wouldn't you immediately upon determining the allergy administer his epi pen? A little naive and uninformed pretty much about allergies and epi pens but I thought that was the whole purpose of carrying one.

 

An epi-pen is a last resort. Usually Benedry will clear up the reactions, but if the throat swells up and you can't get the medicine down the throat, you will have to administer the epi-pen. Thank heaves we have not had to use ours yet.

[Rh2458]

An epi-pen is a last resort. Usually Benedry will clear up the reactions, but if the throat swells up and you can't get the medicine down the throat, you will have to administer the epi-pen. Thank heaves we have not had to use ours yet.

 

That's what I thought, and it seemed like at the doctors it would have been time for that. As I said though, I really don't know much about an Epi pen, only how to administer it if necessary.

[kteachcruiser52]

As the mother of a son with a severe peanut allergy (he also has pretty bad asthma) I know how you feel.

My son's allergy specialist keeps repeating to give the EpiPen as soon as there is a sign of an allergic reaction, that the Benadryl can actually delay some of the allergic reaction making it harder to manage the episode. Having experienced anaphylaxis myself, no matter how hard my heart was beating, the epinephrine made a huge difference in how I felt and very quickly.

The dose in the Epipen is very safe.

I always carry 2 Epipens in case I need to give a second dose.

 

Maybe you should see your son's specialist to make sure what needs to be given when.

We have been on many cruises and land trips and so far there have been no accidents. But peanuts are easier to avoid than milk.

 

Scary, serious situations!

 

Our granddaughter also has a severe nut allergy. When we took her to Disney, we had to request a deep clean of the room and all clean bedding. We left a note and a nice tip each day asking the person cleaning our room to wash her hands when entering our room. I would worry about a cruise because there is so much chance for cross contamination to occur. Buffets are dangerous. If someone has eaten peanuts and touched a surface which she then touches, there is a reaction. Her allergist said that Disney is the safest vacation destination for peanut allergy children.

 

If she starts to have a reaction, we immediately use the epi-pen and administer a single use packet of Benedryl. Benedryl alone would never stop her throat from swelling shut. If the EMS (or medical help) has not arrived in 5 minutes and she appears to be having breathing problems we administer a second shot. I agree the OP should consult with the doctor to clarify if the shot is to be given as soon as a reaction begins. Glad to hear everything turned out OK.

[labsnabys]

How utterly terrifying! We have friends with children who have severe food allergies, and I have seen what they go through in public places with food ordering and instructions. I thank God on a regular basis that our children do not have this issue, because I would be so paranoid about having them eat anything outside of our own home. I would probably take a suitcase full of pre-made meals on the ship with me. I would not trust anyone!

 

I am so sorry you went through this experience, and am glad your son made it through okay.

[knitdiva]

That's what I thought, and it seemed like at the doctors it would have been time for that. As I said though, I really don't know much about an Epi pen, only how to administer it if necessary.

 

Again, check with your allergy specialist. If the person is known to have experienced anaphylaxis, it is Epipen first.

It can save the person's life, delaying cannot.

With anaphylaxis it can go from what looks to be a small reaction to going very bad in a matter of a few minutes.

Don't be afraid of the epinephrine in the Epipen.

[knitdiva]

Taken from anaphylaxis.ca (very good source of info)

 

http://www.anaphylaxis.ca/files/Anaphylaxis%20Emergency%20Plan%20with%20EpiPen.pdf

[bellbull]

Thanks for your notes- I appreciate the interest and caring.

 

There were a few more frustrations and missteps that I didn't include in the original post which may shed more light (in hopes that nobody else falls into the same traps). The only other cruise we've taken my son on is Disney which does an excellent job at managing food allergies (even at the ports) and gave me a false set of expectations of how Carnival would use the info I supplied when booking.

 

When I booked online and identified the food allergy the website generated the attached info sheet- it's a joke. There's no way that you can identify anything on the sheet as being "safe" without ingredients listed. This is the primary reason that my first stop was to Guest Services so that I could 1) make sure there is an alert to the staff (like Disney does) and 2) make sure that I knew who I needed to coordinate with. I was told that I there was no indication in the system about the food allergy and that I should coordinate with the Camp Director about the food allergies. I explained that he would not be eating with the camp and needed to coordinate with the chef. The guest services lady then told me to talk to our waiter that night.

 

We were able to pre-order with the waiter for the next evening which included ordering the "sorbet". My next big frustration was at lunch the next day.

 

I went to order a simple turkey sandwich at the Deli and asked to speak to the chef. The chef was conscious of the fact that we needed milk-free bread but had little concern over cross contamination. I had to talk him through the fact that the veggies had been touched by cheese hands, the meat was cut by the slicer that was also cut by cheese… and then only to have the cheese from someone else's plate drop onto my sons plate while they were preparing it. Needless to say, I went right back to Guest Services in seek of more help. The lady assured me that she would send out another alert and that somebody would get back to me to coordinate his meals. Nobody got back to me. That evening was the night that my son had the attack.

 

The MDR did show up at the medical station as they were treating my son. She was on the phone with various people trying to understand what happened and I watched her get increasingly miffed. She explained that the person in the kitchen didn't understand that "nonfat milk" is still "milk". She indicated that the waiter triple checked and was given bad information. The head chef later told me that the person who gave the wrong information had been "dealt with".

 

 

In regards to the epi-pen usage, my first line of attack is always antihistamine. I use the epi-pen when I know that we are more than a few minutes away from medical help. In this case it took us 3 minutes to get downstairs and the benadryl was doing its job. I had the epi-pen ready but they had an IV in my son within minutes and at that point, I yielded to the doctor. I explained that I had two epi-pens on the boat and asked if they had epinephrine as well. The doctor indicated that they did. In hindsight, I should have administered the epi-pen before the doctor intervened. I had major fears about pushing the doctor out of the way to shoot my son up with epinephrine with my sons heart rate so high after the IV meds. After this experience I won't hesitate again.

 

 

Even more frustrating was that after my sons condition improved I told that doctor that I did not believe that he was allergic to benadryl and that I think he needed more of it and that I should have used the epi-pen. The doctor looked at me strangely and said "I thought you gave him epinephrine". It is beyond me how the doctor could have been confused. I explicitly wrote down what I had given him as well as verbally told him and the nurse several times. They even asked for the packaging of the benadryl so that they knew the dose without ever asking for details about epinephrine. I started recording the doctor on my phone at one point because he wasn't making any sense, contradicting himself and saying things that led me to believe he was trying to cover his butt.

 

 

 

All in all, it was a mess from start to finish. I allowed the booking process and past experience to give me a false sense of process and procedure. I thought they'd already know (like Disney) when we got on the boat. With that said, there wasn't a single point of failure on Carnivals part... there were multiple points of failure and that's where things go bad quickly.

[crazycatlady82]

I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for your son and for you. I think the other posters are focusing too much on why you didn't do this or that, when in reality, it's carnivals fault. Educate your people. Don't have a form if it means nothing. You have been managing his allergies for years, and he's still alive. OP, you're doing alright ;)

 

I think you need to push this up the chain. Post it to john heald or send an email or something. Your vacation was ruined and your child almost died because of carnival not educating their people on the difference of nonfat milk and regular milk.

[knitdiva]

I'm sorry if I ever came across as telling someone what to do or not do. OP, I have been in your shoes and I am merely trying to find tools or ways to guard against this happening to anyone or at least minimize the impact.

I was only speaking from a place of concern and worry.

Sorry again.

[SadieN]

Completely understand your frustration about the Deli but, as you discovered, the deli is not able to completely sanitize itself for allergies. Even the knives they use do not get washed between sandwiches. The only area that can be is the special allergy area in the galley.

 

Your frustration is dairy, ours is nuts. Cannot begin to tell you how many times we have run across people who think that a nut is only a walnut. That almonds, cashews and pecans are not nuts. As in "They don't have a 'nut' in their name!"

 

Before you book any cruise in the future, please ask what the procedure is onboard. Every line is different.