Food Allergy Fail @ Carnival Triumph

[travler27]

I can't imagine being so sensitive to an ingredient that even using the same knife could be life threatening. I'm considering dropping out of the cruise crowd simply because it seems every time I come home form one I end up with a cold or the sniffles from either the sneezers or the buffet contaminators.

 

And incompetent doctors are all around us. That's not a problem unique to cruise lines or Carnival. I had to have a kidney removed because of one.

[Budget Queen]

How terrifying. However, it sounds like the Epipen should have been your first immediate administration. The desired action is to STOP the progress of allergy. Benadryl takes at least 30 minutes to act and if that severe of a reaction, a "double" dose, if you mean 50mg, is nothing. Basically you would need at least 100mg or more.

 

I am NOT looking for any comment, these are just general basic procedures.

 

If you don't know the details of the Epipen, now is the time to medically fully understand it, for anyone having scripts. A good reminder for everyone, can be useful.

Edited December 2, 2014 by Budget Queen

[Muumuu]

My daughter, a young adult, has several food allergies including multiple spice allergies.

As someone suggested earlier we always check in upon embarkation in the MDR and the head hostess has taken care of her. She does have all ingredients for each plate of food.

Daughter still does this even after over 20 cruises just in case a recipe is changed or she tries a new dish.

Luckily she has not had any reaction since she had coordinated meals with the hostess.

[RuthlessBoss]

I can't imagine being so sensitive to an ingredient that even using the same knife could be life threatening. I'm considering dropping out of the cruise crowd simply because it seems every time I come home form one I end up with a cold or the sniffles from either the sneezers or the buffet contaminators.

 

And incompetent doctors are all around us. That's not a problem unique to cruise lines or Carnival. I had to have a kidney removed because of one.

 

I can't even imagine being so sensitive, no one in my family has allergies. Every time they eat must be Hell.

 

As for incompetent doctors, yes, they are out there. My ER doctor assured me I didn't have a kidney infection, would not give me antibiotics. He said my pain was from arthritis in my back. Guess what was.

[pe4all]

You said you identified the allergy on an (attached) sheet. Unless you went through the Special Needs Dept., and got an e-mail confirmation from them that everything was noted, there was definitely a mis-communication somewhere. Usually a doctor's note also must be supplied before the cruise to substantiate the problem. (and always bring CCL's e-mail confirmation with you on the cruise.) Once the Special Needs Dept. gets involved, the maitre'd or assistant maitre'd or even the chef would have met with you before every meal, (night before) and planned the menu for the next day. Obviously something happened, as they had a waiter do this, which is not the way it should have been. Happy to see your child is okay - it must have been scary as heck. Write a letter to Carnival explaining what happened - it should be "officially" noted there was a screw-up!

[sweetsixteencruisers]

Please do not take this as judgement, its not meant to be in anyway. But for myself, I would be scared to death to rely on anyone to make sure the food was not contaminated in anyway. I would be afraid that there might be a language barrier. I would have to vacation somewhere, somehow were I would be in total control of the food.

[sugarlipz]

I am glad to hear that it turned out ok, and am thankful that you posted your experience as a warning to other cruisers. As both my DH & DS have severe food allergies I will be following up with the MDR as soon as we embark.