How dietary allergy friendly is RCCL?

[ekatiel]

We sailed with RCCL in 2009. Our daughter (Miss Swede) has allergies to dairy, egg, peanuts, and tree nuts. It took them three days for them to confirm that their dry pasta did not contain egg. That certainly did not instill confidence that they accommodate food allergies very well. When we looked for our next cruise in 2011, it still seemed like RCCL still didn't have their act together. Instead, we took a Carnival cruise, and we were pleasantly surprised at how well they were able to accommodate her food allergies.

 

This thread (and Facebook posts in some FA groups) shows that RCCL may be improving now, which makes me think we'll have to choose between RCCL and NCL for our next cruise. I also read on an (older) official RCCL blog that they do have a separate cooking area for special dietary needs; is that still the case?

 

I'm looking for anyone who can compare and contrast between RCCL and Disney regarding food allergies. (My DCL review here)

 

My questions are:

 

• Do they stock vegan cooking products? (Such as the items listed in my DCL review.)
  
• How about vegan desserts? (Cookies, ice cream, etc.)
  
• Can you request rice milk be stocked on the ship?
  
• Were you able to give them recipes for them to use? (There are some very easy vegan pancake/waffle recipes that don't require anything out-of-ordinary.)
  
• Can you not arrange for food items at the buffet to be plated from untouched trays in the kitchen?
  

 

With all that said, we don't mind bringing aboard a lot of allergy-friendly food items (like snacks, cookies, rice milk, etc.); although we would love it if Miss Swede could have ice cream for dessert.

 

My son is only egg/PN/TN, so I can't help with the dairy, but I can tell you our experience. Egg is always a pain, and sometimes (on every line-- we've sailed Disney, too-- and it took them over 24 hours to tell us if the soft serve had egg in it!!) they err on the side of caution and don't actually check the labels on foods the "think" might have egg in them. This frequently happens to us with pizza, pasta and ice cream. I have had to be pretty forceful with most cruise lines (and land restaurants for that matter) and make sure they actually looked at the label before telling me something was unsafe. As far as desserts go, usually my son was limited to ice cream on Carnival and Royal (which would be a no-go for you), although on our Allure cruise last year, the chef insisted on making him something special for dessert each night-- sometimes it was tasty, and sometimes not, but we appreciated the effort. We always bring pre-packaged desserts on cruises. As far as making things with recipes you give them, we usually bring on a box of bisquick with instructions written on a label we place on the box to add milk only (you could use water) to make pancakes. He was never a huge fan of their allergy friendly pancakes, that were also gluten free. On our Allure cruise last year, the maitre d tried to give me push back and tell me they weren't allowed to use my bisquick, but I was firm and told him we had done it several times on Royal (as well as other cruise lines) and that we'd never had a problem. He ended up taking it to the kitchen, and they did use it to make my son's pancakes in the morning. We are cruising again in 19 days, and my son has recently completed egg OIT, so we will just have to deal with PN/TN this time. I am still bringing on desserts, though-- I have a feeling many of those will still not be safe.

[printingchick]

Slightly different set of restrictions, but I was very impressed with how well RCCL accommodated my son on our recent cruise. He keeps strictly kosher, which means that he not only avoids certain forbidden foods, but that his meals need to be prepared on separate cookware and served on separate dinnerware. He cannot mix meat and dairy in the same meal. He converted to Judaism several years ago, so please forgive me if I'm not that well versed on this topic!

 

We requested kosher meals at the time we booked the cruise. We chose MyTime dining, which often means not having the same staff each night. The first night, we had to explain the situation to our server, who disappeared and reappeared with the executive chef. The chef wanted to understand the full extent of my son's restrictions. (Some people consider "Kosher" to mean simply avoiding pork and shell fish.)

 

My son was served Kosher meals on disposable dinnerware daily. We had made a standing reservation for the same time each night. The host, at our request, assigned us to a table so that it wasn't necessary for my son to explain his situation to new waitstaff every day. The head waiter, Alicia, was a gem. She took his order for the following day's meals each night. His lunches were delivered to his room at the time he specified - on disposable dishware. The folks in the Windjammer were really not prepared to deal with his restrictions, so this worked out well. He just carried his meals to the Windjammer, so he could eat with the rest of us. The waitstaff served our dinners at the same time each night, so that my son wasn't eating separately from the rest of the family. Alicia brought him loaves of Challah bread each day, which gave him something to snack on at times when no other appropriate food was available. He is required to wash his hands before eating the bread, and he's not really supposed to do that in a restroom. Alicia was aware of this requirement and offered him the use of the sinks in the waiter's station. He was even served a kosher dessert each night. My son is able to eat most cold foods on regular dishware, so he had breakfast at the Windjammer, taking advantage of the variety of fresh fruits, cereal, yogurt, etc. He brought his own coffee cup, which the staff filled for him.

 

The dining room staff consulted with him daily, to make sure they were adequately addressing his needs. I was extremely impressed.

 

I'm sure if you keep the staff aware of your needs - and remind them periodically at the beginning - you'll have no issues.

Edited January 26, 2016 by printingchick

[pseudoswede]

As far as making things with recipes you give them, we usually bring on a box of bisquick with instructions written on a label we place on the box to add milk only (you could use water) to make pancakes. He was never a huge fan of their allergy friendly pancakes, that were also gluten free.

 

Thank you for your post, and congrats on your son's milestone. I guess I'm lucky that Miss Swede has no problems with eating either gluten-rich or gluten-free food. How do your Bisquick pancakes turn out without egg in it? I make Bisquick pancakes at home with egg replacer and soy milk.

 

And thanks to PNW Traveler and printingchick for your responses, too. Much appreciated.

Edited January 26, 2016 by pseudoswede

[ekatiel]

Thank you for your post, and congrats on your son's milestone. I guess I'm lucky that Miss Swede has no problems with eating either gluten-rich or gluten-free food. How do your Bisquick pancakes turn out without egg in it? I make Bisquick pancakes at home with egg replacer and soy milk.

 

And thanks to PNW Traveler and printingchick for your responses, too. Much appreciated.

 

Bisquick works great with just the mix and some milk (eyeball it until it looks right!). :)

[motif]

My five year old son is allergic to milk eggs, peanuts, tree nuts and shellfish. We have cruised on Explorer and Liberty with the allergies, and both experiences have been phenomenal. We choose to cruise because of how well the allergies are handled. Although we haven't been on Allure, I am happy to share our experiences with you.

 

We choose to eat in the MDR and gave an early seating so that we have the same Head Waiter and staff each night. Through our experiences, it is always our Head Waiter that arranges all of my son's meals. Each night, we would plan the next day's meals with the Head Waiter, then when we would arrive for breakfast or lunch, he would be called and would bring out my son's food.

 

Make sure you contact Special Needs weeks before you leave.

When you board, head to the MDR and make sure that the allergies are documented.

We have learned that the dairy allergy restricts the dessert options (Jell-o). I try to bring special desserts, a batch of homemade cookies and some favorite candies to have throughout the week.

I also bring some factory sealed snacks with us to take off of the ships when we are in ports. I am uncomfortable finding safe options in other countries. I'm

We also bring a few boxes of cereal from the MDR with us when we leave.

We bring lunch with us for embarkation day. The ship is so hectic and there aren't many options besides the buffet.

On the ships that we have sailed, we have needed to eat at the MDR for all of our meals. A few days that the MDR has been closed, we have had the pre-arranged meals brought to the buffet. Since eating in the MDR takes a long time and we have two young, active boys; this year we would pick up their safe lunch from the MDR and bring it back to our room to have a more relaxing lunch.

 

Cruising has been a wonderful way for us to travel with food allergies. I am happy to answer any other questions you may have.

 

Yes to all of this :D This is exactly our experience too, both on Independence with traditional dining, and on Anthem with Dynamic Dining. :):):)