Tree Nut Allergy/NCL Gem

[bookworm61]

Our son has severe peanut and tree nut allergies and when we cruise we always bring him Hershey bars and rolos. Each night he chooses one for dessert. Desserts can be so hard to find safe options. Our son loves sherbet but we could not let him have it because they were using a few cream scoops for all the hard ice cream and sherbet and would clean them off in a container of water. So potential for cross contamination was too great. The soft ice cream machines were safe and they always have vanilla and chocolate. Our last NCL cruise with him was June 2015 - so definitely ask to see that container with the soft serve ice cream mixture that they pour into the machine so you can verify that it is still a peanut and tree nut free product as changes could happen.

 

Hope all of you have a fantastic and safe cruise!!! We know how worrisome it is when dealing with severe food allergies.

 

Your experience is exactly like mine for my son with PN/TN allergies. We bring Hershey bars and rollos and sometimes cookies, and only use the soft serve ice cream. It may seem silly to others to bring food to a cruise but it's so much easier to spend a few dollars and have some safe choices.

[Infiniti820]

Just a bit of moral support and some info from the parent of a tree nut allergy son (age 15). We will be having our first NCL cruise with him soon. Royal and Disney have both done great with the allergies. It was very similar to what others have described.. order meals a day ahead and getting some extra help at the buffet. Sometimes they would just bring out what he wanted from the back.

 

I think that just a note on reservation is best. The forms from the special access desk cover all disabilities, etc. and will have about 5 pages of questions that do not pertain to food allergies. We travel with two epipens, Benadryl and travel insurance that includes med evac.

 

I understand how difficult it can be for younger children to have a limited menu. Fruit and yogurt are not dessert :) I will try to post after our trip with info about the soft serve and other dessert options.

 

I am continuing to learn about hidden allergens. Pesto is a funny thing as sometimes but not always may contain pinenuts. Recently learned that mortadella (type of Italian salami) contains pistachios - compliments of an episode of the Big Bang theory.

 

Hope you have a great trip!

 

 

T

Thank you!!! When are you sailing? I would love to hear back from you about the soft serve machine if you get a chance to check if it's safe. I too travel with two epipens & Benadryl. There are hidden allergens in places you would never think..who ever thought that a simple lollipop would be processed in a factory with tree nuts?? I read every label - even if it's something we have ordered before.

Have a great trip!

[TMC]

Thank you!!! When are you sailing? I would love to hear back from you about the soft serve machine if you get a chance to check if it's safe. I too travel with two epipens & Benadryl. There are hidden allergens in places you would never think..who ever thought that a simple lollipop would be processed in a factory with tree nuts?? I read every label - even if it's something we have ordered before.

Have a great trip!

 

Just back from our trip on the Pearl. I will include a lot of details here about how they handled the food allergies. I think you will find similar on the Jewel.

 

Upon embarking we went to the Summer Palace (main) dining room for lunch. I told the server that our son was allergic to tree nuts and flax. He tried to make a note but did not know what flax was or even how to spell it. I worried a bit, but asked to speak with a chef. Minutes later - worry over. Adolfin, executive sous chef, came to our table to review the menu. Robert, the assistant maitre'd from the other main restaurant, Indigo, also came over. We also discussed what items would be safe at the buffet and O'Sheehans. They said we could pre-order meals for the following night or just let the server know of the allergy when we arrived each evening. They each gave us a card and we saw Adolfin several more times and Robert every time in the dining room. We tipped them both on the last night.

 

We noticed in other restaurants that after scanning our room card a slip of paper would print out to remind them of the allergy. One day we did not ask because DS was repeating a menu item and they quickly came over to check if he had ordered something safe.

 

Most entrees and appetizers are ok. Usually we would just tell them what he wanted to see if it was safe, so I do not know about all of the menu items. The breads in the basket (and buffet) can contain nuts and/or seeds so he got a special basket each night with the safe baguette bread that he really liked.

 

In the buffet we were comfortable with him eating pizza and burgers. I did not worry about cross contamination since each item is in it's own station. If he wanted a dessert there I would just look for someone in the tall white chef hat and ask them. If they did not know, they would call the pastry chef and ask. He ate a key lime pie, brownies (yum) and soft serve there. In the dining room he ate the chocolate volcano cake several times, apple pie and a lime tart. I kept him away from cookies since I saw some with macadamia nuts and the other one that I tried was the worst thing I ate on the ship!

 

Any questions, just let me know. I will post a general review later.

 

T

[Infiniti820]

Just back from our trip on the Pearl. I will include a lot of details here about how they handled the food allergies. I think you will find similar on the Jewel.

 

Upon embarking we went to the Summer Palace (main) dining room for lunch. I told the server that our son was allergic to tree nuts and flax. He tried to make a note but did not know what flax was or even how to spell it. I worried a bit, but asked to speak with a chef. Minutes later - worry over. Adolfin, executive sous chef, came to our table to review the menu. Robert, the assistant maitre'd from the other main restaurant, Indigo, also came over. We also discussed what items would be safe at the buffet and O'Sheehans. They said we could pre-order meals for the following night or just let the server know of the allergy when we arrived each evening. They each gave us a card and we saw Adolfin several more times and Robert every time in the dining room. We tipped them both on the last night.

 

We noticed in other restaurants that after scanning our room card a slip of paper would print out to remind them of the allergy. One day we did not ask because DS was repeating a menu item and they quickly came over to check if he had ordered something safe.

 

Most entrees and appetizers are ok. Usually we would just tell them what he wanted to see if it was safe, so I do not know about all of the menu items. The breads in the basket (and buffet) can contain nuts and/or seeds so he got a special basket each night with the safe baguette bread that he really liked.

 

In the buffet we were comfortable with him eating pizza and burgers. I did not worry about cross contamination since each item is in it's own station. If he wanted a dessert there I would just look for someone in the tall white chef hat and ask them. If they did not know, they would call the pastry chef and ask. He ate a key lime pie, brownies (yum) and soft serve there. In the dining room he ate the chocolate volcano cake several times, apple pie and a lime tart. I kept him away from cookies since I saw some with macadamia nuts and the other one that I tried was the worst thing I ate on the ship!

 

Any questions, just let me know. I will post a general review later.

 

T

Thank you so much for this!! I am feeling a lot more comfortable about traveling with my daughter. My worry was that someone would say they knew if a food was safe when they weren't 100% sure, based on what you say (someone wasn't sure and asked the head chef) it sounds like the staff is very careful before they tell you something is safe.

 

My big worry was dessert - I am so glad to hear about the soft serve being safe- that is her favorite!! Glad you had a safe trip and a good experience traveling with a child that has food allergies.

 

Thanks again!

[zqvol]

Does anyone know if there are any nut free options offered for dessert on the Gem? I'm traveling on the July 9th sailing and I am a nervous wreck about my daughters allergy! NCL is aware of the allergy- they have told me the reservation is noted and I just need to mention it to staff each time we eat anywhere which is fine with me but I'm worried that there will be no dessert option for my daughter when everyone else is having theirs😞😞

 

 

My wife has the same allergy and she is always able to find something for dessert. Just make sure you let your server know at every meal about the allergy, before you order anything, nuts sometimes get hidden in entrees and apps too, but NCL is really good about keeping you safe.

[lmintzer]

Thank you for the detailed explanation! Your story makes me feel a lot better. My son with peanut and tree nut allergies is 12, and just in the last year or two, has gotten really sensitive about being left out--and a little more brazen (he was sooo careful as a little one!). It is good to know that NCL seems on top of this, and that there are bread options (my son LOVES a baguette) and dessert options, too. He will be a little sad bout no hard ice cream, but soft-serve, chocolate lava cake, and brownies--those sounds great!

 

For the buffet, he can stick to pizza, burgers, and fruit, and he should be okay with that too. Is there pasta on the buffet? That's his favorite, but should be easy to ask about.

 

For breakfast, he loves eggs and bacon. Sounds like we can make it work!

 

So, Summer Place is our best bet for our emarkation lunch (to make sure allergies are best accomodated)? TIA!

[Sparkygirl]

Thank you! I spoke with the special needs desk and they said to steer clear of the buffet for fear of cross contamination. We can eat in the dining rooms, that's not a problem- they also told me to just remind every person we come in contact with at the restuarants that my daughter has a food allergy.

Thankfully, my daughters allergy is not airborne so anyone eating near her wouldn't pose a threat, as long as she doesn't actually ingest it- we are good!

 

You do not need to steer clear of the buffet, steer clear of the self serving line, meet the food and beverage manager and one of the assistant maître d at the evening restaurants. My daughter made friends with the main dinning room maître d he worked mornings in the buffet, my daughter would tell him what she wanted and he would get it from the back kitchen free of cross contamination and brought to our table in the buffet.

 

NCL is amazing with food allergies. My 5 year old has sailed 5 cruises with life threatening latex, banana, avocado, kiwi and chestnut allergy. I always know which table is ours at the restaurants because the box of gloves is sitting on it.

 

NCL also changes their programming and decorations to not use balloons while my daughter us onboard.

 

Have a great vacation!

Edited June 29, 2016 by Sparkygirl

[Infiniti820]

You do not need to steer clear of the buffet, steer clear of the self serving line, meet the food and beverage manager and one of the assistant maître d at the evening restaurants. My daughter made friends with the main dinning room maître d he worked mornings in the buffet, my daughter would tell him what she wanted and he would get it from the back kitchen free of cross contamination and brought to our table in the buffet.

 

NCL is amazing with food allergies. My 5 year old has sailed 5 cruises with life threatening latex, banana, avocado, kiwi and chestnut allergy. I always know which table is ours at the restaurants because the box of gloves is sitting on it.

 

NCL also changes their programming and decorations to not use balloons while my daughter us onboard.

 

Have a great vacation!

 

Thanks for telling me that because I really love to visit the buffet a few mornings for breakfast!! I will make sure to meet the food & beverage manager to have my daughters food taken from the back to avoid cross contamination. It sounds like NCL does a great job when it comes to anyone traveling with food allergies!

 

Thanks again!

[CardFanDubG]

We went on a family cruise on the NCL Sky the week of July 4. Our Grand-daughter has a severe peanut & tree-nut Allergy. As this was her first cruise everyone was concerned how this would be handled. Our DIL contacted NCL prior to the cruise to notify them and to get information. She was told to meet with the Main Dining Room manager after embarking.

 

We went to the Palace MDR for lunch after embarking. We spoke with the manager Luke and he was very helpful. He introduced himself to our grand-daughter. He brought the menu for that evening's dinner and discussed it with her & her parents. As we had reservations in the Crossings MDR for 6, he said that the meal would be ready for her then.

 

That evening we met Ayu, the Crossings manager. She was awesome. Definitely reassuring that the staff would take care of our grand-daughter and they did. She brought a menu for the next evening and would over the selection with her. She did this for every meal. She explained that if she ate in the buffet to contact the manager and that person would go around with her and point out what is safe. We did eat breakfast in the buffet and the manager did just that. Ayu always checked on her numerous times. She became like a friend. On the last night of our cruise she surprised our grand-daughter with a special nut-free birthday cake. She definitely showed she cared for her safety.

 

On the 4th day of our cruise we went to Great Stirrup Cay, NCL private island. Aya discussed the lunch plans and decided to have pizza and chicken breast delivered to her on the island. We had reserved a large cabana and that made the delivery much easier. (OT - the large cabana was one of our best purchases of the cruise). When we arrived at the cabana John the server let us know that he was already aware of DGD's allergy and would take care of her. We were so impressed with how so many staff members took her allergy seriously. They definitely showed they were concerned for her safety. Thank you NCL for a safe cruise.