What's the best cruise line for dietary restrictions?

[mjkacmom]

We have sailed on four NCL ships with my daughter who has celiac, they were all excellent. On embarking, we would go to the open MDR, and the dietary manager would introduce himself to us. Dd would order something labeled gf, and order her dinner (pretty much anything she wanted). Every night at dinner, he would come to our table and she’d order breakfast and dinner (she is a teen and liked to eat lunch in the buffet, usually a salad). She would call the manager before heading out to breakfast and dinner, letting him know where she would be dining. Checking in, they knew who Dd was and her allergy, as did her servers (even with freestyle dining, they would usually give us the same server). They would even bring her gf desserts not on the MDR menu (like flourless chocolate cake from a specialty). We ate breakfast in the buffet, her huge covered breakfast tray was delivered to our table. All of the food allergy food is prepared in a separate kitchen. Even on the Breakaway, she never had any issues. I tipped well!

[clo]

4 hours ago, ed01106 said:

 

I would think the "inconvenience" of having a meal that was specially prepared for you delivered to your table would be significantly less than the "inconvenience" of needing to hunt down someone who knows the ingredients of each item on the buffet then hoping the permitted items didn't suffer cross contamination by someone using the wrong service spoon.    

But it takes planning.  As someone who can and does eat almost any food (and water) all over the world, that part of my life is easy.

[Chocolate martini fan]

I have good experiences with Princess and Celebrity.  Each night in the dining room I would receive a menu for the following evening.  My order was taken and adjustments were made to accommodate my dietary restrictions.  

In my opinion Celebrity had a better selection of lactose free deserts.

My experience with NCL was not good, the server seemed to be annoyed.

[ardentcruiser]

On 6/18/2019 at 2:31 PM, HangryGrl said:

Not lactose intolerant but vegan here.  We have had the best luck doing the following:

1.  Calling or emailing the cruise line's special needs department before we leave.

2.  Visiting the Maitre'd during his "open" hours in the dining room on embarkation day to make sure our needs have been communicated and see if they have any questions.  This is also the best way to have dinner the first night go smoothly.

3.  Have "fixed" time dining vs what ever incarnation of "my time" the cruise line has.  You keep your same waitstaff every night so you don't have to keep re-explaining things.

4.  Ordering the next nights meal at dinner.  The only time we have not done this was on Carnival last December and they asked if they could just surprise us each night.  This went fine, everything was good but it ended up being too much food for me as I don't generally eat an appetizer, entree and dessert.

5.  Speaking with one of the higher chef level people at the buffet vs one of the line cooks/servers.

 

I believe if you have an actual allergy they prepare your food in a separate kitchen so that would limit the cross contamination issues more but I think that is why they want you to order ahead of time also.

All wise words! And as a lactose intolerant person, I would like to thank all the vegans out there for making things easier for me when I eat out! 🙂 

[ardentcruiser]

3 minutes ago, Chocolate martini fan said:

In my opinion Celebrity had a better selection of lactose free deserts.

What kind of lactose free desserts did they have? We just booked with Celebrity. 

[Chocolate martini fan]

10 minutes ago, ardentcruiser said:

What kind of lactose free desserts did they have? We just booked with Celebrity. 

They had a rice pudding that was delicious,  something similar to a chocolate mousse, sorbet, and brownies.  I know there was more just having trouble remembering the specifics.  One thing is certain I had dessert every night!

Edited June 19, 2019 by Chocolate martini fan
missing word

[HangryGrl]

1 hour ago, ardentcruiser said:

What kind of lactose free desserts did they have? We just booked with Celebrity. 

The ones I remember on Carnival this most recent time were some kind of nut (gluten free also maybe?) based cake which was a bit dry, dairy free panna cotta (no idea how they managed that) and cherries jubilee.  I would honestly rather just eat fruit for dessert or nothing but felt rude saying so since they had prepared things especially for us.  Next time I will probably let them know at the beginning that I will skip dessert.  🙂  We learn a little something every cruise that makes things a bit easier the next time.

[Tom47]

On 6/17/2019 at 8:34 PM, ardentcruiser said:

Thanks for the comments everyone! Let me further explain my issue. Dairy sneaks into all sorts of restaurant food. As already mentioned, butter is commonly put on top of steaks after they have been cooked. This is the case in many normal restaurants (outback, ruth's chris) as well as on the cruise (RC Chops, japanese steakhouse, and so on). While that can be easily dealt with, it is the unknown that makes it hard, particularly in the buffets. Chili, omelets (milk mixed into the egg sauce), soups, rolls, salad dressings, curry, hamburgers, and many other all have the potential of having dairy. On the Disney cruise someone was able to point out which foods were safe. On RC, it took a lot of effort to find someone, and then they had to go back and talk to someone else. I could easily spend 30 minutes just finding out if food are safe, and that gets to be tiresome. 

 

RC menus now say "lactose free options available" but I found the waiters to not be very knowledgeable about what that menu. And, as I already said, they have very limited dessert options. I can only eat so much jello or fruit for dessert! 

Azamara has been very responsive to DW's lactose intolerance.  Some Buffet items are marked "lactose free."  MDR, you have to ask, but they will create special desserts for you.  Az is Dw's favorite cruise line.

[gooch47]

We've had good luck on both Princess and RCI which are far from "luxury" cruiselines.

 

Our DIL has a violent allergic reaction to onion.  Like others have posted, meeting with the Head Waiter the night before to either choose or special order items without onions worked perfectly.

 

She was able to do breakfast easily, both the buffet and the dining rooms.  Lunch in the buffet was tricky but she managed.  

 

Admittedly, avoiding milk would be even trickier.

Edited June 25, 2019 by gooch47

[clo]

2 hours ago, gooch47 said:

We've had good luck on both Princess and RCI which are far from "luxury" cruiselines.

 

Our DIL has a violent allergic reaction to onion.  Like others have posted, meeting with the Head Waiter the night before to either choose or special order items without onions worked perfectly.

 

She was able to do breakfast easily, both the buffet and the dining rooms.  Lunch in the buffet was tricky but she managed.  

 

Admittedly, avoiding milk would be even trickier.

Is that everything in the onion family?

While members of the onion family have slightly different characteristics, they prefer similar growing conditions--light, sandy soil, even moisture and full sun.

Onions. ...

Bunching Onions. ...

Chives. ...

Shallots. ...

Leeks. ...

Garlic.

Plants in the Onion Family | Home Guides | SF Gate

 

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/plants-onion-family-41297.html

[gooch47]

2 hours ago, clo said:

Is that everything in the onion family?

While members of the onion family have slightly different characteristics, they prefer similar growing conditions--light, sandy soil, even moisture and full sun.

Onions. ...

Bunching Onions. ...

Chives. ...

Shallots. ...

Leeks. ...

Garlic.

Plants in the Onion Family | Home Guides | SF Gate

 

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/plants-onion-family-41297.html

She can eat garlic but doesn't like it much.  Even chives are a no-no.

[clo]

3 hours ago, gooch47 said:

She can eat garlic but doesn't like it much.  Even chives are a no-no.

That would be a major bummer for me.  I love them all.

[Geezer Cruiser]

Recently took a Viking River Cruise where the dining room manager made a point of consultations with special needs passengers each morning. One fellow told me that this attention to detail exceeded his expectations. 

 

[SadieN]

On 6/17/2019 at 5:53 PM, ed01106 said:

I would suggest not waiting until you get on the ship, but discuss your food allergies with the line in advance, not trying to just find stuff once you are on board.  One option would be to request your main course meat meals be kosher*. But this is something you need to request several weeks in advance.  

 

Kosher food can contain milk, but milk and meat can not be mixed so if you get kosher beef or chicken — no milk.  These meal are prepared in advance of the cruise and then frozen. Kosher fish meal could contain dairy unless it is Parve.  And this trick will fail miserably if you are attempting a dairy free pork chop. 🙂. 

 

Likewise you could request some vegan food.  

 

And even on the ship requesting a meal with your requirement for tomorrow will be easier for the chef to prepare you a specific meal than asking at dinner time when all the food is already prepared.

Kosher food has to be pre-ordered about 6 weeks ahead of time  All frozen dinners. The reviews of these meals are mediocre at best.  There are a few kosher cruises where the company completely kashers a kitchen (think spring cleaning then magnify it by a factor of 10) and cooks fresh.  As you can imagine this increases the cruise fare considerably.

 

We travel with other severe food allergies on Carnival. Pre-order upon boarding and each night for the next day's meals.  We have sailed both assigned dining and Anytime dining.  Only a few issues, usually DD's food arrives before mine does.  On the buffet DD has no issue finding a F&B officer to ask about the ingredients in particular dishes. 

 

When she travels abroad she carries allergy cards with pictures and wording in English and the local language. We buy them online.     

Edited June 28, 2019 by SadieN

[clo]

12 minutes ago, SadieN said:

When she travels abroad she carries allergy cards with pictures and wording in English and the local language. We buy them online.     

That's brilliant!  Thanks for sharing.

[calliopecruiser]

2 hours ago, SadieN said:

Kosher food has to be pre-ordered about 6 weeks ahead of time  All frozen dinners. The reviews of these meals are mediocre at best.

FWIW if you are content with "Kosher style" (i.e. prepared according to all the Kosher rules, but not blessed), Crystal offers excellent options.  The Kosher meat is frozen separately, and the sides were prepared freshly, also in a separate area.   I shared a table with a woman eating "Kosher style" and because the Kosher meat was not always available in single portions, she would often share her entree with the table - for instance, she had to get a whole roasted chicken one night, because it was only available frozen as a whole bird. 

[ed01106]

9 hours ago, calliopecruiser said:

FWIW if you are content with "Kosher style" (i.e. prepared according to all the Kosher rules, but not blessed), Crystal offers excellent options.  The Kosher meat is frozen separately, and the sides were prepared freshly, also in a separate area.   I shared a table with a woman eating "Kosher style" and because the Kosher meat was not always available in single portions, she would often share her entree with the table - for instance, she had to get a whole roasted chicken one night, because it was only available frozen as a whole bird. 

 

Which should work fine for some who is lactose intolerant. (If they can tolerate a very very small risk of cross contamination. 

 

Kosher style (if starting with kosher meat) means they are using kosher ingredients and are not mixing meat and milk.  But they are not using separate cooking facilities (hence risk of cross contamination, although likely much smaller than other lactose free requests) also the kitchen is not under the supervision of a Rabbi. Has nothing to do with the food being blessed or not.

 

 

[MicCanberra]

I have heard MSC is the most restrictive for diet as the food is not great.

[calliopecruiser]

11 hours ago, ed01106 said:

 But they are not using separate cooking facilities

Actually, Crystal does have a separate area and separate pots/pans/utensils........I used "blessed" in a metaphorical sense, as in "the Rabbi has given his blessing" to the preparation/cooking, not as in the Rabbi literally blesses the food.  In retrospect, though, I see that wasn't clear.

[MicCanberra]

Personally, I do not want any one to bless my food, if it is that bad that it needs a blessing to make it edible, then no thanks.

[clo]

7 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Personally, I do not want any one to bless my food, if it is that bad that it needs a blessing to make it edible, then no thanks.

Do you know that's rather offensive?  Like really offensive?

[MicCanberra]

22 minutes ago, clo said:

Do you know that's rather offensive?  Like really offensive?

How so?

It is what I prefer personally, I do not care if others have their food blessed. People wanting to bless my food is offensive to me.

[clo]

6 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

How so?

It is what I prefer personally, I do not care if others have their food blessed. People wanting to bless my food is offensive to me.

 I would appreciate a Jewish person who can explain this correctly to speak up.  

[ldubs]

3 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

How so?

It is what I prefer personally, I do not care if others have their food blessed. People wanting to bless my food is offensive to me.

 

3 hours ago, clo said:

 I would appreciate a Jewish person who can explain this correctly to speak up.  

 

Not uncommon for Christians to ask for a blessing before eating a meal.  Of course that has nothing to do with kosher food prep laws.   I'm not sure anything really needs explaining.     

 

Anyway, just a casual comment but I suspect many of us are probably routinely eating a lot of kosher certified foods and don't even know it.  

[MicCanberra]

4 hours ago, clo said:

 I would appreciate a Jewish person who can explain this correctly to speak up.  

Not sure why a Jewish person needs to explain. It is pretty simple for me, I do not want or need my food blessed.