Cruising with a unique food allergy situation

[ryansox]

So my girlfriend and I are looking to do a cruise. She really wants to, but I'm afraid food is going to be a big issue. We thought just a small 1 or 2 night cruise would be a good starting point unless certain cruise lines accommodate better. Basically she can eat her gluten free oatmeal and fruit for breakfast. Grilled chicken without anything added would be the safest for lunch and dinner. She's gluten, dairy, soy, nut, pretty much everything free. She cannot eat Seafood or Red Meat. She can safely eat Mexican food like chicken tacos with corn tortillas. Basically I'm wondering what is the best cruise line for people with allergies and do they allow you to bring some of your own food on, like oatmeal. 

Edited December 22, 2019 by ryansox

[Shmoo here]

17 minutes ago, ryansox said:

So my girlfriend and I are looking to do a cruise. She really wants to, but I'm afraid food is going to be a big issue. We thought just a small 1 or 2 night cruise would be a good starting point unless certain cruise lines accommodate better. Basically she can eat her gluten free oatmeal and fruit for breakfast. Grilled chicken without anything added would be the safest for lunch and dinner. She's gluten, dairy, soy, nut, pretty much everything free. She cannot eat Seafood or Red Meat. She can safely eat Mexican food like chicken tacos with corn tortillas. Basically I'm wondering what is the best cruise line for people with allergies and do they allow you to bring some of your own food on, like oatmeal. 

Basically, all cruise lines will work with people with dietary issues.

 

As to bringing your own oatmeal, there are no cooking facilities for passengers onboard ships, and they (the kitchen staff) will not prepare personal food products.

 

You'll have to contact the Special Needs department at the cruise line to talk to them (before you cruise) to set things up.

[denmarks]

Notify them in advance and they will prepare a special menu. We had one person at my table who had allergies to many foods and she has given a special menu with choices for her diet.

[Elaine5715]

30 minutes ago, denmarks said:

Notify them in advance and they will prepare a special menu. We had one person at my table who had allergies to many foods and she has given a special menu with choices for her diet.

On most main stream lines,  options are limited to items on hand and modified versions of menu items

 

[Elaine5715]

1 hour ago, ryansox said:

So my girlfriend and I are looking to do a cruise. She really wants to, but I'm afraid food is going to be a big issue. We thought just a small 1 or 2 night cruise would be a good starting point unless certain cruise lines accommodate better. Basically she can eat her gluten free oatmeal and fruit for breakfast. Grilled chicken without anything added would be the safest for lunch and dinner. She's gluten, dairy, soy, nut, pretty much everything free. She cannot eat Seafood or Red Meat. She can safely eat Mexican food like chicken tacos with corn tortillas. Basically I'm wondering what is the best cruise line for people with allergies and do they allow you to bring some of your own food on, like oatmeal. 

Look to the luxury lines

[Mich3554]

I’m on Viking right now and the last cruise we sat next to a couple where the wife had a long laundry list of what she could not eat.  They took her concerns seriously, and presumably she managed to eat during the cruise.  They did strongly suggest that she stick to one restaurant on the ship to make it a little easier for the chefs.  
 

There is no problem bringing your food on board, but she might have difficulty warming it up.  

[Shmoo here]

1 hour ago, Elaine5715 said:

On most main stream lines,  options are limited to items on hand and modified versions of menu items

 

That's why it's a good idea to contact them beforehand, so they can get the necessary supplies before the cruise.  Once the cruise has departed, it's difficult to get special items, and you're pretty much stuck with what they can make up with the supplies they have.

 

 

[cb at sea]

Oatmeal is naturally "gluten free"...no worries.

 

Contact the "special needs" dept....all cruise lines have them.  Tell them what she CAN'T have...and they will help all they can.  A lot is up to her, ultimately.  If she's unsure, don't eat it.

 

[Elaine5715]

3 hours ago, Mich3554 said:

I’m on Viking right now and the last cruise we sat next to a couple where the wife had a long laundry list of what she could not eat.  They took her concerns seriously, and presumably she managed to eat during the cruise.  They did strongly suggest that she stick to one restaurant on the ship to make it a little easier for the chefs.  
 

There is no problem bringing your food on board, but she might have difficulty warming it up.  

Depending on your departing port, there can be much problem bring on foods

[Elaine5715]

2 hours ago, Shmoo here said:

That's why it's a good idea to contact them beforehand, so they can get the necessary supplies before the cruise.  Once the cruise has departed, it's difficult to get special items, and you're pretty much stuck with what they can make up with the supplies they have.

 

 

While the luxury lines may,  I highly doubt the mainstream cruise lines will bring on anything special to satisfy dietary requests of one guest.  

[Shmoo here]

5 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

While the luxury lines may,  I highly doubt the mainstream cruise lines will bring on anything special to satisfy dietary requests of one guest.  

I'm not sure why you're trying to dissuade the OP from calling and talking to the Special Needs people, but it's certainly worth a shot.  If they can't/won't help, OP is no worse off than they were, and they'd be better prepared for what may happen onboard.

 

 

[Elaine5715]

1 hour ago, Shmoo here said:

I'm not sure why you're trying to dissuade the OP from calling and talking to the Special Needs people, but it's certainly worth a shot.  If they can't/won't help, OP is no worse off than they were, and they'd be better prepared for what may happen onboard.

 

 

Where do I say not to call? I  do not agree to give the impression that someone can expect a cruise line to purchase and prepare a custom menu.  They will leave out ingredients and disclose ingredients  but to suggest one can simply call in  what they want is misleading.

[Bookish Angel]

10 hours ago, cb at sea said:

Oatmeal is naturally "gluten free"...no worries.

 

While oatmeal is gluten-free, many brands of oatmeal are processed in a non-gluten-free facility were contamination can occur.  I have had good luck with Bob’s Red Mill oatmeal products. https://www.bobsredmill.com/shop/oats.html

 

 

Edited December 23, 2019 by Bookish Angel

[ryansox]

Thank you all for the replies. I looked at the websites for each of the lines for special diets they are all different. I guess after reading calling would be my best option. Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post. I look forward to hopefully cruising soon! 

[mjkacmom]

I believe most if not all ships have separate kitchens for food preparation for those with allergies. Our only experience has been with NCL and gluten, and it has been excellent.

[ducklite]

I have cruised four lines and have many of the allergies your GF has.  Your best bet is to cruise on a small ship (under 500 people) where the galley is operated like a fine restaurant instead of a large banquet hall/cafeteria.  If she wants things like Rice milk or gluten free bread, make sure to call at least 60 days in advance and talk to special services and a small ship will make it happen.

[lenquixote66]

I cannot eat 90 percent of food on cruise ship menus.On the first day of the cruise I speak to the people in charge of the dining room and they also assign someone to work with me to develop a food plan.

[calliopecruiser]

On 12/23/2019 at 5:51 PM, ducklite said:

I have cruised four lines and have many of the allergies your GF has.  Your best bet is to cruise on a small ship (under 500 people) where the galley is operated like a fine restaurant instead of a large banquet hall/cafeteria

Absolutely - I've known some people with very unusual but serious allergies, and eating in a small place with fewer staff and more hands-on knowledge is the safest option.  In many mainstream lines (like large restaurants), the staff may not actually know what's in the food they're serving.......a person with a milk allergy might end up with a burger bun that had milk used as a glaze with the sesame seeds, even though bread and buns typically don't have milk in them (for instance).  I knew someone with an herb allergy, and even a bit of dill in the mayonnaise could end up requiring an EpiPen -- she only ate out either in small restaurants where she could speak personally to the person making the food, or in very high end restaurants where they had the time to accommodate even unusual special requests. 

 

I'm not sure I'd put a number on the passenger size, but definitely a luxury line with a smaller passenger load would be least likely to mess up. 

[cloud_nine]

From what I've heard Disney Cruise Line is exceptional with allergies - though they are on the pricier side. 

[ducklite]

Just now, cloud_nine said:

From what I've heard Disney Cruise Line is exceptional with allergies - though they are on the pricier side. 

I would agree with this--the Disney Corporation as a whole are very, very adept at handling allergies and other dietary restrictions.  We've sailed with DCL twice and I felt like I was in good hands both times.  

[spookwife]

On 12/22/2019 at 1:33 PM, ryansox said:

So my girlfriend and I are looking to do a cruise. She really wants to, but I'm afraid food is going to be a big issue. We thought just a small 1 or 2 night cruise would be a good starting point unless certain cruise lines accommodate better. Basically she can eat her gluten free oatmeal and fruit for breakfast. Grilled chicken without anything added would be the safest for lunch and dinner. She's gluten, dairy, soy, nut, pretty much everything free. She cannot eat Seafood or Red Meat. She can safely eat Mexican food like chicken tacos with corn tortillas. Basically I'm wondering what is the best cruise line for people with allergies and do they allow you to bring some of your own food on, like oatmeal. 

Anything you bring on board has to be shelf stable and require no prep.. to include heating.  
 

a plain steamed chicken breast with plain unseasoned veggies is easily accommodated.  But the chefs will make it a point of personal pride to provide more exotic fare.

 

any of the mainstream lines can handle it.

[BlueRiband]

Grilled plain chicken and corn tacos might be OK for a short cruise it's going to get boring real fast on a longer voyage. 

 

Given that your GF has multiple alergies/restrictions, you will be better off sailing on an upscale cruise line.   I located an old thread from 2012 where somebody with similar restrictions had a difficult time of it on an RCI megaship.  You need a line where the head chef will check the ingredients in her next day's menu choices to make sure that they don't contain anything she cannot tolerate.  For example, a special diets galley cannot just substitute butter with margarine.  While margarine is a vegetable oil product some brands might contain whey that would cause problems for somebody with dairy intolerance. 

[ducklite]

1 hour ago, BlueRiband said:

Grilled plain chicken and corn tacos might be OK for a short cruise it's going to get boring real fast on a longer voyage. 

 

Given that your GF has multiple alergies/restrictions, you will be better off sailing on an upscale cruise line.   I located an old thread from 2012 where somebody with similar restrictions had a difficult time of it on an RCI megaship.  You need a line where the head chef will check the ingredients in her next day's menu choices to make sure that they don't contain anything she cannot tolerate.  For example, a special diets galley cannot just substitute butter with margarine.  While margarine is a vegetable oil product some brands might contain whey that would cause problems for somebody with dairy intolerance. 

That might have been me!  Royal Caribbean was extremely difficult, they seemed put off in the dining room and there was absolutely no one who could help me at the buffets.  I had done everything they asked, spoken with their special needs people in advance and then with the Maitre De on board, and the attitude was really terrible.

[SRF]

It may have been THAT ship.

 

I have seen many threads in the RCI section with people meeting the chef, sometimes each day to plan their next day's menu.

[ducklite]

6 hours ago, SRF said:

It may have been THAT ship.

 

I have seen many threads in the RCI section with people meeting the chef, sometimes each day to plan their next day's menu.

Given some other issues we had with their corporate offices, it seemed to be a top down problem with that line. Put it this way, they offered us 75% off FCC to cruise with them again because so many things within their control had gone wrong on our cruise.  We chose not to throw good money at bad and moved on to calmer waters and a different line.