Azamara with food allergies

[MandNCruiser]

Hello all,

 

Our family will be cruising with Azamara this summer and our daughter has a number of food allergies. We were hoping that there were some past cruisers out there that had experience with Azamara and had some advice about what they could do to accomodate you. Our duagher is allergic to dairy, eggs, and nuts. Will the restaurants be able to customize the menu items without any of the above? Do they offer soy milk at the cafe?

 

Thanks for any help you can offer!

[JJPacer]

Communicate directly with the cruiselne. After providing information to them about the allargies, suggest safe foods that he/she can eat without having a reaction. I would kindly ask them to send a letter to you acknowledging the allergy(ies) and the actions they will take to make a secure envirnment for your child. Of Course, Parent and Child have to be alert all the time. Good Luck

[LHT28]

Most cruise lines have a special services dept I would contact them now so they can be sure to have the proper food available to her. Your TA should be able to do this for you

 

Also contact Hotel manager when you board & make sure they are aware of her allergies

She may have to eat in the dining room so they can have control over food restrictions for her

DO NOT wait until you are onboard to advise them

[critterchick]

I agree that you should let them know in advance. They had soy milk at the smoothie station in Windows (the buffet) on Journey, so I'm sure you can get some, but it will be very helpful if they're able to prepare a bit in advance.

 

Something you might consider once you've boarded is trying to arrange for a fixed dinner seating with the same waitstaff each night. Then you won't have to repeat the process nightly with a new set of servers. :)

[uktog]

My husband has a nut allergy so I will post when we get back on how we get on as this is the first time we have had an open seating arrangement and for various reasons we will want to eat at different times and locations.

To date my experience on Celebrity has been

1 We tell them emailing special services in advance

2. We meet up with the maitr'd when we board - he is usually sorting out people who wanted table changes and is very happy to handle this

3. He ensures our assigned Asst Maitr d not only comes each night to

a check that nights dinner

b discuss the next nights dinner options

c tell us who is available where during lunch the next day - we have always been able to check with someone at the buffet from management as the servers will not know or understand the significance

4. We then contact the Head Housekeeper to make sure the cabin staff understand re anything they bring to the room (ie canapes; afternoon tea)

 

We have never had anything but fantastic very diligent service since we instituted this regime (it was a little hit or miss before when we relied on our waiter) and we will use it again this weekend and report back on how it goes but I am sure it will be fine

[MandNCruiser]

The advice has been very helpful - thanks for the feedback! We'll definitely get into contact with special needs. We were a little hesitant to talk to them before because the website specifically says they are there to help hearing-impaired, vision-impaired, and mobility impaired individuals. We definitely want to make our arrangements in advance so we'll be sure our daughter is safe.

[slotl]

We were on the Journey and I am allergic to sulfites. Foods to avoid are wines (anything cooked with wines), salad bars, or anything else which might be "preserved". Note: MSG is also a sulfite.

 

That said, I had not notified the matre de because I usually know what foods to avoid. The first night I ate the soup and had a "sulfite reaction". The waiter called over the matre de and I was told that on Azamara "all soups and sauces" are made with wine.

 

From that night forward, the matre de would "find me" (remember open seating all the time) and give me the menu for the next evening. I would choose what I wanted and it would be made without wine (if possible).

 

It was amazing service that I received in the dining room. I am still amazed at the personal service that I received.

 

Bottom line, tell your travel agent, tell special services, but when you board make sure you tell the dining room matre de.

[Tinwoman]

Hello all,

 

Our family will be cruising with Azamara this summer and our daughter has a number of food allergies. We were hoping that there were some past cruisers out there that had experience with Azamara and had some advice about what they could do to accomodate you. Our duagher is allergic to dairy, eggs, and nuts. Will the restaurants be able to customize the menu items without any of the above? Do they offer soy milk at the cafe?

 

Thanks for any help you can offer!

 

As someone whom is severely allergic to tree nuts, carry your epi pen.

There are no guarantees, and watch out for Thai food, which is traditionally cooked in peanut oil.

I asked a cook what kind of oil they use and he said he did not know!!:eek:

Eggs and milk are VERY common ingredients in sauces, gravies, soups, desserts etc.

Cover your bases, and carry a epi pen, it may save your life, or your daughters life.

In my experience, Celebrity cares very little about food allergies.

Lines that are careful if you let them know is Oceania, Crystal, and Seaborn.

Other large mass lines don't have the care to oh care.:rolleyes:

I was recently off Azamara, and there was a lot of Thai food, so be careful.

You probably already know any kind of stir fry will usually contain eggs, and often nuts. Almonds, especially

I don't let it stop me from traveling, but I will do research on the countries I visit and what ingredients are commonly used in their food preparation.

[Andy]

Hi Everyone !

 

Per Azamara's website, here is the contact information for Special Needs :

 

Email : special_needs @celebrity.com (note the underscore between the words special and needs)

 

Phone : 800-722-5472 ext 34492

 

Fax : 305-539-6666

 

I hope this helps !

[Pengawin3]

I have food allergies and just returned from the Journey Jan 3 sailing. My allergies are to lime, ginger, melons, strawberries. You wouldn't believe how much stuff I COULDN'T have!

They seem to put lime and ginger in just about EVERYTHING!!! (Really, who puts ginger in Ranch dressing??? Or a Caesar salad????)

The maitre 'd, Marius, was very helpful in steering me away from anything that would cause a reaction and had the kitchen make me dressings, sauces, etc. without the offending/lethal ingredients.

Yes, they DO take allergies VERY seriously!!!