Tree Nut Allergy

[2910car]

My 2 year old granddaughter has severe tree nut allergy. My daughter wants to know how she can be sure she doesn't eat anything that has been touched by "tree nuts". especially on the buffet. We are going on The Carnival Freedom. Thanks.

[beachchick]

You really must contact the special needs department for special diets. The kids club counselors will need to be informed, especially with a severe allergy, and have access to your granddaughter's epipen (or similar) in case the worst happens. (Such as another child had nuts, holds hands with your granddaughter, and then your granddaughter is exposed.) You will have to be extremely (I stress this) careful with the buffet because of cross-contamination. Other passengers cannot be relied on to never move a serving spoon from one dish to another or to "spill" something with nuts onto something without. I'd be iffy with allowing her to eat at the buffet for those reasons alone. You will need to talk to the matre d', head waiter, and possibly the head chef to arrange for items at meal time that are absolutely nut and nut-contact free. This is not a uncommon allergy, so most cruise lines do know how to handle it. However, they will not guarantee nut-free dining unless you contact the special needs department and then follow through once onboard.

 

Hope everything is fine and that you all have a lovely cruise.

 

beachchick

 

p.s., Does she have a peanut allergy too? If so, be very careful about fried items. I think most places are going away from peanut oil because some people are allergic. But it's always best to confirm--and not just having a waiter say, "Oh, I'm sure we don't use peanut oil..." You need to make certain.

[2910car]

Thanks fort the quick response. I told my daughter maybe bring some cookies and such from home as I know most commercial baked goods are a big problem. I know Chips Ahoy cookies and Wonderbread do not have tree nuts. Amazingly she has no problem with peanuts and can even eat peanut butter.

 

Of course her epipen is with her all the time. Will they use it in Camp Carnival in an emergency? Thanks.

[njmomof2]

You're lucky that her allergies don't extend to peanuts.

 

I must say that we were hoping to cruise with friends who have a 4 yo daughter with severe peanut and egg allergies. She was recently retested to see if they had started to ease a bit and the poor thing needed a shot to bring the swelling on her arm down.

 

Her dr. was adament that she not go on a cruise ship. The fear of a reaction out at sea was more than he was willing to allow. Our biggest fear is her touching something that had previously been touched by someone with any remnants of peanut on their hands, any cross contamination from eggs, that sort of thing. It's just too uncertain. And think about the cleaning the cabin would need. Then she goes out in the hall, touches the railing and bang...problems.

 

I hope that your granddaughter will be fine, and since she's so young, your daughter will watch her carefully. Our friends are not willing to take the chance at this point. Hopefully when their daughter is a bit older, we can try it.

[6rugrats]

Thanks fort the quick response. I told my daughter maybe bring some cookies and such from home as I know most commercial baked goods are a big problem. I know Chips Ahoy cookies and Wonderbread do not have tree nuts. Amazingly she has no problem with peanuts and can even eat peanut butter.

 

Of course her epipen is with her all the time. Will they use it in Camp Carnival in an emergency? Thanks.

 

No, you would have to be available to administer this.

 

The Camp Carnival Staff may not administer any medication and/or needles to any child participating in the Youth Activity Program. Additionally, no medications with the exception of epi-pens, diabetic testing equipment & inhalers are permitted in the playroom. If your child requires regular medication while attending Camp Carnival, parents must return to administer that medication

[MamaParrotHead]

Of course her epipen is with her all the time. Will they use it in Camp Carnival in an emergency? Thanks.

 

No, I was also told that they wouldn't administer the Epi-Pen (my son has a severe peanut allergy), but Camp Carnival does have pagers (for use to keep in contact with the smaller kids' parents) and was TOLD "if there are extras" I will receive one. Whether they are aware of it or not now, I will have one. Period. What else are they going to do if he has a reaction, they won't give him the epi-pen and have no way of quickly contacting me?

[6rugrats]

No, I was also told that they wouldn't administer the Epi-Pen (my son has a severe peanut allergy), but Camp Carnival does have pagers (for use to keep in contact with the smaller kids' parents) and was TOLD "if there are extras" I will receive one. Whether they are aware of it or not now, I will have one. Period. What else are they going to do if he has a reaction, they won't give him the epi-pen and have no way of quickly contacting me?

 

I would assume they would contact the doctor on board.

[beachchick]

No, you would have to be available to administer this.

 

The Camp Carnival Staff may not administer any medication and/or needles to any child participating in the Youth Activity Program. Additionally, no medications with the exception of epi-pens, diabetic testing equipment & inhalers are permitted in the playroom. If your child requires regular medication while attending Camp Carnival, parents must return to administer that medication

 

No, I was also told that they wouldn't administer the Epi-Pen (my son has a severe peanut allergy), but Camp Carnival does have pagers (for use to keep in contact with the smaller kids' parents) and was TOLD "if there are extras" I will receive one. Whether they are aware of it or not now, I will have one. Period. What else are they going to do if he has a reaction, they won't give him the epi-pen and have no way of quickly contacting me?

 

That's good to know. I'd be concerned because I know that some anaphylaptic reactions can start so fast. Even if they got in touch with the parents immediately, it might take at least a few minutes for them to get there. Does anyone know what the kids crew would do if a child stopped breathing in that time frame? Scary, IMO.

 

Edit: Do you know if children who are old enough are allowed to use their epi-pen if necessary?

 

beachchick

[JMB123]

On Norwegian, they told me that they aren't allowed to administer the epipen, but also said that if it were a life threatening emergency, they would do it. They also had phones for the parents and had us write down exactly where on the ship we would be. Of course, my son was nervous and didn't really go into kids' club (he spent a total of 35 minutes of a 10 day cruise), but it was reassuring to me. They also don't allow any food or drink at all in the area. I haven't tried Carnival with an allergy, but Norwegian and Princess have both been great.

 

To the OP, my son's allergic to peanuts and tree nuts and can't eat any baked good unless there's a package I can read. So, we always bring tons of snack food for him so he doesn't feel left out. I try to guess what there may be for good deserts, and bring those (i.e. cookies, cakes, etc.) Also keep in mind that the hand scooped ice cream isn't safe because of cross contamination (but soft serve is fine). And, the mints on the pillows may not be ok - we always bring andies candies, just in case.

 

For the buffet, you can't be totally safe unless you just stay away. But, we've had a lot of success but finding the head waiter for the area. He will walk you through the buffet each day and show you what has tree nuts. Then, you should stay away from the foods on either side, too in case of cross contamination.

 

When you contact the special services department, ask if they carry epipens onboard and can treat a reaction. My doctor has always given us extra to bring, but you can never be too safe.

[turningofthetide]

I have a nine year old with a severe peanut and tree nut allergy. I have briefly contemplated taking him on a cruise with the family but have decided against it. With all the eating that goes on, I think there is a fairly good chance that he might have a reaction to something and I don't want him to he out in the middle of the ocean when this happens. Proximity to a hospital is important!

[cantw8togo]

The only way to guarantee no cross contamination is to eat in the dining room where they can prepare special meals in a separate kitchen. If you do want to try the buffet, then generally a Sous Chef (assistant chef) can guide you through the buffet. On our last cruise it took 20 minutes and three staff members to find out that we needed to speak to a Sous Chef and not the Head Chef.

 

Get to know your Head Waiter well and if you don't trust that your waiter is taking your concerns seriously enough, then ask to be moved for future meals. Not all staff are experienced with dealing with food allergies or understand the severity of the issue. (Our son who has a diary allergy was served a fruit plate with a yogurt on it and was told to just not touch the yogurt. :eek: ) You will probably be asked to preorder for the next night's meal, although for a two year old, it may not be necessary. Plan on the fact that it can take time to find out what is acceptable, so try not to wait until your granddaughter is so hungry that she has a meltdown. As others have said, bring safe snacks just in case.

 

You could also try to do a search on the Carnival board to see how others have coped with a food allergy with Carnival.

 

Hope this helps and have a good trip.

[Baxter]

I would avoid the buffet. My husband is allergic to tree nuts and we have learned that they put strange nuts in dishes we wouldn't expect (escargot, for example). I wouldn't risk it.

[mary_228]

We have enjoyed cruising with my son who has severe tree nut allergies. He has been on six cruises with us and is able to eat regular menu items in the MDR (usually filet mignon or some type of beef) and enjoys the pizza/burgers served poolside. He usually eats boxed cereal at breakfast. The only exposure he has experienced was on our first cruise and it was to a roll from the bread basket. I don't think it was an issue of cross contamination. I believe there were actual nuts in the roll. We rushed back to the cabin where I gave him benadryl and he was fine. No epi-pen required. He has also been able to consume the chocolates left on his pillow at night. FWIW, we sail on Princess and the only nuts he can eat are almonds (and peanuts are not an isssue for him).

 

The kids program is one of the safest places IMO because there is no food served. Years ago, the counselors took them out of the facility and went to the buffet for soft serve and had scavenger hunts, ect. This could be nerve wracking, of course, but they don't seem to do this anymore.

[junglejane]

Our DDs are now 9 and 14 and have been cruising since they were 4 and 9. The older DD is allergic to peanuts. The younger DD is allergic to peanuts, certain tree nuts, sesame and clams. We have never been on Carnival, but have been on Celebrity, Princess and Royal Caribbean. IMHO, cruising is one of the better ways to travel for someone with food allergies. Why? Because the cruiselines deal with food allergies and special needs (gluten free, kosher, low sodium, etc.) on a regular basis and have a system in place for handling these issues.

 

Our general experience is that the MDR staff on all three cruise lines have been very helpful and accomodating. For example, on Princess they told us that they have a specific chef and area in the kitchen for preparing the foods for their allergic passengers. That is why they ask you to order your meal the night before. Compare this to walking into an unfamiliar restaurant in an unfamiliar city (where English may or may not be spoken) and trying to communicate your allergy concerns. In my experience (including in my hometown of Phoenix), restaurant staff often don't seem at all knowledgeable or inclined to take the issue seriously. I either get a glib "oh there's no nuts in that" which I'm not inclined to believe, or I get a totally unhelpful, "we won't vouch for anything." I commend the cruise lines for at least trying to deal with this issue, because it would be all too easy for them to just issue a blanket disclaimer that they don't vouch for anything and you're on your own.

 

When we visit ports, our kids usually refuse to eat anything (even if we feel it's safe) and just subsist on something pre-packaged (like potato chips) until they get back onboard and feel that it's safe to eat. We do avoid the buffet, at the recommendation of Princess, because of the greater risk of cross-contamination.

 

Is this foolproof? No, it's not. But neither is eating at home, since I don't grow my own food. Sooner or later, kids with food allergies have to venture out and spend time away from Mom and Dad, whether it's at school, play dates, birthday parties, church, etc. I just wish the rest of the world was as helpful at dealing with food allergies as the cruise lines are.

 

I always carry Benadryl and two Epipens to meals. I check with the youth program staff to see if they are serving snacks (they rarely do in my experience) and tell my younger DD not to eat snacks without us. But so far our experiences have been very good.

[Maryscooking]

The kids program is one of the safest places IMO because there is no food served. Years ago, the counselors took them out of the facility and went to the buffet for soft serve and had scavenger hunts, ect. This could be nerve wracking, of course, but they don't seem to do this anymore.

 

They do still take them to dinner at the buffet, at least they did when we were on Carnival Destiny in September. We actually had to take our daughter to the buffet to meet the counselors for dinner, so the buffet still could be easily avoided I think. On the other hand, they didn't go through the buffet to get food, they just ate in a cordoned off section of it. So perhaps the food could still be prepared and served nut-free in that case.

 

Good luck getting the answers you need!

[kassimer1]

I would assume they would contact the doctor on board.

that is not reasuring after the terrible nedical care my son recieved on carnival valor. If that was an emergency room I would have taken him out of there and to a place that knew what they were doing. I would not count on the doctor or the nurse in and emergeny. My son fell and lacerated his scalp. he was bleeding badly ( as scalp wounds tend to do) and being 15 he and another 15 yr old were the only people in the lounge so the other kid called to the infirmery and he was told that they could not come help him and could the other 15 yr old hold pressure on my sons head wound!!!!!! He wasnt even related to us. He was told that they would get there whenever they had a chance. Come one even if they were busy with a patient there are 2 of them one could stay and one could go or they could call another adult to help. Any way my son remembered nothing oof the fall or of laying on the ground while all this happened. he finally becane aware when the other kid sat him up. The other kid walked him thru the ship and not a simgle emplyee helped-- he was covered in blood. Then we were paged and we got there i asked what happened and since he didnt remember i said well you may have passed otu. the nurse argued with me that he didnt pass out! how would she know she never went there. My son then said everything started to go fuzzy in the elevater and she actually yelled at my son that it was only blood in his eyes and he wasnt alnost passing out. then she demanded i leave the room. I refused. really he had a concussion and they refused to take proper care of him. 18 yr of working in and er and being pediatric advanced life support traing taught me that much. to bad they didnt learn it. anyway I would not leave my child alone on that ship and hope that this nurse actually knows what to do. Oh and i complained and all i got for a responce was that she should have been more sympathetic!! no she should be more trained!!