Cruising with food allergies

I often get questions directly or on the AllergyEats Facebook page about taking a cruise with food allergies.  Having never done this myself, I was grateful to AllergyEats friend and user Heather Sires for writing up her recent experience and allowing me to print it here.

I want to start off that I have multiple severe food allergies: tomato, fish, and peanut. They cause anaphylactic reaction within minutes, if not seconds of consuming (I can’t even touch fish). I am also allergic to wheat, dairy, melon, and green peas. I get anxious when I eat out but for a couple places in my area. These few places are very good about cross contamination and treat me like a human being. Other places I try to keep away from because when I hand them a chef card, they look at me like I just spit on them, and these places have sent me to the emergency room. I cook at home a lot. I can regulate my food that way. So when my parents said a few months ago that we were going on a cruise to the Caribbean over Christmas, I was anxious. I made sure I had enough epipens, prednisone, and benedryl to staunch a reaction. I printed up both English and Spanish chef cards, just to be safe. Mom said there was a way to signal them about your food allergies, but it would only allow one allergy to be selected. I was prepared to eat very simple, plain food. 

The trip was completely different than I thought it would be. At our first dinner, I talked to the head waiter. I gave him my chef card and he asked if I had any other food allergies. I told him I did, as my chef card only includes my three major. I can avoid the others usually. He went back to the chef with my card, then came back and said it wouldn’t be a problem. They even said if I wanted anything gluten/dairy free, I just had to ask. Throughout the entire cruise, at dinner, I chose my dish the night before, and they did what they could to make it safe. Every time, it was safe. I got gluten free bread every night. I got gluten free pancakes every morning. At lunch, it was more of a cafeteria style, but they kept the platters away from eachother, cleaned up any messes, and kept the spoons in their spots. I felt very safe. For once, I could enjoy my meals. I could enjoy the cruise without the anxiety that comes with having food allergies. 

I wanted to write this short piece to assure anyone going on a cruise with food allergies. It is safe. It can be fun. I did not have a reaction once. I had choices. They treated me like a human being. I even got dessert. They would bake a fruit. The food was delicious. I was on the Royal Caribbean cruise line. I’ve heard other cruise lines are just as good. There is a medical center on the first deck, so if you do have a reaction, they can treat everything but what needs surgery. I did not eat off the boat, though. The trips onto the islands were so short, I could wait until I got back on the boat. For the all day trips, I brought fruit. Going on a cruise with food allergies is a treat. It’s an incredible experience that anyone should have.

Thank you again, Heather, for sharing this wonderful experience with us. We’re so glad it went well!

So what do you think?  Have you taken a cruise with food allergies (or food-allergic children)?  How was the experience?  If you haven’t, would you?  Is Heather’s experience reassuring?  Please share your thoughts with us by clicking Comments or Reply below.

And please also remember to rate any recent restaurant experiences you’ve had on our core AllergyEats site at www.allergyeats.com or on our iPhone or Android smartphone app (available in their respective stores for free).  Also, check out our new AllergyEats Disney World site at www.allergyeats.com/disney.

1. Crystal Says:
   January 12th, 2012 at 10:18 am

   I am so encouraged by this story! My daughter was just dx with celiac and now is dairy free as well. My brother-in-law was on a cruise and was not nearly as lucky. He is anaphylactic to peanuts and other nuts. We found out after a night in the ship er with 4 shots of epi, they didn’t wash the bowls between almond extract and making shortbread cookies. The ship was great in helping he through the reaction but at first did not want to take any responsibility. In the end they took off the $2600 bill for the ship er visit. It was quite scary there for awhile. Now I will say this was at least 10 years ago and I do know they have made large strides in accomodations for food allergies.

2. Jennifer Boettinger Says:
   January 12th, 2012 at 10:28 am

   Thank you for sharing this. I had heard that Disney Crusies were great with food allergies, bit it is nice to hear that there are other options such as Royal Caribbean.

3. Katie Says:
   January 12th, 2012 at 11:11 am

   In the summer of 2010, we took our food allergic 11 month old on a Royal Caribbean cruise and were pleasantly surprised by how accommodating everyone was! My daughter is severely allergic to peanuts, treenuts and shellfish and also has egg and dairy allergies. On the first night of the cruise, we spoke to the maitre d’, who alerted the head chef. Our head waiter made sure that her dishes were prepared exactly as we ordered (Every night she ate grilled chicken, vegetables and a fruit cup) and even had a dish of sliced black olives (my daughter’s favorite!) waiting for her when we arrived at our table. For breakfast and lunch, we stuck to prepackaged cereal, fruit and jarred baby food and we also brought tons of safe snacks.

   This summer, we are going on a Carnival cruise with our daughter, who is now 2 1/2. Although I am always nervous about cross-contaminiation, my past experience has reassured me that it is possible to cruise with food allergies!

4. Donna Says:
   January 12th, 2012 at 11:14 am

   We took a family cruise on Carnival with my PA son. They gave us a beeper to reach us in a hurry (he was old enough to sign in and out of programs without us, and thus could move around a lot) and the waiter was excellent about our questions.

   There actually wasn’t a lot of peanut products around… even the buffets were good and meticulously kept up with. We had my son wear his medical id bracelet, the camp director’s knew who he was, we had the beeper and epi-pen.. it was no problems at all.

   We did not eat off the ship though… just took pictures and bought souvenirs. No food. There were over 900 kids on our cruise (President’s Week in the North East) and seriously, no problems at all. I was looking for trouble, and.. didn’t find any!

5. Valerie Says:
   January 12th, 2012 at 11:15 am

   I have taken several cruises and have not had one problem with my GF diet. I have sailed with Royal Caribbean, Holland America and Princess. Each has been very generous in their accommodation of a GF diet. I was even offered a box of GF crackers and GF cookies to take to my cabin when I sailed with Holland. Make sure to inquire about the food served at poolside grills and the buffet. They can guide you on what is safe and can even make GF bread choices available.

6. Cathy Says:
   January 12th, 2012 at 11:23 am

   I have a gluten allergy. We cruised last year with Holland America and had no real issue with any of our meals. As soon as our waiter saw us coming in to the dining room, he would bring me my gluten-free bread (and it was pretty good bread, too). He would let me know which items on the menu contained gluten and which were safe. Breakfast and lunch, we usually ate at the buffet and I could always find foods I could eat. We enjoyed the cruise with HA so much that we are going again.

   This coming summer, we will be going on a Disney cruise with a grandson who is highly-allergic to peanuts/tree nuts, so we will see how that cruise lines does.

7. Lori Says:
   January 12th, 2012 at 12:30 pm

   This is encouraging news. We love to travel and have been trying to find a safe way to see Europe. The Disney Cruise line was mentioned to us and we’ve started to investigate. We’ve had great experiences at Disney World, so we are hoping for similar attention to food details on board. Has anyone cruised with multiple food allergies in Europe?

8. Tasha 2.0 Says:
   January 12th, 2012 at 12:57 pm

   I have sailed on many Disney cruises; having dairy and allicin allergies (include onions, leeks, garlic, shallots and chives). I always work with the head chef and our waiters to avoid any issues, including those of my service animals. Knock on the bulkhead, I have never had a bad reaction. I have taken a tour of the kitchen and watched firsthand how they avoid cross-contamination on board. The chef makes up a “bag lunch’ if I am going to stay off the ship in port, just ask! You can always go back onboard, eat, then leave the ship again. It does make sightseeing a bit challenging.

   Although cruising was a problem in the past for people with disabilities , this has changed quite a bit. The vast majority have embraced those with disabilities of every type.

9. Mary Louk Says:
   January 12th, 2012 at 1:13 pm

   Oh thanks so much for your post. Our adult children want to cruise this year with us and I’ve been dreading it thinking I would just eat Larabars and black coffee due to my soy and milk allergies. I’m actually started to feel happy about going now.

10. Liz P. Says:
    January 12th, 2012 at 5:02 pm

    We cruised Disney with our PA daughter last year and they did great! So good we are going again!

11. Wendy Says:
    January 13th, 2012 at 6:15 am

    Thank you for this encouraging report. We cruised with Princess after my husband and I were both diagnosed with gluten intolerance. I am much more sensitive than he is and cannot risk cross-contamination.
    I am convinced that cruising, aside from preparing your own food is the safest way to vacation with food sensitivities & allergies. All the major cruise lines are well-educated now and once the maitre d’ knows your needs, he is your watchdog and guards the safety and consistency of your food. For the most part, it made food a minor concern instead of the overwhelming problem at every meal.
    That said, I was not thrilled with the choices we had. **You must work hard to talk with the cruise line directly long before your cruise.** All will tell you that is not necessary. And it is true that they can feed you something if you notify them as soon as you board. But over and over we were told that our choices were very limited because so much of the food has been prepped or marinated or begun off the ship so the chef had no control over that part. In other words, “I am sorry. I cannot cook a plain chicken breast for you. All our breasts arrive on the ship in the marinade. Next time, alert us in advance and we will make sure we have more gluten free options on board for you”
    The only gluten free dessert available was chocolate mousse. We had it every night. If you note that you are celebrating an anniversary or honey moon, the kitchen sends out a personal cake and sings to you. We got a beautiful looking cake that turned out to be – surprise – chocolate mousse, shaped and frosted.
    Also, I may be the first person to have lost weight on a cruise!! The only lunch option was at the buffet – no specially prepared food, no help from ANYONE. The staff in the buffet room could not tell me what was gluten free. In fact, I couldn’t find anyone who understood enough English to even know what “gluten” meant, even after requesting a supervisor a few times. The supervisors took the safe road and simply said, “No. We have none,”, though again I doubted their comprehension. I think if I had persevered and spoken to the Help desk, I probably would have gotten some specific help. But I didn’t – the lines were too long; I did not want to turn my vacation back into a food nightmare and I did not believe anything at the buffet could ever really be made “safe enough” for me, given the probability of cross-contamination. So I stuck with peelable fruit. Likewise, breakfast and room service options were also sparse.
    Since then, we’ve uncovered several more of my allergies or intolerances. Along with the gluten, I now have to avoid dairy, soy, SUGAR, chocolate and eggs. We are considering another cruise and I so wish we could afford Disney. They are the masters of allergy-free cruising/vacationing. All I have heard and read convinces me that multiple allergy sufferers are safest and will have the most choices on Disney. They set the bar for education of staff and safety/ease for the traveler.
    Bottom line – you can cruise safely. But you must be willing to push early and work hard to speak with a real person about your needs to ensure that your cruise is truly stress-free. I tried and gave up when multiple calls and emails went unanswered. Find out what the dining options are. Make sure you always have another option to a buffet. No one can guarantee the safety of a buffet. I thoroughly enjoyed our cruise even with my limited food choices, but I would never consider cruising with multiple food allergies unless I actually made my needs known in advance.

12. wanda Says:
    January 13th, 2012 at 9:58 am

    I have never been on a cruise and am allergic to corn, milk, peanut, oat and banana. I also suspect wheat at this time so I have a lot of problems going out and traveling but I might consider a cruise now. thanks

13. michele Says:
    January 14th, 2012 at 4:15 pm

    This is encouraging. We would like to figure out a safe way to travel internationally, with multiple food allergies. My son is allergic to fish (white fish), beef, pork, lamb, soy, dairy, coconut, with his most severe sensitivity to peas, lentils,tree nuts, peanuts. He has been in anaphylactic shock. I was feeling encouraged with recent travel but had a terrible experience with Delta airline when they refused to serve an alternative to peanuts. We won’t fly with them anymore and so I am now feeling nervous about overseas airlines. Maybe we should stick to land

14. Kim Says:
    February 21st, 2012 at 2:19 pm

    Has anyone with PA/Tree Nut Allergy cruised with Carnival recently? I have cruised Carnival 3 times before, but never with my children who are both PA and Tree nut allergic. I am so nervous about this trip! Any opinions or help will be greatly appreciated!