Report: Med Cruise + Before and After Days w/ Serious Food Allergies

[ducklite]

I am allergic to all tree nuts (some are anaphylaxis inducing), peanuts, coconut, and mullosks (I limit my intake of all shellfish and avoid many other types of seafood--squid for example--as a result). I am sensitive (not allergic!) to soy, MSG, and some artificial colorings (small amounts aren't a problem) and limit milk, cream, ice cream, and yogurt as they aggravate my asthma--the more the cream content, the more it causes problems. I carry an epi-pen everywhere.

 

Additionally I have aversions to certain other foods--not just that I don't care for them, but trying to eat them makes me physically ill--most pork products (I can eat Sorrento ham/prosciutto and certain bacons), some fish, most fowl and game, and a few other odds and ends fall into this category.

 

The aversion isn't just "I don't like it" but rather a true physiological manifestation. For example I don't care for cauliflower or lima beans, but I can and will eat them when for whatever reason it would be impolite or impractical to not do so. Trying to eat pollock or bass literally gives me the dry heaves--but I have no problem with John Dory or swordfish.

 

I also have a laundry list of environmental allergens, the ones that are found in North America that I've been tested for and am allergic to require eight pages to print out. I avoid those I can (fire ants and bees for example) and take an allergy pill as needed when exposed to others.

 

Now that I've bored you to tears with the background, on to the trip.

 

We spent 2.5 days pre-cruise in Rome, two weeks on the Windstar Wind Surf, and three days in Athens post cruise. Our cruise took us to Italy, Croatia, Montenegro, and Greece.

 

I filled out the special needs form and faxed it to Windstar a couple months prior to sailing. I'm not sure it did much good, but more about that in a bit.

 

Before we left, I used http://www.allerglobal.com to create allergy cards which I reduced in size by about 25% and had laminated. The end result fit into most pockets. I created them in English, Greek, Italian, and Croatian. I figured in Montenegro they would speak one of those languages, and we ended up not eating anything in port there anyhow, so all was good.

 

Those printed cards saved the trip. The waiters, managers, and even chefs we encountered in Rome, Athens, and Croatia seemed genuinely concerned, and I felt that because they were able to read the cards in their native languages, they really "got it." I managed to not only eat, but eat really, well and much more adventurously than I had thought I'd be able to. (That said, I did find myself eating a lot of pizza in Italy because it was so darn good!)

 

Obviously I chose carefully and always erred on the side of caution. I found a bakery in Plaka with cupcakes that looked soooo good, and I really wanted one. We stopped in and I told the lady behind the counter that I really wanted a cupcake but was concerned. I handed her my Greek allergy card and she read it and said, "You have vanilla cupcake." I had really wanted chocolate, but who was I to argue? So I got a vanilla cupcake which was delicious. :D

 

Onboard the ship was a little rough the first couple of days until we got into a groove. Every morning at breakfast they would bring me that nights menu and I would choose my dinner, sometimes it was just a matter of leaving the nut garnish off. We had four pre-set dinners by celebrity chefs on our sailings, those were a little tougher to manage. Often I would cross off an entire course and write "vegetarian" next to it, other times I just would skip a course.

 

The culinary and dining staff were absolutely great about accommodating me, and the head chef sought me out a couple of times to make sure I was happy and well fed. (I was!) He hadn't gotten any type of advance notification from Windstar--but fortunately I'm actually pretty easy to work around--especially because a NY strip or grilled chicken breast with some veggies will always work for me.

 

My biggest complaint was that I wasn't able to get bread with my meal every night--I think that was caused by a language barrier with some of the assistant stewards. If I asked the right person, some "safe" French bread always appeared. But I couldn't take bread from the basket because they use pesto in one of the breads and basic cross contamination with pine nuts causes hives. I also eyed longingly the pastries on the breakfast buffet every morning, but passed on them for cross contamination reasons. I ate a lot of English Muffins with my eggs on that trip. :) I guess if that's the biggest complaint, I really don't have much to complain about--maybe it helped me keep a few pounds off. :D

 

Overall I think Windstar did a great job accommodating me, and I'd absolutely sail with them again.

 

Onto the environmental allergens. Rome was an asthmatic's nightmare. The air quality is terrible and I used my inhaler more in three days in Rome than I did all year last year. Also I had terrible hayfever symptoms and had over 20 bites from some sort of bug on my arms. The hayfever continued in the rest of Italy, I resorted to taking allergy pills a couple of times as my eyes were so red/swollen/itchy that it was unbearable. Once we got into Croatia I started to feel better, by the end of the first week of the cruise I was fine. The air quality in Croatia and Montenegro was fantastic, and Athens was much, much better than I had expected, I'd compare it to Boston or Seattle and I was expecting LA.

 

I think I've covered it all, but if anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask.

[Algebralovr]

Thanks for this! DD has severe allergies as well and soy in particular causes severe problems as do nuts, shellfish, melons, etc. I especially appreciate the idea to print the cards and will share that site with her.

 

We did Carnival last year and they did pretty well, just one meal was an issue.

 

Disney World was awesome at dealing with her allergies.

[PennyAgain]

I have used the allergy cards as well. For cruising I'm sticking to Crystal Cruise Lines as they have kept me well and happy and free from risk of my shell fish allergy.

[Riana]

"Onto the environmental allergens. Rome was an asthmatic's nightmare. The air quality is terrible and I used my inhaler more in three days in Rome than I did all year last year. Also I had terrible hayfever symptoms and had over 20 bites from some sort of bug on my arms. The hayfever continued in the rest of Italy, I resorted to taking allergy pills a couple of times as my eyes were so red/swollen/itchy that it was unbearable. Once we got into Croatia I started to feel better, by the end of the first week of the cruise I was fine. The air quality in Croatia and Montenegro was fantastic, and Athens was much, much better than I had expected, I'd compare it to Boston or Seattle and I was expecting LA."

 

Ducklite, I am also an asthmatic & am concerned about staying pre-cruise in Rome. Were you in Venice? If so, was it any better? After reading your report, I'm now thinking of switching to a cruise that begins there instead of in Rome. This cruise would include Dubrovnik, Athens & several other Greek ports, as well as Istanbul. Do you think the air quality in the Eastern Med. might be better than in the Western Med.? Thanks,

Riana

[kitty9]

For me, Venice was just as bad because of all the water and mold all over the place. You can see the mold and mildew on many of the buildings. But, since there are no automobiles in most of Venice, they don't have the emissions air that they have in Rome.

[Riana]

Yikes, kitty, maybe I should cruise the Baltics instead! Thanks for the warning.