Severe Food Allergies

[Mrs.C05]

Hello everyone,

 

My Dad is wanting to do a family cruise, however my sisters son has severe food allergies (even down to the brands and ingredients). She has a list and knows what he can and can't have. She also has 2 epi-pens and benadryl. She would like to just pre-make his food to bring onboard so she knows exactly what he is eating.

 

Is she allowed to do this?

If she can't, it is doubtful she'll go on the cruise.

[cb at sea]

No, she won't be allowed to bring her own "prepared" food onboard....they simply can't risk cross contamination with the ships food....and there's no place for her to store the food. She could bring pre-packaged foods (sealed from the manufacturer), but that's very limiting!

 

Have her call the "special needs" dept. for her cruiseline. They deal with this EVERY day...and they do a fabulous job of making sure the allergic person has plenty of safe food to eat.

[6rugrats]

Hello everyone,

 

My Dad is wanting to do a family cruise, however my sisters son has severe food allergies (even down to the brands and ingredients). She has a list and knows what he can and can't have. She also has 2 epi-pens and benadryl. She would like to just pre-make his food to bring onboard so she knows exactly what he is eating.

 

Is she allowed to do this?

If she can't, it is doubtful she'll go on the cruise.

Not allowed. Where would she even store it? She could only bring on prepackaged food, not fresh food.

 

Suggest she contact the Special Needs department of the cruise lines and discuss these allergies with them. Perhaps it will make her feel more comfortable.

[Mrs.C05]

No, she won't be allowed to bring her own "prepared" food onboard....they simply can't risk cross contamination with the ships food....and there's no place for her to store the food. She could bring pre-packaged foods (sealed from the manufacturer), but that's very limiting!

 

Have her call the "special needs" dept. for her cruiseline. They deal with this EVERY day...and they do a fabulous job of making sure the allergic person has plenty of safe food to eat.

 

She's called Carnival before and the lady she spoke with told her that it isn't guaranteed that the foods prepared for her son won't be cross-contaminated, hence why she wants to bring her own. She knows that the way she prepared it and then froze it, wasn't touched with anything else he's allergic to.

 

I figured she could keep everything on ice but I guess not. Sounds like a land-based vacation may be best then. She's very adamant on bringing her own food or not going because of the risk.

[1025cruise]

There won't be anyway to reheat it. Plus, unless it is pre-packaged, it won't be allowed off of the ship.

[klauer]

I think that it would be risky to bring homemade food on board for a week and not be sure that it is frozen and heated correctly, and without contamination by allergens in the process.

[jamies78]

has severe nut allergies, and he has been on 3 cruises so far, and we have 2 more scheduled. The cruiseline has been great making sure the food he ate was prepared in a separate kitchen. We just do not feed him from the buffetts because that food can be cross-contaminated very easily. . . . For breakfast they have packaged cereal in the little boxes and milk in the little cartons, so that one is easy (if his allergy is milk, they can request soy milk boxes). The yogurt is in it's own container, and fruit like bananas and apples are always available (and can be washed before eating). So that meal is very easy. Lunch and dinner we feed him in the main dining room where they will prepare his meal separately in a special section in the kitchen, and we have never had a problem. . . take your own snacks that you know are safe (Goldfish, Cheerios, fruit snacks, etc) in your luggage and you will have items for him to eat between meals. . . his diet on a cruise is usually mac n cheese, chicken nuggets, pizza, and spagetti as those are the 4 choices that were easiest for them to prepare for us. . .hope that helps!

[mary_228]

has severe nut allergies, and he has been on 3 cruises so far, and we have 2 more scheduled.

Ditto. My son has been fine on 10 cruises. More of a worry to me is when we eat in restaurants onshore! Be sure to have your sister inform the cruise line and check the bread basket carefully to avoid the problem of cross contamination.