How well does Celebrity handle for allergies?

[shepherdqueen]

As you can see from my signature, we are thinking of "jumping ship" and booking a cruise on the Summit for next year. From everything I have read, this ship has the elegance we are looking for. My main concern is how food allergies are handled. I have an unusual one, to alcohol even when "cooked out", so this can affect sauces, condiments, vinegars, etc. I know on the smaller NCL ships, they let me preorder dinner the night before, and handled it fine. On the Breakaway they handled it badly, never making a new sauce or dressing for me. It was a nightmare.

 

Thank you for you help!

[GUT2407]

We found them great on our one Celebrity Cruise.

 

Head waiter met with DW and took details of what was needed.

 

Now for her there was something every night that was fine, but they still checked each night if she needed anything made special.

 

Fortunately her issues are minor but we have found all lines very we've sailed wit great in this regard.

[bama4cruisin]

While neither my husband nor I have any issues, I had the opportunity to observe first hand on the Summit in 2013 when a table ate could not eat salt . . . Not just reduced sodium, but as close to salt-free as possible. She is a frequent cruiser (primarily Celebrity) and said they're very accommodating. She had completed the request for a special diet before embarkation and met with the maitre d' the first afternoon. Each night our waiter brought the next evening's menu so she could ask what could be prepared without any salt and she would pre-order. They even baked her salt-free bread and brought salt-free butter for her. She said that on the first cruise following this diagnosed medical condition, she was told there is a separate kitchen for such diets. Based on that two-week cruise, I would feel quite comfortable with their willingness to work with you. She did say she'd found traditional dining to be much easier for this than specialty or even select. I think select would be easily done if you had the same wait staff every night as it was greatly a communication issue. In the buffet, she stayed with green salad, etc.

 

We loved the Summit!

[glenneagle]

I have food allergies and Celebrity has been wonderful

Twenty plus cruises and no problems....

[shepherdqueen]

Thank you all. I am looking forward to booking the Summit for our fourth trip to Bermuda! :)

Edited February 21, 2016 by shepherdqueen

[Bo1953]

As you can see from my signature, we are thinking of "jumping ship" and booking a cruise on the Summit for next year. From everything I have read, this ship has the elegance we are looking for. My main concern is how food allergies are handled. I have an unusual one, to alcohol even when "cooked out", so this can affect sauces, condiments, vinegars, etc. I know on the smaller NCL ships, they let me preorder dinner the night before, and handled it fine. On the Breakaway they handled it badly, never making a new sauce or dressing for me. It was a nightmare.

 

Thank you for you help!

 

 

They are only as good as you explain it to them before boarding through special services and especially when boarding connecting with the Maitre'D to let them know if it is not clear to them the specific requirement,you can explain it all to them. They will make substitutions or offer alternatives for you.

 

Dishes can and most usually are modified, if possible for sauces etc., to accommodate preferences.

 

So, no worries...

 

bon voyage

Edited February 21, 2016 by Bo1953

[dkjretired]

Below is the phone number for guests with handicaps/Special needs.

 

1 866 592 7225

[shepherdqueen]

Thank you!

[philpcruiser]

Our daughter has numerous food allergies. We sailed on the Summit last summer. They handled her allergies very well. We always gave our waiter the next days meal requests. They even went so far as to bake her a special cake she could eat and served it to her for dessert for the next few nights.

Edited February 21, 2016 by philpcruiser

[shepherdqueen]

I am now at ease with booking on Celebrity! Thank you all!

[az_tchr]

As other said it only works well in the MDR or Luminae or Blu. Specialty dining not well at all because wait staff changes nightly. You simply need to clearly spell out you needs on board and as another poster said call them ahead as well if you like.

[Cruizen Susan]

As other said it only works well in the MDR or Luminae or Blu. Specialty dining not well at all because wait staff changes nightly. You simply need to clearly spell out you needs on board and as another poster said call them ahead as well if you like.

 

That's good to know regarding the speciality restaurants. My poison is gluten, and MDR and Blu and Bistro have already been more than accommodating. I'll be extra careful when planning Tuscan and Murano.

 

Thanks!

[Adidas4fun]

That's good to know regarding the speciality restaurants. My poison is gluten' date=' and MDR and Blu and Bistro have already been more than accommodating. I'll be extra careful when planning Tuscan and Murano.

 

Thanks![/quote']

 

I have anaphylaxis to dairy and the specialty restaurants had no problems coping with me.

 

I have found all the cruises I have been on food allergies have been better handled than by most land based restaurants.

[Cruizen Susan]

I have anaphylaxis to dairy and the specialty restaurants had no problems coping with me.

 

I have found all the cruises I have been on food allergies have been better handled than by most land based restaurants.

 

Anaphylaxis! Oh my, you really need to be so careful. I appreciate your response. Well then...no worries!!

 

Thanks,

 

Susan

[Queen of Oakville]

Another thumbs up for X!

 

My son's allergies are more mainstream (peanut) but i can't say enough good things about X. It's the best experience we've had on ANY cruise line.

 

Usually the buffet is a recipe for disaster with self-service, cross-contamination issues etc. On day 1, introduce yourself to the MaitreDs working the buffet, and they will take care of you.

 

On my cruise lines my son is always told "better not to take a chance" and just avoid what they can't be certain of; but X really makes him feel special.

[We're The Groupnors]

My BFF and DH both have severe eating restrictions, with BFFs being a gluten intolerance due to Celiac. Neither she nor my husband have ever had a reaction from cross contamination on Celebrity. They send in their forms ahead of time to Special Services, then meet with the dining room Maitre d' on board. They typically pre-order for the next night, and we like to have traditional dining so our waitstaff get to know the special needs. The Maitre d's have also assisted when we let them know about any specialty restaurant reservations we've made, calling ahead to those restaurants to ensure no issues. FWIW my BFF took her third and last NCL cruise last summer when she got violently ill from a gluten contamination while on board.

[Celebrity Cruises]

As you can see from my signature, we are thinking of "jumping ship" and booking a cruise on the Summit for next year. From everything I have read, this ship has the elegance we are looking for. My main concern is how food allergies are handled. I have an unusual one, to alcohol even when "cooked out", so this can affect sauces, condiments, vinegars, etc. I know on the smaller NCL ships, they let me preorder dinner the night before, and handled it fine. On the Breakaway they handled it badly, never making a new sauce or dressing for me. It was a nightmare.

 

Thank you for you help!

 

We can accommodate most special dietary requirements in our main dining room where there is a greater degree of control over the production and service of special meals. Unfortunately, due to the limitations of the Specialty Restaurants' galleys, we cannot customize the offerings in these locations.

 

Please contact our Access Department at (866) 592-7225 for further assistance.

[pseudoswede]

I'd like to tag along on this thread and ask a few questions. Given that X has actually been cheaper than RCCL (and NCL) on the cruises I'm looking at, I am considering sailing X next time now.

 

My daughter has allergies to dairy, eggs, peanuts, sesame, and some tree nuts. This basically means we have to cook vegan-style, but we eat meat. Disney was phenomenal with handling her food allergies, but the price premium is prohibitive. We also had great success with Carnival. We also did RCCL many years ago, and that was not a great experience.

 

• Do they stock vegan cooking products? (Such as vegan margarine, vegan "cream cheese", vegan "sour cream", etc.)
  
• How about vegan desserts? (Cookies, ice cream, etc.)
  
• Can you request rice milk be stocked on the ship?
  
• Were you able to give them recipes for them to use? (There are some very easy vegan pancake/waffle recipes that don't require anything out-of-ordinary.)
  
• Can you not arrange for food items at the buffet to be plated from untouched trays in the kitchen?
  

 

If someone has similar allergies, what kind of food was served to you on a daily basis? (You can reference this post for my Disney review.)

 

Thanks in advance.

Edited February 29, 2016 by pseudoswede

[Queen of Oakville]

Another thumbs up for X!

 

My son's allergies are more mainstream (peanut) but i can't say enough good things about X. It's the best experience we've had on ANY cruise line.

 

Usually the buffet is a recipe for disaster with self-service, cross-contamination issues etc. On day 1, introduce yourself to the MaitreDs working the buffet, and they will take care of you.

 

On my cruise lines my son is always told "better not to take a chance" and just avoid what they can't be certain of; but X really makes him feel special.

 

Correcting my typos. This is how my post should have been typed :o

 

 

 

 

My son's allergies are more mainstream (peanut) but i can't say enough good things about X. It's the best experience we've had on ANY cruise line.

 

Usually the buffet is a recipe for disaster with self-service, cross-contamination issues etc. But, not on X. On day 1, introduce yourself to the MaitreDs working the buffet, and they will take care of you. Especially with desserts and breakfast pastries, the MaitreDs always made sure my son had something safe to eat.

 

On most cruise lines my son is always told "better not to take a chance" and just avoid what they can't be certain of; but X really makes him feel special. He was never told that something was off limits just because he should not take a chance. They either told him something definitively contained nuts and was to be avoided. Where cross-contamination was a concerned, they would bring out a sealed plate of food for him to enjoy.

Edited March 1, 2016 by Queen of Oakville

[shepherdqueen]

I am very impressed to see that Celebrity came on and answered. I also Love all of your positive feedback. I am pretty sure that our 2016 vzcation will be on the Summit. :)