Disney Dream cruise

[DoubleAs]

Has anyone had any experience with this cruise?  I've heard that Disney is good with allergies and I don't know if this applies to their cruise ships.  My parents are looking to get all the grandkids together for a trip and suggested a 4-night cruise on his ship.  My son is allergic to egg and tree nuts.  Any feedback is appreciated!

[JenniferDuggan]

Yes, we have cruised with Disney MANY times with great success.  Disney's allergy management protocols are the same on the ship as they are in the parks.  All allergy meals are ordered on pink tickets and must be approved by an allergy-trained manager or chef.  Each evening the head server will give you menus for the following day so you can pre-order your meals, so they can alter anything to make it safe.  The only cautions I have are the quick service locations (they are not quick with allergies as they have to call a chef to verify ingredients) and beware of any breads or condiments on your table, as they generally won't check those ingredients.  (A really on the ball serving team will remove them.) Let me know what questions you have and I would be happy to answer them!

[JenniferDuggan]

A difference from the parks: on the ships the chef rarely comes to your table.  Instead, you order allergy meals through the head waiter. Everyone else orders through the regular waiter.  If you don't have full confidence in your head waiter, regular waiter, and their assistant, you can ask for a chef -- and then I would go to Guest Relations as ask for a different serving team.  (I had to walk out of the dining room once and request a new serving team, but that was close to ten years ago.)

[Puddles]

Disney has (had?) specific employees to help people with allergies plan a safe vacation. Didn't find that. Did find this.

http://www.allergyfreemouse.com/dining/disney-cruise-food-allergy/

[JenniferDuggan]

Disney has (had?) specific employees to help people with allergies plan a safe vacation. Didn't find that. Did find this.

http://www.allergyfreemouse.com/dining/disney-cruise-food-allergy/

That's my advice in there.  Good link. 

Disney itself doesn't have staff to help you plan a general Disney trip with food allergies.  They have a special diets team that is fabulous if you are visiting the two American theme parks and have specific dining questions.  You may be recalling some travel agents that specialize in Disney and food allergies.  There are two that I know of, but I am not allowed to post names or their websites due to commercial rules on the board.  (Admin can correct me if needed.)

[admin rebekahc]

Here's my basic thought process about enforcement of our commercial rules: 

Self-promotion with multiple links = no (especially if it's multiple links in one thread, hit-and-run linking and/or raising several old threads)

linking to the allowed self-promotional post in the commercial section = okay as long as it's relevant to the current discussion and used sparingly

linking to products and sites (not self-promotion) relevant to the current discussion = okay

Obviously these are generalities.  We tried to set up the rules with the integrity of our site in mind, but we don't want to be so rigid as to make the site difficult to use or to be lacking in discussion and resources within threads.

I don't anticipate that any of our long-time/regular members would overstep when contributing to the discussions here. 

[DoubleAs]

Life has been crazy and I'm just now replying to this thread -- but thank you!  My parents did book the cruise and I really appreciate this feedback.

[allergies2]

My son had his one and only anaphylactic reaction ever on a Disney cruise (the Disney Magic).  His allergies are not hard to handle - nuts and eggs.  We followed all the protocols (talked to customer service before the cruise, talked to the restaurant manager immediately upon boarding and talked to the restaurant each night before eating).  So needless to say we will not be returning.  I would stay away from anything other than simple foods.  Good luck.

[DoubleAs]

Yikes!  Those are my son's allergies as well -- eggs and tree nuts.  How long ago was your cruise and how did the anaphylaxis get handled onboard?

[allergies2]

This was 4 years ago.  The doctor on board doubted that my son was having an anaphylactic reaction so we had to do the EPI ourselves.  They did have a medical facility on board but the doctor was not quite the same as you would see here in the U.S. And we got a bill for $250 for the medical care. We tried to fight it but got a terrible form letter back from Disney and we did not pursue it further.  Frankly, we both work full time and were too busy to fight further. A real black mark on the Disney name for us.