Food allergies and boxed lunch?

[HappyontheLake]

This will be our 5th cruise, but I never thought to see if this was possible before.

My youngest (who is 16 now -- she was 6 on our first cruise) has extensive food allergies. We love Disney in all its forms because of how well they handle food allergies. Only reaction she has ever had was when her shellfish allergy appeared for the first time on lobster night -- so completely not their fault. (in case you want to know she is allergic to dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish, egg, chickpeas, and something else in the legume family we have yet to figure out)

Our 18yo who is also coming is allergic to shellfish, and on an Alaskan cruise the amount of cross contamination at every restaurant is huge and dangerous.

My question is this -- would it be possible to request a boxed lunch to take with us on excursions so we don't have to take risks on dining off the ship? In case it affects the answer we are cruising concierge.

 

[yowcruiser]

I cannot speak for the Wonder in Alaska but last summer on the Magic in Norway/Iceland for any DCL excursions that included lunch, they actually had a separate buses for everyone with food allergy requests, and meals were labelled based on allergy types

 

[hrhdhd]

Most countries do not allow food to be taken off the ship unless it's packaged (and sometimes not even then). So something fresh like a boxed lunch would be a no-go.

 

[babyruth]

Interesting question! I hadn't thought of that either. This is our first cruise. DD5 is ana to PN/TN/Shellfish/Peaches (also lupini beans, that is related to the peanut which might crop up in europe where we are going) and DS22 GF is ana PN/Pineapple. We are cruising Disney because they are great with allergies. If you find the answer please let me know!

 

[xavier2001]

I’d recommend bring pre packaged ‘safe food’, you cannot take fresh food off the ship. If you have an excursion with an ‘included’ meal you could contact the tour company or DCL (if it’s a DCL excursion) and see if any accommodations can be made. But you physically cannot exit the ship with fresh food. The number of consfiscated apples and bananas that people have grabbed to take ashore makes me giggle every time.

I have taken prepackaged cereal from cabanas ashore before, as long as it’s factory sealed it’s good.

 

[babyruth]

I’d recommend bring pre packaged ‘safe food’, you cannot take fresh food off the ship. If you have an excursion with an ‘included’ meal you could contact the tour company or DCL (if it’s a DCL excursion) and see if any accommodations can be made. But you physically cannot exit the ship with fresh food. The number of consfiscated apples and bananas that people have grabbed to take ashore makes me giggle every time.

I have taken prepackaged cereal from cabanas ashore before, as long as it’s factory sealed it’s good.

oh good tip. I could definitely bring DD5 a little box of cereal "just in case"

 

[darnheather]

Boxed cereals, yogurts, and the uncrustable sandwiches are all available from room service and can be taken off the ship but I know some of those are no goes for your daughter.

 

[mycutiepatooties]

Our daughter just eats a big breakfast on the ship, avoids any food on the island except a prepackaged snack I bring, and then we eat dinner back on the ship. I wouldn’t trust eating foods that could lead to a reaction in a foreign country.

 

[laceltris3]

.

 

[angie7911922]

I'd bring your own food - especially with her list of allergies. The risk of accidental cross-contamination could be quite high with all the jostling of things while on a tour.

 

[diznymom]

Call DCL Special Services and speak to them about your issues. That would be better than getting a bunch of opinions here.

 

[Kellycanada]

I emailed Disney Cruise line with the same question for myself. No boxed lunches allowed. I will bring my safe granola bars for port explorations. On my last trip I printed off allergy cards to give to waiters and chefs and that helped. Bring extra epi pens.