A couple of questions about allergies and sea sickness before booking my first cruise.

[Rudyard Kipling]

Our family of three are planing to book our first cruise ever to see if we will enjoy it. We are planing to cruise in April to the Bahamas while spending a couple days at the parks before or after. I am working with Kingdom Konsultants and so far they have been great!

I'm not sure if anybody can answer this question but I figure I would post it anyways. I have a severe allergy to peanuts and tree nuts, I can be by them but I can not ingest them. The resorts and the parks did a wonderful job accommodating my allergies. Does anybody have any idea how the cruise line handles allergies? I hate to ask this, but do they have they facilities to handle someone in anaphylactic shock? I do carry several epipens.

Secondsly, my wife tends to get motion sickness pretty easily. She doesn't do well in boat cabins and can't stand rides like Star Tours. We are planing to use scopolamine patches if needed. My question is, are there parts of the ship where I can request a room where she would be less likely to get motion sickness? My plan is to book a room with a verandah.

Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[fltink]

How exciting! Prepared to be addicted to Disney Cruise Line!!!!

I have first hand experience with cruising with allergies. My husband has several fruit allergies, I am allergic to mango, and our 1 year old son is allergic to eggs. As a general rule of thumb, DCL is excellent at dealing with allergies and dietary restrictions. A few things to know though....

Firstly, ask you Kingdom Konsultants agent to make sure your allergies are noted on your reservation. Having it on there in advance will flag your server and/or the chef to speak with you. Second, when you go to dinner your first night onboard the ship, be sure and speak with your server in detail about what you can and cannot have. Once your server is aware, they are pretty good at making sure you are all set at each meal, but personally, we always reminded them each time we ate. With an allergy, what they do is take your order, then go verify with the chef that what you have ordered is safe, THEN they place your order. Because of this, it CAN take slightly longer to get your food, so do make sure you get to the dining room on the earlier side whenever possible.

Where you will have to be extra careful is when you are eating outside of the dining room, like in the buffet or quick service restaurants, room service, or anywhere snacks are distributed. But again, all you have to do is make someone aware of your allergies, and they will get a chef who can help you. We had chefs at the counter service areas tell us exactly what the baby could and could not eat, and in the buffet, someone also walked us through the line and told us what to avoid.

With all of that being said.... Always be on the lookout for your own well being, as I am sure you probably are already. We did have one incident where the server hadn't realized that one of the desserts was served with a mango drizzle decorating the plate, and had I not double checked, I could have been in real trouble.

The ship does have medical facilities onboard and can handle allergic reactions, however, ABSOLUTELY bring your own epi-pen if you have one, just in case.

As for sea sickness, best bet is always low and midship. That's the sturdiest location. If you have to choose between forward and aft, go with aft. Forward takes the majority of the motion on. My mom also gets very sea sick and with the patch, she was fine.

Have a wonderful time and if you have any other questions, feel free to ask!!!

 

[Tom]

Everything @fltink said about allergies.

As for motion sickness, I'm in the same boat (pun intended) as your wife. I suffer from severe motion sickness, and that's on sturdy land. But we have now sailed with Disney twice, and both times I fared very well. On both sailings, I needed the first 12-24 hours to get my sea legs, and after that I still felt the movement. But the ships are so big, and the stabilizers are so advanced, that the movement really isn't too bad.

And really, I felt it more in the room than I did out on deck. When your eyes can see the horizon and ocean, it helps you adjust to the movement better. The worst experience was during the first dinner on both sailings. Since the restaurants are buried inside the ships, with no windows and no way to get your bearings, it's not very friendly to those of us with motion sickness. However, once I filled my belly, I was all better.

And that's the key.....staying full and hydrated. And on a Disney ship, it's impossible to ever be hungry or thirsty!

I also kept Dramamine in my system nearly 24 hours, just in case. And if I ever felt a little light headed, we'd just head out to a desk - especially the top deck where there's a good breeze (wind) and you can see everything.

 

[MaryJaneP]

Food allergies we can't help you with, but above advice seems sound and points out that even with the best planning, you still should ask each and every time.

As for motion sickness, much more personal experience. Our family (5 of us) all have had severe bouts of motion sickness on previous small boat and airplane trips. We packed scop patches, Boniva, meclizine pills, and dried ginger, in case we needed them. Never needed them once. We cruised Mediterranean and Carribean on DCL with no problems. As stated above, lower and midships is less teeter-toter-ish, but you may have a reduced veranda choice. We chose top deck (1 below pools) for verandah and loved it. We did not hit really rough seas and we hope you don't either.

 

[Rudyard Kipling]

Thank you everybody for the replies! I really appreciate it. Having an allergy can be a scary thing and being out in the middle of the ocean makes the anxiety even worse. Although, I feel very comfortable with Disney. I'm hoping we will have a great experience so we can eventually plan to sail to Europe. Having a Disney cruise ship being my "home" while traveling abroad makes me feel much better.

From what I've read, seasickness doesn't really seem to be much of a problem for people, but I will make sure to heed everyone's advice!

I'm sure I will have less serious questions I need answered in the coming weeks and months!

Thanks again!

 

[ginadee]

I get motion sickness easy. I have found dramamine less drowsy formula. Its one pill for 24 hrs. I take a half of one and its perfect.

 

[rick3236]

Disney Cruises is one of the safest vacations for individuals with food allergies. My son has a severe food allergy to dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, and shellfish. The first thing we do before we leave is to make sure we complete the medical information form available on the website. On the day of sailing there is a food meeting where you can speak to the head chef about the allergy. It is not listed on the navigator, but if you ask once you board they will tell you where it is. Your head server will be notified and will be ready to speak with you at the first dinner.

What we do is we plan out each specific meal for my son the night before and arrange for it to be at wherever we are going to eat. So, for example, if we are going to have breakfast at Cabana's we let them know and they will send his food there you just have to find one of the head servers and let them know your stateroom number and they will bring out the meal. You can also have them bring your special meal to your room or if you are not sure where you want to eat you can tell them that you will pick it up (usually at Royal Palace) and then go eat wherever you want.

We do the same thing at Cookie's at Castaway Cay, a special meal is sent there for him.

We will also plan his dinner meal the night before so the food does not take so long that everyone else is finished eating.

We have been on 12 cruises and for us it is the only vacation that we can truly relax on because we know that his food is going to be handled properly and that it will taste really good.

Otherwise, ask questions of your head server, the chefs, and anyone else handling food, have your epi-pen nearby and have fun. Ricky

 

[Ralphlaw]

Sounds great. Just beware that if you ever think about booking an Alaska cruise, the motion sickness can be far worse. The inside passage requires constant turns of the ship, which brings plenty of swinging and swaying. I have very little motion sickness, so I was fine on board. But once I got back, it felt like my desk chair couldn't sit still.

 

[wdwstateofmind]

Book your room mid-ship or forward, as well as, make sure it is higher up. In my experience I feel the boat less there than anywhere aft. If animators palate bothers her stomache ask to be reassigned somewhere else for the second night. As much as I love animators palate, I cannot stomache being in the back, dead center of the ship especially while eating. The rock there is terribly constant and you will see others getting motion sick there as well.

If you cruise again you won't even notice it. But that's at least my advice for the sea sickness...

 

[Rudyard Kipling]

Thank you for your help everyone, it's reassuring to hear success stories for families dealing with allergies and seasickness. As an adult with food allergies I can appreciate all of the effort that must go into making sure your family is taken care of and safe. This board is full of some great people and families!I will take everyone's advice for sure. In fact we are in the process of booking right now!

 

[RMichael21]

Sounds great. Just beware that if you ever think about booking an Alaska cruise, the motion sickness can be far worse. The inside passage requires constant turns of the ship, which brings plenty of swinging and swaying. I have very little motion sickness, so I was fine on board. But once I got back, it felt like my desk chair couldn't sit still.

This. Alaska's waters can be pretty rough.

 

[PixieMichele]

We didn't have any problems with the seas for our Alaska cruise, but then again we got lucky and had the best weather of any other voyage as well. Hawaii however...when the crew is getting sick...you know it's bad. My husband actually fell out of bed one night because the ship was rocking so bad.

Anyway, that being said...you have nothing to worry about. By your second or third cruise you won't even notice. If your wife is going to take something, read the package carefully, she may want to have it in her system about 30min to an hour before the ship actually starts moving (which is during the sail away deck party around 4-4:30pm ish). They have sea sickness tablets for free at guest services that work pretty well. The shops on board won't be open until after the ship is in motion, around the time for the first show, so bring something with you. My mom also found those wristbands helped her. Also ginger ale and green apples. The crew found out she was feeling sea sick and brought her ginger ale and green apples, which she said helped more than anything, who knew?!

The motion really isn't bad, you do get used to it. For me the lower decks always feel like there is more motion. We prefer mid ship rooms deck 6 or above. I'd stay mid to aft before i'd stay forward to mid, but it's really a personal preference.

 

[Tom]

We didn't have any problems with the seas for our Alaska cruise, but then again we got lucky and had the best weather of any other voyage as well. Hawaii however...when the crew is getting sick...you know it's bad. My husband actually fell out of bed one night because the ship was rocking so bad.

Anyway, that being said...you have nothing to worry about. By your second or third cruise you won't even notice. If your wife is going to take something, read the package carefully, she may want to have it in her system about 30min to an hour before the ship actually starts moving (which is during the sail away deck party around 4-4:30pm ish). They have sea sickness tablets for free at guest services that work pretty well. The shops on board won't be open until after the ship is in motion, around the time for the first show, so bring something with you. My mom also found those wristbands helped her. Also ginger ale and green apples. The crew found out she was feeling sea sick and brought her ginger ale and green apples, which she said helped more than anything, who knew?!

The motion really isn't bad, you do get used to it. For me the lower decks always feel like there is more motion. We prefer mid ship rooms deck 6 or above. I'd stay mid to aft before i'd stay forward to mid, but it's really a personal preference.

Good reminder about the shops not being open. They're only open when "at sea" - never while at a port. So, it's important to stock up before the cruise.

Also, a good point about taking meds before the ship starts moving. That allows it to get into your system and start equalizing your system.

I'll add something we learned from cast and other guests during our first cruise - keep your belly full! I know it sounds backwards, since you don't want anything in your gut when you're thinking about hurling. But a full stomach does indeed help - I don't know the science behind it. So, we did a great job of taking advantage of all the free food and drinks. Bellies were never empty

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Good reminder about the shops not being open. They're only open when "at sea" - never while at a port. So, it's important to stock up before the cruise.

FYI, guests services has sea sickness medicine as well. It's free! To not meant to last your entire cruise, they just give you a couple to help out.

 

[mammaminnie]

My son and I both have a gluten allergy and we have never had an issue on a Disney Cruise. In fact, others cruising with us enjoy being able to grab a sneak peek at the next evening's menu because our servers have always had us order our dinner the night prior. This gives the chef time to make adjustments as needed. With the buffet, just ask to speak to one of the chefs and they are always more than willing to help you identify potential issues.

One of my best experiences was with our server on the Magic who went up to Palo the day before our reservation to speak with the chef and our waiter to let them know about my allergy and to ensure we would be take care of...talk about top notch Disney service!!!!!