In the beginning of March we went on a 4 night Disney Cruise to the Bahamas. We stopped in Nassau and Castaway Cay. We had so much fun exploring new places and doing new things! The dining part of the trip is what made me the most nervous. When contacting Walt Disney World special diets via email, they are generally do provide general responses because products change often. Disney Cruise Line response was similar. It did make me a little nervous, but after hearing such great reviews of the cruise line I was ready to go.
The first thing we did when we got on the ship was head to lunch. We got to Animators Palate just in time. They closed the doors behind us! Because they weren’t expecting me, lunch was a plain piece of chicken and salad with vinegar, oil and lime. Once lunch was done, I had to order dinner for that night. It was hard for the first time deciding what they could make for me from the menu. I quickly learned they could modify most everything on the menus for me!
Our first dinner was at Enchanted Garden and we had a couple of great servers. They made sure to learn who had the allergy and treated me like a queen.
Once I was done eating dinner and dessert, they brought out the Tuesday’s dinner menu. I had to order breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next day and where I would be eating breakfast and lunch so they could send to the right place.
It was nice to have food waiting for you but it was also hard to know when and where you would eat the next day. This was how it worked for the whole trip. The chefs did a great job making what they could for me and my favorite was jerk chicken on pirate night. I ordered it for the next night too!
The day of Castaway Cay they sent the allergy orders to Cookies BBQ, the first tram stop. If you want to eat on the island with allergies, you must eat at that restaurant. I went to the middle of the buffets and a worker found my order. They gave me a number and brought it out to me at my table. The food on the island was not my favorite so I did end up walking back to the boat and ate at Cabana’s on deck 11. Our assistant server was there and our head server. They made sure to get me a great meal! It took a bit longer because they weren’t expecting me, but it was good and we had a great view of the island while we waited.
Over the course of the week we ate at every restaurant on board and loved them all. I enjoyed truly being on vacation for a week and having someone safely prepare a meal for me. I would definitely recommend a Disney Cruise to anyone with allergies.
Kelly Van Eerden
