Our Disney Cruise Food Allergies Review

UPDATED Dec. 2023.

In this post, I’m sharing a review of our 2-week vacation in the Mediterranean on the Disney Magic.  I’ll give you a thorough Disney cruise food allergies review so you can decide if it’s right for your family.

Please keep in mind that things can change quickly when it comes to companies and food allergies so this review is instantly outdated by the time you read it.

You’ll get a good idea of how food allergies are managed on Disney Cruises, but it’s always best to confirm everything with Disney Cruise Lines BEFORE booking to ensure there haven’t been changes.

First a little background…

I’m Corinna, and I’m a Food Allergy Coach. This means I help food allergy families keep their kids safe, with less worry. If you’re looking for safe food allergy travel & lifestyle tips, you’re in the right place (also check out my Instagram, @friendlypantry).

Our family is from Canada, but we love to travel and have been to Spain, Ireland, the UK, France, Italy, Mexico, the Bahamas, all over the US (including Disney World and Disneyland), and all over Canada with severe food allergies; all before our kids were teens.

GOOD NEWS!

You can get everything we’ve learned from all of our extensive travel experience without doing it the hard way because I’ve put it all into a Travel Planning Pack Printable and Workshop so you can confidently travel with food allergies too. This food allergy planning pack & workshop is perfect for any allergy and any trip you want to take.

Learn more about this powerful tool here.

Now let’s dive into the Disney cruise food allergies review. *Be sure to read to the end where I’ll give you a breakdown of the food allergy travel skills you’ll need to feel confident on this trip.

In general, on our Disney Cruise, we had a great time as a family and I’m super glad we took the time to pre-plan and make the vacation possible, even with food allergies, but there were a few surprises along the way. I’ll share more in a bit.

Our cruise was a 10-day Disney cruise on the Magic ship from Barcelona with stops in various cities in Italy and France and then back to Barcelona.  We got off the ship every day except for the 2 sea days.  We then spent 4 days in Barcelona, Spain on our own before flying back home.

Our Disney Cruise Food Allergy Journey

Let’s start with what you all want to know.

Yes, the Disney Cruise line WAS AMAZING with food allergies, but there are MANY other things to consider when it comes to cruising with food allergies. I’ll go into more detail in a moment, but for now, here’s a little about how our Disney cruise food allergy journey went:

We had the same servers every single day so we didn’t have to explain about the allergies every single meal. 

Our main server was amazing, but our assistant server wasn’t the best.  The main server was the one you talked with most, so it was ok.  

The way the meal worked was that my daughter would pre-order her breakfast the evening before and they would make it up as soon as we arrived at the pre-chosen restaurant so it would be fresh.  She would also pre-order her evening meal at breakfast.  We loved this setup, but it does take away from the spontaneity. I think it’s a small price to pay for food allergy safety though.

We found that there was ALWAYS a safe dessert that was drool-worthy, and my daughter (and all of us) ate like a true princess when we were on the boat.

2. We found the off-boat day excursions a little challenging (but doable) as far as food allergies.  

Here’s where things got a little more challenging. The land tours on the cruise were a little challenging because you never had the same guide and the guides would usually set you free in a location for lunch so there wasn’t much help when it came to finding safe food. 

The guides were also very limited in their language skills and couldn’t communicate well other than “where is shopping” or “where is the bathroom” and their tour “spiel”. 

With a little creativity and our allergy-safe travel skills, we were able to navigate just fine.

3. Make sure you have the right food allergy chef card translations.  

We brought French, Spanish, and Italian allergy cards which we downloaded for free from the FARE website. When you do this, make sure that you know what languages you need. For example, in Barcelona they speak Spanish, but also Catalan.  We didn’t realize this and we found that some waiters seemed to not fully understand our Spanish cards.  In the end, we figured out it was probably because they spoke Catalan and not Spanish.

4. Pack non-perishable safe foods.  

As I mentioned before, day trips were the most challenging. In anticipation of this, we always had a backup for my daughter to eat if we didn’t feel like the restaurant was safe or if we didn’t feel like they understood our needs. 

Keep in mind…

We weren’t allowed to take any food off the ship unless it was pre-packaged, processed food (so no baked goods, fruit, or veggies).

We brought Boost drinks, pre-made rice with beans, canned chicken snacks, canned tuna snacks, several safe granola bars, and gummy candies.  We used all of these on the trip at one point or another.  So on the days when we didn’t feel comfortable with the food choices, my daughter would drink a Boost meal replacement or eat granola bars or we would buy fruit at a fruit stand.

After the cruise was over, we rented accommodations with a small kitchen so some days I prepared these foods for my daughter before we headed out so she was full.  We also had breakfast for all of us in our room.

If you want help figuring out exactly WHAT to PACK, and HOW MUCH so you never have to worry about finding safe food (but don’t have to pay extra for luggage), my Food Allergy Planning Pack is the perfect tool.

5. It was awkward eating foods in front of my daughter when she couldn’t order.  

I like to keep my daughter included in everything we do, but when traveling, safe is always better.  There just isn’t the ability to search extensively for safe foods (and when traveling, the last thing you want to do is find and research all the products in another country) so there are times when we need to eat different foods in front of my daughter.  We stayed away from treats and desserts and just had regular meals so she wouldn’t feel left out.  There was one time when we tried churros and she had the safe gummy candies we brought as a treat for her.

6.  I’m super proud of how my daughter is learning that it’s more important that she eats safely even if it’s different from what everyone else is having.  

There were many times when she would just say “Go ahead, I’m fine with my Boost or my banana”.  I believe this is a sign of maturity and I’m so proud of how well she’s learning to handle not being able to eat what everyone else has.  (P.S.  I truly believe that whenever possible, she is included in meals and treats.  I don’t like excluding her and especially believe that if there is a celebration specifically for her, all the food should be safe for her.  But I also believe that she needs to understand that there are times when she won’t be able to eat the same food as us and she needs to get used to this).

7. The last few days in Barcelona on our own were a harsh reality.  

After being pampered on the cruise and having at least 2 meals per day that were safe, delicious, and full of treats, it was hard to go back to checking everything for ourselves (especially in a different language). 

It was a rude awakening, to say the least.  

I think I would schedule this alone time BEFORE a cruise instead of after if I had to do it again.  I would also do a better job of researching restaurants before our trip so we feel better prepared. We learned this the hard way, but you don’t have to!

Check out the Food Allergy Travel Workshop so you can be fully prepared no matter what trip you are taking.

8. Food allergy travel skills you’ll need to complete this trip with full confidence.

• Packing the right amount of safe foods. This can be tricky without packing too much (and paying for extra luggage on the plane and cruise) or too little and feeling like you can’t find safe food. You can get a Planning Worksheet that makes this easy in the Food Allergy Travel Workshop.

• Flying safely with food allergies. Flying to and from a cruise can be challenging and a little scary at times. Discover our best tips and safest strategies in the Food Allergy Travel Workshop.

• Before and after cruise stays. You may need to arrive or leave a few days before or after your cruise (or you may want to explore a destination further). Even if you’re taking a Caribbean Cruise, you will still need to navigate a completely strange location. It’s helpful to be prepared! Learn our best tips to help make it less nerve-wracking with the Food Allergy Travel Workshop.

• Researching restaurants. Although the restaurants on the Disney Cruise were very good, they were not perfect. It’s important to ask questions and ensure everybody is on the same page. Not only that, but you may need to find restaurants before and after your cruise starts and on port days. You can discover our best strategies for this in the Dining Out With Food Allergies Workshop.

  *PRO TIP * If you buy the Dining Out With Food Allergies Workshop WITH the Food Allergy Travel Workshop, you will get it for over 50% off! Just buy the Food Allergy Travel Workshop and click the “Upgrade” to get the Dining Out Workshop at the same time.

Conclusion

We had a wonderful vacation.  There were some challenges, but thanks to experience and extensive planning, our Disney cruise with food allergies was a great success.

Let me know what you think.  Will you cruise with food allergies?  What questions do you have?  Please comment below and I’ll answer them.

You also might like these posts:

What To Do BEFORE Hiring A Food Allergy Travel Agent

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Confidently Flying With A Peanut or Nut Allergy