Traveling with Food Allergies on a Disney Cruise

Traveling with food allergies can be stressful. From which restaurants will accommodate a special diet, to personal conversations with the chef. You know every place handles this differently. Whether you’re gluten free, allergic to peanuts, shellfish, or anything else, there are so many things to consider. Especially, if you’re taking a Disney Cruise with food allergies. Luckily, Disney Cruise Line makes the process simple. With easy to fill out forms, and a top notch waitstaff at your dinner table each evening know that Disney Cruise Line takes allergies very seriously. If you’re cruising with Disney and a food allergy, never fear. There are plenty of allergy free options for you onboard a Disney Cruise ship. Here are all the details that can allow you to have a safe allergy free Disney Cruise trip.

Making Special Requests on a Disney Cruise – Dietary Preferences

When you book your Disney Cruise, there is a special section under your reservation to note dietary preferences along with food allergies. ( A food allergy request can be noted under the “Special Services” section, which we’ll share more about below.)

For dietary preferences, which includes requests such as plant-based meals, lactose-free, halal and kosher, you will find this under “Special Requests“. Remember the Disney Cruise Special Request form is not for allergies, but rather for things as mentioned earlier, like dietary preferences, so be sure you’re completing the right one.

Here are all the dietary requests that Disney Cruise Line offers on your initial request forms. Note that for Halal and Kosher requests, Disney Cruise Line must receive your special request at least 35 days before your sail date.

• Lactose Free Diet
• Low-Fat
• Halal
• Low Sodium
• Vegetarian
• Plant Based / Vegan
• Kosher

Requesting Special Services on a Disney Cruise – Food Allergies

During the Disney Cruise booking process, for food allergies, you need to click “Special Services”, when you’re completing your reservation to access this service. This will give you options for things like no gluten, no nuts, no dairy and more. It’s important to check these items off as soon as you can, so that the ship knows they need to have these things available to you onboard.

If you’re using a travel agent, let them know and they can take care of it. Otherwise, I would recommend doing this as soon as you book your cruise so you don’t forget and to ensure there is plenty of time to notify the ship.

Disney Cruise Special Services Form

You can also fill out the Disney Cruise Line Special Services form and email, mail or fax it. If you choose to do it this way, make sure you allow plenty of time for Disney to get it. DCL generally requests Special Services Forms should be Returned 60 days Before your Sail Date by mail or fax.

Disney Cruise Line Special Services
P.O. Box 10210
Lake Buena Vista, Florida 32830-0210
Phone: 407-566-3602
TTY: 407-566-7455
Fax: 407-566-3760

( Remember not to confuse this with a DCL Special Request, which only covers “dietary preferences”, not allergies. Be sure to fill out the DCL Special Services Form if you have food allergies. )

Disney Cruise Food Allergies Accommodated

Travelling with food allergies and preferences can be tough. Thankfully, Disney Cruise Line can accommodate everything from those dangerous peanut allergies to dairy intolerance. Here are all the food allergies that Disney Cruise Line can accommodate for you, as long as you submit Disney Cruise Line Special Services form 60 days before your sail date, by mail or fax.

• No Milk/ Dairy
• No Egg
• No Fish
• No Gluten/Wheat
• No Peanut
• No Shellfish
• No Soy
• No Tree Nut
• No Sugar or Low Sugar
• No Protein or Low Protein

How to Order Allergy-Friendly Food on Disney Cruise Line

One thing to note that is consistent throughout Disney Cruise Line, is that not every sailing is the same. Practices may vary from ship to ship or itinerary to itinerary. But you should still have no problem in getting safe food during your Disney Cruise.

Since there are multiple places to eat onboard each ship, we will go over how to get your allergies accommodated for each location. In general, your dining team in the main dining rooms will be your main point of contact for allergies. They will help you choose items that are either already free of your allergen. Or they will be in contact with the chef for you to see what modifications can be made.

Preordering Allergy-Friendly Food on a Disney Cruise

The process to pre-order Allergy Friendly Food on a Disney Cruise is not always 100% the same. However, most of the time, your dining room waitstaff will offer you the option to preorder your next night’s meal. You also have the option of preordering your next day’s food for the buffets, at Cabanas or Marceline Market for both breakfast and lunch. Additionally, you can also pre-order your allergy free food choices when sailing to both Castaway Cay or Lookout Cay.

If your serving team does not offer this, ask them if you can preorder. They will use red slips to take your order and those will be referred to for the next day. Preordering not only takes the stress out of knowing there will be food you can eat, but it also reduces your wait time. Especially, as the kitchen already knows that they need to prepare separate food for you. This is especially helpful during evenings like Pirate Night, where you’ll want to get to the on deck Pirate parties sooner rather than later.

Also know that sometimes, there will be an Onboard Allergy meeting on Embarkation Day. This will go over how allergies are handled on your cruise. This is not common, but it is available on some itineraries. You can check with the dining team on Embarkation Day to see if this is occurring on your ship. In any case they can help alleviate some of the stress or worry if you’re concerned.

Eating with Food Allergies at Cabanas or Marceline Market

While it’s easy for staff at your Rotational Dining Restaurants to accommodate food allergies, eating at the Disney Cruise Quick Service restaurants, is different. As such, there are a couple of ways you can make sure your food is allergy safe when eating at the buffets onboard. For The Magic, Wonder, Fantasy and Dream, your Disney Cruise quick service buffet restaurant is Cabanas. On the Disney Wish, Treasure, and Destiny, this is Marceline Market.

The easiest way to make sure your food at the Disney buffet restaurant is allergy friendly is to preorder your food. As mentioned above, you can do this with your serving team the night before, during your rotational dining in the main dining room. This way, when you arrive at Cabanas or Marceline Market in the morning for breakfast, or later in the day for lunch, your order will already be in and you won’t have to worry about waiting. Traveling with food allergies means sometimes you’ll wait a little longer. But preordering can help!

The second way you can do this is to order your food when you get to the buffet. You’ll want to find a cast member that is wearing all white, and they will help you with the ordering process. If you can’t find someone, just ask any cast member working at the buffet and they can point you to the right person. While this may make your wait a little longer, you can be assured that whatever you order will be safe for you.

Allergy Friendly Quick Service Options on a Disney Cruise

Disney Cruise Quick Service can get a little trickier when it comes to allergies, but many can accommodate. This includes all the restaurants you usually find on the FunnelVision and pool decks. Everything from grab and go meals, to ice cream can be found here. For example, if you’re headed to Pinocchio’s Pizzeria, know that most of the pizza onboard can be made gluten-free as well as dairy-free. You just have to ask.

See a premade wrap or sandwich at Daisy De-lites that you’d like? Again, just ask. If they can make it for you, they will. Even the ice cream cones at Eye Scream are generally available in a gluten free variety. You just need to ask for one!

One thing to note with most allergy-friendly foods is that you need to plan to wait a little longer. This is because your item has to be specially made, and there is usually a dedicated person to make it. So when planning to order from quick service locations, be sure to build in some extra time. Generally, you will find that you may need to wait anywhere from 10-20 minutes depending on what the item is.

Ordering Room Service with Food Allergies on a Disney Cruise

Unfortunately, Disney Cruise Room service offers less options overall for food allergies. And for the most part there is no dedicated Allergy Free menu for room service. That said, you just have to call and ask what items can be made to your needs. Some items, like Mickey Bars, are already gluten-free. And though they are not on the menu, they can always be requested from room service or even in the main dining rooms.

Allergy Friendly Menu for Disney’s Castaway Cay

As mentioned before, you will want to preorder your lunch for Castaway Cay. There is a separate menu, which is shown above. And this can be preordered the night before you stop there. If your serving team does not offer this, ask them if you can preorder as this will make the process of getting your food the next day a lot easier and faster. When preordering, they will let you know which location to pick your food up at. When you arrive there, just find the cast member at the table with the red slips to check in for your meal.

Allergy Friendly Options at Disney’s Lookout Cay

Just like Castaway Cay, you can preorder your food the night before your ship docks at Lookout Cay. There is a dedicated menu for allergies, and that is pictured above. The process is the same in that there will be a dedicated location to pick up your meal while at Lookout Cay. Being able to preorder makes traveling with food allergies to places like Lookout Cay and Castaway Cay easy and convenient.

Disney Cruise Gluten Free Menu

Disney Cruise Line doesn’t really have a dedicated “gluten-free” menu. Rather, they share what options are already gluten free and then offer to modify already existing menu items. Some items cannot be made gluten free. For example, if you are a fan of the Pasta Pursiettes from Animator’s Palate, unfortunately these cannot be made gluten free. But, the deep fried brie can. They have gluten free alternatives like pasta. And as long as you give them enough notice, you can have gluten free bread at dinner each night in the main dining room.

Disney Cruise Allergy Menu

Disney Cruise Line doesn’t typically offer a specific menu for each food allergy. Though this would be great to see in the future. But at current this is not the standard for Disney Cruise Line. They can modify things based on your needs, and will offer off menu items when necessary. It’s important to have good communication with your dining team at dinner to make sure they understand your needs and can take care of them accordingly.

Taking a Disney Cruise with Food Allergies

Traveling with food allergies doesn’t have to be stressful! With Disney Cruise Line, there are a lot of options. And if you feel you are not being taken care of, or are not being heard, always refer to a Cast Member in all white. They rank higher on the ship and are generally the ones that oversee certain departments to make sure things run smoothly. Experiences may vary, but excellent service is what keeps many guests returning to Disney Cruise Line. So hopefully this is what you find on your cruise as well.

We hope you have a magical and safe cruise. Bon Voyage!