I have cruised many times, and as a family, our go-to has always been Disney Cruise Line. We have cruised Disney 5 times and while not every trip has been perfect, we’ve always felt confident in how they handled Jaxson’s food allergies (Peanut, Tree Nut, Wheat, Egg, Sesame, Soy and Coconut).

This time, however, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to cruise with a large group of friends. The catch? It was on Royal Caribbean’s Utopia of the Seas—a cruise line we had never sailed with Jaxson before, let alone on a ship of this size.

Given our experience with cruising and the fact that Jaxson has now been on Xolair for four months, we decided to give it a try. In this post, I’ll break down our food experience and compare it to our past sailings with Mickey and Friends.

First things First – Packing for a Cruise with Allergies

No matter which cruise line we sail with, our packing routine stays the same. I have a detailed spreadsheet that calculates the number of days we’ll be away and exactly what we’ll need for each meal. Yes, we’re those people who make spreadsheets for everything!

And if you think that’s extreme, you should see the one my husband made to calculate the cost-effectiveness of the drink package onboard. (Did I mention he’s an Engineer and a math whiz? ) Spoiler alert – We ended up getting the drink package.

Even though cruise fare includes meals, we always pack safe snacks for Jaxson since allergy-friendly options can be tough to find offshore. It’s better to be over-prepared than scrambling for something safe at sea! Here are our must haves:

• General items for allergy safety (wipes, emergency meds, etc).
• Ziplocs and smaller containers to bring snacks and extras around the boat.
• Separate snorkle gear for Jaxson
• Favorite snacks for the plane and desserts. They have to be packaged and not homemade. (I’ll explain more below)

Cruising with Food Allergies

Now its time for the head to head comparison.

Food Allergy Accommodations

Food Allergy Processes – DRAW

I feel like this is a draw. They were both equally accommodating. I worked with the Head Waiters on both lines and they were very attentive, supportive and friendly. Both cruise lines have the same process. You are given the menus for each meal for the next day and pre-order your meals the night before. You also specify if you are eating in the main dining room or buffet. On days where you are on the ship’s island, you also pre-order and then pick up the food at a specified buffet location on the island. Note: we did not try any of the specialty restaurants on Royal Caribbean. We wanted to ensure we always had our Head Waiter’s support in the main dining room.

Dining Reservation Systems – Disney for Sure

When it came to the actual system of documenting allergies, that goes to Disney. Unfortunately, even with our wonderful travel agent’s help – Donna Bulieris at MarvelousMouseTravels.com and me filling out the allergy form prior to cruising, I found out that Royal Caribbean DID NOT have Jaxson’s allergies listed in our account! Typically this would throw me in a frenzy, but I didn’t panic and waited to speak with the Head Waiter the first evening. It all went fine from there. Having said that, I have never had a Disney Cruise where our allergens were not noted in the reservation!

Dining Experiences

Main Dining Room – Disney has an edge

No matter the cruise line, we always eat in the main dining room for breakfast and dinners. For breakfast, we typically order bacon and fruit bowl. Last time with Disney, we tried allergy friendly pancakes. We were cautious with Royal Caribbean this time, but for next time, we may inquire about allergy friendly pancakes as well.

On either line, you have to ask for what you want. They will offer suggestions, but many times I feel like its on me to come up with a meal plan. For this, Disney edges out Royal Carribbean slightly because they have a dedicated lunch and dinner menu with basic, healthier options. These were a perfect fit for Jaxson and made ordering very easy. For Royal, I had to come up with my own meal ideas and really, I just used the menu I remembered from Disney (salmon, steak, chicken breast) and rotated that nightly with sides like rice and potato for dinner. On Disney, Jaxson was often given a filet for no extra charge on steak nights. On Royal, there is a charge for this type of upgrade. There were two Disney Cruises where they had special bread and cookies on board that were safe options. They brought out ingredient labels and it was fantastic. I was not given such options on this recent Royal Caribbean cruise.

The dining rooms on Disney are of course, Disney themed and interactive. This is definitely different. While the Royal Caribbean waiters sing some nights and offer some interaction, it is not comparable to Disney. These meals are long in duration, so its nice to have the kiddos occupied.

Buffet (including the island options) – Royal Carribbean steals the show

For Royal Carribbean, we went to the Windjammer buffet for lunch. I was given a name for another Head Waiter to take care of us. This was great and I felt like I always had a the same, go-to person in each space. When it comes to buffet, Royal Carribbean wins because of having two head waiters support but also because it took very little time for them to identify our pre-order and bring out the meal to Jaxson. On Disney, it took quite a bit of time for them to find his “ticket” and prepare his meal. Many times, we would have all of our food selected from the buffet and Jaxson was still waiting for his food. I was pleasantly suprised to see how fast Royal Carribbean was in this area. We were all able to have our food at the same time at every meal. Once, we forgot to ask for safe potato chips and our head waiter at the buffet went down to the shop to go get Jaxson the chips! Incredible service! For lunch, Jaxson loved a beef burger (no bun), fries and corn on the cob. He loved it. For next time, we may try to expand and ask for other things but we were very cautious since it was our first time.

Allergy Tips!

Check on your allergy documentation! On the first day, always go down to the dining room and check that your allergy preferences are noted in the reservation. This gives you first sense of calm.

Just know the first day is never that smooth. You don’t know who your waiter is yet and they don’t know you. There is no “pre-order” available so you are flying by the seat of your pants that night. Just breathe, it gets better from there. Now, I do recall one Disney Cruise where I was able to pre-order when we first boarded for that night’s dinner. I wasn’t able to do that recently on either of the cruise lines. Maybe they changed their process.

Bring desserts! If you noticed, I did not mention desserts in my above categories. This is because we didn’t trust it. We don’t generally trust others to prepare things that have the potential to be unsafe. Its just our preference and each person is different. They are so kind to try to make something special for Jaxson and I always decline. This past cruise, they offered an allergy free sorbet. It looked great, but the worry on my son’s face plus the fact that I couldn’t reassure him, just wasn’t worth it. I easily went into my bag and pulled out his favorite packaged cookies and pudding. He was happy to eat those.

This brings me to my next tip – package goodies! All food you bring on the boat must be pre-packaged. You cannot bring home-made items on the ship. If you have sneaked them on in the past, consider yourself lucky and someone just graciously overlooked it. As we passed through the detectors, they searched my bags and were very alert to the food I had packed.

When you do bring snacks and desserts onboard, make sure its their absolute favorite. It gets to be tough when everyone else is feasting on cheesecake, chocolate layer cake and unlimited ice cream cones. I ensure that I am brining all of his favorites that I know will turn a smile no matter what is around him. Its a must for me! I brough GF Oreos, chocolate pudding cups, hershey kisses and bars, GF/Vegan Cake bites (Better bites Do bites). For snacks I brough fruit snacks, small bags of chips, Tostitos and salsa (yep the whole jar), GF fig bars, apple sauce pouches and Made Good Granola Bars.

Overall Value:

I know this is not allergy specific, but I feel like it is worth mentioning. Disney is much smaller and intimate but it is also more expensive, given you are comparing the same level of room.

Many people, including our family, used to say that the cost of the Disney Cruise is justified because of the level of service and overall quality. I do think the service is generally better on Disney but I am having a hard time saying it justifies the price difference alone. If you have other preferences like smaller ship, less crowds, Disney atmosphere in dining rooms and spaces, I think all of that adds up to justify.

I will say that a cruise is more affordable in general than some of the popular “allergy friendly” resorts that I have researched. I did a cost comparison and was in sticker shock. Plus with a cruise, you have many different activities to choose from and it includes multiple destinations!

So Who Won?

Disney Cruise Line and Royal Carribbean are very different, in my opinion. From the demographic that is onboard to the theme of the ships, activities offered and the biggest differentiator is the size/number of people on the boat.

For food allergies alone, you would be fine on either cruise line and maybe pleasantly surprised for trying something other than Disney. They are a gold standard, but there is nothing wrong with trying something new if you feel like you are ready. I still love Disney and feel like that its a luxury to be on board. I will definitely book another Disney Cruise in a year or two but I also might also slide a Royal Carribbean cruise in-between just because of affordability and now I have confidence in them. Additionally, I have friends who are not interested in doing a Disney Cruise and this way, we can still join them on a vacation and feel comfortable.

Comment below or email me if you have Qs! I wanted to keep this review specific to food allergy accommodations but I am happy to answer any questions!