Cruising with allergies onboard P&O Aurora

Living with severe allergies to Tree Nuts and Peanuts shouldn’t mean that cruising and travelling isn’t an option for you – it certainly is an option! However, it does require some thought and planning beforehand as well as being on the ball when eating to prevent risk of reactions.
As previously mentioned in an earlier post it is vital you inform P&O prior to sailing of any dietary requirements this is to ensure you are invited to the dietary needs talk on the first day of boarding. These meetings are usually held by the waiter working within the Main Dining Room (MDR), once we boarded, we went to this and were ensured that the head waiter would be aware of my allergies and ordered for the evening meal.
When looking at the menu for the MDR, it is noticeable that many of the meals do have nuts in them – especially with deserts having hazelnuts and peanuts. P&O do state that meals can be adapted, we did enquire about the range of non nut foods but were informed many items are prepared off the ship so cannot be adapted. Therefore, as an allergy sufferer your meals are at times restricted, this does make eating on a cruise challenging as it may result in meals becoming repetitive. However, when pre ordering in the MDR for the following day you are given the lunch menu and evening menu, and if you do not see anything that appeals to you on the evening menu you can order from lunch.
In terms of the buffet, all foods are labelled and state the 14 allergens if contained, we have at times found incorrectly labelled food items which we immediately brought to the attention of staff. However, if you are at risk of a reaction due to cross-contamination, it is best to speak to staff in the buffet and they will serve your food separately in the kitchen, reducing the risk of contamination. At busier times requesting for separate meals can be stressful but the staff wearing a yellow apron will always be in the buffet to offer help during mealtimes.
Our overall experience so far is that gut instinct is needed when in the buffet when looking at labelled food, the diet counter is minimal, and we are unsure whether the diet counter is in fact for dieting rather than for allergens! As most of the foods are labelled containing multiple allergens within the diet counter. However, gluten-free and alternative milks can be found here. Personally, deserts are the hardest with these typically containing nuts and the alternatives being fruit, vanilla ice cream, rice puddings etc. Although, some days you may be lucky and spot eclairs for offer – these are nut free and delicious!