Cruising with Food Allergies: Viking River Cruise

Cruising with Food Allergies: Viking River Cruise

Cruising with Food Allergies: Viking River Cruise.

Come aboard as we give you the 411 from our personal Food Allergy experience cruising the rivers of Europe!

Have you ever thought:

Is it possible to cruise when I have a Food Allergy”?

😎 Us too!

Our Multiple Food Allergies

As the owner of a travel consulting company that works with people with food allergies & dietary restrictions as well as being a 20+ year food allergy mom, we absolutely understand personally how serious food allergies are. If you know our story, my daughter was diagnosed with multiple anaphylactic food allergies when she was only 15-months old.

So, our family must avoid:

• Peanuts
• Legumes
• Shellfish
• Soy
• Tree Nuts & now
• Dairy (can eat cheese) & Meat intolerances

Which is scary when aboard a ship!

Although this is a European river cruise, so very easy to get ashore/to medical facilities.

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Our travel consulting company is hosting a Small Group Viking Ocean Cruise – Come with Us!

Date: June 8, 2026 – June 23, 2026 – 15 Days, 5 Countries!

Pre-Cruise Travel Tips

These travel tips are useful for all your cruises!

As always, we arrive in departure city a day/few days before your cruise just in case of any potential delays/flight interruptions, etc…

More on Flying with Food Allergies Guide here.

Now, we highly suggest bringing our own food onboard all airlines as it’s too challenging for our many food allergies.

We use & recommend these backpack coolers:

Maelstrom is about $35 & the more expensive (but keeps food/beverages cold for days!)  Yeti M.

These backpack coolers are fantastic to use for shore excursions too. On vacation & at home too!

🧳 And don’t forget to grab our free Ultimate Packing List specifically for people with Food Allergies.

We go over where to pack your allergy medications, ice pack info & so much more!

Always bring your medications onboard in your carryon & get a letter from your allergist

Paris Pre-Cruise: Amazing Hotel Keppler

Now, Paris is a wonderful city if you’re cruising with food allergies!

See our many posts on Paris & France with Food Allergies.

Our flight to Europe on Air France was spectacular.

We took Blacklane car service from the airport to Hotel Keppler, not far from fashionable Champs Elysee.

The Keppler is outstanding with accommodating for food allergies.

Make sure you tell your travel advisor to note your food allergies at booking & mention again when checking in.

As you may expect, the service at this 4-star hotel is amazing!

They are able to prepare a fresh, food allergy-friendly breakfast instead of their elaborate & yummy breakfast buffet for us.

Additionally, the Keppler has a large open room with tables & chairs where we brought foods from the nearby Monop supermarket.

(See our Instagram for what to expect in a French grocery store & what we brought back for 2 #foodallergy dinners!)

All too soon, it’s time to bid “goodbye” to the Keppler & board our Viking cruise ship, the Ragrid in downtown Paris!

All Aboard the Viking Ragrid – Paris

The 1st week of our 15-day France’s Finest itinerary river cruise, our cabin is #110 – a window cabin & more budget friendly.

Before we finished checking in, our cruise Maitre D was already reviewing our dietary restrictions/food allergies that we submitted on booking!

On our cruise, there are 17 people with food allergies/dietary restrictions, so definitely a large percentage of the 168 passengers (10%!)

Viking is an upscale cruise line & as such, the personal attention really shows. Especially helpful for food allergies.

As our check-in time is 3 pm, snacks are available as well as welcome aboard champagne/drinks.

Although you can eat in the main dining room, we are going to the all-window Aquavit Terrace, which has the same lunch & dinner menus.

Also, much less people, which is helpful for navigating our many food allergies.

Travel Tip:

For those with food allergies, it is often helpful to have the same waitstaff each evening & put your food allergy translation cards next to your plate for extra reminder of your food allergens.

Chatting with Chef George about Food Allergies

So much fun!

Still docked in Paris, our 1st day is visiting the incredible Palace of Versailles, just outside of Paris.

But first a #foodallergyfriendly breakfast.

In both the main dining room & Aquavit Terrace, there is a buffet & also a made to order chef’s breakfast.

As always, for us, a buffet is too risky with greater chance of cross contamination.

However, the chef personally brought out food & made yummy custom omelets.

Lots of options for breakfast:

Fresh fruit, cereals, oatmeal, omelets (eggs are good for our food allergies), eggs benedict, bacon & sausage & more!

As chatting with Chef George this morning about our specific food allergies, he graciously offered to meet with me after our visit to Versailles & go over their allergy protocols.

Viking Cruise Lines is seriously amazing with accommodating for our multiple anaphylactic food allergies!

Cruising the Rivers of Europe with Food Allergies

On our return from Versailles, it’s time for lunch.

Both Chef George & the Maitre D check in on us & they have made us a scrumptious meal fit for a king or queen!

Because we have both anaphylactic food allergies & intolerances, it’s super important for us to communicate well.

Our safe lunch consisted of:

Cheese plate with fresh strawberries & blueberries, tuna poke bowl & homemade sorbet with apple cake!

So, kind & LOTS of choice, which is unusual for us.

As we soon came to see, Viking made us feel included & special with every meal being safe and delicious!

This afternoon we also had an allergy-friendly snack with our afternoon tea.

And wait to you hear about dinner!

On one side of the menu are Classic dishes which are always available & on the other side are the daily meals. Often the daily meals are local specialties.

For our starters, is a roasted red pepper soup and main of Nicoise salad.

Dessert again is amazing!

Sorbet flavors seem to change at each meal & tonight’s lemon sorbet is outstanding.

Viking’s menu lists out vegetarian, gluten free and other common allergens.

Per my conversation with Viking’s VP of Group Products Development, Joost Quendas, the only real exception for accommodating, is a strictly Kosher adherence.

Next Stops: Monet’s Garden at Giverny, Normandy & Charming French Villages

This cruise is perfect balance between charming French villages, must-see places, including sobering WW2 memorials & beaches of Normandy, & Monet’s incredible Garden at Giverny.

As always, Viking includes 1 shore excursion at each port in your cruise fare & they do not disappoint!

There are extra shore excursions if you would like to see more or something different form the included tours.

On many of the shore excursions, Viking takes you by tour bus. A few of the shore excursions include lunch or snack.

However, not wanting to deal with food allergy protocols on each tour, we had Viking pack us safe lunches & snacks in our backpack cooler.

The Normandy day is somber but well worth the visit.

At the American cemetery, I am able to visit my husband’s namesake, a 1st Lieutenant who died at Normandy.

This is priceless.

Dinner Onboard for All

At dinner, our choices are amazing again!

Tonight is Chilled Asparagus Spears, Shallot Soup, Seared Grouper with Artichoke Ragout, but the Greek Eggplant Moussaka looks amazing as well!

Others enjoyed:

Caesar Salad, Filet Mignon au Poivre with mashed baby vegetables & lick-your-lips pepper Sauce, followed by a Cheese Plate that is incredible with the included wines (again, Viking includes beer & wine with lunch & dinner as well as champagne at breakfast & cocktails at the Captains Welcome Aboard Party).

All of us are in love with the homemade Mango Cake & refreshing Raspberry Sorbet.

As we’ve come to expect, Viking is outstanding!

After dinner, local musicians play for us in the lounge & we chat with other passengers, who now feel like friends (& we’ve all kept in touch since our cruise!).

Some of us dance but that is of course, optional.

As you may expect, Viking’s crew are fantastic! Our Director, Oliver is an amazing performer & keeps us all entertained!

Suite Life Aboard Viking Heimdal Ship

As mentioned earlier, this itinerary is 2 cruises really.

A week aboard the Viking Ragrid (heading West) & then tomorrow after breakfast, we will disembark and enjoy a leisurely train ride from Paris through the countryside of central France to Lyon, where we will board our 2nd ship, the Viking Heimdal & a Welcome Dinner will be served.

Now, don’t worry, Viking takes care of everything. Including preparing an allergy-friendly lunch & snacks for our travel day!

Again, we are using our backpack cooler to hold our lunch of tea sandwiches (cucumber, jam & egg salad sandwiches- safe for us, (many choices though), fruit & even safe sugar cookies.

For this week, we upgraded to a suite on Deck #3 & this is TOTALLY worth it for the extra room & amenities.

Also, we are enjoying the large balcony – the perfect place to have a glass of wine & appetizers including fresh fruit, cheese board & more!

Tonight’s Welcome Aboard dinner has lots of options too.

Again, we chat 1st thing with Maitre D & Chef, who are waiting for us!

So, this is our dinner:

Spring salad with Spinach, Feta & dried cranberries in a vinaigrette dressing, followed by Spinach Ravioli in a rustic tomato sauce & dessert of Blueberry Pie.

Safe for us Blueberry Pie out = Miracle!

Cruising with Food Allergies: Viking River Cruise. Lyon, Arle & Avignon

Our 1st stop on the Rhone River is Lyon, France.

From Viking:

After breakfast, tour the city of Lyon, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Begin with a drive to the top of Fourvière Hill for amazing views of the city. Continue with a guided visit to the Basilica of Notre Dame and drive through town past the magnificent St. Jean Cathedral and the Palace of Justice. Then take a walking tour through the cobblestone streets of Vieux Lyon (Old Town) & free time to shop for souvenirs or sample some of the fine French cuisine for which Lyon is world-famous.

Our shore excursions are incredible each day.

And so are our meal choices!

Breakfasts: made to order morning foods

Lunches: vegetable soup, salads with option of adding Norwegian salmon or cod or Chicken, sandwiches, cheese & meat boards, steak & more (for those without these #foodallergies).

Dinners: Roasted Veal Sirloin, Angus Steak with Frites, Thai roasted vegetable curry, Salmon & fish of the day – YUM!

Snacks & Desserts: Different Sorbet every day, #dairyfree fruit crumbles, made for us cookies.

Now, each day on the main deck area, Viking has morning pastries & afternoon cookies set out.

These are not a good for people with food allergies imho.

There’s also included tea, coffee, water & sparkling water, available all day/night.

More Viking value.

On Our Own in Provence & Monaco with Food Allergies

Cruising with Food Allergies: Viking River Cruise is beyond incredible!

Sad to disembark, our new friends give hugs & we exchange email/social media.

And yes, we do keep in touch!

Onto favorites of ours: Provence & Monaco.

In fact, post-cruise, we are staying in Provence for 2 nights at the Michelin star Domaine de Manville (very #foodallergyfriendly) & 2 nights in Nice, near Monaco at a VRBO.

As all cruise lines Viking offers pre & post cruise extensions.

However, this trip, we opted for our own Paris pre-cruise & Nice/Monaco post-cruise.

In Paris, we love the Hotel Keppler & in Nice, a fantastic VRBO overlooking the beautiful Mediterranean Sea!

This allows us to visit local markets & pick up the most delicious foods that are easily prepared in our kitchen.

Final Thoughts on Cruising with Food Allergies: Viking River Cruise

Our final thoughts especially on writing this blog post, is that I expected to see Castles & Cathedrals with a glass of wine, overlooking fairy-tale towns…what I didn’t expect was to feel so Safe, Seen & So well cared for!

As someone who carries a backpack cooler filled with food allergy friendly foods/snacks, this Viking River Cruise was eye-opening.

For the 1st time in a very long time, I was able to really relax.

Our dietary needs are well understood, respected & carefully accommodated beyond my wildest expectations.

We were never treated as a burden but felt like a well-cherished guest.

This Journey was more than a cruise.

It was a revelation that with the right planning & partners (THANK YOU @Viking!!), that the 33 million Americans who have food allergies are able to travel fully, fearlessly & deliciously!

If you have ever considered a cruise, let this be a sign – it is entirely possible & absolutely worth it!

Life changing.

Full disclosure: we paid for our entire trip.

Contact Us to Book Your Viking River or Ocean Cruise with Food Allergies.

Ready to Set Sail or want more info?

Let our Travel Company book your next cruise – often we have exclusive discounts not available online/elsewhere.

And we know how to make sure all your food allergies/dietary restrictions are handled as well as ours were.

Or Come With Us on Viking Mars cruise ship June 2026!

Next up: Ocean cruise from Barcelona, Spain, Portugal, Strait of Gibraltar, England, Wales & Iceland – see Viking Mars Cruise for more info.