Cruising with DS who has Autism

I just wanted to post this. I e-mailed Carnival about my son with Autism, since we will be sailing on Sunday. I also e-mailed RCCL because in December we will be traveling with 4 children with varying needs. The responses I received back couldn't have been more different.

Carnival called me personally to ask me a few questions. They are e-mailing the port with our expected arrival time and names. When we get there, we simply give our names to the porter when we hand over our luggage and we will be immediately escorted onto the ship. No standing in the long, crowded lines. My son and I will get a private muster drill in the stateroom, while DH takes our two daughters to the regular muster drill. I will show our son where the muster station is at some point that afternoon or evening. They wanted to know what DS functioning age was in case he needed to be in a different club than Circle C, which is his age group. Since they have video games in Circle C, I expect that he will go straight for those and we won't see him again except at dinner and bedtime. They asked if we needed a private table in an isolated or quiet part of the dining room. When I said I didn't think that would be necessary, the young man said that if it turned out to be needed I simply had to talk to the Maitre'D and they would arrange it for the rest of the cruise. He was just AWESOMELY HELPFUL.

RCCL was completely the opposite. They said we couldn't get priority boarding or onto the ship faster, without the crowds and long lines. And then for my other questions I was told to simply talk to guest services once we were on board and they would see if they could accommodate our requests. And this was sent in an e-mail. I don't know what sort of review or qualifications Autism on the Sea does to give the rating or recommendation that RCCL got from them, but it is so not deserved at all.

Carnival has my loyalty from now on. We may try a Disney cruise in another year or so. They are so much more expensive that I doubt we will, but other than that, we will stick with Carnival.:D

I just wanted to post this. I e-mailed Carnival about my son with Autism, since we will be sailing on Sunday. I also e-mailed RCCL because in December we will be traveling with 4 children with varying needs. The responses I received back couldn't have been more different.

 

Carnival called me personally to ask me a few questions. They are e-mailing the port with our expected arrival time and names. When we get there, we simply give our names to the porter when we hand over our luggage and we will be immediately escorted onto the ship. No standing in the long, crowded lines. My son and I will get a private muster drill in the stateroom, while DH takes our two daughters to the regular muster drill. I will show our son where the muster station is at some point that afternoon or evening. They wanted to know what DS functioning age was in case he needed to be in a different club than Circle C, which is his age group. Since they have video games in Circle C, I expect that he will go straight for those and we won't see him again except at dinner and bedtime. They asked if we needed a private table in an isolated or quiet part of the dining room. When I said I didn't think that would be necessary, the young man said that if it turned out to be needed I simply had to talk to the Maitre'D and they would arrange it for the rest of the cruise. He was just AWESOMELY HELPFUL.

 

RCCL was completely the opposite. They said we couldn't get priority boarding or onto the ship faster, without the crowds and long lines. And then for my other questions I was told to simply talk to guest services once we were on board and they would see if they could accommodate our requests. And this was sent in an e-mail. I don't know what sort of review or qualifications Autism on the Sea does to give the rating or recommendation that RCCL got from them, but it is so not deserved at all.

 

Carnival has my loyalty from now on. We may try a Disney cruise in another year or so. They are so much more expensive that I doubt we will, but other than that, we will stick with Carnival.:D

Hi Pebbles...First, let me say, all cruise lines have priority boarding for anyone in your party with special needs. My DW has MS and no matter how many in our group, our entire party gets priority boarding. The only advice I would provide is make sure you have documentation from your doctor concerning your children's special needs. Sometimes, the cruise line will request it during priority boarding and check-in. Just report to the priority boarding area upon arriving to the cruise pier and I'm sure the cruise line will be more than helpful.

jcruise

The "crowds" you are expecting are unlikely to be a problem...If you feel Carnival is the best fit...go with it!

In reality, ANY cruise line will suit your family and your child.

We are and have cruised with RCI Australia. It's in their website that you get priority boarding. Call rci back. Different customer service reps may have different answers.

The crowds are a huge issue for my son as well. I have a carnival cruise booked this summer and next summer I am cruising on the Anthem on Royal. Carnival has been fantastic so far. I'm hoping that Royal follows their example....

The "crowds" you are expecting are unlikely to be a problem...If you feel Carnival is the best fit...go with it!

 

In reality, ANY cruise line will suit your family and your child.

I have been on two Carnival cruises. The first one was just my sisters and I. We got to the port fairly early, and still took more than an hour just to get through to park. Then it was another 90 minutes to 2 hours to get through check in and onto the ship, with nice long lines and lots of people. The second cruise was with my husband and 3 of our 4 children. We were able to get priority boarding and faster check in, but I saw the long line of folks waiting for regular check in and the crowd in that section of the terminal waiting to board. Being in the middle of that would have freaked my son out and caused a melt down. This is what I am afraid will happen in December, unless I can get a better response from RCCL.

We are and have cruised with RCI Australia. It's in their website that you get priority boarding. Call rci back. Different customer service reps may have different answers.

I will definitely do that, probably in a month or so, closer to the cruise dates and once I get all the information like booking numbers from my father so I am a bit better prepared. Thanks!

The only advice I would provide is make sure you have documentation from your doctor concerning your children's special needs. Sometimes, the cruise line will request it during priority boarding and check-in. Just report to the priority boarding area upon arriving to the cruise pier and I'm sure the cruise line will be more than helpful.

 

jcruise

Thanks for the tip about carrying the documentation. I never would have thought that they would ask for it, but I guess it makes sense. I will be giving RCCL a call to see if they will work with us, even after the response I received via e-mail. My son enjoyed his first cruise and I attribute part of that to the accommodations that Carnival made for us. I want his next cruise experience to be just as enjoyable.

I will definitely do that, probably in a month or so, closer to the cruise dates and once I get all the information like booking numbers from my father so I am a bit better prepared. Thanks!

RCI has a special needs department, try getting ahold of them and you may make out better then just speaking with a customer service rep.

Good luck with RCI. I traveled with my autistic daughter last year and they made promises... but delivered on NONE of them. I was guaranteed priority boarding, but when I got there and tried to get it, I got treated like a leper and was told to go get back in line with everyone else. Even when she started having problems in the terminal, nothing.

On the ship... again, issues. I had called and confirmed 3 times in advance that we had the earliest possible dinner seating at 5:30 or 6 (whichever the earliest was, I can't remember) so that we could have an assigned table at an assigned time during a relatively non busy period in the MDR. When I got there, it had been changed to "my time" with no assigned anything. I complained several times and was told to call and make a reservation every day if I wanted to eat early. And then obviously, it was not at the same table every day. Dinners were excessively slow which led to a lot of issues too.

As far as the kids club went... that was OK, but their supposedly trained staff had NO IDEA what autism was. This problem was solved, in our case, by just parking her in front of the TV while she was in the kids club.

We have traveled Carnival and Disney with our youngest son with disabilities. I will say, Carnival was much more accommodating. We had priority boarding. We had a private muster drill and were allowed to send his nanny into the clubs with him (he has a seizure disorder and we needed her to be able to give him medications and for safety reasons since he has a severe intellectual disability) and they gave us a great table.

Disney had staff who were more aware of disabilities in general, but no accommodations. We were escorted on the ship, but only because we had his service dog and they wanted to ensure we turned in our paperwork to clear customs. He was not allowed to participate in any of the secure programming as they would not allow us to send in an adult handler for his service dog. We did not get exempted from the muster drill - until we arrived and he was so hysterical from the flashing lights (which trigger seizures) and the noise that we could not calm him and they came and asked us to leave!! He uses a pushchair and we could not attend one of the shows one evening without removing him from the chair and carrying it down (and him) because the elevators to access the accessible seating in the theater are not available when the ship is leaving port, which was occurring during our show time.

We are trying RCCL this summer, but we are cruising with Autism on the Seas so not as worried about access issues. We have scheduled Carnival again next summer.

Kuddos to Carnival!

I also contacted RCI when researching possibly going on there instead of NCL. Same issues...didn't have the time for me.

NCL always gives me a phone number to call it port, their agent meets us and takes us to the VIP area if we are in a suite, and then they typically get us on board first. Nice and simple. Plus the private muster drill etc.

I will look into carnival in the future when looking for other lines!

Good luck with RCI. I traveled with my autistic daughter last year and they made promises... but delivered on NONE of them. I was guaranteed priority boarding, but when I got there and tried to get it, I got treated like a leper and was told to go get back in line with everyone else. Even when she started having problems in the terminal, nothing.

 

On the ship... again, issues. I had called and confirmed 3 times in advance that we had the earliest possible dinner seating at 5:30 or 6 (whichever the earliest was, I can't remember) so that we could have an assigned table at an assigned time during a relatively non busy period in the MDR. When I got there, it had been changed to "my time" with no assigned anything. I complained several times and was told to call and make a reservation every day if I wanted to eat early. And then obviously, it was not at the same table every day. Dinners were excessively slow which led to a lot of issues too.

 

As far as the kids club went... that was OK, but their supposedly trained staff had NO IDEA what autism was. This problem was solved, in our case, by just parking her in front of the TV while she was in the kids club.

Because RCI is supposed to be "certified autism friendly" by Autism On the Seas, I would strongly encourage you to contact them (the agency) to let them know about RCI's failure to live up to their certification.

I would also encourage you (all readers of this thread) to read this recent thread as well.

It appears, based on the reviews that I have read thus far, that despite RCI's "certification", Carnival is, in practice, the better option more often than not re: how welcoming and accomodating they are to those with various special needs, children in particular.

Because RCI is supposed to be "certified autism friendly" by Autism On the Seas, I would strongly encourage you to contact them (the agency) to let them know about RCI's failure to live up to their certification.

 

I would also encourage you (all readers of this thread) to read this recent thread as well.

 

It appears, based on the reviews that I have read thus far, that despite RCI's "certification", Carnival is, in practice, the better option more often than not re: how welcoming and accomodating they are to those with various special needs, children in particular.

That is a good idea. I sent a long letter to RCI, but did not contact autism on the seas. That certification was 90% of the reason we chose RCI.

Back from our RCI cruise. Australia - Singapore. 16 nights.

Royal were very very good with my 6 year old autistic son.

On arrival at the Sydney port I was sent straight to the priority boarding area. Offered a seat and no crowds. Waited 5 minutes to check in.

Check in was quick and easy. No queues to get on the ship.

I had my son in his special needs stroller. This stroller was a must as I was travelling by my self and he is a runner with no road or danger sense.

They had his bag to our room before we even got there ( it must have been taken straight up. Mine was hours later.)

Muster drill. I wanted to attend by he got very distressed with the alarms and all the people. I told the crew I would sit through it but as soon as I told them he was autistic they moved me to the atrium were it was quiet.

The security guards were there and they chatted to us and got to know my son & noted down his needs ect.

I also alerted customer relations on the ship to his needs and our room attendant.

The ship was rhapsody of the seas with only 17 kids travelling. The size of the ship made it easier.

Kids club my son hated. I was given a pager which u couldn't hear over the noise on the ship. Total disaster.

I was happy to mind him all the cruise myself but customer relations and the kids club wanted to help me. So they arranged private baby sitting one night. The girls were loverly and had special needs training.

Kids club lent me toys and books for him,

We never had to wait for tenders at port as as soon as they noticed me I was taken to the front of the queue and assisted.

I lost my son on the ship......... He got away from me on the pool deck and took the lift. By the time I got there he was gone. I screamed he had gone. Staff and fellow passengers acted fast. By the time I had gotten to guest relations on deck 5 from 9 they had him. Little bugger had gone to the staff deck on level 1 where the medical centre was.

Customer relations acted so quickly. When I got to him with the customer relations officer he was in the medical centre with a doctor and 6 other staff members. He was so happy . The whole missing event lasted 5 minutes total.

Customer relations followed up with me a couple of hours later to ensure that he was ok and that I knew how important it was that I knew where he was at all times. Safety first.

I found out later that a lot of passengers had looked for him as well as staff.

No I should have not let he get away from me but he ran down the wet pool deck and I just could not catch him.

Being on a 16 night cruise all the staff and a lot of passengers got to know us. It was a brilliant cruise with Royal going above and beyond.

We met the captain and he chatted to my son and asked about how he was being treated by his staff and crew. I told him how wonderful they all had been and he said how happy he was about that.

My experience with royal was very very good.

Few tips that helped me:

Take a walk about travel lock to double lock your cabin door. My son can open a standard lock in seconds & then run.

Once boarding talk to customer relations and security about your needs.

Get to know the head of kids club.

Before booking, look at the size of the ship. Will there be too many people for your child to deal with?

Cabin- I like a balcony but with just me and my son this was not suitable. An inside cabin in a quiet location allowed for me to quickly get him back to the cabin for down time when he needed.

Be flexible with your plans on the ship. We didn't do formal nights if the main dining room. Just too stressful for us. Nor did I do ship tours where we would have been in a large group doing things he didn't want to do.

When in port allow extra time to get back to the ship. If a melt down occurs then you have time to deal with it.

Most of all enjoy time with your child!!!

I had an amazing time on rhapsody of the seas.

I am happy to see that the staff of the Rhapsody were so dedicated to making sure you and your son were cared for, and are living up to the AOTS certification standard as intended.

Also, good planning in choosing a sailing with so few children, which certainly played a part in allowing for dedicated caregivers to give you an evening of respite.

When RCI and AOTS can ensure this kind of service across the fleet, and I do hope they can, their certification will truly be deserved.

It was an amazing cruise and I can't speak highly enough of all the staff and crew.

Another point to note is to look at the itinerary and see if your child will be happy with the amount of sea days or getting on off ship too many times.

I found getting off the ship at ports a day a part was tiring. Prefer to go to a port, have a day at sea and then the next port.

Also too many sea days in a row can be hard.

Need to pick itinerary to suit age and needs of child.

16 days was a long time by myself. I probably wouldn't do a cruise this long again by myself. Maybe 10 days maximum.

It's really about fully understanding your child's behaviour and needs.

Another hint:

Take a poster for the door of your room. Write child's name on the poster. This way they can identify their room.

I found room numbers were up high for little ones to see and all room doors look a like.

Lol others on the ship asked for one for their doors.

Thank you for the update! I will be taking all of your tips with me when I go on both Carnival and Royal cruises!

I know that younger children get wristbands at the muster drill, so staff will know what station the child needs to go to if he/she gets separated from the family. I plan to take a sharpie marker with us and write our last name and stateroom number on the wristband for my toddler in case she runs off. Then the staff can look us up easily and page me. This is also a good idea for kids who are nonverbal or get confused/scared easily when approached by a stranger.

I know that younger children get wristbands at the muster drill, so staff will know what station the child needs to go to if he/she gets separated from the family. I plan to take a sharpie marker with us and write our last name and stateroom number on the wristband for my toddler in case she runs off. Then the staff can look us up easily and page me. This is also a good idea for kids who are nonverbal or get confused/scared easily when approached by a stranger.

If you are at all concerned that your toddler might "run off" and get lost, might I suggest one of those cute little backpack "harnesses"? There was a toddler in a cabin near ours a few years ago - as soon as the door would open, he was off and down the hall - then on would go the harness and "leash." Sadly, it has happened that a toddler slipped away on a cruise ship (Disney, I believe, and it was embarkation day) and was found at the bottom of the pool. It can happen so quickly. You know your toddler and better safe than sorry.

I know that younger children get wristbands at the muster drill, so staff will know what station the child needs to go to if he/she gets separated from the family. I plan to take a sharpie marker with us and write our last name and stateroom number on the wristband for my toddler in case she runs off. Then the staff can look us up easily and page me. This is also a good idea for kids who are nonverbal or get confused/scared easily when approached by a stranger.

We approached AAT with a concern about a runner within our group and they purchased a GPS wristband for the family to use. One cool thing that Carnival did was to provide all the families in our group with a mobile ship phone. We could call each other and the AAT/Carnival staff. Another cool thing was Carnival security walking every one our families through the boarding process and on to the ship. Both were value adds that AAT went bat to get for us.

We approached AAT with a concern about a runner within our group and they purchased a GPS wristband for the family to use. One cool thing that Carnival did was to provide all the families in our group with a mobile ship phone. We could call each other and the AAT/Carnival staff. Another cool thing was Carnival security walking every one our families through the boarding process and on to the ship. Both were value adds that AAT went bat to get for us.

What is AAT?

Also, my son has no autism diagnosis but is highly spirited and has sensory sensitivities.

I'm curious if anyone can recommend a child GPS device. I've never lost track of him but it's a fear, naturally. I'm a bit unsure of him being in kid club or being escorted by anyone other than us.

Thanks!

What is AAT?

AAT is the initials of the special-needs travel agency that they used, which we are technically not allowed to name on the forum. However, you may be able to track down one or two mentions that slipped through by clicking on his username and selecting "Find all posts by Texas4808".

Looks like his recent (Jan 26) post mentions them by name.