racnug

Autism on the Seas is wonderful! We sailed with them on our first cruise (RCI). We would do it again if our schedules matched up. Amazing group of people.

I understand, our daughter has low functioning autism and is completely nonverbal. You would never know by looking at her, but as soon as she begins to make sounds and stimming, everyone stares. Last cruise we simply asked RC staff member who was outside the terminal by the priority boarding entrance. He told us to come to him as soon as we were ready to board (we were waiting on friends). Thirty minutes later, when our friends arrived, all 10 of us were let into the priority boarding line. No issues!

Freedom-August 2012 from El Cid Resort, Cozumel.

Thank you!! We have this stateroom booked for December and have been searching for 3 months for photos/more info. We have 3 kids. We will have to look into the Suite gratuity charges as well, thanks for the heads up on that. Going to look though the photos now!!

The autism services offered directly through RCI are different than booking a cruise with "Autism on the Seas". RCI has added a lot of helpful Autism services, including priority check in and boarding, dietary accomodations, pagers for Adventure Ocean, Toys which can be borrowed for the cruise, social stories, letting staff know if your child is having trouble waiting in line, etc. However, I wouldn't necessarily call what RCI offers a "program". I don't believe it is something you sign up for, but you can call the special needs department so they can note your reservation.

"Autism on the Seas" is separate from RCI and also has cruises with Disney, Carnival and Celebrity. If you book a group cruise, that is where the staff from "Autism on the Seas" is there to assist you throughout your cruise.

We did our first cruise ever with "Autism on the Seas" in 2012. Last year we went without them and RCI helped with priority boarding. We simply kept our daughter with us since she can not handle Adventure Ocean drop off, and the staff are not fully trained to deal with that like the "Autism on the Seas" staff are. It was still a wonderful cruise and RCI does have some helpful accommodations in place.

Here is some info about our group cruise with 'Autism on the Seas" that I posted to a different thread.

"Thought I would share our experience: Without Autism on the Seas, we never would have attempted a cruise with our nonverbal daughter. She was 4 when we did.

They are an amazing group and it opened up a whole new world to us. You are welcome to do everything on your own if you choose, and do not have to spend all your time with them.

The signs they hold up at port are for priority check in. We didn't have to go to the muster drill, which a lot of the kids could not handle, but stayed in the conference center with activities for the kids. They have private times reserved for the Flowrider, ice skating, rock climbing etc. so the kids are not overwhelmed and do not have a long wait time. These option are for parents and siblings too. Our daughter did not even go to the ice skating, she stayed with Dad, while I took our other two kids. The staff joined us in the main dining room to help with the kids, if necessary, so the parents could enjoy their meals. They watch the kids every evening and some afternoons, to give the parents a chance to fully relax, which we needed since the staff in Adventure Ocean could not take her because she would cry at drop off. Autism on the Seas knew how to handle this. They had Mom and Dad nights out with the staff. They helped during excursions, beach visits and played with the kids at the pool. It was a huge help for our first cruise.

There were only about 100 of us total, that included the kids, siblings, parents and Autism on the Seas staff. Of the 100, maybe 15-20 of the kids had Autism or special needs. We were on Freedom of the Seas. It is not a huge group and most people didn't even notice us.

We spent a lot of time on our own as well, at the pool, in ports, dining in the windjammer, exploring the ship, you don't spend the entire cruise with them.

I can not express how amazing this group is. Thanks to them, we learned we can handle a cruise without them also, which we did a year later(2013) and have another planned this year. Our autistic daughter loves cruising. Anyone considering cruising with them should do it. Can't wait to cruise with them again, miss the staff and the wonderful families we met. Thanks, Autism on the Seas!!"

Hope this helped!!

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We went to Barefoot Beach in October. I don't have exact directions, but the island is small. After you tender, ask the staff to point you on right direction. Eventually you will see a sign or two. It was easy to find(Maybe someone else will be of more help).We loved it, beautiful and not crowded. Had a lot of rays and sharks swimming past us, can't wait to go back!

Have a great cruise!

racnug

I hope you reported that to Guest Services. Anything could have happened to those 2 kids.

My husband did let the crew know, but the girls were in 2 different places by the time I questioned my daughter about it to confirm(a minute later) They were going back and forth between Windjammer, the pool and their cabin. Running is more like it, the 9 year old could barely stand still long enough to say hi to us. We were in port in St. Maarten all day the following day, and I don't recall seeing the girls on our final "at sea" day, the pool was busy and our kids were in Adventure Ocean. Hopefully someone spoke to the parents.

Just a heads up....We were planning on taking our kids to Adventure Ocean in Haiti because they loved going so much. In Haiti, it was just a concrete circular wall near the beach with sand and a few toys, not much shade and looked terribly boring. The kids did not want to go once they saw it an stayed with us. This was in 2012, not sure if it's changed.

Speaking of....

On our last cruise(2013), our daughter became friends with a 9 year old girl in Adventure Ocean. We stayed on the ship for most of the day in St Thomas, and our daughter was hanging out with her friend at the pool along with the girl's younger sister(age 6). I asked them where their parents were so maybe we could say "hello". Turns out, the parents left their two daughters to roam the ship freely while they spent the day in port. They told them to eat in the Windjammer, and go to the pool, and basically do whatever they wanted. They were never even checked into Adventure Ocean! Six and nine years old! Can't imagine if one of them had gotten hurt and no way to contact the parents. Crazy!

We are on the same cruise in December. Our other 2 cruises were both on Freedom. Looking forward to trying a different class and 3 new ports (we have been to Cozumel and loved it! - El Cid day pass). We may not tender in Belize, due to hearing you need to get out of the immediate area to find things to do, with 3 kids, that may not happen. Still researching options. Maybe a good day to enjoy an empty ship. Enjoy your cruise and the excitement leading up to it!

That Vision itinerary your booked on is awesome! You're going to have a very excellent cruise on this ship :D

Thanks, we are excited to try a different class of ship and 3 new ports!

Thanks for all of your input!

We have only cruised twice, both times on Freedom. We are sailing Vision in December(Western Caribbean), wondering how the size of the ship will affect movement. We had no issues on Freedom, but Vision is much smaller. We are not in the cabin much, but have new cabin 8000 family oceanview with 3 kids at the front of the ship. Obviously the weather/seas will be a huge part, but in general is there a noticeable difference?

It took the OP, over an hour to pull the special needs card out from the the time of the original post. If the "asperger's illness" was such a factor in the nephew's life, it would have been brought up in original post. Sorry, but sometimes even parents of special needs kids need to be parents. You are unhappy with me because I pointed it out.

 

Example: This child goes on a dolphin swim where everyone is required to wear a life jacket. Simple rule? Not today, because the special need child refuses to wear a life jacket.

 

You are the tour operator, what do you do?

 

Next day the headlines read:

 

"Beachchick's Dolphin Swim does not allow Austic child to swim with the dolphins."

 

or tragically ....

 

"Child drowns at the "Beachchick's Dolphin Swim."

 

It is great that RCI has a program for autistic kids, however a cruise ship is a short term specialized society and it does have its own set of etiquette guideline and rules. On RCI there is a dress code. Quick review:

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/customersupport/faq/details.do?pagename=frequently_asked_questions&faqId=255&faqSubjectId=334

 

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Life Onboard

 

Q: What are the dress codes onboard?

 

A: There are three distinct types of evenings onboard: casual, smart casual and formal. Suggested guidelines for these nights are:

Casual: Sport shirts and slacks for men, sundresses or pants for women

Smart Casual: Jackets and ties for men, dresses or pantsuits for women

Formal: Suits and ties or tuxedos for men, cocktail dresses for women

 

The number of smart casual and formal nights is at the ship's discretion.

 

< cruise length info here >

 

We appreciate your usual parental guidance and cooperation in observing these easy guidelines with your children.

 

Please note ice skating on our Voyager, Freedom and Oasis Class ships requires that all skaters wear long pants and socks for their own comfort and safety.

 

-------

 

On my post I stated, that a polite society has rules, whether we choice to follow them is up to the individual. If the OP nephew's parents allow him to wear shorts to the MDR, let them not hope he does not want to go ice skating after dinner, where they will have have to determine their next course of action.

Last time I cruised, I don't remember wearing shorts in the MDR to be a safety issue.

When it comes to actual safety, we follow the rules or don't attempt. If an activity requires that a life vest, my daughter will wear one. If we chose ice skating, pants and socks will be worn. I would assume that most special needs families follow safety rules, there is a huge difference between safety and fashion.

However, dress code in a restaurant will not hurt anyone. You may call it "playing the Autism card", we call it making life easier for not only us, but everyone around us. Who do you want seated near you? Upset, screaming kid in pants, or calm, happy kid in shorts? Yes, we would take our daughter out of that situation, but obviously not quickly enough to please you.

Every moment of every day is difficult for us. Will it kill you to allow us some slack? Most people have no idea what it's like. We didn't know until six years ago, but even before we found out, we sure were way more accepting and understanding than some of you are. Sure hope we don't end up cruising with people like this.

And before the "don't bother doing things they can't handle" comes up again, we will not lay down and miss life or allow our special needs kids and their siblings to miss the adventure and excitement in life. Deal with it, and stop trying to make our lives more difficult than they already are.

OP sorry, had to get that out. Have an amazing cruise! In our experience,we saw no staff even caring what people wore to the MDR, although we usually just stick with Windjammer. Your family will not have an issue with shorts in the MDR!

Wow. Sorry we get to jump ahead in some lines and not follow dress code. We certainly would take standing in line and following the dress code over autism any day. Our kids may get some "benefits", but we have to deal with autism 24/7/365. Life is hard, especially with autism. We love cruising and will continue to do so. Sorry if we get priority boarding, we will wave to you while you're standing in line to board. Unbelievable.

For everyone else, "Autism on the Seas" is amazing for anyone interested!

While walking along the clothing optional section of Orient Beach(St. Maarten), a naked man around the age of 80, was sitting in the sand alone where the water from the beach rolls up. The funny part was, he was wearing fins, a snorkel and a mask. I still have that image etched in my brain.

Our 5 year old son(at the time) throwing up all over the bathroom at midnight(Floor, walls, toilet). Thankfully it was only in the bathroom. Cleaned it up as best as we could, but still felt bad for our cabin attendant. I was terrified it was Norovirus(this was our first cruise ever and you hear the news stories) and we were only on night 4 out of 7. Turns out, he just ate too much chocolate cake at dinner!

It's never too early as long as you don't pack your daily necessities! Pack the stuff you know you won't be needing in the next five weeks but don't want to forget. I am always ready to start as soon as we book due to excitement. Have an amazing time!

Hi, Our 1st cruise was in August 2012 on Freedom, family of 5, interior family stateroom, total was $6300. (We had an autism grant to help pay for this one)

2nd cruise was October 2013(Off season) on Freedom, family of 5, Promenade family stateroom, total was $3500.

We are sailing in December(Off season again) on Vision with "kids sail free", family of 5, outside family stateroom, total is $2300. Much smaller ship, however I did price Oasis for December with "kids sail free", interior family stateroom and it was $3500. Overall, you are getting a good deal, considering it is prime cruise season with kids and an outside stateroom. Would usually be over $6000...

We are now going off season to help with cost. If you can swing it, the cost can be cut in half.

Have a great time. You may become addicted! We did!---Even our nonverbal, autistic daughter(age 6) seems to love cruising!