Cruising with my child with autism!!!

[lulubell]

We've been on many cruises with our autistic son and always explained the situation to the front desk.All that they require is 1 person from the cabin to go to the drill and remember what to do/where to go so it should not be a problem!

[LSEA]

 

 

 

I have gotten a lot of good info from this thread. Hoping any of you can provide feedback on my plans and answer a few specific questions. Any advice/ideas/cautions will be very much appreciated.

 

I will be cruising with my daughter who is 11 and affected by Fragile X and Autism. It will just be us, DH and DS are staying home. I have cruised many times but this is DD’s first.

We are cruising from Jacksonville. Chosen primarily because it is an easy drive (about 7.5 hours) the day before and we will spend the night in a Jacksonville area hotel. We travel long distances quite often by car so no worries there.

This is my first time cruising from Jacksonville so I don’t know what the setup there is like. I am thinking it would be best for us to arrive at the port later, after most of the crowds have embarked. Yes? I just think combining the excitement and crowds/noise with sitting around and waiting in the terminal could be a recipe for a meltdown. Any feedback? Anyone know what might be a good time to show up? My only concern about arriving later is that parking will be a problem.

Dining in the MDR - DD isn’t super rigid with her meal schedule I am choosing anytime dining. Will request a table for 2. It may turn out we prefer eating in the Lido at night.

Muster drill. Unpredictable. Not sure what to do. Help!!! I’ve only cruised Carnival once but remember the drill as being pretty painless. Could I get some assistance by contacting the special needs department?

Ports - Nassau and Freeport. I know DD would love Atlantis water park but I don’t want to take on too much for her first cruise. So I thought we would just walk over to the British Colonial Hilton and see if they have any day passes available. If not, we will hopefully find another way down to the beach and just dip our toes in. It may turn out that we just stay on the ship and enjoy some less crowded time around the pool. Also, I don’t really know what to do about Freeport, never been there. Any suggestions?

I know I am over looking many issues. I also know it is impossible to predict every challenge but if you can give me any advice please do!!

[lulubell]

 

 

 

I have gotten a lot of good info from this thread. Hoping any of you can provide feedback on my plans and answer a few specific questions. Any advice/ideas/cautions will be very much appreciated.

 

I will be cruising with my daughter who is 11 and affected by Fragile X and Autism. It will just be us, DH and DS are staying home. I have cruised many times but this is DD’s first.

 

We are cruising from Jacksonville. Chosen primarily because it is an easy drive (about 7.5 hours) the day before and we will spend the night in a Jacksonville area hotel. We travel long distances quite often by car so no worries there.

 

 

 

This is my first time cruising from Jacksonville so I don’t know what the setup there is like. I am thinking it would be best for us to arrive at the port later, after most of the crowds have embarked. Yes? I just think combining the excitement and crowds/noise with sitting around and waiting in the terminal could be a recipe for a meltdown. Any feedback? Anyone know what might be a good time to show up? My only concern about arriving later is that parking will be a problem.

 

Dining in the MDR - DD isn’t super rigid with her meal schedule I am choosing anytime dining. Will request a table for 2. It may turn out we prefer eating in the Lido at night.

 

Muster drill. Unpredictable. Not sure what to do. Help!!! I’ve only cruised Carnival once but remember the drill as being pretty painless. Could I get some assistance by contacting the special needs department?

 

Ports - Nassau and Freeport. I know DD would love Atlantis water park but I don’t want to take on too much for her first cruise. So I thought we would just walk over to the British Colonial Hilton and see if they have any day passes available. If not, we will hopefully find another way down to the beach and just dip our toes in. It may turn out that we just stay on the ship and enjoy some less crowded time around the pool. Also, I don’t really know what to do about Freeport, never been there. Any suggestions?

 

I know I am over looking many issues. I also know it is impossible to predict every challenge but if you can give me any advice please do!!

OK-

1. I will address each of your concerns in bullet form for better reading.
   Port arrival-I would go early-get a parking spot so you are more calm and relaxed.Take medical papers pertaining to her condition and go to the handicap line,so you will not have to encounter any waiting.
   
2. Room-tell your room steward when you arrive your exact room preferences.
   Muster Drill-if she is noise sensitive-ask at the customer relations/guest services to either stay in a closed nearby room or skip it altogether.
   
3. Food-I would go for the fixed dining as the waiter gets to know her and her preferences quicker.
   
4. Atlantis-the resort is great-you might want to take her-just keep one major thing in mind..to get to the resort you can go by boat[rocky] or by cab-depends on what she likes.
   
5. Feel free to ask away -even the smallest details.
   And have fun!:)
   

[LHP]

We have not had the pleasure of using Mike at Autism on the Seas, but have heard nothing but wonderful comments in every post about him.

 

Our son is 18 years ago....Asperger's Syndrome (verbal) and in 2 weeks will be embarking on his 35th cruise.

 

He was not properly diagnosed until he was 11 and even back then...they did not have a lot of information once he got diagnosed.

 

But we have been blessed to be able to cruise enough to teach him many valuable life lessons.

 

The current battle is eating in the Main Dining Room...about 2 years ago .. he stopped eating in public restaurants all together. We either eat in the car at Sonic (or a fast food place) OR bring it home.

 

He will eat on Lido...

 

Carnival has always been wonderful with him and we are set cruising with them...but when we branch out to other cruise lines...Mike will the TA I call.

[LSEA]

Thanks for all of the good info. I booked the cruise (Carnival Fascination) so it's a go!

 

Definitely decided that Atlantis would be too over the top for this trip. We will save that for a return trip. We will walk over to the BCH and hopefully get a day pass. If not we will just walk down to the beach, dip our feet in and head back to the ship. DD is somewhat flexible when we are off of our normal routine. The Blue Lagoon excursion sounds like a nice time too but I need to find out if we can return by ferry on our own schedule or if we all have to come back together at a set time. I don't want to be trapped on the island if DD doesn't enjoy it or gets tired. Anyone know? Still haven't decided about Freeport. Probably stay on the ship. My gut feeling is that is what she is going to like best. It may be a struggle (which isn't worth it) to get her off the ship in Nassau and Freeport. I don't mind, been there done that in the Bahamas.

 

When I booked, the Carnival agent gave me the number of their special needs department so I will call them Monday for info on our options with the safety drill.

 

Unfortunately by booking so last minute we are wait listed for anytime dining and were assigned 2nd seating. I really don't want to share a table with anyone so if we can't get a 2 top for 2nd seating or can't get moved over to any time dining it will be the Lido for us. Maybe the special needs department can help us with this too?

 

Tell me what I am overlooking. What were issues you didn't anticipate?

[lulubell]

If you have to choose a port to stay on board-Freeport would be my choice.

Food-you can ask the Maitre D' if you can get the food delievered to your room.

Think what your child likes-shopping,dolphins,spa....and work with that.

[lulubell]

Thanks for all of the good info. I booked the cruise (Carnival Fascination) so it's a go!

 

Definitely decided that Atlantis would be too over the top for this trip. We will save that for a return trip. We will walk over to the BCH and hopefully get a day pass. If not we will just walk down to the beach, dip our feet in and head back to the ship. DD is somewhat flexible when we are off of our normal routine. The Blue Lagoon excursion sounds like a nice time too but I need to find out if we can return by ferry on our own schedule or if we all have to come back together at a set time. I don't want to be trapped on the island if DD doesn't enjoy it or gets tired. Anyone know? Still haven't decided about Freeport. Probably stay on the ship. My gut feeling is that is what she is going to like best. It may be a struggle (which isn't worth it) to get her off the ship in Nassau and Freeport. I don't mind, been there done that in the Bahamas.

 

When I booked, the Carnival agent gave me the number of their special needs department so I will call them Monday for info on our options with the safety drill.

 

Unfortunately by booking so last minute we are wait listed for anytime dining and were assigned 2nd seating. I really don't want to share a table with anyone so if we can't get a 2 top for 2nd seating or can't get moved over to any time dining it will be the Lido for us. Maybe the special needs department can help us with this too?

 

Tell me what I am overlooking. What were issues you didn't anticipate?

My advice about Nassau-you can get a cab and go to Atlantis.It's nice to walk around their little'village' anyway..play it by ear and go by your daughter likes..If she likes shopping that little village is nice,and you can also buy tickets to see their Aquarium if your daughter likes Marine life.Next door they have Dolphin Encounters,maybe you can sneek a peek and see if it is something you'd like to try at a later date.My son loved the encounter so much he has asked to do it again.I would not commit to an organized trip-you can manage pretty much on your own at Atlantis.

BTW the Fascination is a great ship,we took it two years ago and loved every minute as it is smaller than other boats and easy to navigate.

[qaturah]

We were on the Carnival Liberty, it was a first cruise for all of us, we went through Autism on the Seas Individual cruise package. It was so great. DS 9 (ASD) was crying cause he didn't want the cruise to end, and several times after during our brief stay in Fort Lauderdale he became sad about leaving the ship. Everything was great. The VIP check in was a bonus. They allowed him and I to stay in the cabin during the muster drill, we listened on the PA system and tried on the life jackets, the room steward also gave us a printout of what they were going over at the drill. My son was very nervous about it so it was really good he could stay in the cabin the 'safe' place. He liked Camp Carnival and exploring the ship with the map of it in hand. I think next time I would do an Autism On The Seas Group cruise because it would have been nice to have some other parents to get some feedback from, have some more specialized attention for DS. But the service we got was awesome and going with AotS really made DS comfortable with it and getting used to the idea of it.

 

Anyway i would highly recommend Mike from Autism on the Seas to help answer any questions and if anyone has any questions about the Carnival cruise we are 'fresh off the boat' so fire away!

[LSEA]

Thanks for the great replies! I too am interested in a group Autism of the Seas cruise but the timing didn't work out for us. If DD enjoys this cruise I will absolutely try a group cruise at some point. It would be nice for our kids (and us) to travel with other families that share our challenges/joys.

 

I found recent Fascination capers on line so I am going to print those out and she can study them in the car on the way to Jax. I would love to get my hands on one of the small deck plan guides they have on board but I don't think that will happen, so I will grab one for her as soon as we embark. She enjoys and is reassured by brochures and such, I'm sure many of you experience the same. Actually, I have some time on my hands today so I may print out Fascination deck plans from the Carnival site, resize and make a brochure for her.

[LHP]

I just emailed Mike and he is expanding to Princess as well....

 

which is good news for us...since we will be using Princess next year for the British Isles.

[lulubell]

http://www.familyvacationcritic.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4274#post4274

I have started writing about travel and autism on Cruise Critic sister board-feel free to check it out:)