Cruising with kids/special-needs kids on Liberty?

[LizzieandLuke]

We did Freedom when my Special guy was 9. He is verbal, but definitively can be difficult to understand. We all had a great time - especially him.

 

We too called Royal ahead of time to let them know. We did special needs boarding as well. I did have to mention it at the gate - no biggie. They bumped him down to the 6- 8 year group at the kids club at my request which was great. This allowed him to be with kids more like him and allowed his big sister a chance to enjoy herself with the 9 - 11 year olds. They let him do his own thing at the kids club - computer, wii etc. which was perfect. He did not want to the pirate parade so he hung out with us that night.

 

My husband and I took turns at the pool.

 

He did great at dinner in the main dining room and the servers were wonderful making sure he had everything he needed. By night three I needed to ask for nothing for him - he was the king. I did request our own table - no need to stress about table manners.

 

I've never done Autism of the Seas either have thinking about for our next cruise especially since he will age out of the kids clubs by then :(

[ckergald]

Just back from Harmony of the Seas with the Autism on the Seas group, Ship is beautiful and very impressed with the services they provide. no vacation ever goes exactly to plan especially with special needs children but we had a great time and they went well above and beyond anything I had expected.

[DalTXColtsFan]

I am about to take my 2 special needs children on the Harmony of the Seas on November 26, 2016 with a group called Autism on the Seas, I'd highly recommend checking them out, they seem to sail out of most ports a few times per year. They bring specially trained staff on the cruise to assist you and those with special needs.

https://autismontheseas.com/

 

I probably could have asked this a long time ago, but how did it go?

 

If anyone else who posted has taken their special needs kids cruising with or without Autism on the Seas I'd love to hear more testimonials. Thanks!

[DalTXColtsFan]

All I can say is that your special needs children sure have special parents.

 

I should have said this sooner, but thank you - speaking for all of us special needs parents we need to hear that every now and then!

[kdnurs]

My family has taken my grandson with Autism cruising ever since he was 6 months old and he is now 8. He loves cruising and with lots of preparation before going, it was a good time for all of us. Royal Caribbean’s Autism Friendly Program is very helpful. One thing we found extremely useful was the Story Book that is downloadable from the website and personalized individually. We were able to show him what he was going to see and what he was going to expect from check in to actually boarding to his stateroom and all the activities he could do. We discussed through Story boards that he carried with him about flying and how to calm himself if he was nervous. I still use the books as refreshers to this day. Royal’s Autism Program does provide priority boarding to avoid crowds and the extra noise. We were also able to request his dietary needs and what a blessing it was that every night at dinner his food was brought out first and as soon as we sat down he was given his grapes and apple slices the only 2 fruits he will eat. Then shortly after that they alternated each night either grilled chicken or grilled steak, broccoli and French fries. Again, the only thing he eats for dinner “DAILY” It was nice to be able to get through dinner without incident due to him having no patience due to the loud voices in the MDR. The Adventure Oceans crew are trained to care for the needs of these sweet but busy children. We could place him in a group of children closer to his developmental age rather than chronological which was nice because we could place him with his younger cousins he feels more comfortable bring around and they could assist him if need be. I could go on and on about how we enjoyed the program. We will be taking him on his first Western Med Cruise and again will use Royal’s Autism Friendly Program [emoji7]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums