TiaxMarie

I wish I had thought to come look at these forums earlier. My husband and I are taking a cruise, sailing on Sunday (only a few short days from now) and it will be the first cruise for my husband and two of our four children (the youngest isn't going with us this time). Our 14 year old has Autism, ADHD, SPD and Mixed Expressive-Receptive Language Disorder. He is very high functioning and doesn't need a lot of accommodations usually, but stress and anxiety can trigger some reactions, not meltdowns necessarily but equally unpleasant.

 

I am wondering if it would be too late to try to get some adjustments made as far as length of time to board and muster drill site assignments. He needs to be exposed to as many "normal" things as possible, but if I could minimize his stress level that would be awesome. I did mention when I did our online check in that he has special needs, but other than giving me a form to print out, complete and turn in at the teen hangout, I didn't get any other contact from Carnival.

 

Does anyone know if it is too late to look into this? I was thinking of sending an e-mail to the icare@carnival.com address someone else had posted and see what they say. Any other advice?

I had better luck calling. I had emailed but didn't hear back for 4 days.

Call and ask for their special needs department. They were very helpful for us.

We are cruising for the first time in mid-April to Grand Turk and Bahamas from Baltimore.

I've started collecting items and packing them since we don't need any summer stuff here in Maine yet.

How cold will it get at night? Will a light cardigan be warm enough or should I pack a fleece jacket for all of us?

My kids are 4 and 7 and don't seem to get cold easily. I had planned on buying sweatshirts as souvenirs, will that be warm enough?

I know, maybe a stupid question, but do we need water shoes on the excursions? Or will flip flops be okay? We are looking to do something on a beach in Cozumel.

The beaches in Cozumel are pretty rocky, and I'm not sure flip flops will stay on in the water.

I just want to thank you all for the tips in this thread! I called Carnival yesterday and they have been amazing so far. They've put us in the express boarding at a designated time. They've also arranged for us to have a private/semi private muster drill. The representative I spoke with also emailed the ship to alert them of our daughter's needs and that info will be passed along to the kids club. Hopefully everything goes smoothly for us once on board!

What is muster drill?

Who should I email about our daughter's needs? I tried to book Faster to the Fun, but it was sold out by the time we booked the cruise and now I'm feeling a little panicked. I have a 7 year old Aspie, so she's high functioning, but when she's off her routine, it can result in meltdowns.