Anyone ever sailed with Autistic child?

[Conigfmly6]

We are a family of 6 looking to book for next fall. Our oldest is going to be 12 but has the mentality of say a 3 or 4 year old. I spoke with RCI and they have assured me everything will be fine but being practical and a seasoned cruiser myself I would like first hand experience stories from other parents who have been there done that so to speak.

[skibyrd]

We sailed with my son when he was about 16 and is autistic (although mild but has cognitive disability). We had a terrific time. He went with Our younger normally developing son who was 14 to the Adventure Club. They were wonderful with him - patience is a virtue. He came with us again at 20 years and we again had a great time. We found that if we explained the situation, things went very well. W did try to choose off season or less crowded ships. 1st cruise on Liberty and 2nd on Radiance. Let me know if you have any more specific questions.

[bearchele2]

There is a group called Autism at Seas. They are not RC but a group that assists with children with autism and other disabilities. I don't know the e-mail but I am sure if you google it you can find some info.

[Conigfmly6]

thank you both so much! That is a great idea, I will check them out. We usually start explaining anything different in his agenda very early out, and show him pictures and webcams if available so he can get the real look of things. He is high functioning, but not as far as coping skills. I am going to get him noise cancelling head phones for the horn and loud areas of the ship. He will have to do kids club at younger age level with his younger brothers who are mentally older. Just very nervous about his first time doing anything, lol. I have learned to become paranoid of the years. We will be sailing of the Mariner of the seas. Looks like a good starter ship for him. Thank you again anything ya'll can tell me is so extremely helpful:):D:)

[Ren1216]

I don't know a thing about this group, but I think this is the website for the group bearchele2 is talking about. I found it while looking for a different one, I know there is a group on the sailing I'll be on this fall (Freedom 10/21/12) because I saw it mentioned on my Roll Call thread. I will try to find the info and come back with a link to it (maybe I'm wrong, but this site doesn't seem to be the same one I saw some months back). I know you are asking about next year, but I think these will at least give you a place to start.

 

http://www.alumnicruises.org/Autism/Autism_Home.htm

[Conigfmly6]

thank you so much! I have been scouring that website and I am definately booking through them to make all the arrangements for us! :D Should be very easy to book and get proper accomodations through them.

[krysteen83]

We are a family of 6 looking to book for next fall. Our oldest is going to be 12 but has the mentality of say a 3 or 4 year old. I spoke with RCI and they have assured me everything will be fine but being practical and a seasoned cruiser myself I would like first hand experience stories from other parents who have been there done that so to speak.

 

Autism on the seas is great! I am using them for an upcoming cruise. The link ren1216 gave you is correct. They don't charge for their services, just transfer your booking to them if you've already booked. They just emailed me a printable book that explains to my son (in "his" way of understanding") things to expect, complete with pictures! They offer priority embark/disembark, private muster drill, private dining table in the mdr, and there will be no dress code, either! They also sent me a questinare about my son's needs for the Adventure Club. All this is for a cruise I booked on my own, it is not a group cruise. If you prefer, they also have group cruises that offer more assistance.

Mike Sobbell was very helpful with my many questions, and really put me at ease as I had so many fears taking my son on a cruise.

[Socalsnail]

My family will be sailing in two weeks with Autism on the Seas. Ths will be our third cruise with them.

 

I can't speak highly enough about this group. They have become family. It is run by Mike Sobbel and Jamie Grover. The link above is correct to find them.

 

I have only sailed on their group cruises. They also assist with putting together a program for sailing with just your family. I'd contact them before deciding on your cruise to decide which will work best for you. My autistic son, Andrew, is now an experienced cruiser, who LOVES to cruise. Even though we now cruise with, and without them. I expect we will keep coming back.

[Conigfmly6]

I have the same fears, thank you so much for taking the time to post I appreciate all the input. Has anyone ever had problems with meltdowns from the different noises, onboard? I am worried about lines, crowds, and loud noises, but mostly as with all parents I am truely afraid of the other passengers since his disabilites are not visable from the outside if they will understnad without us having to explain he is not misbehaving, he is Autistic.

[spcopps]

iamerica just did a review of her cruise with her son who is autistic (she mentioned in her last post he was autistic)..I am sure she wouldn't mind answering any questions you may have..here is the link to her review

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1591461

[Romamom444]

We are a family of 6 looking to book for next fall. Our oldest is going to be 12 but has the mentality of say a 3 or 4 year old. I spoke with RCI and they have assured me everything will be fine but being practical and a seasoned cruiser myself I would like first hand experience stories from other parents who have been there done that so to speak.

 

We are traveling on the Allure in 2 weeks with our DD age 12 who is autistic. We are traveling with a group called Autism of the Seas. They have multiple group cruises throughout the year and provide counselors that specifically autism trained. They will have their own trained counselors available for activities for the entire family and provide respite for the family so that you can enjoy some separate time on the cruise. You also get priority boarding, a separate (quieter) dining room area, exemption from the dress code (good for my DD she has sensory issues), private activity times, special diet accommodations etc., PECS and social stories and more.

 

The website is autismoftheseas.com. You can see all of the cruises scheduled through the end of this year. They should be coming out with next year's schedule soon. They are very nice and accommodating in answering any questions you might have. The main contact is Mike Sobbell and I'm sure would be happy to answer any questions you might have. The difference in price for all of these services was about $79 more per person total for the week, not per day. I would be happy to answer any question you might have.

 

Marie :)

[Socalsnail]

The website is autismoftheseas.com.

 

Marie, my family will be on the same cruise.

 

Just a quick note that the website is autismontheseas.com. Slight typo in your post.

 

- Jim

[reallyitsmema]

thank you both so much! That is a great idea, I will check them out. We usually start explaining anything different in his agenda very early out, and show him pictures and webcams if available so he can get the real look of things. He is high functioning, but not as far as coping skills. I am going to get him noise cancelling head phones for the horn and loud areas of the ship. He will have to do kids club at younger age level with his younger brothers who are mentally older. Just very nervous about his first time doing anything, lol. I have learned to become paranoid of the years. We will be sailing of the Mariner of the seas. Looks like a good starter ship for him. Thank you again anything ya'll can tell me is so extremely helpful:):D:)

Everyone has the autism questions handled so I will give you a link to a great webcam. It has 2 cams, just click on the arrow on the top left corner of the picture (just scroll and it will appear). Beware though, it does have sound and on Saturday and Sunday, when all the ships go out, it gets very loud with all the horns so you might want to mute it.

 

http://www.portevergladeswebcam.com/

 

If you see this soon, there are ships leaving now.:)

[lucigo]

My DS8 has autism and we have taken him on 13 cruises (all listed below except for the RC). Off the top of my head here are some of the things we have had to do out of the ordinary:

 

Pack his foods since he is on a self-limited diet. We bring prepackaged granola bars, jello fruit cups and Lays potato chips. We also bring his Schwan chicken nuggets and give them to the dining room. They bring them to him at dinner and on days we can go to the dining room for lunch.

 

Ask that someone from our party be allowed to stay in the room with him during the lifeboat drill. This is hit or miss lately.

 

Use handicapped boarding lines to avoid long lines.

 

Have him put into a lower age group for kids camp when necessary. Also, even though he is older, we always get a cell phone from camp in case they need to contact me.

 

Try to get a room with a pullout couch or rollaway bed rather than a bunk.

 

Bring hearing protectors for the shows. He likes the shows, they are just too loud. He also sometimes wears them on the tender.

 

Bring his favorite toys. Magnadoodle, gameboy, little toy yoshi, you name it they all come. Bring DVDs with favorite TV shows and movies.

 

Try to travel during school times. During the summer and breaks there are many many more kids on the ship and camps can be full, pools full, etc. Much more pleasant with kids to play with but not TOO many.

 

Be sure to take time out to do what your child wants to do. Make it special for him also. For mine that means we play mini-golf and go to the arcade.

 

Please ask if you have any questions, we have gone from age 18 months to now, and he will be celebrating his 9th birthday on the Conquest May 2nd!

[cherishrwil]

My son is 6 and has autism. We have taken him on a few cruises and he has done great! We've also used Autism On The Seas as well and they were wonderful with making sure things were provided for us. The most important things for us was making sure we didn't have to wait too long in line when we boarded the ship on embarkation day and when we got off the ship on disembarkation day. Also, so we could be have our muster drill someplace inside other than being outside on the deck with everyone else. AOTS helped us a lot with that to make sure that would be taken care of for us. We've sailed both Carnival and RCCL and both the kids club were great with him. The RCCL kids club let him join even though he was 3 and not fully potty trained. They just gave me a beeper to let me know when he needed to be changed.