Autism on the Seas Certification Concerns (RCL)

[RockchalkFan]

(I am posting this on the Royal Caribbean cruise review area but thought it might be helpful if you have a child with autism/developmental disability)

 

We are a family of 5 that cruised Royal Caribbean Serenade of the Seas on a 13 day Baltic Sea cruise. This was our first cruise. Our teen-aged daughter has Down syndrome and severe sensory issues. Like the Cruise Critic member “jaspup” (search: “Cruising with Autism”) I wasn’t originally going to post but I think people who have children with autism should be aware of some of the more significant issues we encountered on our recent cruise.

 

In advance of our trip, we spoke to several RCL customer service regarding our daughter’s special needs. The CSRs told us that with the “autism/developmental disability” notation on our daughter’s cruise record, we would have accommodations such as: modified muster drill; priority check in, boarding, & disembarking; & dining seating accommodations. Once on board, however, we realized that multiple people at the ship’s Guest Services, as well as our concierge (due to being in a suite), were not familiar at all with disability accommodations. To summarize:

 

Muster Drill: NO ONE we asked knew about alternate muster drill arrangements. We had to go to our assigned location. This was an extremely stressful time for us, but for other children with severe autism this could really be a major problem.

 

Priority Disembarking: Every individual we spoke to told us to wait 30 minutes after the signal to disembark. At that point it would be less crowded because the majority of passengers would have left the ship by that time.

 

Dining: Concierge wasn’t sure we could have a table for just our family of 5 (even though we had “My Time Dining”) & not to expect this every night. There were people all around us that were seated as single families or even couples – I am not sure why this was even an issue at all. Being seated with a rowdy group would have been a major problem.

 

Priority Boarding: Much like CruiseCritic member “jaspup” encountered November 2014, the first two RCL staff members had no idea what we were talking about. The terminal was a mob scene. Only after we told the 2nd person that we were in a suite were we moved to the suite/priority line.

 

I contacted the RCCL head of the disability services, Ron Pettit, to share some of our experiences, since there seems to be an across the board issue. We also suggested they should have a Disability Point Person on each ship. That way, if a family notifies RCCL ahead of time about their child’s disability, and their account is flagged, the point person could check in with the family to ensure their needs are being met. It took Mr. Pettit a month to respond. His responses:

 

Re: Muster drill: They were sorry it didn’t go as it should have for us—and that their “Safety Department is working on a formalized standard operating procedure for modified muster drill to ensure consistency across the fleet.”

 

Re: Priority disembarking: Mr. Pettit said that this does not necessarily mean first off, but means a quicker departure off the ship. He said that they will “fine tune this process”. I am not sure what this means exactly – but there is a major difference between multiple phone reps saying “first off” and the cruise ship staff saying “wait 30 minutes until everyone else is off the ship”.

 

Re: our suggestion for a Disability Point Person: Mr. Pettit said they are going to implement a new process, sending a letter to guest's stateroom “which will outline the various Autism Friendly accommodations we provide and the contact information for our Adventure Ocean team. They will contact each family to arrange a meeting so they can help address the family's needs.”

 

Prior to our trip, we knew of the Autism on the Seas (AOS) Autism Friendly certifications, & our ship had a Silver certification. After our trip, I have serious misgivings about this certification. My cynical side feels like this is a marketing ploy by the cruise lines, and an added income generator for the agency that provides the certifications/training. The certification on our ship dates back to early 2014. The issues we encountered were very basic– considering most ships in the fleet have been certified for a year & a half I can’t understand why these areas have not ALREADY been fine-tuned. The issues we encountered are covered areas of the base Bronze certification/training process on the AOS website.

 

Hopefully other families will have better luck with the autism friendly services. Just do not rely on what the CSR’s tell you – we did not find this to be an accurate representation of what we encountered. The ports on our cruise were spectacular and we enjoyed our time at port very much. Overall the cruise would have been much more of a success if we didn’t encounter so many roadblocks to basic services promised in advance of the cruise.

[Texas4808]

 

Prior to our trip, we knew of the Autism on the Seas (AOS) Autism Friendly certifications, & our ship had a Silver certification. After our trip, I have serious misgivings about this certification. My cynical side feels like this is a marketing ploy by the cruise lines, and an added income generator for the agency that provides the certifications/training. The certification on our ship dates back to early 2014. The issues we encountered were very basic– considering most ships in the fleet have been certified for a year & a half I can’t understand why these areas have not ALREADY been fine-tuned. The issues we encountered are covered areas of the base Bronze certification/training process on the AOS website.

 

Hopefully other families will have better luck with the autism friendly services. Just do not rely on what the CSR’s tell you – we did not find this to be an accurate representation of what we encountered. The ports on our cruise were spectacular and we enjoyed our time at port very much. Overall the cruise would have been much more of a success if we didn’t encounter so many roadblocks to basic services promised in advance of the cruise.

 

IMO....That certification is nothing but a self-serving award primarily to drive business to the travel agency. The big problem is that it sets up unrealistic expectations for Autism families. It's also not fair to cruise lines like Carnival who do just as good a job as Royal Caribbean.

 

Ron Petit was on the AotS advisory board until RC received feedback that there was concern over possible favoritism in favor of AotS. It's hard to complain to the guy at RC about the agency that he's personally connected to outside of his job at RC.

 

I have cruised without AotS or their competition, Autism Adventure Travel and received adequate service from RC. That said, I took my group's business from AotS in favor of AAT 3 years ago and we haven't looked back.

Edited September 24, 2015 by Texas4808

[RockchalkFan]

IMO....That certification is nothing but a self-serving award primarily to drive business to the travel agency. The big problem is that it sets up unrealistic expectations for Autism families. It's also not fair to cruise lines like Carnival who do just as good a job as Royal Caribbean.

 

Ron Petit was on the AotS advisory board until RC received feedback that there was concern over possible favoritism in favor of AotS. It's hard to complain to the guy at RC about the agency that he's personally connected to outside of his job at RC.

 

I have no patience for this type of thing. It also explains a lot about the response I got from AotS and also RC/Ron Pettit. To me this seems like false advertising, especially given our experience onboard. Is there any place a person can file a complaint i.e. in Florida if that's where the RCCL HQ are?

[Texas4808]

I have no patience for this type of thing. It also explains a lot about the response I got from AotS and also RC/Ron Pettit. To me this seems like false advertising, especially given our experience onboard. Is there any place a person can file a complaint i.e. in Florida if that's where the RCCL HQ are?

 

The response will likely be that they have resolved the conflict of interest between the agency and RC. I'd start with Adam Goldstein and work my way down. I will private message you his e-mail address.

 

It won't hurt to voice your concern regarding your personal perception of the legitimacy of the program. Myself, I'd put more stock in the certification if RC hired qualified external trainers and made it mandatory training for new employees that were coming in to contact with families living with Autism.

 

AAT is another option if you need help pre-planning a cruise. They have helped me on 3 non-group cruises with 3 different cruise lines (none were RC) and those cruises went off without a hitch. The cruise lines were aware we were coming and prepared to accommodate us.

 

I wish you and all families living with Autism the best of luck.

Edited September 25, 2015 by Texas4808

[RockchalkFan]

The response will likely be that they have resolved the conflict of interest between the agency and RC. I'd start with Adam Goldstein and work my way down. I will private message you his e-mail address.

You're probably right. I can try to email Adam Goldstein though. I was thinking more along the lines of complaining to some place outside RC but not sure what agency. Not sure how private messages work on cruise critic but I don't think I have gotten one. Thanks again.