Anyone cruised with Autistic Child?

[Travelgrrl]

Sob! Thanks for posting

[bjcanady]

We are booked on the Caribbean Princess on Oct 21 and it is our first cruise . We have an autistic (high functioning) son who is 6 and another son who is 3, we are wondering if this is the best type of vacation for us? Has anyone else traveled on this ship with a special needs child? How was the staff? What can we expect? What should we do to prepare...

 

ANy thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated.[/QUO

 

Just returned from a fabulous week on the Caribbean Princess.......as i said before, we have special needs grandsons but have not sailed with them, but watched a young boy, i would say 10 or 11 that i am sure was autistic, most likely aspergers because he reminded us so much of our beautiful grandson.........he spent most of his time in the pool and really had a ball.......didn't get the opportunity to talk to his folks, but he was a doll and had a great time..........i know u will have moments, but u will have a great time, and more important, so will your special son.......we also watched a great down on board, his name was Patrick, he was in his 30's ............he had more fun than anyone on the ship................

[PrincessDreams4P&B]

If you haven't seen the heartwarming video of Jason McElwain's awesome basketball game you have missed something fantastic.

 

One the the sites where the video can be found is:

 

http://vpwpartners.blogs.com/COACH/PUTMEINCOACH.mov

 

If I've typed this incorrectly you can seach Google under "Jason McElwain".

 

This is guaranteed to make your day.

 

 

Do you know that our 6 year old looks EXACTLY like him, even sounds like a younger version of him, when we saw the story we sent out the story and video clip of it to all of our friends and family who were shocked at the facial similarities. It gives us hope that one day you will be seeing our son in a news story about something amazing he has done.

[cruzinchris]

He is a video game fanatic, so he's always spent a lot of time in the ships' arcades. Our next trip on the Caribbean Princess will be a challenge, as I understand there is no arcade. As awful as this may sound to some, we plan on bringing our PS2 from home so he can get some breaks in his room (his older brother and he will be in an inside cabin across from us). quote]

 

I've watched this thread and am only responding because someone who was on my CC roll call has posted here.

 

We were on the CB the week of 1/28/05. There is a small arcade just outside the entrance to the casino. DH and I specifically checked this out because others on this board had inquiries about it, and we did our homework. I can't tell you much about what is offered, but there definitely is an arcade on the CB.

 

Bon Voyage!

Chris

[mommykim]

One thing have not seen mentioned but that I highly recommend is to ask for a pager from the kids program. They have them for the younger kids but if you ask anyone can get one. That way if needed you are a beep away. Also let the staff know just how quickly you'd want to be contacted. It will likely make you feel just a bit happier(safer) knowing it's there.

[steelers_clan]

I have a 4 yr old autistic son and was leary about bring him on this cruise we are taking on the star 4/2/06. I was not sure how he would handle all of the people in one place. But now I wish I would be bringing him. It sounds like he would have a blast. Good luck to all that are bringing their children.

[OnlineMom]

I have a 4 yr old autistic son and was leary about bring him on this cruise we are taking on the star 4/2/06. I was not sure how he would handle all of the people in one place. But now I wish I would be bringing him. It sounds like he would have a blast. Good luck to all that are bringing their children.

 

Thanks!

 

My 5.5 year old daughter and 6.5 year old son (PDD-NOS) are ready and raring to go... We've been preparing him for this and talking to him about it for months and he can't wait to get on his "floating hotel"! ;) Enjoy your April cruise - your son can always go on the next one with you!