Sailing Mardi Gras September 10 With Type 1 Diabetic Son/Elderly Mother

[srobinet63]

Hi, we are going on a six day cruise. This is only my 2nd cruise with the first one being 20 years ago on Disney Magic.  My son is 37 and is challenged as well as being a Type 1 Diabetic.  He has never sailed so I don't know if he is prone to sea sickness.  I am a little concerned in case he does get sick and can't keep anything down.  How are the ships Medical facilities? Do they usually have experience with diabetic emergencies?  Due to his disability he has never learned to read beyond simple sight words. His attention span is just not there.  He is impulsive to a degree and if he decided to go out of the cabin without family and got lost is there a way to overhead page him.  I would never find him on a ship this size.  

 

In regards to my mother she is 82 and a 3 time cancer survivor.  She gets out of breath if walking too far.  Are there any wheelchairs available on the ship to rent? I'm mostly concerned about the long walk from the ship into the port where the shopping is etc. If she stays on the ship and does not go with us are the movies free in the cabin or are they all pay per view?  

 

I'm sorry for all the questions but as mentioned we have not cruised in 20 years. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[pe4all]

Your best bet is to contact the CCL Special Needs Dept.  They are wonderful!  My special needs dd34 has been cruising with us on every cruise since age 7 on Carnival, and just turned Diamond with us!  I am sure the Medical Facilities on all ships are equipped for any emergency.  We had one on Dream years back with my other dd, and they did a great job managing her until they off-loaded us in Belize to get to a hospital.  

They do have a paging system on the ship, and also will offer pretty much any special services they can.  Suggestion:  I always get a child's muster band (usually green) for dd34 in case there is an emergency and she can't communicate clearly where she needs to go in case we are separated.  I just go to Guest Services and they take care of it.  They can also provide tables for just your family in dining room, special diet/menus, etc.  My dd loves to cruise and CCL has always been fantastic in meeting her needs.

They do have wheelchairs- I have seen them for rent at port, etc.  Again, contact special needs dept.

Here are a link:

https://www.carnival.com/about-carnival/special-needs

If you need general information about accessibility before you cruise, or have an ADA complaint, please call our Guest Access team at 1-800-438-6744 ext.70025, or 1800 072 670 ext. 70025 if calling from Australia. You can also email us at access@carnival.com. Carnival's designated ADA Responsibility Officer is Clarisa Stollenwerck, Vice President, Guest Operations.

Edited March 25, 2023 by pe4all

[edspec]

I'll second the CCL special needs department.  We cruised with 32 year old autistic DS last summer and the team was beyond wonderful.  They whisked us on board, had a perfect table for us in the dining room, and when the cruise was over walked us off the ship and to the customs desk.  We absolutely had better service on this cruise then a Star class cruise on RCL in November.  The RCL service was very good and we would have been impressed had we not experienced the Carnival cruise four months previously.

Just a thought for next time, Princess has a medallion system which enables you to track any of your party on the ship.  If DS likes cruising you may want to try that next time.  

Don't be afraid to ask for what you need, I've found that cruiselines are very disabled friendly and they will do what they can to make your trip enjoyable.

 

[Essiesmom]

If you want to try MSC they also have bracelets that can track you on their newer ships.  You might also look into something like Apple air tags which are intended for tracking luggage, but people also put them on pets, kids, Waller, keys, car…EM

Edited March 25, 2023 by Essiesmom

[Elaine5715]

11 hours ago, srobinet63 said:

Hi, we are going on a six day cruise. This is only my 2nd cruise with the first one being 20 years ago on Disney Magic.  My son is 37 and is challenged as well as being a Type 1 Diabetic.  He has never sailed so I don't know if he is prone to sea sickness.  I am a little concerned in case he does get sick and can't keep anything down.  How are the ships Medical facilities? Do they usually have experience with diabetic emergencies?  Due to his disability he has never learned to read beyond simple sight words. His attention span is just not there.  He is impulsive to a degree and if he decided to go out of the cabin without family and got lost is there a way to overhead page him.  I would never find him on a ship this size.  

 

In regards to my mother she is 82 and a 3 time cancer survivor.  She gets out of breath if walking too far.  Are there any wheelchairs available on the ship to rent? I'm mostly concerned about the long walk from the ship into the port where the shopping is etc. If she stays on the ship and does not go with us are the movies free in the cabin or are they all pay per view?  

 

I'm sorry for all the questions but as mentioned we have not cruised in 20 years. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You will want to talk to his doctor about using sea sickness meds.  Do you have guardianship or medical power of attorney to legally make medical decisions?  There could be an issue of you being present during treatment without such paperwork.  While paging is theoretically possible, hearing and understanding your name could be problematic.  However, should he be missing, an alert with his photo would be sent to all Security and crew notified while all guests are sent to their staterooms. 

You would need to rent a wheelchair from an outside vendor and the Special Needs Dept can direct you. Most ports with a long pier have some type of bicycle cart that operate for tips.  

There are both free and paid movies on the tv.  One channel is always the Turner Classic movies. 

Please be sure to travel with passports and travel insurance.   

[srobinet63]

Thank you for all the suggestions. I do have legal guardianship etc but did not think about taking the paperwork with us so thank you for pointing that out. I don't think he will wander off but can never know for sure.