cruising with mildly Autistic adult son

[pikwe012]

any advice on the cheapest way to cruise for three of us? Thinking of Caribbean in Nov/Dec 2023

[momof3cruisers]

That is a good time of year for prices as long as you don’t book over a holiday.  Also, most kids will be in school so it may be quieter and not as crowded.

 

There is a special needs cruising forum here on Cruise Critic that might be helpful to you.

 

My son has changed a lot in the last 8-10 years but was always fairly high functioning. We found Carnival to be much more accommodating and flexible than Royal. Several crew members (a waiter, bar tender and someone at one of the shows monitoring the entrances for reservations) treated him like they clearly thought he was weird. Whereas on Carnival they always went out of their way to be accommodating. 
 

Muster drill is a beautiful thing these days as on most cruise lines, you just check in at your muster station, they give a little schpiel about what to do in an emergency, show you how to put on a life jacket and off you go. I think that one or two of them have gone back to the old school way of having everyone gather (until all the late people get there) in one big place and it takes forever. Avoid that. 

 

As for cabin choice, for us, an inside with no window was not an option. His first cruise, he was very worried about getting seasick. So we booked an ocean view down low and in the middle. His next cruise, we booked a balcony and that was a huge improvement as he could get fresh air whenever he needed to without having to deal with people. 
 

 

[pikwe012]

Thank you! Our son is also high functioning and thrives on interacting with people. We have booked two insides side by side....hope it works out. It should. my son is an adult so needs his own cabin and two balcony's expensive.

[NoBoozeCruise]

Do pop back to let us know how you all enjoyed your cruise and any tips 

[JVes]

On 6/2/2023 at 5:03 AM, pikwe012 said:

Thank you! Our son is also high functioning and thrives on interacting with people. We have booked two insides side by side....hope it works out. It should. my son is an adult so needs his own cabin and two balcony's expensive.

What about a balcony for him and the inside cabin directly opposite for you?