maryharford1976

Autism on the seas is absolutely amazing. My family has cruised 3 times with them. Your question about crowds is a valid one. First off...try to avoI'd Disney. I just feel that Disney has too many children on board. I've cruised with Royal Caribbean and with Carnival. I would recommend Royal Caribbean the most. The ships we went on were the Navigator and Voyager of the Seas respectively. These are not the largest ships in the RC line, but not the smallest either. Another tip to avoid crowds of noisy children is to book a time when school is in session instead of going on a school holiday or summer time. The Carnival ship we went on was the Elation. It's a smaller ship in their line. It wasn't too loud or overcrowded. My only issues were that the ship was constantly rocking and the food was not as high quality as RC.

Now to the actual services AOTS offers...first let me say again that they are absolutely amazing. From the moment you first book until years later, you will become the member of an extended family. I still talk to almost all of the families and staff that we met on our first cruise in 2012. I have many of the staff from the office in Connecticut as friends on Facebook. The first thing you will see when you get to the terminal are the orange shirts. They are there from moment number one to assist you through check in. The staff will become very close to you during the cruise. AOTS offers nightly respite for all of your children...not just the cruiser with autism. My younger son was undiagnosed on our first two trips but spent time with the staff. They welcomed him. He was diagnosed before our last trip. Respite was very nice. AOTS also offers at least one group excursion for each cruise. The staff is on hand to assist during this excursion. It is also very much cheaper than any excursions you can get through the cruise lines. We went to Club Cozumel Caribe on our last trip. It was $25 per person.

The AOTS staff will also coordinate special disembarkation for the group. You shouldn't have to fight a crowd to get on or off the ship. They also do staff sponsored events such as pool time during the cruise on at sea days. My younger son had so much fun with the AOTS staff that he never set foot in the regular children's program for the whole trip.

My advice...go ahead and book it...you won't regret it.