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Autism and cruising


Loveindia829
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Hey all so my husband and I are cruising with my 9 year old and my 5 year old who has autism he is non-verbal we are cruising with carnival does anyone have any tips for traveling and also the kids club super excited but also nervous this will be our first time cruising with our boys

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Carnival was always great with my special needs child when she was younger. Definitely arrange for an alternate lifeboat drill ahead of time through the special needs department. The kids club will let your child age down a group if that's more comfortable for him (I don't remember what the age breakdowns are, he may already be in the youngest, which is perfect).

 

Have a great time!

 

Best,

Mia

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Please consider private tours for just your family instead of ship tours. When traveling with small children or children with disabilities, it is imperative that you can control the itinerary. My older son was able to see all of St. Petersburg when he was 3 because we had a private tour, and stopped whenever he started to hit his limit and fed him. He was able to stay longer at the places he loved. You don't want to be trapped on a bus with 50 people when your child has hit his or her limit.

 

Also, take cereal boxes from the ship with you so you always have a quick and easy snack. That diverted several meltdowns.

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Our son is not autistic, but he does have anxiety. Some things that we have done to make cruising easier on all of us (he has been cruising since he was 4):

 

- bring any comfort items from home that you think your child might need to help adjust to a new or scary situation (blanket, stuffed animal, etc.). We also bring noise cancelling headphones or sound muffling earphones for the plane and for particularly loud or overwhelming situations (boarding the ship may be one of those times).

 

- bring nightlights or LED tealights along to be able to adjust the ambient lighting when sleeping.

 

- bring packaged snacks to make shore excursion and travel snacking easier. Squeeze applesauce packets are easy to pack in a carry on, since they are under 100ml each -- just put 3-4 in a quart sized ziplock bag. Granola bars, individual peanut butter packets, fruit snacks, etc. are also quite helpful to have around. Packaged cereal from the ship is also good.

 

- bring diversions for meal times. A plastic travel soapbox filled with crayons could be helpful. A backpack of stickers, books, an iPad -- anything needed to make a sit down meal more pleasant usually travels with us to the dining rooms.

 

- be flexible! Sometimes, we adjusted our plans to have more downtime or to spend more time in an enjoyable activity and not have to rush to the next thing on the agenda.

 

Have a great trip!

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There are at least two cruise lines that have special programs for guests with autism -- Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. But, even if you are not sailing one of those lines, you should check out the Celebrity page on this issue. They have a special "social story" that you can download for free (scroll down towards the bottom).

https://www.celebritycruises.com/special-needs/guests-with-autism

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