Cruising with autistic nearly 5 year old on Carnival

Any tips for traveling with a young autistic child on Carnival? My biggest worry is the overstimulation in the dining room. We take him out to eat frequently but he’s never sat with strangers (which is always possible with cruises) and never such a large dining room.

My next worry is that he is not totally potty trained. I know there are ways around that in the kids area for special needs but what do I need to do? Do they ever try to fight parents on it?

Any other tips or advice?

You can request a table to yourselves....all the cruise lines have an "anytime" dining option where you are seated ONLY with your own party. As far as the kid's club...they are very good with "special needs" kids. Just tell them your child's issues, and they will do their best to make it work. A pull-up type diaper might be a good idea....they will contact you if you're needed.

Any tips for traveling with a young autistic child on Carnival? My biggest worry is the overstimulation in the dining room. We take him out to eat frequently but he’s never sat with strangers (which is always possible with cruises) and never such a large dining room.

 

My next worry is that he is not totally potty trained. I know there are ways around that in the kids area for special needs but what do I need to do? Do they ever try to fight parents on it?

 

Any other tips or advice?

Recommend you also post on the Family Cruise Forum as many with autistic loved ones don't post on the disabled forum. Also suggest you do a search on both the Family Cruise Forum and the Disabled Cruise Forum as there are older threads you might find helpful.

Recommend you also post on the Family Cruise Forum as many with autistic loved ones don't post on the disabled forum. Also suggest you do a search on both the Family Cruise Forum and the Disabled Cruise Forum as there are older threads you might find helpful.

Thanks for the advice!

You can request a table to yourselves....all the cruise lines have an "anytime" dining option where you are seated ONLY with your own party. As far as the kid's club...they are very good with "special needs" kids. Just tell them your child's issues, and they will do their best to make it work. A pull-up type diaper might be a good idea....they will contact you if you're needed.

We chose a set dining time because he wouldn’t do well standing around for a long time for a table. This way we can show up a few minutes late after the crowd has made their way to their tables and have our table waiting for us.

He’s a very large 4 year old (65 lbs!) so he’s in those nighttime accident diapers for older kids for bed, poop, and times he doesn’t have quick access to a toilet. I don’t want to set back his daytime underwear success but I had already wondered if wearing the diapers might be best since his routine will be so off.

My son was a little younger when we took him on his first cruise but I feel you on the size thing!

Fixed dining time, and ask for your own table. We sailed RCCL and contacted their special needs department ahead of time, they arranged for a quiet table near the door for us. We could also have a private muster drill if needed (we just went to the regular one and it was probably the most stressful thing we did all week).

WRT the kids club, they will probably be fine about him being in a pull-up but not necessarily willing to assist with it. We didn't have to deal with that thankfully.

Have a great cruise, my son loved it and couldn't wait to go back.