First Time Cruisers on FOS - 12th oct 14

[fiona.anne]

Hi myself and my family will be traveling on the FOS with 12 other family members with us as myself & my partner are getting married on board, im looking for some information on a few things:

 

1) are the pullman bed okay for a 3 & 6 year old

2) what are the cruises like for a child with Autism

and an other information anyone else thinks that i may need to know would be very much appreciated.

 

Thanks

[BillOh]

I just wanted to say, great first choice on Freedom. The Kids programs get rave reviews, but I don't know how that works in your situation. Good luck.

[cruisetrail]

Hi myself and my family will be traveling on the FOS with 12 other family members with us as myself & my partner are getting married on board, im looking for some information on a few things:

 

1) are the pullman bed okay for a 3 & 6 year old

2) what are the cruises like for a child with Autism

and an other information anyone else thinks that i may need to know would be very much appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

You'll be on a beautiful ship.

Although pullman beds have side rails, I would prefer a sofa bed for small kids - falls precaution.

 

Have a great cruise!

[cb at sea]

The pullman will certainly be fine for the 6 year old....I'd put the mattress on the floor for the 3 year old....or put the child on the sofa (even if it's not a sofa bed!) Call it "adventure sleeping"...kids love that!

Edited August 27, 2014 by cb at sea

[Lokip53]

The pullman will certainly be fine for the 6 year old....I'd put the mattress on the floor for the 3 year old....or put the child on the sofa (even if it's not a sofa bed!) Call it "adventure sleeping"...kids love that!

 

^This.

 

Freedom is a great choice. Great ship for kids, imo.

 

Info here on RCI's Autism friendly initiative

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/experiencetypes/product.do?pagename=onboard_prod_autism_friendly_ships

[Marie51]

Freedom is a great choice for your cruise. I personally would get a cabin with a sofa bed instead of pullmans for children that young. Both will fit on the sofa bed and your cabin attendant will open it up every night. By the way if one sleeps on the floor it will cut down on your space as the cabins are small to begin with so not much room to walk around. Besides for the price we pay for a cruise I don't think anyone should have to sleep on the floor.

 

I took a cruise last April with my 5 yr old granddaughter who is autistic. There is some information about cruising with autism on the "disabled travel" board that you might want to look up. She was able to stay in the cabin for muster drill and we requested a dining room table by a window and some other things that were helpful for us.

Edited August 27, 2014 by Marie51

[fiona.anne]

Freedom is a great choice for your cruise. I personally would get a cabin with a sofa bed instead of pullmans for children that young. Both will fit on the sofa bed and your cabin attendant will open it up every night. By the way if one sleeps on the floor it will cut down on your space as the cabins are small to begin with so not much room to walk around. Besides for the price we pay for a cruise I don't think anyone should have to sleep on the floor.

 

I took a cruise last April with my 5 yr old granddaughter who is autistic. There is some information about cruising with autism on the "disabled travel" board that you might want to look up. She was able to stay in the cabin for muster drill and we requested a dining room table by a window and some other things that were helpful for us.

Thanks Marie51, i defo like the idea of requesting a table at a window so she can see whats going on but as a first time crusier can i ask what is a muster drill??

[Marie51]

Thanks Marie51, i defo like the idea of requesting a table at a window so she can see whats going on but as a first time crusier can i ask what is a muster drill??

 

The muster drill is a mandatory drill all passengers must attend before sailing. The crew demonstrates how to use the life vests in case of emergency. It usually is held in a public space with many passengers all together. When I sailed on Freedom it was in the dining room for my group but other locations around the ship for other groups sometimes outside.

 

My daughter-in-law went to the guest relations desk as soon as we boarded and asked about the drill. They told her the child could stay in the cabin with one adult but the rest of us (we were a group of 10) had to go to the drill. It lasts about 20 minutes.

 

I wrote to the dining room manager ahead of time to ask for a table by the window. We had the 6pm seating and she enjoyed looking out the window at the ocean.

Edited August 27, 2014 by Marie51

[nonnie&dgd]

I would look at this thread. It has a lot of info.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2080152

[usckatieh]

The Pullman bed was an absolute highlight for my 7 yr old. There was a built-in bed rail and she spent most of her time in the cabin hanging out in her "clubhouse". For the just turned 4 yr old, we opted to turn the loveseat/couch towards the wall at night and make a bed he could fall out of if he tried. Worked perfectly for us. You can read about our trip in my signature. The LOVED Adventure Ocean.

[Clarea]

The Pullman bed was an absolute highlight for my 7 yr old. There was a built-in bed rail and she spent most of her time in the cabin hanging out in her "clubhouse". For the just turned 4 yr old, we opted to turn the loveseat/couch towards the wall at night and make a bed he could fall out of if he tried. Worked perfectly for us. You can read about our trip in my signature. The LOVED Adventure Ocean.

Katie, all your Freedom photos are blank, looks like Photobucket want more money.

Edited August 28, 2014 by clarea