Kids Club with Special Needs

[twitterpated31]

Hello! I am brand new to Royal and it's only my second cruise (first was with Disney).

 

My two youngest kids will be 7 and 9 next March when we cruise. My soon to be 9 year old has an autism diagnosis and developmentally he would find it much more enjoyable to be with the kids in the 6-8 year old group (not to mention being with his little sister/best friend would be great too). 

 

Is there any flexibility for the age groups in the kids clubs? If there is, would this be something I'd set up before boarding?

 

TIA! 🙂

[gerif]

You should check with the special needs department before boarding, but by all means go to the orientation the first evening and speak with the counselors. RCI is very autism aware and should not have a problem allowing him to age down. 

[Clarea]

Special Needs:  special_needs@rccl.com

[Woodmnky]

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/experience/accessible-cruising/autism-friendly-ships

 

Royal Caribbean offers a wide range of autism friendly products and services, and they include:

Priority check-in, boarding and departure

Special dietary accommodations including gluten-free and dairy-free

Adventure Ocean flexible grouping by ability for children 3 to 11 years old

Adventure Ocean toilet-trained policy exception

Pagers/phones for parents of children in Adventure Ocean program while signed into our care (subject to availability) Availability: These Autism Friendly products and services are available on all cruises

 

Definitely contact the Special Needs dept ahead of time with any requests that you have, but we have found RCI to be very accommodating when it comes to helping out with ASD kids. 

 

 

[twitterpated31]

That’s amazing!! Thanks so much!

[GarlicBread]

Everyone always says contact the special needs department, but when it comes to adventure ocean, they cannot guarantee an age group move in advance, it is all down to the adventure ocean manager onboard. 

 

At 9, yes they will probably move down a group for additional needs, but it does still depend on numbers onboard, but once onboard you need to go to ao (you dont have to go right away, whenever your ready), they'll ask you till fill out an additional needs from along with the registration form. When you do drop off they'll give you a dect phone or pager so they can contact you immediately for any questions, concerns or issues. 

However, no age group move is ever guaranteed even with additional needs, although there is more understanding, however, if staff onboard feel kids will be better in their own age group, they'll move them back for the next session. 

 

You didn't say what time of year/ship, but theres a chance those age groups could be combined anyway. 

 

After working in both clubs (dcl and royal), even if your 9 year old can/can't be moved down, they will have much better supervision by staff that are able to communicate better to each other (staff to staff) on royal and you'll see the same staff (and kids) for the majority of sessions so everyone can build relationships and get a good understanding for each other (kids to kids, kids to staff and parents to staff). Disney theres so many staff and kids you rarely see the same kid/staff twice in a cruise lol

 

Good luck, have a great cruise!

[matj2000]

 

 

The children's program is called "Adventure Ocean"..

 

It is not a club nor anything like one.

 

Why do people keep referring it to that?

[Biker19]

Just now, matj2000 said:

Why do people keep referring it to that?

Same reason people call it the Diamond Lounge, instead of calling it by the sign by the door, Diamond Club.

[twitterpated31]

Thanks for that great info GarlicBread!!

We are going during our March Break (2020) so I expect the ship to be pretty full of families. My son LOVED the kids programming on Disney and has talked about it often in the year since we went. I think it is likely he would have the same experience on our upcoming cruise regardless of which group he's in. His reactions can be a bit unpredictable though so having his sister with him would make a big difference. If it doesn't work out, well, then we will figure it out! 🙂 I have no doubt we'll have an amazing time no matter what!!!!

[dbarazandeh]

I have to warn you...we have special needs and just got back from a trip on Adventure of the Seas that we had booked with the understanding that they can handle special needs. Parents need to know that the Royal Caribbean ratio for their children's program is 1:25!!! This would have been miserable for my two kids without special needs or sensitivities. It was complete chaos! I went all out to try to find out what we were missing since I'd heard RC does well with special needs kids but we just got a shoulder shrug and a "sorry ma'am but we can't offer one on one (I DIDN'T ASK FOR THAT!) and the Royal Caribbean staff ratio for children's programs is 1:25, but we will pass along your concerns to the appropriate department." WHAT?! We ended up on a 7-day cruise with no break from our two kids, who we definitely need a break from. Especially our son who has some big behavioral challenges. We got home totally exhausted, depleted and drained. Not what we had spent thousands of dollars and months planning for. Very very disappointed. And a letter to Royal Caribbean just got me a phone call from a customer service person who said they'll pass along my suggestions. Great. Thanks. Wish we'd gone on a Disney Cruise for fewer days.

[Clarea]

15 minutes ago, dbarazandeh said:

I have to warn you...we have special needs and just got back from a trip on Adventure of the Seas that we had booked with the understanding that they can handle special needs. Parents need to know that the Royal Caribbean ratio for their children's program is 1:25!!! This would have been miserable for my two kids without special needs or sensitivities. It was complete chaos! I went all out to try to find out what we were missing since I'd heard RC does well with special needs kids but we just got a shoulder shrug and a "sorry ma'am but we can't offer one on one (I DIDN'T ASK FOR THAT!) and the Royal Caribbean staff ratio for children's programs is 1:25, but we will pass along your concerns to the appropriate department." WHAT?! We ended up on a 7-day cruise with no break from our two kids, who we definitely need a break from. Especially our son who has some big behavioral challenges. We got home totally exhausted, depleted and drained. Not what we had spent thousands of dollars and months planning for. Very very disappointed. And a letter to Royal Caribbean just got me a phone call from a customer service person who said they'll pass along my suggestions. Great. Thanks. Wish we'd gone on a Disney Cruise for fewer days.

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic and sorry the cruise was disappointing.

[bearchele2]

16 minutes ago, dbarazandeh said:

I have to warn you...we have special needs and just got back from a trip on Adventure of the Seas that we had booked with the understanding that they can handle special needs. Parents need to know that the Royal Caribbean ratio for their children's program is 1:25!!! This would have been miserable for my two kids without special needs or sensitivities. It was complete chaos! I went all out to try to find out what we were missing since I'd heard RC does well with special needs kids but we just got a shoulder shrug and a "sorry ma'am but we can't offer one on one (I DIDN'T ASK FOR THAT!) and the Royal Caribbean staff ratio for children's programs is 1:25, but we will pass along your concerns to the appropriate department." WHAT?! We ended up on a 7-day cruise with no break from our two kids, who we definitely need a break from. Especially our son who has some big behavioral challenges. We got home totally exhausted, depleted and drained. Not what we had spent thousands of dollars and months planning for. Very very disappointed. And a letter to Royal Caribbean just got me a phone call from a customer service person who said they'll pass along my suggestions. Great. Thanks. Wish we'd gone on a Disney Cruise for fewer days.

Who said they can handle special needs? Most kids clubs so have high kid to counselor ratios. Royal does have a program called Autism at Seas but they only run on some sailings. You would need to research what sailings they are doing.

[Kerry's Girls]

RCCL has always been great aging down my special needs daughter.  As others stated, it's best to alert the special needs department and then also visit the kids club once you board to request it.  Have a great trip!

 

[cello56]

6 hours ago, dbarazandeh said:

I have to warn you...we have special needs and just got back from a trip on Adventure of the Seas that we had booked with the understanding that they can handle special needs. Parents need to know that the Royal Caribbean ratio for their children's program is 1:25!!! This would have been miserable for my two kids without special needs or sensitivities. It was complete chaos! I went all out to try to find out what we were missing since I'd heard RC does well with special needs kids but we just got a shoulder shrug and a "sorry ma'am but we can't offer one on one (I DIDN'T ASK FOR THAT!) and the Royal Caribbean staff ratio for children's programs is 1:25, but we will pass along your concerns to the appropriate department." WHAT?! We ended up on a 7-day cruise with no break from our two kids, who we definitely need a break from. Especially our son who has some big behavioral challenges. We got home totally exhausted, depleted and drained. Not what we had spent thousands of dollars and months planning for. Very very disappointed. And a letter to Royal Caribbean just got me a phone call from a customer service person who said they'll pass along my suggestions. Great. Thanks. Wish we'd gone on a Disney Cruise for fewer days.

 

So you expected the onboard counsellors to be able to handle your son with "Big Behavioral Challenges" with no knowledge of him or his needs?  I teach in a school for special needs kids, and we have a ratio of 1:5. Were  you expecting that kind of ratio? Totally not realistic for what is basically a day camp environment that is completely self contained. Did you not check out exactly what Adventure Ocean is before booking your cruise? Read reviews? While they may staff for 1:25, were there actually 25 kids there for each staff member every session your entire cruise? By handling special needs they mean that they will allow  your child to age down if appropriate. They will waive the potty trained rule. It doesn't mean they will have the staff available to handle a child with major behavioral challenges. 

[Missbollinger]

When you have children with special needs and need a break you need to look into respite care. As a special educator, the burn out rate is incredibly high in my profession and with good reason. As a parent of children with special needs I fully understand the need for a break and that is why we travel with family so we can have breaks. I do not expect club counselors to be able to bond, gain the trust of my special needs child, and provide more personalized care in the short time I am on board. It’s just not feasible. I think if you go into it with realistic expectations you won’t be disappointed.


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[reallyitsmema]

7 hours ago, dbarazandeh said:

I have to warn you...we have special needs and just got back from a trip on Adventure of the Seas that we had booked with the understanding that they can handle special needs. Parents need to know that the Royal Caribbean ratio for their children's program is 1:25!!! This would have been miserable for my two kids without special needs or sensitivities. It was complete chaos! I went all out to try to find out what we were missing since I'd heard RC does well with special needs kids but we just got a shoulder shrug and a "sorry ma'am but we can't offer one on one (I DIDN'T ASK FOR THAT!) and the Royal Caribbean staff ratio for children's programs is 1:25, but we will pass along your concerns to the appropriate department." WHAT?! We ended up on a 7-day cruise with no break from our two kids, who we definitely need a break from. Especially our son who has some big behavioral challenges. We got home totally exhausted, depleted and drained. Not what we had spent thousands of dollars and months planning for. Very very disappointed. And a letter to Royal Caribbean just got me a phone call from a customer service person who said they'll pass along my suggestions. Great. Thanks. Wish we'd gone on a Disney Cruise for fewer days.

 

You should look into booking your next cruise with Autism on the Seas.  They work directly with Royal Caribbean and have staff that work in Adventure Ocean alongside the Adventure Ocean staff giving the parents some respite.  They charge a little more per day but if you have a child with "big behavioral challenges", this seems like something that would help your family.

[dbarazandeh]

Thanks to those of you who have weighed in on this. I think I have not communicated adequately...I'm not saying that I was expecting to just leave my child who has behavioral challenges with them all day, sight unseen. I had heard many people who have been on Disney cruises with children who have needs way beyond what we do, who say they do an excellent job and they had no worries, offering them time to themselves here and there. We had checked and our travel agent as well as several calls to RCI, kept telling us that the entire staff is fully trained to deal with special needs. They also told us this when we checked in the first night, as we discussed his needs, and again when we went to leave the kids there. We never went back because both of our kids were so upset after being there for only 45 minutes. If they can't handle special needs, then they should claim they can! That's my point. As I mentioned earlier, my first two children DID NOT HAVE SPECIAL NEEDS and I would NEVER have left them in there either! Come on! A ratio of ONE TO TWENTY-FIVE?? It was complete chaos. There were more than 40 kids in there with only one person tending to them while the other staff member was checking people in and out and talking to parents. My friends who don't have special needs kids have all been so surprised when I've shared this with them because they say they too wouldn't leave their kids with that kind of ratio....again WITHOUT SPECIAL NEEDS.  They need to tell people up front about the ratio. If we had heard about that part alone, we wouldn't have booked with them. I was unable to get any such information before booking or even getting on the ship, though I'd called multiple times. So for those of you responding who are telling me that I should have done this or that, either you didn't read what I wrote very well, or I failed to explain it well enough. I did do plenty of checking and was told repeatedly that all I needed to do was make sure that RCI knew we were a special needs family and all would be well. All attempts to even learn what their staff to child ratio was, was met with shoulder shrugs. That info was not shared until we were checking in to Adventure Ocean. Not cool.

[ONECRUISER]

Sorry for your experience, won't Judge as know every Special Needs kid is different. Know mine and my Family always had good experience on Royal. Even in best case some kids have bad days and some kids situation may never be good in any Cruise Lines kids club Disney included. Cruises may not be for you, but if you do avoid Peak kid periods, Spring Break, Xmas. My kids were young we cruised in Feb and Sept/Oct, less kids but more attention on the few there. Sorry again...

[spookwife]

You do realize there are classrooms with higher ratios than that, right?  One teacher for 40-50 kids.  The whole ‘special needs’ umbrella covers a HUGE variety of situations and no one should have expected a mass market cruise line to be well versed in every nuance of every kid  on every cruise.  

[dbarazandeh]

1 hour ago, spookwife said:

You do realize there are classrooms with higher ratios than that, right?  One teacher for 40-50 kids.  The whole ‘special needs’ umbrella covers a HUGE variety of situations and no one should have expected a mass market cruise line to be well versed in every nuance of every kid  on every cruise.  

You are missing my point completely. First of all, it's horrible if there is a class anywhere that allows such a ratio you have mentioned. That's just wrong on many levels. Secondly, I did not at all say that the staff needed to be fully versed on how to meet the specific needs of my kids. What I am saying is that they clearly state they can handle special needs and they obviously couldn't handle ANY special needs I can think of with ratios like that. NOR WOULD I HAVE EVER LEFT MY NON-SPECIAL NEEDS KIDS THERE WHEN THEY WERE SMALL. It felt unsafe, chaotic and not fun. I didn't need one-on-one supervision, nor did I need any unusual kind of thing - just not a ratio that insane. Many of the kids in there looked worried, uneasy and just like you'd expect a kid to look if they were overwhelmed, overstimulated and disconnected. It was awful and had nothing to do with the special needs we had...it was far from being an environment to handle special needs, when they state over and over that they are all trained and welcome special needs kids.

[dbarazandeh]

3 hours ago, ONECRUISER said:

Sorry for your experience, won't Judge as know every Special Needs kid is different. Know mine and my Family always had good experience on Royal. Even in best case some kids have bad days and some kids situation may never be good in any Cruise Lines kids club Disney included. Cruises may not be for you, but if you do avoid Peak kid periods, Spring Break, Xmas. My kids were young we cruised in Feb and Sept/Oct, less kids but more attention on the few there. Sorry again...

Thank you for offering kind words. I feel like most of the people here have missed my message completely. I want to be sure that families know what the ratios are, at the very least, in case anyone thinks it's going to be fun to leave their kids in there, ESPECIALLY if they have special needs. Good to know your kids had a good experience...perhaps going in there during school days would be calmer. But we were there for our spring break, which isn't everyone's spring break, so probably better than summer or Christmas break. Thanks again for being kind!

[spookwife]

you can never  guarantee  a smaller ratio at any time, though.   while the cruise lines can and do cut off  bookings with children after a certain  saturation point,  its not the programs fault every kid was using the  facility at the same time.  if you were sailing during spring break , summer or any other  time when  more kids are reasonably to be expected, thats what happens.  

 

as a kid I routinely was in groups of that size or larger.   I never had any issues being over stimulated or worried.   perhaps the current societal norm of child rearing is in need pf tweaking if a kid  is unable to function in  a large group setting

 

 as for the  comment regarding  school classrooms:   schools are over crowded and they run out of teachers  all the time due to stupid  No Child Left Behind  policies, crap pay and  no support by administration to address  in class difficulties such as discipline or clueless/indifferent/belligerent/ parents.  every single friend or family member that went to college to become a teacher LEFT within 3 years.  

[brillohead]

(This is a repeat post of my reply to dbarazandeh in another thread, for the benefit of the OP and others.)

I hope you never use that Travel Agent again.

The Special Needs Department is pretty easy to find -- one simple click.  Go to the Royal Caribbean website, scroll to the bottom, and click on "Accessibility Onboard" and it takes you right to:  https://www.royalcaribbean.com/experience/accessible-cruising  From there you can read about the training that the staff has, fill in the Special Needs Form, call the Special Needs Department, or email the Special Needs Department.  

I think you also need to realize that you're very emotional about this right now, and not being objective.  Most mainstream school-age kids are used to being on a 1:25 ratio in the classroom.  That's also my state's allowed ratio for daycare for older kids.  Stating that the other kids looked worried or uneasy -- that's pretty normal for any kids in any new environment and has nothing to do with the ratio -- those same kids would still be worried and uneasy in a 1:5 ratio, simply because it was unfamiliar.  If you had bothered to go back at any point in the week, I daresay those same kids were laughing and smiling and playing without a care in the world.

I've been a member here for going on 15 years, and I've seen tons and tons of posts about how well Royal and AO handle special needs kids, separate from the Autism at Sea program (which is only available on certain cruises at certain times and at additional cost).  That's why my next few words are probably going to seem harsh, although they're not meant to be. 

 

I think you need to be honest about what your child's needs are, and whether they are suited to a kiddie program.  Newsflash -- kiddie programs are stimulating and they are noisy, and that is because they involve children, who are noisy and chaotic in general.  If your child can't handle noise and chaos in general, why would you think that they could handle a kiddie program? 

 

Just because the staff are trained to deal with ASD kids, doesn't mean that the staff can wave a magic wand and make all the noisy kids disappear so your kid has a quiet experience -- it means that the staff can handle working with kids who aren't verbal, or who engage in self-stimulating behaviors, or who may want to sit off to the side and not participate in certain activities, or may need additional instruction, etc.  

The fact that you were there for less than an hour on the first day and never went back tells me that you really didn't have reasonable expectations.  The first day of ANYthing is chaotic... kids calm down once they get used to the routine and know what to expect.  If you had gone back another time, you might have had a very different experience.  It also depends on what is going on at any given time -- sometimes there are special activities that are counselor-led, and other times there is just free play.  It sounds like you were there during free play.... which is going to be noisy and chaotic for any kids over the age of one.  

I'm very sorry that you didn't have the cruise that you were hoping for, and I hope that you won't give up on cruising altogether based on this experience.  However, I do hope that you get a different travel agent who can steer you towards the information you need, and that you're able to have realistic expectations.  Given that your special needs kids don't do well in a mainstream environment, I would recommend either booking a special Autism at Sea cruise, or leaving the kids at home and having a true week of relaxation.  Another option is taking 1-2 family members / friends / employees who are able to provide you with respite care during the cruise.  (Honestly, I recommend that to families without special needs kids, too!)



 

[mjkacmom]

On 3/10/2019 at 7:56 PM, matj2000 said:

 

 

The children's program is called "Adventure Ocean"..

 

It is not a club nor anything like one.

 

Why do people keep referring it to that?

People use the term “kids club” to refer to an area that allows parents drop their kids off fir supervised play. We’ve utilized kids clubs on cruises and at resorts.

[brillohead]

On 3/10/2019 at 7:56 PM, matj2000 said:

 

 

The children's program is called "Adventure Ocean"..

 

It is not a club nor anything like one.

 

Why do people keep referring it to that?

Because "kids club" is a lot easier than saying or typing "children's program" or "Adventure Ocean".

 

And because not everyone has their panties in a bunch.