RCCL/Mid Dec/Child with Asbergers

[Cruise Arizona]

Hello to all of you. I'm hoping you can confirm that I probably made the right recommendation to a friend of mine as far as her cruise goes and her special needs child.

 

My friend has never cruised before so we kind of went through what she wanted for her cruise, price and expectations. She is mainly looking for an opportunity for her family to spend quality time together. Her special concerns are that her husband travels a lot on business, and can have last minute trips. Her other special concern is that her 13 year old son has Asbergers, which is a high functioning form of autism, and she is worried about him enjoying the cruise.

 

We looked at different options and my suggestion to her was that she might be able to book a mid December(non holiday) cruise about 6 weeks out and still get a good price and find the right cruise for her family.

 

We live in AZ , so we looked at the Royal Carribean and Carnival 7 day cruises out of LA to Mexico. I was thinking that though the kids would have to miss school in Mid December, it would actually be the best fit for her and her family. The fewer number of kids would not be overwhelming to her special needs son, and yet with a 7 day itenerary there would likely still be some families on board.

 

The ship is the Vision of the Seas. (any thoughts there?)

 

I think the advanced booking window is now 30 days? I think she'd like to book way ahead, but since her husband travels so much she is pretty much limited to a last minute booking. By last minute we mean about 6 weeks in advance.

 

So what do you think are her chance of a last minute booking?

 

Also, I know a few of you have kids with asbergers (probably not spelling that right). So if you have any input on how Ocean Adventure club would be? Will he make friends, Is there plenty to do even if he feels uncomfortable?

 

Any thoughts would be great. She's never done a cruise, but I know she'll love it.

[cantwait2cruize]

Hello to all of you. I'm hoping you can confirm that I probably made the right recommendation to a friend of mine as far as her cruise goes and her special needs child.

 

My friend has never cruised before so we kind of went through what she wanted for her cruise, price and expectations. She is mainly looking for an opportunity for her family to spend quality time together. Her special concerns are that her husband travels a lot on business, and can have last minute trips. Her other special concern is that her 13 year old son has Asbergers, which is a high functioning form of autism, and she is worried about him enjoying the cruise.

 

We looked at different options and my suggestion to her was that she might be able to book a mid December(non holiday) cruise about 6 weeks out and still get a good price and find the right cruise for her family.

 

We live in AZ , so we looked at the Royal Carribean and Carnival 7 day cruises out of LA to Mexico. I was thinking that though the kids would have to miss school in Mid December, it would actually be the best fit for her and her family. The fewer number of kids would not be overwhelming to her special needs son, and yet with a 7 day itenerary there would likely still be some families on board.

 

The ship is the Vision of the Seas. (any thoughts there?)

 

I think the advanced booking window is now 30 days? I think she'd like to book way ahead, but since her husband travels so much she is pretty much limited to a last minute booking. By last minute we mean about 6 weeks in advance.

 

So what do you think are her chance of a last minute booking?

 

Also, I know a few of you have kids with asbergers (probably not spelling that right). So if you have any input on how Ocean Adventure club would be? Will he make friends, Is there plenty to do even if he feels uncomfortable?

 

Any thoughts would be great. She's never done a cruise, but I know she'll love it.

 

 

My only suggestion would be maybe the 13 year old would do better in the 9 to 12 oceans adventure group.

[Kerry's Girls]

I'm pretty sure that with the top-of-the-line Princess travel insurance, you can cancel for any reason up to the last minute, and receive full credit toward another cruise. Maybe RCCL offers the same type of insurance, which would allow them to go ahead and book.

 

Best,

Mia

[IBoz]

My godson is 13 and has Aspergers as well. The prior poster has a point that your friend's son may be better off with the younger group. In my GS' case, his main sympton is social awkwardness. He doesn't have many friends, although he is a friendly kid. He just doesn't know how to "fit in" and is thought of as weird because of it. He also, generally, gets along with kids that are a bit younger, as their social maturity seems to be at a similar level.

 

That being said, there is no reason that he shouldn't enjoy the cruise. He is likely quite bright and will find the new experience interesting. He may not come away with lots of new friends and acquaintances, but that may be OK for him depending on what his other interests are.

 

Ilean

[Travelgl]

Hi,

 

My son is 11 and has Asperger's. We took him on his first cruise last year, and are going again in August. He loved it so much, and has been asking to go again.

I agree with the advise about the younger Club group. In addition they should give him a daily "schedule" to look at so he will know what to expect. Get information on where they will be cruising for him to see. Also, have him bring along familiar items from home that might help make him more comfortable.

 

:D

[adamsmom]

I have a 12-year-old son with mild Asperger's. My first thought is the RCI's Adventure Ocean cuts off at 11 years old. 12 and up go into the teen activities, which are much more unorganized and spread out. The parents could check to see if they could get the 13yo into the 9-11 group, but I would think they would need a letter from a doctor or something, and I'm not sure that a 13yo boy would WANT to be in a group with kids so much younger or be comfortable there. Other cruise lines, I think Carnival and NCL, cut it off at 12 years old, so that would be an option too. He might be OK with 12-year-olds.

 

My son always loved AO, and now that he's too old, he just hangs out with us or with friends that go with us. Thankfully, our best friends have teenagers that I feel secure about my son being with. Most of the time, he likes to hang out on the sports deck playing whatever his friends are doing up there.

 

There are daily schedules of the activities that are delivered to the room, and my son always looks through them and picks out what he wants to do. It might be comforting to bring a DVD player and some favorite movies, and things to pertain to whatever obsession he has at that time. I know we have to bring lots of money for the video arcade.:rolleyes:

 

I think he will enjoy the cruise, even if he hangs out with parents the whole time.

 

Regarding pricing--sometimes it's cheaper to book earlier, and sometimes it's not. It depends on the ship. The larger, newer, more popular ships are cheaper earlier, and I know that Royal Caribbean will refund any difference in price if the price of your particular cabin goes down. I don't know about the other cruise lines. I think their son would probably enjoy one of the bigger ships with lots of things to do, so I would book earlier instead of later.

[Cruise Arizona]

Thank you so much. One comment my friend had was that her son is happy often just hanging out by himself and reading. He is still in special-ed at school, so he works mostly independently at school and has just a few kids that he hangs out with. He was on my son's football team last year, and the coaches and the kids took extra care to make sure that he felt like a part of the team.

 

I think for the cruise he may end up hainging out with Mom and Dad and occasionally attending an organized event for his age group.

 

On the other hand her daughter is a social butterfly and will love the Ocean Adventure club.

 

We'll have to see what to do about the last minute booking issue. Perhaps sometime in the fall she'll have a good idea of what her husbands schedule is and then she could book then.

[ilovewdw]

My son has ADHD and mild Aspergers as well. I was wondering how he would do on the cruise. He is only 6 years old right now, so I think he will do just fine with the 5-7 year olds. He will probably play with the 5 year olds, though. Funny how that's always the case. ;) He mostly likes to play independently and is in a self contained class in school. He is in Social Skills Training classes every Saturday, so hopefully he can put his skills to good use in the Kids Club in 2 weeks. He is REALLY excited for the cruise! Good luck to you! ;)

[PrincessDreams4P&B]

As the mother of a High Functioning son with Autism (ASD) and one with Sensory Integration Disorder, I cannot tell you how happy it makes me to see so many parents wanting to cruise with their ASD children. We have travel with our boys since they were infants and they love to travel.

 

We took our boys on the Carribbean Princess and they were treated so warmly and were cared for so much that by the end of day 2, we were leaving them in the kids club (at the boys request) without worry or hesitation. I strongly agree with putting your child in their "neurological" age group, not chronological, as long as it is not a safety issue (like a 12 year old in with 3 year olds). Princess let our then 7 year old in with his 4 year old brother and they had a great time.

 

There are so many positives to cruising and you can make it a wonderful tool to use to help with social skills, speech, etc.

 

Happy crusing to all of you!

[tlmaule]

We just returned from the Carnival Imagination with our 7yo DS who has ASD - he had a blast!!!! I called and spoke to the head of Camp Carnival before we went, and she was wonderfully reassuring - she contacted the head counselor on our ship directly to "introduce" us, so once we were on board, Maria greeted us like we had known each other forever, and made our son feel very welcome.

 

Zach ended up hanging out in the 3-5's group, which was a perfect fit for him - we looked at the Capers for each of the groups (6-8 and 3-5) and decided the younger activities were more well suited for him - he has ASD and SI, so doesn't write/read independently, etc. He loved the group he was with, and sort of acted as the older brother in some situations.

 

From what I've heard, most of the cruise lines will allow special needs kids to stay with their neurological age groups (I liked that way of explaining it, PrincessDreams!). We chose Carnival after I had called a few of the lines and spoke to home office folks - Carnival was the only one who really took the time to get to know my son (okay - it was really me, I'm the worrywart - Zach did just fine - LOL;) ) via phone before we even booked.

 

I'm sure your friend's son will enjoy RCL as well - I understand they have an awesome program and work with the autism-on-the-seas group too!

 

:cool: Tamara

[CruisingCatherine]

I was also worried about taking my 10 year old on a cruise. He has Aspergers and ADHD. I worried about the social situations and how he would be with the total change to his environment. He LOVED Adventure Ocean. The staff was understanding and he felt very comfortable. He enjoyed himself so much he did not want to go with us on 2 Islands and instead stayed at Adventure Ocean.

 

A few tips I utilized with my son on our cruise. I planned early seating and spoke with RCCL about a table for 4. I explained my son's special needs and how new people in forced social settings can be difficult. On both cruises with our son we had a table for 4. I brought along his favorite toys that make him feel comfortable. I also dressed him in the softest clothes I could find. This helps with lowering stimulation levels. I would not hesitate to cruise with him again anytime!!

[Miss Jolly]

Just a little hint that I would like to pass on after travelling with my teenage daughter who has ADHD and Asperger's. Maybe discuss with the child before hand that sometimes planned activities may not go ahead as scheduled. My daughter loves cruising but this seemed to cause some disappointment as she would become very excited about a planned activity, only to be let down when it wasn't held. I'm sure your friends will have a lovely time and become addicted to cruising as we all have. She is very fortunate to have such a caring friend in you.

[seattle2000]

Consider having a set routine for breakfast in the morning, if your child is tied to routine. We ordered room service juice and muffins every morning, and would send one parent upstairs for bacon and scrambled eggs (no hot breakfast on our NCL cruise). This set a very calm tone for the day, and let us get the kids off to the kid's club at 9am (which they wanted). The one day we went off-routine was a disaster.

 

Other nice routines we've done in the past are:

• retain as many of our evening bedtime routines as possible (brush teeth, pj's nighttime story, etc. (my kids are 4 and 7)
  
• a set time for swimming (if you are in a warm enough locale)
  
• promise of one ice cream cone every day
  
• evening "night snack" from room service or the buffet
  
• giving our child a camera to "hide" behind, and allowing her to use the onboard photo printing service to put together a photo album as the cruise progressed
  
• reading the lunch and dinner menus to the kids before going to the restaurants for a meal (you can get copies from reception for older kids)
  
• letting the kids "customize" their cabin space with window clings, artwork, and their stuffed animal collection
  
• finding quiet spots on the ship to just hang out and do something special with them -- drink a frothy fruity drink, play cards, read, etc. The bar areas during the daytime are usually pretty empty

[lovetocruise99]

I think the most important thing for a child with Asperger's on a cruise is to keep stressful situations at a minimum.

 

(1) Muster drill-try not to place the child squeezed in the middle of a crowd of people.

 

(2)Go to the maitre'd on the first night and ask for a private table by explaining the child's situation. Having to eat with strangers every night can be very stressful for Asperger's children. The buffet is another dining option at night.

 

(3) Avoid crowds whenever possible-Getting off the ship, buffets at busy times etc.

 

(4) Don't sit under the speakers at the shows. This can be quite loud if you're directly underneath them.

 

(5) On cruises there can be a lot of waiting around in crowds, especially if you book ship shore excursions. These should be avoided if possible.

 

Hope this helps!

[Miss Jolly]

Oh yes - I forgot that one. We took private tours rather than ship tours. That way it was just our family in the tour group and we could make any adjustments needed at the time. Believe it or not, for a family of four (our children are mid-teens so are often charged at adult prices) it was less expensive than ship tours plus we saw so much more than those who took ship tours.

[Travelitis]

We took our son before he was diagnosed with Asperger's, and he had a great time (was 13). He stopped by some of the teen activities but didn't join in much. He was more comfortable doing his own thing or hanging out with family. He is begging for another cruise.

[karenem]

How did I miss this thread!? I also have a 13YO ASD boy, and yes, one of the first things I did was call Princess and make sure he could go into the 8-12 group instead of the 13-17 group. We're bringing a letter from the school just in case. I love the hints about making/keeping a routine going--thanks! We also have a 3 and 5YO, so I suspect this will be really important to keep things fun and low-stress.

[CruisingCatherine]

Karen,

 

You know how change can affect your son, especially surprises. We found something that really helped him. We researched and found some great Photo Albums on line for our cruise ship. He was able to watch them and by the time we went on the cruise, he felt like his surrounding were somewhat familiar. Wasn't as much of a shock.

[karenem]

Good idea! I'll do that. He's actually pretty good at rolling with the changes, as long as there's a basic framework to adhere to, and I take time to explain what's coming up. I was a little worried about putting him with the younger kids--that he would think I think he's immature or whatever--but he was fine with it. Even said, yeah, don't put me in there with those animals! (heh). It helps that he's 4'10" and 75 lbs, so he will fit in just fine with slightly younger kids.

 

He's a tad annoyed that I "assigned" Jack London's "Call of the Wild" to read before the trip, but I really think (1) it's a great book and (2) reading about the Alaskan gold rush will make seeing the actual places even better.