We have previously sailed with Autism on the Seas (AotS) in October, 2015 aboard the Disney Wonder and had a fantastic, albeit very new experience. I'm so happy we decided to try again! As autism parents know, it's extremely difficult to entrust the care of your ASD child with a stranger. It doesn't matter if that stranger says they have XX credentials or whatever! We know what our children want even if they're nonverbal - how can a stranger know these things? We were blown away by the excellent level of care the staff gave Gavin and wish we would've trusted in them a bit more the first time around so we could have fully enjoyed that experience. Let me explain.
As you can see above, Gavin was surrounded by beautiful women. These women have more than looks going for them, because they have special skills. Sandy, Alley, and Laken all have experience working with special needs children. It's not just a job to them; it really is a passion, as we got to witness throughout our cruise. From the moment we met them, we knew Gavin would be in excellent hands and having a blast with them.
We were allowed special boarding through AotS; however, our bus wouldn't arrive until much later so we met up with the group after boarding the ship. There were a total of five autism families sailing. We met in a quiet section of the Royal Palace dining room to get to know the staff and meet the other families. We were presented with a schedule of activities for the first day of sailing and a tentative schedule for the rest of the trip. One on one, the staff discussed with each family their individual requirements/needs. For instance, my main concerns were Gavin's elopement issues (especially being on a ship in the ocean!) and his being nonverbal making communication nearly impossible for those outside his daily routine. There were other concerns as well, but we felt assured they knew exactly what they were dealing with, having dealt with many children on the spectrum like Gav. There were many respite opportunities scheduled throughout the cruise. By far, for me anyway, the best thing about traveling with AotS is that you get a nice, quiet muster drill brought right to the group by a member of the Disney Cruise Line. So while we sat comfortably in that gorgeous comfortable dining room, we went through the ins and outs of a possible emergency, without the loud whistles, the crowds wedged against us, and the heat!
We were allowed special boarding through AotS; however, our bus wouldn't arrive until much later so we met up with the group after boarding the ship. There were a total of five autism families sailing. We met in a quiet section of the Royal Palace dining room to get to know the staff and meet the other families. We were presented with a schedule of activities for the first day of sailing and a tentative schedule for the rest of the trip. One on one, the staff discussed with each family their individual requirements/needs. For instance, my main concerns were Gavin's elopement issues (especially being on a ship in the ocean!) and his being nonverbal making communication nearly impossible for those outside his daily routine. There were other concerns as well, but we felt assured they knew exactly what they were dealing with, having dealt with many children on the spectrum like Gav. There were many respite opportunities scheduled throughout the cruise. By far, for me anyway, the best thing about traveling with AotS is that you get a nice, quiet muster drill brought right to the group by a member of the Disney Cruise Line. So while we sat comfortably in that gorgeous comfortable dining room, we went through the ins and outs of a possible emergency, without the loud whistles, the crowds wedged against us, and the heat!
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Okay, so the weather didn't look that great in port. Didn't matter to us, because we were leaving anyway!!! YAY! Did I mention (no) that this was a Halloween cruise? Well, it was so there would be Halloween parties, characters dressed up in costumes, and Trick or Treating. There were many Halloween activities set up throughout the trip.
The first day is really about exploration. We walked around and let Gavin get acclimated to the ship for a while. As you can see in the photo above, he loved seeing the decorations throughout the ship. The ship shuts down around 4 pm for the muster drill so we went into our stateroom and listened as people hustled to find their muster stations. Gav enjoyed watching from the veranda all the trucks loading up the supplies to our ship. After the drill was over, the deck party was moved to an inside area because of the rainstorm. We avoided the crowd, although the staff was on hand to help the families who did go. We ordered room service that night even though the staff was available in the dining room, because Gavin was already showing signs of being overwhelmed and close to meltdown mode. Other families were down in the private dining room with the staff and reported that the staff was incredible at helping with the wandering kids and allowed the parents to enjoy their meal. We did stop in at the Kids Club for a bit and let Gavin have run around time during Open House. He had a blast!
The next day we were docked at Nassau. We didn't have an excursion, because we planned to take advantage of an empty ship. WRONG! Many people had the same idea and the ship was still packed. Luckily for us, the other four families did have excursions so Gavin had these three wonderful ladies all to himself! They took him on the Aquaduck many times. Now, to understand the importance of this comment, you need to know something about the Aquaduck. Yes, it's a long, fun water slide, but it takes a great many steps to get up there! I'm forever grateful for the effort of these ladies to have climbed with him all those times. It was a fantastic day for us all.
After the water time, we hit the Halloween party in the Atrium. Again, Gavin had all the girls to himself so he flew around like the beautiful bat he was dressed up as and Trick or Treated with the girls. He also got to dance with Donald in a little private encounter above the Atrium. He was happy as can be.
After the water time, we hit the Halloween party in the Atrium. Again, Gavin had all the girls to himself so he flew around like the beautiful bat he was dressed up as and Trick or Treated with the girls. He also got to dance with Donald in a little private encounter above the Atrium. He was happy as can be.
We had ressies at Palo, the adult only restaurant, so Gavin spent some time in the club. We had respite available but he wanted to play in Andy's Room in the club. We had set up for the staff to have sign in/out privilege with the club so they were on hand when he wanted to leave. We picked him up from the Outlook room (where respite was held each night) when we finished our delicious Chocolate Souffle! He looked to be having such a great time, it was sad to pull him from there, but it was getting late.
The next day we were docked at Disney's private island, Castaway Cay. AotS had a special arrangement that morning to allow our group to have early, private access to the Aquaduck. So at 9:30 am we met at the entrance to the Aquaduck and got to ride on it as many times as we wanted for 30 minutes (it opened to the ship passengers at 10 am). It was so amazing how many rides we were able to get in! Everybody got a trip down the slide with Gav, who had the most wonderful experience ever!
Afterward, we all exited the ship to spend time on the family beach. The staff were there to help the entire time. They swam with the kids, took them out to the play island, held a group of chairs for us all, and were on hand to help during lunch. It was a fantastic day of fun with our chairs plopped in the water while our children all played. I have to say, that day we really got to know the other parents. It was such a relaxing way to spend the afternoon and I've never seen so many special kids all having so much fun at the same time. It was an incredible experience I'll never forget.
Around 1ish, we got back to the ship and let Gavin play in the Kids Club again. We did have to discuss with the Disney crew members about Gavin's needs again, because they had mentioned areas of concern with regard to how Gavin was interacting with other children. He is a very "in your bubble" type of kid. He will come up behind a child and wrap his arms around them and hug them. Many kids don't like this, understandably, and when rejected, Gavin may push out of frustration. So, we had to explain this situation so the cast members could be on the "lookout" for the behavior and remind him "No Touch" (the words we use to remind him). This was the third time I had to discuss it with the cast members, and after telling them, they would look at their computer screen and say, "Oh, okay, I see that here. Thank you." Overall, I thought they did an awesome job with him in the play rooms using the methods I suggested and the distractions to remove him from potential problems.
That night was Respite Dinner for the parents so the staff took the kids into Outlook while we parents got to eat dinner together in peace and quiet (you know, actually CHEW THE FOOD). What can I say about this? It was absolute heaven. It was Pirate night so everybody was dressed up in their pirate best and ready for the pirate party out on the deck later. We chose to not go because it was getting late, Gavin doesn't enjoy crowds, loud noise, etc. So we hung out in our stateroom and unwound watching the great Mickey Mouse cartoons in the history of Mickey Mouse! Gavin was asleep before the first fireworks went off, but they could be seen off the veranda (don't tell DCL I said that).
Around 1ish, we got back to the ship and let Gavin play in the Kids Club again. We did have to discuss with the Disney crew members about Gavin's needs again, because they had mentioned areas of concern with regard to how Gavin was interacting with other children. He is a very "in your bubble" type of kid. He will come up behind a child and wrap his arms around them and hug them. Many kids don't like this, understandably, and when rejected, Gavin may push out of frustration. So, we had to explain this situation so the cast members could be on the "lookout" for the behavior and remind him "No Touch" (the words we use to remind him). This was the third time I had to discuss it with the cast members, and after telling them, they would look at their computer screen and say, "Oh, okay, I see that here. Thank you." Overall, I thought they did an awesome job with him in the play rooms using the methods I suggested and the distractions to remove him from potential problems.
That night was Respite Dinner for the parents so the staff took the kids into Outlook while we parents got to eat dinner together in peace and quiet (you know, actually CHEW THE FOOD). What can I say about this? It was absolute heaven. It was Pirate night so everybody was dressed up in their pirate best and ready for the pirate party out on the deck later. We chose to not go because it was getting late, Gavin doesn't enjoy crowds, loud noise, etc. So we hung out in our stateroom and unwound watching the great Mickey Mouse cartoons in the history of Mickey Mouse! Gavin was asleep before the first fireworks went off, but they could be seen off the veranda (don't tell DCL I said that).
Today was the last day of the cruise. A sea day. It was crowded on deck. The swimming pools were at capacity. We didn't want to mess with all of that. We let Gavin do what Gavin wanted to do. We walked and walked and walked. Generously, the staff allowed Gavin to play with their links so he dragged them all over the ship, in the elevators, out on deck. He took them everywhere. Around 2ish, the ladies took all of the kids to the movie theater to watch Finding Dory. I didn't think he would stay long, but wanted to let him try. Amazingly, he sat through the entire movie with them! Go figure! We were able to finish our packing during that time. Later on, we met in the Outlook for an AotS party and group picture. The kids rolled around, played, chased each other and threw beach balls around. They enjoyed it tremendously. Respite was scheduled for after the party but we wanted to spend some time with Gav on the last day. Later, when we returned the play links to the girls, Larry saw the room set up dimmed, quiet, and calm with the kids all partaking in one on one with the staff. It looked like they were having a really great time winding down.
The following day, AotS has a special arrangement with the cruise lines to be escorted off the ship together as a group prior to the torrential crowd of people who are normally pushing, shoving, yelling, and pulling off tons of rolling luggage through small children. We consider this second in importance (muster drill privacy being the first) of why AotS is worth the price! When you have a tired special needs child, you understand how golden it is to be able to avoid as much hustle and bustle as possible. Our exit from the ship was seamless! The rest of the journey home, not so, but that is where this part of the adventure ends. Thanks for reading!
The following day, AotS has a special arrangement with the cruise lines to be escorted off the ship together as a group prior to the torrential crowd of people who are normally pushing, shoving, yelling, and pulling off tons of rolling luggage through small children. We consider this second in importance (muster drill privacy being the first) of why AotS is worth the price! When you have a tired special needs child, you understand how golden it is to be able to avoid as much hustle and bustle as possible. Our exit from the ship was seamless! The rest of the journey home, not so, but that is where this part of the adventure ends. Thanks for reading!
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