With over a thousand apps now available to help individuals with special needs it has become increas

We love to travel but after kids vacations stopped being relaxing. They became avis car rental australia trips. And while our trips provided us with great memories, they were often stressful and exhausting.  We loved the family time but we missed the days of relaxing vacations.
at designated times. This was especially helpful during our first cruise when we were reluctant to take Evan to the kids’ club.  Now we are comfortable dropping him off but we group him with younger avis car rental australia kids to match his developmental age.
The majority of our trips have not been with an AToS group because we prefer to pick the ship and sailing avis car rental australia date instead of planning around their schedule. Plus, AToS charges extra per day, per passenger for a group cruise.  If a group trip happens to coincide with a group cruise, we consider it an added bonus.
I’ve also talked with Autism Adventure Travel , another company offering staffed cruises and travel opportunities to families with special needs. Although we did not travel with them, they were incredibly helpful when I planned one of our trips.
We like to sail on Royal Caribbean because the ships are family-friendly and much of the staff understands autism (which is why the cruise line was recently certified by AToS as the first autism-friendly cruise line).
A few months before a cruise I e-mail the special needs department to let them know that we are traveling with a child with autism and multiple avis car rental australia food allergies.  Most cruise lines will accommodate a special diets, including a gluten-free casein-free diet. Because our son has so many allergies, we typically bring a good amount of snack food. Many of the chefs will accept unopened, non-perishable foods. Because of Evan’s specific allergies, we give the chef pasta, avis car rental australia margarine, dairy-free chocolate chips, and canola oil.
Prior to sailing, I ask for a special phone so we can communicate with the dining staff and kids’ club staff. I have learned to bring a copy of the e-mail confirming phone access because these phones are not always readily available for passengers.
Evan typically knows what to expect on a cruise but we watch a number of You Tube videos prior to sailing so he can familiarize himself with the ship.  AToS and Autism Adventure Travel can also provide a cruise social story to those who book with them.
We ask if we can stay in our room during the mandatory safety drill due to Evan’s sensitivities to noise and difficulty sitting and waiting. Some ships have given all of us an out, others require some family members to attend.
I never expected to be a cruise junkie. I used to make fun of people who stood in buffet lines with a bunch of tourists and ventured far enough from the ship to buy a t-shirt instead of being able to experience the culture and uniqueness avis car rental australia of their destination.  For us a cruise isn’t about the destination it’s about the fun we have as a family in a way that is easy and non-stressful.
Jennifer Lovy loves working over-time as a mom of three incredible kids. She is also a full-time wife of one amazing guy, part-time accounting manager for a physician's office, occasional blogger, recovering attorney, and perpetual advocate for her children, particularly her son with autism.
With over a thousand apps now available to help individuals with special needs it has become increasingly difficult to find and choose the right special needs app. Find the perfect app for your child.
We took our 6yr old who has Down syndrome (and his brothers he is the middle of three boys) on a Disney avis car rental australia cruise in October. Best vacation ever! He loved every minute of it. He can t stand theaters (speaker systems are his nemesis), so he spent that time in Oceaneers Club. He had tons of attention there and the counselors were excellent. And at the end of every dinner, our server presented us the following night s menu so that we could pick what we wanted for him for dinner (they pureed whatever we requested since he had a feeding tube). I can t say enough about the service we received. Saving every penny so we can go on another.