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Autism and Boarding Time


jeffporfirio

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Hello.

New to the boards, and need to say this community is the most helpful I've experienced.

We are going on our first RCCL after 6 DCL's. (not an AOTS)

We are cruising with with our 10yrl old who has been diagnosed with Autism. I disclosed this when booking, and it got noted on our reservations. The agent told us that we would have expedited boarding available. This is great as he does not do well with waiting in line.

 

Does expedited boarding, mean early boarding? or just passed quickly through the terminal?

At DCL we were able to request earliest boarding, as anxiety gets high bummer on sail days for him, and I'm fretting over getting a 1 or 2 pm boarding time.

Have other parents been able to request this?

 

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13 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Boarding time varies by week. You wouldn't necessarily want an early check-in time since you may still wait in a line after checking in to actually board.

You may want an 11:30-12pm check-in time since by the time you get through check-in you could go right on board.

Thanks for your reply. Will keep this in mind 11:30 to Noon.

Are boarding times assigned by RCL by seniority (number of RCL cruises ; that is how it's assigned at RCL) ? If so, can an earlier time be requested?

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Boarding times are first come, first serve, but hopefully RC can give you whatever paperwork you need to get to the front of lines once you to arrive.

 

There are typically 4 places (might vary by port) you could encounter a line.

 

1) Outside the terminal checking that you have a set sail pass.

2) Security line, typical of your airport security line

3) The actual check-in desk

4) Boarding the ship. Even once the ship is cleared for boarding there still could be a line to have your set sail pass scanned to board.

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12 minutes ago, jeffporfirio said:

Thanks for your reply. Will keep this in mind 11:30 to Noon.

Are boarding times assigned by RCL by seniority (number of RCL cruises ; that is how it's assigned at RCL) ? If so, can an earlier time be requested?

Boarding times are made available 45 days before your sail date and are chosen by customer on a first-come first serve basis. Most people really aim for the earliest times so opting for one that's in the middle of the herd should mean you're able to grab something with minimal stress.

I would also like to add to what smokey said about boarding times varying. On our trip on Allure recently, the earliest boarding time slot seemed to be 11 or 11:30 AM. But went as late as 2:30. So "middle of the herd" will vary.

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21 minutes ago, CrimsonCruiser said:

On our trip on Allure recently, the earliest boarding time slot seemed to be 11 or 11:30 AM. But went as late as 2:30. So "middle of the herd" will vary.

I didn't mean the check-in slots, but actual boarding time.

 

I've checked in at 10:30 before and went right on board. Also checked in at 11am and sat for nearly an hour before we could board.

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53 minutes ago, jeffporfirio said:

We are cruising with with our 10yrl old who has been diagnosed with Autism. I disclosed this when booking, and it got noted on our reservations. The agent told us that we would have expedited boarding available. This is great as he does not do well with waiting in line.

 

I would also recommend downloading the Cruising Social Story. RCCL has an excellent program for cruising with children/teens/adults with autism.

If you google Royal Caribbean and Autism you will find a lot of great info. I think there was a reference to this program in one of the blog posts as well.

Have a wonderful cruise.

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We travel with a party member in a wheelchair. Your arrive time is whatever you pick, but your expedited boarding is probably similar. From smokeybandit's list above, for us for (2) and (3) you end up going to a different line which are much shorter (only a few people), there should be somebody there directing you.

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My 16 year old son has Autism but at this age does much better with lines, wait times etc, but when he was younger it was much more difficult, so I understand where you are coming from. We haven’t disclosed our son’s diagnosis while cruising because we honestly don’t require any accommodations at this point. However, this past February when we were in line to check in for Brilliance in Tampa, we were the first family at the corral for our time slot - we had the second slot, 11am and we were right on time. Back then they strickly enforced check in times then so most other corrals had long lines and unhappy, grumbling people.  I was chatting with the port personel lady while waiting for the line ahead to move before they let more people in the building. After interacting with my son, she pulled me aside and asked if he had a disability. I said yes and a few moments later when they let more people onto the building she walked us to a check in person that had no line (probably the key/ suite line) and we zipped through and where walking on the ship a few minutes later. If you have any concerns at all definitely reach out to the port personnel as well as crew once on board. Have a great cruise!

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17 hours ago, Firefly said:

My 16 year old son has Autism but at this age does much better with lines, wait times etc, but when he was younger it was much more difficult, so I understand where you are coming from. We haven’t disclosed our son’s diagnosis while cruising because we honestly don’t require any accommodations at this point. However, this past February when we were in line to check in for Brilliance in Tampa, we were the first family at the corral for our time slot - we had the second slot, 11am and we were right on time. Back then they strickly enforced check in times then so most other corrals had long lines and unhappy, grumbling people.  I was chatting with the port personel lady while waiting for the line ahead to move before they let more people in the building. After interacting with my son, she pulled me aside and asked if he had a disability. I said yes and a few moments later when they let more people onto the building she walked us to a check in person that had no line (probably the key/ suite line) and we zipped through and where walking on the ship a few minutes later. If you have any concerns at all definitely reach out to the port personnel as well as crew once on board. Have a great cruise!

Thanks. This eases my mind. We as well, don't usually disclose his diagnosis, but lines and loud noises are still a challenge. We are not looking for any privileges, but more-so not to incommodate other passengers.

Again, Thanks

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On 9/21/2022 at 11:02 AM, jeffporfirio said:

Thanks. This eases my mind. We as well, don't usually disclose his diagnosis, but lines and loud noises are still a challenge. We are not looking for any privileges, but more-so not to incommodate other passengers.

Again, Thanks

Just wanted to let you know how we do things with special needs In Port Everglades.  In the morning, we are given a list with those who have registered with Autism/Special needs.  As soon as the guest arrives and identifies as special needs, they are escorted immediately thru security, check in and upstairs for boarding.  If boarding has not started they will sit in a segregated area and once boarding starts will be ushered in.  I can't promise the same procedure is in place at other terminals, but I hope it will be similar.

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15 minutes ago, mscinmia said:

Just wanted to let you know how we do things with special needs In Port Everglades.  In the morning, we are given a list with those who have registered with Autism/Special needs.  As soon as the guest arrives and identifies as special needs, they are escorted immediately thru security, check in and upstairs for boarding.  If boarding has not started they will sit in a segregated area and once boarding starts will be ushered in.  I can't promise the same procedure is in place at other terminals, but I hope it will be similar.

Thank you! Hoping a similar process is in place in Rome.

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Jeff you mentioned you aren't doing AOTS, I believe you might be able to switch the cruise over to them if it isn't too late.  And if it is, I know that they've given RC some sort of designation as being autism friendly.  I would contact RC's special needs department and explain your situation, perhaps they could make arrangements for boarding?  It's been many years since my little guy (now 20) needed accommodations on board, but I do recall that if the right people were made aware, they'd do everything they could.   Your TA might be right, it might be on your official paperwork/info, but my concern would be getting that information to the right people with the right timing.  Also, can you stay in Civitavecchia itself the night before the cruise, to minimize the craziness, instead of coming in from Rome city?  I recall it's a bit of a schlep from Rome to the port.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 9/26/2022 at 11:38 AM, Levi is good said:

Jeff you mentioned you aren't doing AOTS, I believe you might be able to switch the cruise over to them if it isn't too late.  And if it is, I know that they've given RC some sort of designation as being autism friendly.  I would contact RC's special needs department and explain your situation, perhaps they could make arrangements for boarding?  It's been many years since my little guy (now 20) needed accommodations on board, but I do recall that if the right people were made aware, they'd do everything they could.   Your TA might be right, it might be on your official paperwork/info, but my concern would be getting that information to the right people with the right timing.  Also, can you stay in Civitavecchia itself the night before the cruise, to minimize the craziness, instead of coming in from Rome city?  I recall it's a bit of a schlep from Rome to the port.

Thanks.

I appreciate this. Actually, our little one is kinda looking forward to Med Cruise (he's fully into travelling Europe, and we have done 2 Northern Europe cruises with DCL).

What you mention above is really helpful, getting the right people to know of our 'special' circumstance.

Thanks also for the port tip. We are planning on arriving one day prior to the cruise and staying that night at the port.

Again, thanks 

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Thanks everyone.  We are planning a cruise to Alaska in 2024.  DS2 has autism and ID.  DS1 and DD2 have CP and ID.  I assume we can get expedited check-in at Seward.  They will be 27 when we sail and we should be ok once onboard.  It will be fun.  DD1 is a special ed teacher.  So we get it.  Just concerned about check-in.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hello everyone.

My wife asked me a question about dining and I didn't have an answer, but I know you guys/gals probably do.

With our little who has an ASD diagnosis, can he order/get his usual chicken strips, fries and jello at Specialty Restaurants?

Does anyone have experience ordering for a special needs passenger something off-menu at specialty restaurants?

 

Thanks again, everyone here is pretty awesome

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4 hours ago, jeffporfirio said:

Does anyone have experience ordering for a special needs passenger something off-menu at specialty restaurants?

Items readily available onboard like this, usually no problems.  Someone will run and fetch the items if they don't have them on-hand in the kitchen at a particular restaurant.

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We are cruising with friends over Christmas that have a disabled daughter and she has found the Autism on the Seas group very helpful. Once her booking opens up for check in she was instructed to call this group and schedule a boarding time that works for their family. (Our booking opens up Nov 9th so I will know more about the boarding process for them after that) She has also completed a guest special needs form that covers a wide range of needs, from dietary to stateroom accommodations. There are many resources and supports available with special trained staff.  I have included links below that may be helpful.  

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

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/resources/guest-special-needs

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