Adventure Ocean - Can Parents Join?

[TravelingBeyondBoundaries]

My daughter has special needs, Royal's special needs service said they can give her a potty training exception but that they don't have additional staff to help her. Unfortunately she needs close adult supervision so I'm not comfortable leaving her there alone with the group.

Does anyone have experience with a parent being able to attend with their child? I really don't want her to miss out on the kids activities. I do plan on going to AO during their registration event to ask but wondering in advance. 

Thanks!

[Colombia20102018]

This is going to be up to the staff. Depends on what activity, how many kids are there, their age, etc. One person might allow it and the next won’t. If they say no, you can always ask to speak to a supervisor. I’m not particularly impressed with any of the activities so far, to me this is more like a day care. Even if they say no, in my opinion, you won’t be missing much.

[Cello56]

There might be a legal issue of having a random adult in with other people's children. They would not have done any screening of you or a  background check. I'm not sure what issues your child has, but they do have certain cruises that have a program called Autism of the Seas where there are additional staff on board that are trained to work with autistic children. 

https://autismontheseas.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjw5pShBhB_EiwAvmnNV85SRVxvENJHP6TEBtPanHtSJuzDsQuRKDll4A14MIydaZwT3a4AqBoCzwoQAvD_BwE

[smokeybandit]

They do have parent/child interactive activities in between the 3-hour AO sessions. But I wouldn't expect you to be allowed to attend AO for liability/legal reasons.

[TravelingBeyondBoundaries]

2 hours ago, Cello56 said:

There might be a legal issue of having a random adult in with other people's children. They would not have done any screening of you or a  background check. I'm not sure what issues your child has, but they do have certain cruises that have a program called Autism of the Seas where there are additional staff on board that are trained to work with autistic children. 

https://autismontheseas.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjw5pShBhB_EiwAvmnNV85SRVxvENJHP6TEBtPanHtSJuzDsQuRKDll4A14MIydaZwT3a4AqBoCzwoQAvD_BwE

Thanks. The autism program is insanely expensive and limited. That makes sense though, just sucks that my daughter misses out. Hopefully they will have family activities she can do.

[Cello56]

May I ask how old your daughter is? Depending on her age and ability levels you could do fun things like watching Karaoke, mini putt, rock climbing wall. They run game shows that even if she doesn't really understand the games she might enjoy the music they play. There might be some 'family' Adventure Ocean activities like movies and family games that you could attend with her. Watch your cruise compass for those. Even if you don't plan on leaving in AO at least make sure that you get the AO compass to be able to watch for these family type events. Would you be comfortable to take her to AO for a specific activity you think she might  enjoy and be able to participate in that only lasts 30 minutes? If so, maybe you could drop her off and then hang out just outside the venue in case she needs you? 

 

Another thing you could do is plan activities on your own that you know she would enjoy and are at her level. Maybe a shipwide scavenger hunt for nautical things you would find on a ship? Coloring pages that are sea themed that you work on together in a lounge with ocean views. Binoculars to let her watch the ship coming into port and to see the port area up close. 

 

[TravelingBeyondBoundaries]

 

25 minutes ago, Cello56 said:

May I ask how old your daughter is? Depending on her age and ability levels you could do fun things like watching Karaoke, mini putt, rock climbing wall. 

Thanks so much. I've been looking at past cruise compasses to see what's available but I'll have to find an AO one.

She'll be 5 but she's the size of a 2 year old and has only been walking for less than a year. Developmentally she's about 12-18 months old. I know she will enjoy the baby splash zone (4 out of 5 cruises we have booked right now have one) but sitting there all day isn't the way I want to spend my cruise lol. She loves music so I know we will be listening to that a lot throughout the ship. She's too small for many activities like the rock climbing wall and not sure she can do mini putt.

If they had enough staff for very close supervision I would be ok with leaving her for 30 minutes to do one activity but I guess that will depend on staffing and other children. My daughter has zero safety awareness and will just wander without an adult directing her. She's non verbal and puts everything into her mouth. Any kind of craft she needs an adult directly with her to make sure she doesn't eat everything and help with the tasks. We go to library programs frequently and she goes to preschool, she enjoys a lot of different activities but she needs an adult close for her safety and to actually participate.

[smokeybandit]

14 minutes ago, TravelingBeyondBoundaries said:

 

Thanks so much. I've been looking at past cruise compasses to see what's available but I'll have to find an AO one.

She'll be 5 but she's the size of a 2 year old and has only been walking for less than a year. Developmentally she's about 12-18 months old. I know she will enjoy the baby splash zone (4 out of 5 cruises we have booked right now have one) but sitting there all day isn't the way I want to spend my cruise lol. She loves music so I know we will be listening to that a lot throughout the ship. She's too small for many activities like the rock climbing wall and not sure she can do mini putt.

If they had enough staff for very close supervision I would be ok with leaving her for 30 minutes to do one activity but I guess that will depend on staffing and other children. My daughter has zero safety awareness and will just wander without an adult directing her. She's non verbal and puts everything into her mouth. Any kind of craft she needs an adult directly with her to make sure she doesn't eat everything and help with the tasks. We go to library programs frequently and she goes to preschool, she enjoys a lot of different activities but she needs an adult close for her safety and to actually participate.

In the end you should ask to speak to the AO lead when you board. Each child with special needs has their own unique special needs as you well know, so the lead may be able to help you tailor your experience.

[Cello56]

Ok, have you considered asking if you can take her to the Royal Tots & Babies program is for kids 6-36 months. I wonder if this would be a more appropriate setting for your daughter. Much lower staff to child ratio. You do have to pay per hour, but it is very reasonable. 

 

When we took our son and his family on Oasis there was also a room in the kids club area with large toys - think plastic slides and play houses and other play toys that might be outside normally. This room was for the younger kids and parents HAD to be there with their child. Our oldest granddaughter was 3, but not 100% toilet trained then so we spent lots of time there and she had a blast. There are also climbing things on Boardwalk that kept even the 1.5 year old entertained. A couple days they brought a lot of cool activities to the Boardwalk area - hoops, cones, face painting, giant checkers and both kids had a great time. Boardwalk also had a FULL SIZE merry-go-round! 

[Cello56]

[TravelingBeyondBoundaries]

17 minutes ago, Cello56 said:

When we took our son and his family on Oasis there was also a room in the kids club area with large toys - think plastic slides and play houses and other play toys that might be outside normally. This room was for the younger kids and parents HAD to be there with their child. 

This is exactly what I think I'm looking for, thanks! Also glad to hear they had fun activities on the boardwalk for families as well.

Thanks everyone so much! I will definitely be checking with staff but sounds like there are enough activities for us to do together that we should be good. Can't wait!

[Cello56]