We sailed on Majesty of the Seas in July with and found that the Autism on the Seas program was nothing more than an advertising campaign. They may have been 'aware' but regulations prevented them from doing anything different than they would do for every other child.
Our son was required to participate only with his age range, 6-8 year olds, even though their activities consisted almost entirely of chaotic games where kids were running around screaming at each other. He could not move down one level to do the coloring and arts and crafts with the younger kids on his developmental level. They would not allow me to walk into the kids area with him, not even briefly to get him started. Our DD was with the 9-11 yo group (which she loved), and she wasn't allowed to walk him into his area or assist him in any way either. Neither could he join with her in the older age group. The staff were very nice and arranged for him to have coloring books and colors to use at a table at the back of his age area, but their regulations were completely inflexible regarding age ranges and access.
Next, I tried to arrange (paid) private 'babysitting' for a staff member to accompany him into the kids club one evening so we could enjoy the Chef's Table on our anniversary. At first they said it was an option, but no one was available even though we tried 3 days in advance. I know it sounds like we kept trying to dump him, but he REALLY want to go in with the other kids, but then at the last minute he would change his mind and refuse to walk in alone, and then he would cry when his sister stayed and he left with us... and of course DD kept wanting to go back.
Finally, one evening during paid after hours the 6-11 year olds were combined, so he and his sister could enter and stay together. He was so happy to be a part of it, but only because we could finally fit his needs into their standard offerings. The staff were very nice, attentive and wanted to help, but there were no accommodations allowed per RCL regulations.
