4 night or 7 night with DD first time cruise and disability

[minnieandmickey]

I have done the 3 day cruise and loved it. I am worried about my DD though. She has never cruised before and has a disability where she cannot handle lots of noise or people for long periods of time. She reacts by shutting down or crying. If she is with me I think she will be ok, but I would like for her to try the kids clubs, but that is another worry. She is 10 but is more of a maturity of a 7 yo and is working school wise on a 1st/2nd grade level, so I am worried that the activities will be "over her head". If she doesn't like the kids club, then of course I will not make her go, but are there things we can do together? The cruise that I went on was my best friend,her daughter(13 and never seen once we got on the ship), and I, so we did alot of adult activities. What would you do? She is so looking forward to her 1st cruise.

 

[ohiominnie]

I'd think there'd be things for you to do on the ship. Bingo (she couldn't actually play, but she could go). Night time show. Movies. Dueling pianos (family version). Shuffleboard. Ping pong. Swimming. Arcade. Walking around deck.
I'd suggest a room with a verandah, so if you needed to get away from the people, but didn't want to be shut into a room, you'd have somewhere private to go with her.
HTH.

 

[Lisa]

I would suggest printing out the navigaters for your DD's age and perhaps the group younger. You can select to bring your DD to those activities you know she could handle. Talk to the counselors when you first register your DD for the club, they are great.

 

[kshabare]

There's always the secret deck 7 to sit and catch some rays. Also, we often found deck 4 very low-key. They have shuffleboard set up around and that would be fun too. Make sure you let the counselors know about her reactions to excessive noise - they probably can help out. You should be able to take a few minutes to yourself. I don't know that I recall the kids jumping around all the time. Ask them for suggested times for her to visit.

Whatever you do - enjoy. It's heaven on the wide-open sea!

Kim ºOº