Cruising with sensory/crowd difficulty

[Buckeye Princess]

We are taking on a cruise in Jan. I was wondering if anyone had experience with DCL and a child who has sensory and/or crowd difficulties. I take DD and DS to Disney all the time, often by myself as we live close. I am nervous about the cruise. We do great at Disney but I feel like I'm an expert at that by this point, whereas the cruise will be our second and our first time with these problems.

I'm worried about the crowds during boarding. We will avoid things like the sail away party and pirate party. We also plan to leave the dining rooms before the AP show and the show on the last night as those might bother her. Would you recommend I call DCL? Will they be able to offer help and suggestions, or should I just plan as much as possible and be prepared to adjust as needed?

 

[4chickadees]

Hi,
We have cruised a number of times with our sensory difficult child. Can I ask how old she is?? My son is now 15 and still has severe sensory difficulties. He is no longer a cute little kid & when he screams in public, it has people staring.

Anyway, we have cruise with Disney & we had a schedule & knew the things to stay away from. Last cruise we went on (just returned last week -- but it was not Disney), we had VIP boarding, which helped A LOT.

And, now that he is older, he can stay in the room by himself & away from the crowds (which he does most of the times).

 

[4chickadees]

I'm sure you already know this, but I found that coaching as much as possible in advance helps tremendously. If I have the schedule in advance, then I am able to coach him (in advance) through times that can be upsetting.

For example, the check-in -- I let him know that we could possible be standing in line for 1 hour, then we will go have lunch at 1 pm. For our son, if he knows times he does much better. It is the unknown that really upsets him.