My DS is 14, high functioning Autistic and is about to go on his 5th
DCL cruise.
His first was at 23 months.. before the diagnosis.
He has ALWAYS had a hard time with the clubs. He loves the ship and traveling in general. This will be our first cruise with him at Edge or Vibe (14 seem to be able to go to both?).
On previous trips he has gone to the clubs at least twice for a set amount of time (ie. while hubby and I are at Palo or in Rainforest Room) and he has always been waiting by the check out area when we come to get him. Counselors are kind and really try to get him to participate - we have always put a lot of information on his sign up sheet... everything about him.
We plan to take him to Edge and Vibe during the open houses on the first day. He can go with a cousin (all girls) to the Edge or Vibe... will have one in each, and I think I will ask the girls to send me a message if my DS shows up... or leaves, just for another set of eyes - for the non-open house times.
But if he goes will completely depend on what they are doing in the clubs each day... if they show a movie he likes, he might go, if they do a project he is interested in he might go. My current expectation is he will go when hubby or I take him to an open house.
On other cruises, he has become very invested in a series of events... and wanted to go ONLY for those... I think it was a mystery... "Get the Hook", he wanted to know how it ended, but wouldn't go early and asked them to call us if we were late picking him up. Being our first time with Edge/Vibe age kiddo, this will be new to me.
I can post our experiences when we get back, if you are interested.
For our kiddo, the more information he has to start the better he does... we watch a lot of ship tour videos on youtube etc. So he had some framework going in.
Good Luck. I hope your family trip is wonderful!