Have you ever seen a group with matching bright orange t-shirts on your Royal Caribbean cruise? If so, you likely had volunteers and families from Autism on the Seas on your cruise.
These volunteers help families with special needs children and adults have an incredible Royal Caribbean cruise by providing assistive services and care.
Photo Credit: Autism on the Seas Facebook
Autism on the Seas is an organization that has a longstanding partnership with Royal Caribbean to operate regularly on cruise itineraries around the world. In fact, Autism on the Seas, founded in 2007, is a leading developmental disability service supplier to the cruise industry.
The goal of this program is to provide the highest quality of assisted care to ensure families have a truly relaxing and rejuvenating vacation.
Photo Credit: Autism on the Seas Facebook
Volunteers from Autism on the Seas make it possible for these families to have a vacation like no other by providing attentive, personalized care throughout their cruise.
While most cruisers have never heard of this awesome program, we are excited to share an insider perspective through one volunteer’s personal experience.
Meet Sydney: Volunteer on Autism on the Seas
As Royal Caribbean Blog fans, you might remember my cruising buddy, Sydney, from a recent Radiance of the Seas live blog to Alaska. Sydney and I were roommates on Semester of the Sea back in college, sailing 100 days to 4 continents while taking classes.
When we sailed to Alaska, Sydney told me about her upcoming volunteer opportunity on Enchantment of the Seas. I couldn’t wait to share her experience with the program – even though I’ve cruised more than 30 times with Royal Caribbean, I had never heard of Autism on the Seas.
As you can imagine, volunteers for Autism on the Seas need to be highly qualified to provide the necessary and attentive care to those with special needs. Sydney first learned of the program back in college and was excited to apply, but she wasn’t accepted initially due to not having enough experience.
The program encouraged her to apply again in the future, especially if she completed her master’s and had more experience in the special needs field.
After Sydney graduated with her degree in Psychology & Childhood Studies, she completed her master’s degree in Special Education with an emphasis on Autism Spectrum Disorder from George Mason University.
With more experience under her belt, Sydney reapplied to be a volunteer and was accepted. Once accepted, she applied to multiple itineraries and was offered a contract for a sailing on Enchantment of the Seas.
This sailing was a 6-night Bermuda cruise with two overnights in Kings Wharf, Bermuda.
Since Sydney was accepted into the program, she can now continue applying for future volunteer opportunities with the program.
How Autism on the Seas Helps All Special Needs Families
Just like we all need some vacation time, families who have special needs children also undeniably deserve to have an amazing cruise experience. Unfortunately for these families, it’s inherently more difficult to have a relaxing vacation when you have a child who requires special care.
The program is not limited to autism, as any disability or special need is welcome to the program. There is no age limit, although most families have children or young adults.
Photo Credit: Autism on the Seas Facebook
Autism on the Seas helps families by providing assistance on many cruise lines, but most commonly partners with Royal Caribbean. Families book their cruises through Autism on the Seas, which acts as a travel agency by organizing and planning everything for families.
Since this was Sydney’s first cruise with the program, she was assigned as a general volunteer to really get to know the program. Families are also able to request a one-on-one volunteer if they feel that would be more beneficial. While general volunteers float across families as needed, one-on-one volunteers are assigned to a single family and assist throughout the entire cruise.
Volunteers offer respite sessions throughout the cruise, which allows parents to drop off their participants in a safe space. This gives parents and family members the opportunity to have some alone time.
The program provides assistance for three meals a day where volunteers are present to provide aid to families.
During sea days, two respite sessions are offered for around two hours each. Port days offer one respite session in addition to staff-supported shore excursions. The respite sessions are hosted in a safe space on the cruise ship; on Sydney’s specific cruise, this was in the conference center onboard.
Sydney’s Volunteer Preparation
In the months leading up to the cruise, Sydney was able to download the Autism on the Seas app to complete necessary training. The app had a checklist of tasks to complete as well.
Transportation and accommodations before the cruise are not provided for volunteers, although volunteers get their cruise fare covered through the program. Because of this, Sydney applied exclusively for cruises that left from Baltimore since that is the closest port to her home in Virginia.
Like any other Royal Caribbean cruiser, Sydney needed a negative Covid-19 test result before boarding.
The night before boarding, Sydney received an unexpected call that one of the other volunteers tested positive for her pre-departure test. That staff member was originally assigned to be a one-on-one volunteer with a specific family.