Travel Autistic

I’m currently on Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Sea for a five night cruise. Royal Caribbean aren’t my usual cruise line and I’ve only sailed with them once before.

Boarding

Boarding as a disabled passenger could not have been easier. I have a physical disability as well as being autistic so when we arrived at the port I showed my access card and we didn’t have to queue.

Our passports were checked before we went into the security area and we were told we wouldn’t need them again after that. We went through airport style security before checking in.

The check in process was really quick and easy. Someone scanned our passes (which you’ll find in the app), took our photos and then directed us towards the ship.

Once onboard we went to our muster stations.

The Cabin

I’m travelling with a friend and when we arrived our cabin had been set up as requested with two beds. The cabin was clean and comfortable.

Unfortunately, we were in a cabin next to a family with toddlers and within minutes the children were banging on the walls, screaming and running up and down corridors. The walls are often thin on cruise ships so you can hear a lot. We went to guest services to request a room change and I told them I’m autistic and struggle with noise.

The process was slow but we were eventually given another, quieter room.

Food

The first day we didn’t want to queue for tables in the restaurant so we had lunch and dinner in the buffet. The buffet on board is really varied with a section for “American” food (burgers and hot dogs), a section for “international” food (curries, stir fries, pasta dishes), and a huge selection of desserts. There didn’t seem to be much difference between what was available at lunch and dinner.

When you enter the buffet there are sinks to wash hands and the buffet seemed clean and well organised.

Entertainment

During the day I learned how to play 3 card poker and this was a lot of fun! I don’t think I’d put any money on my ability to play, but I enjoyed learning.

The main entertainment was a ventriloquist and having grown up on goosebumps books I decided to give that a miss! There were a lot of other things happening on the ship including karaoke, DJs, live music, an ice show, a silent disco, game shows, surfing and an escape room (for an additional cost).

We went to the solo meet up which was a bit of a disappointment. It’s self led and it’s in one of the bars. They don’t have a table reserved or anything like that so it was really hard to find other solos. We did eventually meet some great people but it’s not the easiest way to do it and I imagine some solos attended and didn’t find anyone.

After the solos we headed to the LGBTQ+ meetup with some of the other solo travellers. Again it was self led and we seemed to be the only people who attended, although there may have been other people in there for the meet up who we didn’t realise were LGBTQ+.

We decided to spend the rest of the evening in the casino. I think casinos can be a bit hit or miss in terms of atmosphere but the atmosphere at the black jack table was brilliant. We had a dealer called Liam who was so much fun!

Day 1 was really fun. The ship is big and I’ve only just begun to explore it but I’m excited to see what else this ship has.