Royal Caribbean becomes first ‘autism friendly’ cruise line
Royal Caribbean International has become the first cruise line to gain ‘autism friendly’ certification for its entire fleet of ships.
Bronze level certification has been awarded by Autism On the Seas, a cruise vacation services organisation for families with children with special needs.
RCI’s fleet will achieve silver level accreditation by the end of 2014.
The certification process requires a ship to conform to certain standards of care, availability of amenities and best practice including staff training and awareness, adapted cabin accommodations and special dietary options.
It also includes priority boarding and dedicated services for special needs groups, and equal access to amenities, with appropriate autism friendly modifications for children’s activities.
According to the cruise line’s executive vice president of operations Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, Royal Caribbean has been working with Autism On the Seas for more than seven years.
The organisation said it is also working on certifying other cruise lines including Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises and Disney Cruise Line.
There are four levels in the certification process – bronze, silver, gold and diamond.
Report by TravelMole US
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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