Scroll
down to read Testimonials and enjoy some of our favorite
pictures from
our past Group Cruises...
August 2009 Cruise
Royal
Caribbean's "Mariner of the Seas"
Departed Los Angeles, CA and visited the Mexican Riviera
Click a picture for a larger view
"This
was the best vacation we have been on. The Autism
on the Seas staff was outstanding. We will be
booking through you again. I am going to recommend
Autism on the Seas, and Alumni cruises to all of my
clients, and all of our friends. The staff was
there for us from beginning to end. "
Robert Wolchuk -
Wisconsin
~~~
August '09 Cruise
August 2009 Cruise
Royal
Caribbean's "Mariner of the Seas"
Departed Los Angeles, CA and visited the Mexican Riviera
Click a picture for a larger view
"This
was the best vacation we have been on. The Autism
on the Seas staff was outstanding. We will be
booking through you again. I am going to recommend
Autism on the Seas, and Alumni cruises to all of my
clients, and all of our friends. The staff was
there for us from beginning to end. "
Robert Wolchuk -
Wisconsin
~~~
August '09 Cruise
"I just wanted to touch base and let you know what a
fantastic time we had and the credit goes to you and your
team. Jamie was really great!!!... We are pretty
sure we would not have even attempted the ice skating
and rock climbing wall if it was not an exclusive
event. Also, I know Charlie enjoyed the evening movies
and games better than having to attend a show with
us...."
Steve
Quigg
- California
~~~
August '09 Cruise
"As the grandparents and part of a large group, we were
mostly watchers! We learned more about Autism by watching
how other parents and the staff dealt with difficult
situations. We were especially pleased to see the amount of
participation by the 3 children with our group who did not
have autism. There was something for everyone! Great Job!"
Terry Flaherty - California
~~~
August '09 Cruise
"Autism
on the Seas provided us our first family trip. I was
so nervous prior to our trip, but felt at ease as soon as we
arrived at the port. From priority embarking (no
lines), to dining accommodations, private show seating and
ship functions, I couldn't imagine doing any other trip in
the future. We will definitely take another trip with
Autism on the Seas. "
Carrie Hassanzai -
California
~~~
August '09 Cruise
"On this cruise, my son tried things I never thought he
would do. He faced his fear of heights on the rock wall. He
went ice skating and even though he fell, he kept trying. On
the second skate session he was helping others learn to
skate. Now he wants to take ice skating lessons. Thank you!"
Heather Hawk -
Florida
~~~
August '09 Cruise
"AotS wowed us yet again, this time on the Mexican Riviera.
We will continue to cruise with AotS as they truly
understand and accommodate my son's special needs fully
while allowing mom to be entertained and have vacation time!"
Sharon Suy - North
Carolina
~~~
August '09 Cruise
"It was a
terrific vacation. It was great being around other
families from the Autism community. We're hoping to join you
again..."
Andrea Chertkow -
California
~~~
August '09 Cruise
July 2009 Disney Cruise
"Disney Wonder"
Departed Port Canaveral, FL and visited the
Bahamas
Click a
picture below for a larger view
"I appreciate the effort the staff puts into these
wonderful wonderful cruises. My family and I will
be going on a third cruise next July with Autism on the
Seas and I am truly grateful to everyone that is making
life a little brighter for our very special child. God
Bless you and will see all of you in 2010."
The
Mahoney's
- Tennessee
~~~
Disney July '09 Cruise
"Disney went out of their way to be friendly and
to meet the needs of the autistic passengers.
You guys are great!... We were most impressed with
the way you included the family with an autistic
child who were not part of this group."
The Pyle's
- Washington
~~~
Disney July '09 Cruise
"This was great. I was worried this being his
first cruise. He made friends with a couple of
the other kids during the muster drill.
Knowing we were going to meet up with the people in
the group really helped relieve some of his anxiety.
He says he wants to go again which is really good so
I guess I'm going to have to start saving.
Thank you all for a wonderful trip..."
Susan Van
Atta
- Ohio
~~~
Disney July '09 Cruise
"It was great to see all the pre-work done by AOTS with
Disney in effect. The dining staff and the Children's Club
staff were all prepped to work with us..... We were
happy not to feel constrained to doing things only as an
AOTS group (we had a great family at our table for all
meals), but felt secure in the knowledge that if necessary,
that support was available. We intend to talk up the
virtues of the AOTS program with administrators, teachers
and other parents at the special school our son attends,
with the hope of getting a group interested in doing an AOTS
cruise in the future. I can't think of any negatives
to mention - was a great time for our entire family."
John Welch
- Texas
~~~
Disney July '09 Cruise
June 2009
Royal Caribbean's "Explorer of the Seas"
Departed Bayonne, NJ and visited
Bermuda
Click a picture for a larger view
Pictures coming soon....
"Autism
of the seas took the stress out of doing activities on the
ship or on the excursions. It was also fun sharing
with the other parents. Overall it was a very enjoyable trip
and very easy. The staff was great, the entire time. I
would book a trip with them again."
Harry Weisman
- New York
~~~
June '09 Cruise
"...
I have to take a moment to thank each of you for your
part in making this such a memorable trip... Both Aaron
and Joseph say they can hardly wait to cruise again.
Aaron added, "everyone was very kind--especially
Mr. Jamie."
Selena
Robinson
- North Carolina
~~~
June '09 Cruise
"Let me tell you about the cruise. It was very
good and well organized. If you have a child
with autism they will do a good job entertaining
them. They had reserve sections for us at
theater, ice show etc. We were also first on and
first off with no problems..."
Ken Stuart
- New York
~~~
June '09 Cruise
April 2009
Royal Caribbean's "Voyager of the Seas"
Departed Galveston, TX and visited Mexico
Click a picture for a larger view
"Our
heartfelt appreciation to the entire staff of Autism on the
Seas for their support and loving attitude during the entire
cruise. Jamie was wonderful as well as, Eric. Please
continue with this beautiful mission as it opens a great
opportunity for the community of autism to experience a
great vacation."
Estella & Matthias Erdmann
- Texas
~~~
April '09 Cruise
"We would never have tried any of
these things without the private sessions. That was
pretty awesome.... Wow! I had no idea we would breeze right
past everybody in the terminal when departing the ship...I
almost felt guilty.... The priority check-in, private muster
drill and custom disembarkation are reason enough alone to
do this over and over again. The show seating was
pretty spectacular, too."
Jamie Gifford
- Texas
~~~
April '09 Cruise
"We had high expectations that this would be a very cohesive
experience for us as a family... and it was. The
private Ship/Venue Functions to me, were the key to cohesion
of not just the children, but the families as a whole,
interacting with other families children, as well as
parents."
Mary
McKinney
- Texas
~~~
April '09 Cruise
"We had a wonderful time. I never thought it would be
possible for us to go on a vacation like this with our son.
It was so awesome to see him having such a good time."
Gena Shaw
- Texas
~~~
April '09 Cruise
January 2009
Royal Caribbean's "Grandeur of the Seas"
Departed Tampa, FL and visited Key West & Mexico
Click a picture for a larger view
Pictures coming soon....
"Could not have been better,
every detail was well planned and anticipated......
For first time cruisers, we fell in love with
sailing... and definitely encourage this group to
others...."
Tim Garner
- Virginia
~~~
January '09 Cruise
The "Autism on the Seas" staff was absolutely
incredible from the time we walked on board.
So much to do, so little time! It was hard to decide
which activities to do every day, as there was a
huge choice.... The Priority Check-in and Check-out
was a GODSEND..... the show seating was perfect...
We
will Definitely Book Again."
Denise LaFave - Virginia
~~~
January '09 Cruise
November
2008
Royal Caribbean's "Enchantment of the Seas"
Departed Ft Lauderdale, FL and visited Grand Cayman & Mexico
Click a picture for a larger view
Pictures coming soon....
"I am a special education teacher and have worked
with children with Autism and other ASD's and was
anxious to see what the staff had planned. My
friend Eileen's son Robert is a child with Autism
and we came on this cruise together with the hope
that we would ALL have a great time. We
did!!! Robert enjoyed all of the activities
that were planned for the children with Autism, and
Eileen and I enjoyed all of the family activities.
Eileen's mother, Anna Belle, also participated in
some of the activities and we were all very
impressed with the planning that went into these
activities. I was very impressed, especially
with the effort that had been made to educate the
ship's staff about ASD's and how to identify the
individual needs of each child. BRAVO!!!!! We
look forward to being a part of another "Autism on
the Seas" adventure!
...As mentioned above, we all had a great time and
have already booked another "Autism on the Seas"
cruise. The effort made to insure a good time
for all was amazing. We were able to enjoy
adult time, family time, and individual time, which
is our goal on our travels together. Immediate
acceptance and understanding was amazing and we all
benefited from this cruise experience.
The ship's staff was educated about ASD's and they
were compassionate and caring, and this meant a
great deal to us all. THANKS!"
Mary Ellen Sneed, M.Ed. - Arkansas
~~~
November '08 Cruise
"Great family vacation. This was our second
cruise, first with the group. I would not want
to go any other way...."
Josie Stone - Florida
~~~
November '08 Cruise
"Love you guys, Ian is already
demanding we come back!!! Jamie and Ryan are
his new best friends. You guys did a great job
helping to prevent meltdowns and always had great
ideas...... I was amazed Ian preferred to eat in the
dinning room because he wanted to be with his
friends. We had great seats for the show.
If we had done the muster drill with everyone else
he would have ran off the ship, but you guys made it
fun."
Heather Hawk - Florida
~~~
November '08 Cruise
"The RCL Adventure Ocean
children's program went above and beyond my
expectations - not just glorified babysitting.
.."
Sharon Suy - North Carolina
~~~
November '08 Cruise
"It was nice to be able to have time
away from the busy ship activities and have private
sessions with our children.... Private
muster drill was great. Dinner service and
private room was great as well."
Tonya, Michael and Devon Labiak
- Florida
~~~
November '08 Cruise
"The "Autism on the Seas" staff is
great! What I loved best about the staff
was I learned new information from them regarding
service dogs, and ect... Another benefit was
meeting other parent's dealing with the same issues
on all levels. We look forward to traveling
with "Autism on the Seas" staff (friends) again.
Thanks!"
Kitty Casselman - Florida
~~~
November '08 Cruise
August
2008
Royal Caribbean's "Explorer of the Seas"
Departed Bayonne, NJ and visited
Bermuda
Click a picture for a larger view
"I have been raving about all
these things to my friends. It made the
trip!!!! Everyone that we met was awesome...
YOU GUYS WERE FABULOUS. You made us and our
children (Autistic and typical) feel special.
You all were so great with our kids (and us too)!!
I have been on 4 other cruises with Carnival and the
meals and food on RC were so much better.
My husband was very nervous about taking Mark
on a cruise. By doing the cruise with you, he
now has the confidence to do another. It is
hard to take a family vacation that can meet the
needs of 2 typical teenage boys and an autistic
child. With this cruise we were able to meet
everyone's needs. We were able to do things
together AND let the older boys go off on their own.
A great big THANK YOU to all of you. You WILL
be seeing the Kotosky's again..."
Rick and Ruth Ann Kotosky-
Massachusetts
~~~ August '08
Cruise
"I
have to admit, I was nervous about this vacation
because it was our first but within the first few
minutes of being on board and meeting the staff, I
knew we were going to have an experience we wouldn't
ever forget!! I can't thank you enough!"
Maria
Hansen -
New Jersey
~~~ August '08
Cruise
"Without Autism on the Seas, taking this vacation
with our family would not have been possible."
The Seidler's - New Jersey
~~~
August '08 Cruise
"We have never taken a cruise before. Getting
to know the other families was very comforting on
the ship. We were not the only ones. The
staff was terrific.... We felt that our family
was in good hands with Autism on the Seas... We look
forward to sailing again with you. Thank you
again"
Nancy
Scharrenbroich - New York
~~~
August '08 Cruise
"There are
no words to describe how happy we were with this
cruise. The Autism on the Seas staff was
amazing and I can't wait to see you all again on
our next cruise!!! I've already told a lot of
people about this and I know you'll be hearing from
them too! Anthony loved every part of it and
seeing him smiling and laughing made it all the more
perfect! Thanks again!"
Maria
Hansen -
New Jersey
~~~
August '08 Cruise
"The
private check in, muster drill, and disembarkation
were so useful. They made things much easier.
THE PRIVATE AREA FOR MEALS WAS WONDERFUL. IT
MADE IT POSSIBLE FOR US TO EAT AS A FAMILY, WITH THE
GROUP, AND NOT HAVE TO BE ISOLATED IN OUR CABIN.
A BIG PLUS!"
The Seidler's -
New Jersey
~~~
August '08 Cruise
"It was a great
experience to cruise for the 1st time with the kids. So much of
what you provided greatly enhanced and made the trip a big win
and pleasurable."
Matt Connor -
New Jersey
~~~
August '08 Cruise
"The activities
for the children with autism were great. The ship was
beautiful, the food was excellent, and the entertainment was
superb."
The Rosch's -
New Jersey
~~~
August '08 Cruise
June 2008
Royal
Caribbean's "Mariner of the Seas"
Departed Port Canaveral, FL and visited the
Bahamas and the Eastern Caribbean
Click a picture for a larger view
"Cannot
begin to express how grateful we are to you for
making our cruise awesome. For a child with
autism the world can be a puzzle. Thanks for
helping Jada put the pieces together..... We
will hopefully come again and open up this world for
Jada some more. Thanks so much for
caring..."
Joyce ,Bill and Jada
Mahoney - Savannah, Tennessee
~~~
June '08 Cruise
"Thanks again for all of your thoughtfulness and
hard work in organizing this cruise. We had a blast!
It was great meeting the other families..... We hope
to see you on another group cruise in the future."
Randy, Ingrid, Alyssa, & Evan -
Winter Garden, Florida
~~~
June '08 Cruise
"What you're doing is very good stuff. Without
it, we we would never have considered a cruise, and
we really enjoyed the cruise so we are quite
thankful to you for that. ..."
The Graves -
Marietta, Georgia
~~~
June '08 Cruise
"It's
funny. We all have what I'm calling CRUISE
HANGOVERS! The day after we got back, Alyssa kept
coming up to me asking, what do I do now daddy? She
wants to know how soon we will cruise again.
Hopefully we can do it again soon.... "
Randy, Ingrid, Alyssa, & Evan -
Winter Garden, Florida
~~~
June '08 Cruise
March
2008
Royal Caribbean's "Monarch of the Seas"
Departed
Los Angeles, CA and visited the
Mexican Riviera
Click a picture for a larger view
"Thanks again for a great vacation!
The only bad part about it was that it was not long
enough........
We will
definitely be taking the 2009 seven day cruise
from LA!!"
Michelle
Heid -
Valencia
California
~~~
March '08 Cruise
"Exceeded our expectations.
Thank you for providing such a great service.
It was the best vacation we have had in years."
Christie Speck - Anaheim, California
~~~ March '08
Cruise
"We
had such a great time on the cruise – my only
problem was getting Matthew to stop crying on the
way home; he wanted to stay!"
Victoria Berrey - Valencia,
California
~~~
March '08 Cruise
"We had an awesome time on our cruise :) Spencer
loved every moment! .......... We are seriously
considering doing this again next year."
Amy Hutchings - Burbank, California
~~~
March '08 Cruise
"Very impressed...dedicated
Wait Staff was incredible and Priority Check-In with
Private Muster Drill was great."
Rebecca Bequette - Crestline, California
~~~
March '08 Cruise
January
2008 Cruise
Royal
Caribbean's "Sovereign of the Seas"
Departed Port Canaveral, FL and visited the Bahamas
Click a picture for a larger view
“What a wonderful experience! Rainy days
didn't impact our enjoyment at all because we knew
Joey was having a wonderful time in the Adventure
Ocean Club and when our kids have a good time, we
have a good time. Thanks a million. Best
wishes, Scott and Sandy.”
The Coombs - Oviedo, Florida~~~
January '08 Cruise
“We would like to do another cruise with you guys
again ...... you guys were AWESOME!!!”
Tami
Mock - Coleman, Florida
~~~
January '08 Cruise
“Thank you very much for the great service of your
whole staff.”
Jeric Balmaceda
- Old Bridge, New
Jersey
~~~
January '08 Cruise
July 2007 Cruise
Royal
Caribbean's "Enchantment of the Seas"
Departed Ft Lauderdale, FL and visited Key West & Mexico
Click a picture for a larger view
"We had a WONDERFUL time! It was so great to
be with a group of families with autistic children
just like ours! .... the travel agent (among
other things) arranged a private dining room for our
meals. We felt great dining with a group
of people who have this common bond......."
Stacy Tingler
- Reston, Virginia ~~~ July '07 Cruise
"Just got back
home from this cruise and it was awesome! ........
thanks to Alumni Cruises for putting this together. What an awesome job!
I'm looking forward to our next one! Thanks
again........ "
Damon Collins - Orlando, Florida ~~~
July '07 Cruise
"My family and my sister's
family had a wonderful time on this cruise..... The kids are talking about our next cruise next year.......we
thought Alumni Cruises did a great job..... We wish you great success with
your future adventures on Autism on the Seas...."
Linda Pongsugree
- Ashburn,
Virginia ~~~
July '07 Cruise
