Open letter to Royal Caribbean and Vacationstogo.com
Thank you for doing the right thing. Our family highly recommends both these companies for their professionalism and compassion.
It was March 2013 that my wife and I planned our first family vacation. After careful consideration we concluded that taking a 16 month old to a resort would result in a week trying to stop her from eating sand and us running around for bottled water. Cruising seemed to be the safer, cleaner alternative. We had cruised with Royal and booked with Vacationstogo.com in the past. So when it came to our family's first vacation we went with the tried and true.
We chose Royal for their outstanding service, we chose to sail on the Freedom of the Seas specifically for the daycare/nursery. The daycare could look after children as young as 6 months. Our daughter, Emily, would be ~16 months. We were excited to have the option of the daycare should my wife and I need a break.
Because the nature of a cruise vacation takes you out to sea hours away from emergency services it is required by passengers to disclose any medical issues.
We told the agent that we didn't feel it an issue and we had already discussed the idea of the vacation with Emily's physician, but our daughter has Down Syndrome. The agent noted it and continued to finish our booking.
We were extremely excited to be going on our first family vacation. All parents to a child with special needs know how difficult it is both emotionally and physically. Especially in the first year when very much is touch and go. After all the physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, early intervention programs, doctors appointment, etc. This vacation was not only earned, but deserved. As well, this vacation was indication that life could return to "normal".
I sat with my wife after booking the trip and we started looking at the ship's activities and excursions. It had only been about 5 minutes when the phone rang. It was our agent. She apologized and told us there was a problem. She told us that Royal Caribbean did not allow children with disabilities to access the daycare. If we would like they could refund us our fare in full.
My heart sank. I still can't think about that moment without tearing up. After all of our hard work to keep Emily from falling too far behind her peers we were told by someone who had never met her, she was not good enough to play with other 1 year olds. Further, our balloon image of life returning to normal was burst. This was a reminder that Emily is different.
It took me a moment to compose myself and collect my thoughts. I know that our agent was only the messenger. I explained to her that our daughter needed no special attention. In fact, with all Emily's therapies at 16 months of age Em knew a handful of signs to express her needs like water, milk, and hungry. She was crawling and pulling to stand. She loved books and puzzles. She was in every definition, a 16 month old.
I demanded a copy of this policy.
The agent apologized and said she will call us back. My wife and I were in shock and were preparing notes to go to our support group.
We understand the need for policies such as these to limit the liability and risk a daycare may be exposed to. Further we understand that the people hired to work in a daycare on a cruise ship are energetic babysitters with probably no more than basic first aid knowledge. We found it very offensive that Royal Caribbean would think that a parent of a child with special needs would carelessly drop their child off with some completely unqualified stranger for a mere hour of peace.
After another 5-10 minutes our agent called back. I was ready to blow up. But we were surprised again. She apologized, and told us that Emily would be welcome aboard the ship and granted all privileges a 16 month old should be entitled to, including access to daycare.
It was incredible that the agent, the messenger on behalf of Royal, turned around and became the messenger for Emily. She was the first person that did not know Emily to advocate for her (outside of medical profession).
We felt at this point no further apologies were necessary. Within a matter of minutes the situation went from "no children with special needs allowed" to "oops Emily is allowed".
Vacationstogo.com, the messenger, felt so horrible about what happened, they gave us some additional onboard credits, that they said could be used for anything onboard, including the daycare.
Although Vacationstogo.com did nothing wrong, they made things more than right.
I don't feel Royal Caribbean has done anything wrong and they quickly corrected what offended us so deeply.
We never got to see the policy regarding children with special needs and their daycare service, but we hope that our experience with them has helped them see that all children with special needs cannot be painted with a single brush. If a child requires assistance above and beyond what is expected at a daycare at sea, trust that a parent would ask if the facilities are equipped for their child.
The irony of this story is that we didn't even use the daycare service. Not out of spite, but because we felt no need for it.
Royal Caribbean does such an outstanding job for families vacationing with small children it is almost unbelievable.
First there is a free sign-out toy bag filled with age appropriate toys you can keep in your cabin for the duration of your vacation. This helped keep EmC entertained in the Pac-n-Play while we showered.
Second there is a pool area designed specifically with children in mind, including a small diaper friendly pool.
Third there are the Dreamworks characters walking around and spectacular parades on the promenade.
Emily also really enjoyed the stage shows and ice skating shows.
When we booked, we thought that we would opt out of gratuity for Emily, because she was only 16 months old. But our server in the dining room catered to her with more attention then he did us. There was milk on the table when we came in and a fresh carton to take with us when we left. The kitchen made her anything she wanted, whether on the menu or not, from grilled cheese to fruit bowls. And the mess she left behind.... What mess?? Royal staff were amazing and quick to clean anything she could throw at them... and with a smile.
In the cabin, there were towel animals, diaper disposal bags, and extra linen ready to go every day.
Gratuity was well earned, and we were happy to pay it!!!
Emily became a pseudo celebrity on the ship. Every time our family went for portraits, she drew great crowds. When my wife and I wanted pictures of just us, there were no shortage of arms willing to hold her.
When we went to choose pictures to buy and take home, we had to ask the staff to reprint them because there were so many finger prints on them from other passengers stopping to admire.
We honestly have nothing but good things to say about vacationing with Royal Caribbean. Royal Caribbean does not set the cruising standard, they set the bar. When paired with the professionalism and helpful agents at Vacationstogo.com our experience from booking to cruising to disembarking was absolutely stellar.
Once again, thank you to both Royal Caribbean and Vacationstogo.com for taking the time to listen to our concerns and doing the right thing. We understand the need for such policies and from this experience believe that Royal Caribbean understands that some policies are merely guidelines. You may not be able to please everyone but you did a great job at pleasing our family.
We will continue to use Vacationstogo.com and remain Loyal to Royal.
