Jennifer777
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2015
I wanted to share our experience and also some detailed tips and considerations for anyone planning on traveling/sailing with someone who has Alzheimers disease as I just got home from a trip with my Mom and had a really, really hard time finding information beforehand. This will be long so I'm going to break it into a few different posts within this thread.
Alzheimers affects everyone differently at different times so here's some background information first - My mom is at a stage where she still remembers us but has reverted back to an earlier time in her life where she is pretty sure she is poor again (she grew up in poverty), her short term memory is almost non-existent, and she becomes irritable and easily agitated when confused. Loud noises and new places contribute to her confusion so it might seem silly that I would take her on a Disney Cruise but she waited her whole life to travel and see the world in her retirement and was diagnosed with Alzheimers less than a year later at only 64 years young. I promised her that the disease would not steal her plans and so we have tried to cram as much travel into the last 18 months as possible, visiting Florida, New York and now this cruise coupled with 3 nights in Puerto Rico. My mom has also developed some mobility issues due to this horrible disease. She can still walk but is prone to falls and cannot handle more than one flight of stairs at a time.
Why DCL? We weren't traveling with kids. It was just my adult sister, Mom and I but I am familiar with DCL so knew how to navigate the ships and I know the adult-only areas are very nice. My mom still remembers and enjoys the Disney movies we watched together when we were kids so I hoped the familiarity of it all would help her feel comfortable and I hoped the family-friendly stage shows would be something she would enjoy. I also appreciated the security measures DCL employs and how comfortable the rooms are. I also hoped that having the same dining team would make dinners more comfortable.
We took the 11/30/18 - 5 night repositioning cruise from San Juan to Miami with stops in St. Kitts, Tortola and Castaway Cay on Magic. We sailed concierge (a 1st for me!) and neither my sister or my mother had been out of the country or on a cruise before so the planning was on me and neither of them knew what to expect. We booked approximately a year in advance.
Tip #1: Spend a lot of time really observing the individual you plan to travel with in different settings. Take note of what they enjoy, what agitates them and what their needs are understanding that this may change from month to month. If possible, take a mini pre-trip vacation with them so you can identify any possible challenges. I took my Mom on a weekend trip to New York and before we sailed and it was one of the best decisions. I learned about so many obstacles I hadn't considered and was able to make modifications to our plans to prevent potential hardships.
Alzheimers affects everyone differently at different times so here's some background information first - My mom is at a stage where she still remembers us but has reverted back to an earlier time in her life where she is pretty sure she is poor again (she grew up in poverty), her short term memory is almost non-existent, and she becomes irritable and easily agitated when confused. Loud noises and new places contribute to her confusion so it might seem silly that I would take her on a Disney Cruise but she waited her whole life to travel and see the world in her retirement and was diagnosed with Alzheimers less than a year later at only 64 years young. I promised her that the disease would not steal her plans and so we have tried to cram as much travel into the last 18 months as possible, visiting Florida, New York and now this cruise coupled with 3 nights in Puerto Rico. My mom has also developed some mobility issues due to this horrible disease. She can still walk but is prone to falls and cannot handle more than one flight of stairs at a time.
Why DCL? We weren't traveling with kids. It was just my adult sister, Mom and I but I am familiar with DCL so knew how to navigate the ships and I know the adult-only areas are very nice. My mom still remembers and enjoys the Disney movies we watched together when we were kids so I hoped the familiarity of it all would help her feel comfortable and I hoped the family-friendly stage shows would be something she would enjoy. I also appreciated the security measures DCL employs and how comfortable the rooms are. I also hoped that having the same dining team would make dinners more comfortable.
We took the 11/30/18 - 5 night repositioning cruise from San Juan to Miami with stops in St. Kitts, Tortola and Castaway Cay on Magic. We sailed concierge (a 1st for me!) and neither my sister or my mother had been out of the country or on a cruise before so the planning was on me and neither of them knew what to expect. We booked approximately a year in advance.
Tip #1: Spend a lot of time really observing the individual you plan to travel with in different settings. Take note of what they enjoy, what agitates them and what their needs are understanding that this may change from month to month. If possible, take a mini pre-trip vacation with them so you can identify any possible challenges. I took my Mom on a weekend trip to New York and before we sailed and it was one of the best decisions. I learned about so many obstacles I hadn't considered and was able to make modifications to our plans to prevent potential hardships.