We cruise multiple times a year on NCL and only tried RCCL because of their advertising on their website about having an autism certification and autism friendly ships. In addition to advertising on their webpages, they also sent out a press release to media about this a couple of years ago. New Jersey, where this ship docks and obtains a large percentage of its passengers is the NATIONS largest population of children with autism (1 in 34). Aside from embarkation being a good experience (aside from the 60-70 minute car line getting to the ship because there weren't enough handlers) RCCL and Anthem have zero clue on how to be supportive of the autistic community. If you have a child or children with autism, they will make you feel good about your decision to spend all of this money on a vacation and then when you get on board and are stuck on this boat, you will wish you never booked the vacation.

MUSTER DRILL: we inquired the moment we got on the boat at guest services about a drill for autism or a drill later in the day separate. Was told to go to a different muster station and when we arrived, they had no clue about any type of autism muster. My child flipped out and it wasn't until I was crying that someone helped us and I was humiliated in front of passengers who were staring at us as if we had a terrible child. When you get on the you are to go to your cabin where your keys are waiting; we had "ROYAL UP" bid accepted which was another nightmare because they didn't change anything on the boat so we were forced to wait outside our cabin as they tried to sort it out and then I was sent to wait on a long line at guest services to get our keys; took over 8hrs to get our soda cups as they ended up in the cabin we were originally suppose to be in. I went to the bars, guest services, back to the bar and then to guest services several times until I was finally given the cups at 9pm. Our internet packages were also left in the other cabin where the new guests used it and we had to get them kicked off it and issued new passcodes. When we made reservations for dinner they were under someone else's name and we couldn't fix it until halfway through the trip. ALSO because of the cabin changed before the cruise through the ROYAL UP program we also did not receive any information during our cruise including the CRUISE CRITIC MEET AND GREET invitation which we missed!!!!

Dinner at the sit down dining rooms were anywhere from 90-120 minutes and that was rushing the staff. Asking for menu items such as chicken fingers that are fried are different in each restaurant and to get simple fried ones you have to beg while staff gets upset. The staff on this boat were not happy; on NCL they are consistent people pleasers always greeting you with a smile; the only people on board with smiles were the cabin attendants. The food on this boat compared to NCL was terrible. The quality of the specialty restaurants was average at best and the buffet NEVER changed; it was the same boring food every single day. The WONDERLAND dinner had chunks of fat in every bite and the Chops Grill filet mignon was gamey and tough... I was soooooo surprised of how terrible the food was; it was cafeteria quality. The Adventure Ocean for children has too many kids with not enough staff. The cruise line had a sale where kids sale free and they didn't appropriately staff their boat; yes, they said they would take an autistic child, but how can you expects 2 staff members to watch 30-40 kids in a room and mix autism in it? It isn't safe for children and definitely not safe to mix autism in the same room; they have a bunch of rooms for different age/ skill level but nothing for autism. They need to have a sensory room or a room dedicated to these guests especially when they run with autism friendly ships, which they are not. They did not have an autism friendly channel or programing on board. Finally, the outdoor walk in wave pool is an accident waiting to happen; when the kids wade in it and lay in it, it isn't until after they have been in it for an hour plus that you find out their skin has been sandpapered off by the bottom. Both of our children were in pain and covered in abrasions after being in this pool; there is zero signage about this. After sending in a letter to RCCL about these issues, they have failed to even acknowledge these issues as well as how our disability rights were not observed.