Dementia Friendly Cruise & Caregiver Retreat!

2024 Southern Caribbean Seafarer: January 26 to February 4
Ft. Lauderdale to Ft. Lauderdale

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Dementia-Friendly Cruising on Orange TV Active Lifestyles

Toni Gitles and Dennis Dulniak share the details about Dementia Friendly Cruising, including caregiver support and respite opportunities.

Caregivers enjoy excursions and and on-board conference including instructional workshops and presentations.

2024 Southern Caribbean Seafarer
January 26 to February 4

On January 26, we set sail on the first 2024 Dementia-Friendly Cruise. On this nine-day cruise, we had 31 attendees, including nine attendees who have been diagnosed with dementia. Round trip from Ft. Lauderdale, FL, we headed to the Southern Caribbean where we visited the ABC Islands, Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao.

It was a great escape from the winter weather and an opportunity to have fun in the sun on some of the most beautiful beaches in the Caribbean.

Kathy Shoaf, Lizette Cloete, Dennis Dulniak, and I, Toni Gitles, were the fabulous facilitators at the caregiver conference on the days we were at sea. We are all former and current caregivers and understand what caregivers are going through.

We offered an informative and lively program for caregivers and family members to increase their knowledge and provide new insights and perspectives in caregiving, complete with practical, easy-to-implement strategies.

Cruise Information
Map of Demmentia Friendly Cruise route
Dementia Friendly Cruise photos of presentations

In addition to exciting excursions in each location, there were education sessions and caregiver circles.

We discussed highlights, insights, and experiences from my book “21 Mistakes Caregivers Make & How to Avoid Them.”

I was also pleased to share about my love of dancing and how caring for a family member can be like a dance.

To get the audience moving a bit during the presentation, we did some stretching, which is a great exercise at any time.

I celebrated my birthday and fifth year traveling as an Elite Dementia-Friendly Cruise Instructor! It has been a joyous five year journey, and each trip holds fond memories.

The caregivers and their care recipients enjoyed meals, high tea, and outings together.

Every Elite Cruise offers the following, so you can bring your loved ones and enjoy life to the fullest

💜 Group accompanied by medical professionals, including RN support 24/7, as well as trained support staff
💜 Staff to client ratio is 1:4
💜 Meet and greet at the airport
💜 Accompanied excursions
💜 Group dinner seating
💜 Caregiver breakfasts
💜 Exclusive group events such as music therapy, interactive educational and support seminars for caregivers
💜 Memory Café sessions that ensure all caregivers have time to themselves each day

Clients with neurological diagnoses, post CVA, slow walkers, diabetes, heart disease, and families that feel more comfortable with RN clinical support are appropriate to travel with this cruise.

Caregiver Conferences & Support

Connect with other caregivers on our cruises and find the support you need with caregiver circles and educational seminars on caregiving managing, self care, diagnosis/prognosis, and neuroplasticity concepts and activities. These sessions are exclusively for our group and this cruise features Certified Caregiving Consultant, Educator and author, Toni Gitles, and former Caregiver and Grief Support Leader, Dennis Dulniak, as well as our team of professionals including Kathy, a geriatric neurology nurse with adaptive technology certification. Additionally get the time to regroup, relax, and recharge with daily two-hour respite sessions where our team will take over your caregiving duties and you have the break you deserve.

NEW FOR CAREGIVERS: We now feature caregiver breakfasts! Join other caregivers for a breakfast with your new friends while the Elite staff takes over and makes sure your loved ones enjoy their favorite morning foods. You deserve a relaxing start to your day and a chance to enjoy breakfast at your own pace!

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS OR OTHER ELITE VACATIONS CALL KATHY SHOAF 888-826-6836 OR CLICK “Cruise Information” below.

Cruise Information

PAST SOUTHERN CARIBBEAN SEAFARER CRUISES

Dementia Friendly Cruise fun in the sun

We love getting to put our feet in the ocean again! Everyone deserves a fun day at the beach, and no one ever gets left out of the fun when they travel with us. Group accompanied by medical professionals, including RN support 24/7, as well as trained support staff.
Toni Gitles is a favorite guest speaker of ours, and she always has some wonderful insights to share during caregiver workshops. We love seeing caregivers return home relaxed, reenergized, and ready to conquer their caregiving tasks with new tools and resources.
Getting together to enjoy the best the ship has to offer is part of our programming, but caregivers seem to really love our happy hours and wine tastings! Our group events really bring everyone together, and at the end of the cruise, it’s like we’re all one big happy travel family!
Getting together to enjoy the best the ship has to offer is part of our programming, but caregivers seem to really love our happy hours and wine tastings! Our group events really bring everyone together, and at the end of the cruise, it’s like we’re all one big happy travel family!
Music performance dementia friendly cruise

There’s nothing like the music of the Caribbean to get you going! Grabbing a pair of maracas and joining this Costa Rican band was a blast. Music is a big part of daily life on our cruises since our programming always focuses on neuroplasticity.
Caregivers on dementia friendly cruise
We now feature caregiver breakfasts! Join other caregivers for a breakfast with your new friends while the Elite staff takes over and makes sure your loved ones enjoy their favorite morning foods. You deserve a relaxing start to your day and a chance to enjoy breakfast at your own pace!
Two of our caregiver workshop facilitators, Toni and Dennis, enjoying Strawberry Smoothies!