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NCL Splash Academy on Getaway


YellowDog
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We are booked on the Getaway in October with our 3yo twins. From everything I've seen the kids program looks great. We have never cruised with kids before. Any personal experiences on NCL, specifically the Getaway with young kids in the Splash Academy? Any info or tips you only get from experience?

 

 

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We haven't been on Getaway but we were on the Breakaway, which is virtually the same ship so I'm sure Splash Academy is very similar. Our dd was three on our trip in June and she went to the club once. She like it and it seemed that there was a lot for the kids to do. They have a lot of scheduled activities like pirate night, fairytale night, Nick Jr characters etc. In the evenings we always went to the dining room for dinner and by the time that was over she didn't really want to go to the club. Do you have any specific questions?

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We haven't been on Getaway but we were on the Breakaway, which is virtually the same ship so I'm sure Splash Academy is very similar. Our dd was three on our trip in June and she went to the club once. She like it and it seemed that there was a lot for the kids to do. They have a lot of scheduled activities like pirate night, fairytale night, Nick Jr characters etc. In the evenings we always went to the dining room for dinner and by the time that was over she didn't really want to go to the club. Do you have any specific questions?

 

Thanks for the input. I dont think we will use the kids club that much or for any real length of time...maybe an hour or so here or there and maybe for a nice dinner an evening or two. How was the splash pad area and family pool? Also the evening parties...are they ok (early obviously)? The kids love music. Oh, and did the kids club give you a pager or something?

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They don't really have a splash pad with recirculating water (like some Disney and RCCL) but it's a little wading pool with two slides. My 3 yr old dd loved it, even more than the big pool. On the first day it was a little rough and it made it like a wave pool so the kids could sit or lay down and be pushed in a circle. Because it was rough they didn't have the deeper kid pool open the first day, but they did later. I'm not sure if they'll do this on Getaway or not, but the main pool was designated "adults only" and the deeper pool by the wading pool was for the kids. It was nice for me to be in that pool with her because I could touch the bottom - no treading water the whole time. There is a sign that says no swim diapers in any pool, but there were a lot of them in there. I put a puddle jumper on her when we went in the deeper pool.

 

We didn't really go to too many evening parties because we always went to the dining room and it usually conflicted. I did notice they had a family deck party one night that was around 8 or 8:30. I'm sure that was fun. The fireworks are late, about 10:30-10:45 and it was an 80s music party. My dh went to bed, but my dd and I went to it. I was really fun. If your kids can stay up that late and they like music, they'd probably like it. We had a problem keeping a schedule with naps because she'd fall asleep after the beach and sleep until six or seven and then not want to go to bed at night. The firework night I had to walk her up at 7:00 to get ready for dinner. Maybe you can control the twins sleep better on vacation, but we were all over the place.

 

The kids club didn't give us a pager but they asked for the place they thought we would be. We were on the Pearl in March and I did see someone get a "go phone" because even though the boy was trained, they said he couldn't get his clothes off and on alone. They need to be able to go to the bathroom completely independently or they call you to help them. I'm sure that's a liability thing.

 

In case you didn't notice the hours for the kid's club, they close for lunch from 12-2 and dinner from 5-7, so if you make any reservations for dinner alone, keep that in mind.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions. We've had been on 28 cruises together before our dd and now three with her. It's a different experience, but really memorable.

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We were just on the Getaway a little over a month ago. My experience on ANY of the NCL ships have been nothing but awesome. Our (now 6 year old) daughter has been cruising with us since she was 3 and doing about 2 cruises a year. She absolutely LOVES the kids club and begs to stay. Then begs to go back when she's away.

 

They treat the kids so good and have structured activities and daily themes that they do. One day is pirate day, another princess/prince day and so on. They will construct thing that have to do with the daily theme...like make hats for pirate night, paint their faces, have a treasure hunt, go on a walk around the ship chanting songs for everyone to see (a parade). They have open gym play (on the slides and jungle gyms), story time, arts & crafts and so on. There's always something to do. On the night of the "Glow" party for the adults, they also have a mini-glow party for the kids as well. They give them glow sticks, play music and dance, have a stage and on so. They have a blast.

 

They practice all week long for a "circus" that the kids perform in the theater doing tricks and dress up like animals. The kids love it.

 

I have to say that the staff on the ships are equally amazing as well. They are not someone they just hire off the street that applied for the job. The counselors have DEGREES that relate to childhood and development. Some have several degrees. They are so amazing with the children. We have even ran into a staff member that was on a previous cruise and remembered our daughter! Tell me how amazing is that when they see hundreds of kids a week. :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thank you all. With final payment due tomorrow we are getting really excited. (Not about the payment, but the trip :)). We just booked the Nickelodeon pajama breakfast thing. Did any of you try that? We are also debating what to do in port. (St Maartin, St Thomas). We were thinking maybe a glass bottom boat, thought the kids would like to see fish. Hmmm

 

 

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Did the Getaway in May with our 3 and 5 yo's.

 

They didn't really care much for the pajama jam, so that is one thing I will skip next time. Some kids really seemed to enjoy it, but I think some of the group participation activities better suited kids older than 3. Food was really nothing special either. Not a good use of $$$ for me.

 

Everything else, including the kids club they really enjoyed. Mine would go on average for an hour or two a day. For me it was the perfect combination of they were always happy to go whenever we wanted them to so we could go to the Illusionarium show etc, but they didn't demand to go all the time.

 

It was our first NCL cruise and already have booked our next.

 

Main disappointment for my 3yo was that he was 38" tall and some of the bigger slides were 40" min so he was not happy his big sister could go and not him. The kids wading pool would keep him entertained, but favorites were probably mini golf and the kids rope course.

 

In St. Thomas we did the aquarium and beach activity and St. Maarten we rented a day room at the Divi hotel and spent the day at the beach there. Both worked well for us, but the glass bottom boat looks good too.

 

You'll have a blast I'm sure.

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  • 2 weeks later...
We were just on the Getaway a little over a month ago. My experience on ANY of the NCL ships have been nothing but awesome. Our (now 6 year old) daughter has been cruising with us since she was 3 and doing about 2 cruises a year. She absolutely LOVES the kids club and begs to stay. Then begs to go back when she's away.

 

They treat the kids so good and have structured activities and daily themes that they do. One day is pirate day, another princess/prince day and so on. They will construct thing that have to do with the daily theme...like make hats for pirate night, paint their faces, have a treasure hunt, go on a walk around the ship chanting songs for everyone to see (a parade). They have open gym play (on the slides and jungle gyms), story time, arts & crafts and so on. There's always something to do. On the night of the "Glow" party for the adults, they also have a mini-glow party for the kids as well. They give them glow sticks, play music and dance, have a stage and on so. They have a blast.

 

They practice all week long for a "circus" that the kids perform in the theater doing tricks and dress up like animals. The kids love it.

 

I have to say that the staff on the ships are equally amazing as well. They are not someone they just hire off the street that applied for the job. The counselors have DEGREES that relate to childhood and development. Some have several degrees. They are so amazing with the children. We have even ran into a staff member that was on a previous cruise and remembered our daughter! Tell me how amazing is that when they see hundreds of kids a week. :)

 

Do they have a program that babysits children while parents are on shore?

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Do they have a program that babysits children while parents are on shore?

 

 

Yes, they do. I have not personally used it, but it is available. I believe you only pay $6 per child and that's for them to feed them or something like that.

 

They also have after hour services after 10:30pm each night if the parents want to go out. It's $6/hour per child (you get a discount for each additional child) from 10:30pm until 1:30am I believe. It all should be on their website. :)

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Yes, they do. I have not personally used it, but it is available. I believe you only pay $6 per child and that's for them to feed them or something like that.

 

They also have after hour services after 10:30pm each night if the parents want to go out. It's $6/hour per child (you get a discount for each additional child) from 10:30pm until 1:30am I believe. It all should be on their website. :)

 

Thank You:p

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