Kids club questions

[NoName]

I was just reading information on the Kids club and noticed that it said that sandals are prohibited! I was surprised that on a Caribbean cruise that kids can't wear sandals. Recent cruisers with little ones...was this enforced?

 

Also, if my 3 year old grandson is a little shy/afraid of attending the kids program by himself, will I be able to join him for a while to make him feel more comfortable?

[tdc2673]

I was just reading information on the Kids club and noticed that it said that sandals are prohibited! I was surprised that on a Caribbean cruise that kids can't wear sandals. Recent cruisers with little ones...was this enforced?

 

Also, if my 3 year old grandson is a little shy/afraid of attending the kids program by himself, will I be able to join him for a while to make him feel more comfortable?

 

Really? I never saw that prior to our cruise last week on the Jewel. I can tell you my dd wore sandals every night in the kid's club and nothing was ever said. In fact I think many had on sandals. :confused: Hope that helps.

[russianmom]

Most of the time my kids take their shoes off when they enter. They often wears crocs or flip-flops. A few times staff has said they are doing an activity that requires closed toe shoes.

 

Other than the first day sign up adults are not allowed on for security reasons.

[crusinmama06]

Most of the time my kids take their shoes off when they enter. They often wears crocs or flip-flops. A few times staff has said they are doing an activity that requires closed toe shoes.

 

Other than the first day sign up adults are not allowed on for security reasons.

 

Yes - this.

 

If they are doing an activity that requires closed toed shoe - then they cannot participate. My teen is standing here and she was a TWEEN on Epic - she says "basketball, rock wall and any sports court day required closed toed shoes - we couldn't participate"

[NoName]

 

Other than the first day sign up adults are not allowed on for security reasons.

 

I was hoping that perhaps this policy had changed. I read in the NCL handouts that if a child gets into trouble his/her parent may be required to stay with him......so I hoped if a "bad" kids parent got to stay perhaps one who was just scared at first would also qualify.

[russianmom]

I was hoping that perhaps this policy had changed. I read in the NCL handouts that if a child gets into trouble his/her parent may be required to stay with him......so I hoped if a "bad" kids parent got to stay perhaps one who was just scared at first would also qualify.

 

I've never heard that before. When my older son is "naughty" they usually just call me to pick him up.

 

From FAQ:

ARE PARENTS/GUARDIANS ALLOWED IN THE SPLASH ACADEMY FACILITY AND ENTOURAGE?

The parents/guardians are only allowed in the Splash Academy Facility and Entourage Facility on Embarkation Day during the registration process. Otherwise, the Splash Academy Facility and Entourage Facility are "Parent-Free Zones" regardless of which Youth Program is taking place.

 

WILL THE YOUTH STAFF CONTACT ME IF MY CHILD IS CRYING?

Yes. Since Norwegian is not able to provide one-one-care within the Youth Programs, the parent(s) will be called to pick up their child after 15 minutes of continuous crying.

[crusinmama06]

I was hoping that perhaps this policy had changed. I read in the NCL handouts that if a child gets into trouble his/her parent may be required to stay with him......so I hoped if a "bad" kids parent got to stay perhaps one who was just scared at first would also qualify.

 

Yeah I don't remember that part of the policy either. If the child is "naughty" then the child is released from the program.

 

And as for a scared child - show them pictures - get them excited in advance.

[crystalaziza]

I have NEVER been allowed past the entry doors to kids club. This goes for NCL & Disney Cruise Line as well. This is for the protection of ALL the children. Safety Issue!!!!!!!!! The child is allowed to leave with the parent, but NO Parent is allowed into the actual area of children!!!!!!!!

[GORDONCHICK]

This is the same rule as it is for our church in the children's program. At church, our policy is that every adult in a room has gone through their bin-annual background check (mine comes due in Feb). If you have parents staying in the room, NCL can no longer make that claim.

 

I had this issue come up today at church. I told the mom that she could go in, get her daughter settled but then must exit the room. She started to pitch a fit, then asked if she could stand outside the room and I told her she could. I called the children's pastor, explained to him what was going on, and he went and talked to the mom.

 

My experience in working with children at church for over 12 years is that there are a few children who are very shy, but we have rock star volunteers who are trained specifically for this and 99.99% of the time, they are successful in making the kids feel welcome and involved. I actually have much more problems with parents not wanting to separate from their child, than the other way around. I know the people who work in the kids' areas onboard ships not only have college degrees usually in childhood education or other areas, but they are very well trained to handle almost anything. I will add one caveat - if it's a holiday week or spring break or they just have an unusually high number of kids, it can be much more chaotic than it would normally be.

[legion3]

Well, I have entered camp carnival twice, despite the no adult rule. Once to pick upmy daughter who had fallen asleep on the floor, and they did not want to do that. And once to help my child who had an issue on the toilet.

So this absolute prohibition may not be as absolute as some suggest.

All things may have special situations.

 

However on NCL they were very strict this last week, even when a child was hysterical and wouldn't come out of a hiding place, mom couldn't go in.

 

That said cruisnmama is right this last week on the dawn crocs, flipflops whatever...almost all were barefoot within minutes anyway. Only sports deck required closed toes shoes.

 

Cheers

[dizizit]

Do the give you like a phone or something when they need to contact you? Do you have to ask in advance?

[legion3]

The dawn gave out a pager but they were limited in number. They always asked where you would be.

 

Some suites had cordless phones you could carry with you but not sure how many.

[Cruisebehindthescenes]

I used to be a member of the Youth Staff with NCL, so I'll answer these questions quickly...

 

There has never been any requirement to wear closed-toed shoes while in the kid's club. Some ships asked the children to remove their shoes, while others didn't - it really didn't make much of a difference while we were inside. As many have mentioned though, closed toed shoes are required to participate in programs out on the sports court. It would be far too easy for one child wearing running shoes to step on another child's foot who was wearing flip flops and break their toes, not to mention that it's also very easy to trip while running in flip flops. That is just a safety rule.

 

As far as the parents in the kid's club goes - this was the most strict rule we had. Absolutely no parents were allowed in the center while we were open for programming. Pagers/phones are generally reserved for children not 100% potty-trained or children with physical/mental disabilities. The only exception to adults being permitted was to comply with ADA rules if a child required a shadow/chaperone due to a disability. If a child was misbehaved or crying, the parents would be contacted to pick up their child from the center.

 

I hope that answers your questions!