please help me feel confident with Splash Academy

[LiveUrlife2]

Hello everyone, we have sailed on 4 cruises before and last year, Dec 2013, was our first cruise with our children ages 2 and 4 at the time. This will be our first with NCL, we are going on the breakaway in feb. I would love some words of encouragement and real stories from anyone that has left children in SA.

Thank you so much! Can't wait to sail on NCL.

[mizLORInj]

My 5 year old nephew had fun in SA when he was there. He hung out with us too some of the time though--his choice.

[TougherThanTheRest]

We were on the Breakaway in June for my son's 9th birthday. He wanted to spend every minute he could in Splash Academy. The kid looked for the crew in other parts of the ship, in port, and declared them his new best friends. He even skipped the fireworks to go to Splash Academy. I was shocked how much fun he had and how much time he wanted to spend there. In fact, we placed a deposit on another cruise---something I had no intention of doing before departure---because he had so much fun.

 

 

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[mpk218]

Our 2 kids have been a numerous NCL cruises since they were 3ish..

Not a single unpleasant experience in the bunch..

They loved the kids club .. Now they are teens and I have no idea what they love :D

 

Your biggest problem will most likely be trying to get them to leave the group.

[Johnny Bananas]

My 8 yo is getting ready for his 7th NCL cruise and my 5 year old his 3rd.

 

They love Splash Academy and can't get there fast enough each morning and don't want to leave in the evening.

 

They do dress up, play games/competitions, pirate parade, face painting, watch movies, art + crafts.

 

There are also activities with Nickelodeon such as t-shirt decorating. meet & greets, canvas bag decorating.

 

They also run family activities like pizza making, cupcake decorating. lego building.

[youngestof9]

My now 8 year old was in SA (on Epic) when she was 5 and again when she was 7. She loved it. Made some friends, had fun with the activities. She can't wait until Getaway next year.

[Twinzma]

My twins love Splash Academy. They have been on 5 cruises, 3 with NCL and by far they've enjoyed NCL the most. They change up what they are doing so often that the kids never get bored. I have never met a counselor that I did not like.

 

No worries, it's safe and the kids will have an awesome time! I certainly understand your concern leaving your babies with strangers but rest assured they are in excellent hands. Just don't take it personally when your kids want nothing to do with you and only want to stay with their new found friends. ;) Happy Cruising!

[Sizzlechest]

You're not going to be able to predict if you children are going to love it or not. The people who work there are great. There are a few things you need to be aware of:

 

• They're closed for lunch and dinner on sea days. If you were planning to leave them in the Splash Academy while you and the significant other dined at a fancy restaurant, you may be out of luck.
  
• The activities are fixed to what's on the Splash Academy dailies. There's no freestyle play unless it's specifically scheduled and that only lasts an hour per day.
  
• They are very strict about the age groups. No, your 9 3/4 year old cannot go with the 10 year olds. No, they will not group siblings together if they are in different age groups.
  

[LiveUrlife2]

[*]They are very strict about the age groups. No, your 9 3/4 year old cannot go with the 10 year olds. No, they will not group siblings together if they are in different age groups.

Wow that answers my next question ....my niece will b 8 and nephew will be 3, my son 4, my daughter 5. So I was hoping that my niece

Can go with my kids n her brother since they are all in the same group. So they won't let her come in the younger age group??

[newmexicoNita]

Hello everyone, we have sailed on 4 cruises before and last year, Dec 2013, was our first cruise with our children ages 2 and 4 at the time. This will be our first with NCL, we are going on the breakaway in feb. I would love some words of encouragement and real stories from anyone that has left children in SA.

Thank you so much! Can't wait to sail on NCL.

 

Our great granddaughter loved every minute she spent in the kids club when she was just under 4. She loved it so much, she never had dinner with us and stayed with her friends until closing time just about every night.

[NMLady]

Hello everyone, we have sailed on 4 cruises before and last year, Dec 2013, was our first cruise with our children ages 2 and 4 at the time. This will be our first with NCL, we are going on the breakaway in feb. I would love some words of encouragement and real stories from anyone that has left children in SA.

Thank you so much! Can't wait to sail on NCL.

 

You said your younger child was 2 on your cruise last December. Will he/she be three when you cruise? I hope so or no Splash Academy. Youngest group is 3-5 year old's. No exceptions.

Most kids love the activities at Splash Academy.

[garnet115]

Wow that answers my next question ....my niece will b 8 and nephew will be 3, my son 4, my daughter 5. So I was hoping that my niece

Can go with my kids n her brother since they are all in the same group. So they won't let her come in the younger age group??

 

No, they won't. And frankly, I don't know any 8 year old that would prefer to be with 3 -5 year olds doing the activities geared towards the younger age group. She will be far happier with kids her own age doing age-appropriate activities.

[GORDONCHICK]

No, they won't. And frankly, I don't know any 8 year old that would prefer to be with 3 -5 year olds doing the activities geared towards the younger age group. She will be far happier with kids her own age doing age-appropriate activities.

 

This exactly! But make sure your niece goes the initial time they're open (usually evening of embarkation) so she will meet others that night.

 

My son's been cruising since he was 3.5, but he just turned 13 and is a little concerned what he'll do on our November cruise since he's now in the teen program. He always ate early so he could SA and stay until they closed.

[chiefy_mom]

We leave in a few weeks and I'll be able to tell you how my 3-yr old likes it.

Just one point that I didn't fully realize - your child must be FULLY potty trained - able to completely go by themselves including pulling pants up and down, and most importantly wiping! My DS "is" potty-trained, as long as you tell him it's time to go. He never, ever asks himself. NCL charges a $28 diaper changing fee.

 

Can the Youth Staff assist my child in the washroom?

 

Parents should be aware that Youth Counselors are not able to assist children in the washrooms. This includes pulling up/down pants, buttoning/unbuttoning pants, and/or wiping assistance. A beeper or handy phone will be issued to alert you when your child needs assistance. Beepers and handy phones do not work ashore. At least one parent will have to stay on board when their children are in our Youth Program.

[chickensmomma]

We took our 3 kids (at the time 9y, 7y, 4y) on the Jewel last November.

 

I was not sure about leaving my kids in the care of others on vacation, I take my kids because I truly enjoy watching them explore the world. However, my concerns were laid to rest the first day. We signed them up and I spoke with the counselor in charge because my middle is a moderately verbal autistic that wanders. The counselor answere questions appropriately and put me at ease. My kids met a lot of friend on the ship that they saw at the Nickelodeon events and splash academy. My son even ended up asking to sit with his friend for dinner in the buffet. My kids begged to go. Our youngest loved the activities- they play dress up, paint faces, ect.

 

I'm sure it depends on the child, some have a harder time separating from their parents, but most of the kids on our ship seemed to love the kids area. The newer ships have amazing looking kids area. I have not heard anything bad about the kids clubs or safety at the kids clubs. There was an incident a few years back where an autistic kid wandered out and back to his room- they have inhanced security at the front entrance to the club. They will also give you a pager or phone if you ask in order to contact you if you children need you. They called us once because our 7y autistic girl fell asleep face first on the floor and they were afraid they would scare her if they picked her up and moved her (which is a valid concern with her). We went up, moved her to a bean bag and went about our evening- she was still asleep when we returned.

 

Try to have them go the first night to get acquainted with the rules and the group. If they don't like it they don't have to go.

[travelhound]

My dd turned three in March and has been on the Pearl and Breakaway since then. Each time she went to SA once and liked it. She wanted to stay with us and/or we were busy in the port or dining room. It's true they are closed for lunch (12-2) and dinner (5-7) but if you were willing to feed the kids during the 5-7 closure and they went to SA after that, you could go to a specialty restaurant without them. SA is open until for free 10:30 every night with fee hours until 1:00. We didn't want to eat "twice" so we always had our dd with us in the dining room or specialty restaurant.

 

As far as the potty training goes, they do need to be fully trained as the staff cannot assist them in the bathroom. However, on the Pearl in March I heard the people in front of us say that their son was trained but needed help with pulling his pants up. They gave them a phone and said they would call if he needed to go and required help. The first time I left her there in March, I wasn't sure she would tell someone she just met that she had to go potty, so I went back and asked them to ask her if she had to go. She did and it was fine. So, let them know that they should periodically ask him if he needs to go. Also, you're not going until Feb, so he will be completely different by then (that's a long time in "kid time") and may be able to do it all on his own.

Edited July 31, 2014 by travelhound

[victoriasmommy]

DD was 3 and extremely clingy. (now we know she has a social anxiety disorder)

she wants to go and I explained that shed be too shy to ask for the bathroom but if they could show it to her and ask her now and again. and i explained if she cried please please buzz me. and they are really well trained and love kids. she took a complete strangers hand and skipped off. I stopped by twice to check on her and they would ask her if she was ready to go with mom and shed shake her head no.

 

I saw parents leave their kids there crying (or screaming) and you could tell that the staff werent thrilled. they would say if we cant calm them we will have to call you but I think the usually distracted them and everything went well.

 

Also bc DD is shy (sometimes she says she happy but she still looks sad she has trouble expressing and with eye contact)

she always came home with lots of prizes I think they were trying to bribe her into happiness. But one night she said shes skip her ice cream bc she was in such a rush to get there!

 

Of course this does not guarantee you'll have the perfect experience but they are def good with kids!

[Sparkygirl]

We leave in a few weeks and I'll be able to tell you how my 3-yr old likes it.

Just one point that I didn't fully realize - your child must be FULLY potty trained - able to completely go by themselves including pulling pants up and down, and most importantly wiping! My DS "is" potty-trained, as long as you tell him it's time to go. He never, ever asks himself. NCL charges a $28 diaper changing fee.

 

Can the Youth Staff assist my child in the washroom?

 

Parents should be aware that Youth Counselors are not able to assist children in the washrooms. This includes pulling up/down pants, buttoning/unbuttoning pants, and/or wiping assistance. A beeper or handy phone will be issued to alert you when your child needs assistance. Beepers and handy phones do not work ashore. At least one parent will have to stay on board when their children are in our Youth Program.

 

 

I have never been charged a diaper changing fee for my non potty trained child, we always have a handy phone due to her allergies and the staff calls us and we come change her.

 

I hands down love NCL splash academy my daughter has severe allergies and they handle everything amazingly well. She has a blast and even if she can't participate in everything for that night the counselor make sure she is included. She can't have face paint on pirate night so she got to wear a special cape instead.

 

 

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[mom2twins+1]

I have never been charged a diaper changing fee for my non potty trained child, we always have a handy phone due to her allergies and the staff calls us and we come change her.

 

I hands down love NCL splash academy my daughter has severe allergies and they handle everything amazingly well. She has a blast and even if she can't participate in everything for that night the counselor make sure she is included. She can't have face paint on pirate night so she got to wear a special cape instead.

 

 

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Does your daughter have an epipen. Can you leave it there with them. My 3 year old and 9 year old both have allergies and I am worried about leaving them in the SA.

[Michie78]

I have been very happy with S.A.. my daughter who is 7 loves it. She always comes out happy. My son who is 3 will br going in for the first time in a couple weeks. He has apraxia and sensory processing disorder. I emailed ncl regarding this. I got a call back from a lovely women who was very accommodating. She conferenced in the SA manager from yhe gem. And he was very nice and hppefully my son will gob in and have a great time

 

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[mitsugirly]

Our youngest has been cruising with us since she was 3 years old (she's now 6 and cruises twice a year with us) and she absolutely LOVES the kids club. She begs to go there and begs to stay.

 

They are really great people that work in there. They are not just some people that applied for a job off the street and was hired. These people have actual degrees in children and some even have more than 1 degree in child development and so on. You can tell they really care about your children.

 

They have planned activities with themes every day. One day is a pirate day and they play games, do activities, make pirate hats, paint their faces, then go on a singing pirate hunt parade around the ship. Another day is a princess and prince day, another day a "doggie" day and they come back with their floppy doggie ears and face painted.

 

They also have a "free gym" time where they get to play on the gym equipment which can consist of a ball pit, slides, jungle gym type of thing.

 

Splash Academy also has a "circus" on the last sea day and all the performers are the children from the kids club. They practice their "skill" during the week and perform for the parents during the show. You can tell the kids love it so much and are so proud of themselves.

 

There will be nights that they sign up to "get dressed up fancy and go out to eat" and the staff will take the kids signed up for it out to eat at the MDR.

 

So many activities and exciting things for them to do.

 

If you can't tell by now...I love their program. Oh, we have also sailed two different ships and had the same counselor that actually remembered our daughter from a previous ship. Tell me how special that is...out of all the kids they see every week. :)

[Sparkygirl]

Does your daughter have an epipen. Can you leave it there with them. My 3 year old and 9 year old both have allergies and I am worried about leaving them in the SA.

 

 

Yes, my daughter requires 2 epi pen juniors, Benadryl and a latex free first aid kit always be with her. I was very nervous about leaving her and was quickly at ease with the entire process and the attention to detail for allergies. Contact NCL's guest assistance division by email prior to your sailing. The head of splash academy for the fleet and I emailed several times, with a lag and delay waiting on a response from the ship splash academy about specific items.

 

Once we boarded we had a meeting with the head of splash academy, food services, housekeeping and medical staff. At that meeting a handy phone was issued to us for the duration of the cruise so that there was always a line of communication regarding my daughter.

 

There is an area near the registration desk off limits to the kids, that splash academy staff all have access that my daughter's first aid kit and medication kit lived. It didn't leave splash academy for the week we kept a second set of everything with us but I didn't was to risk forgetting it when dropping her off.

 

Her account was also flagged with her allergy and her wrist band also stated her allergy in addition to her medic alert bracelet. I also wrote up a background of my daughter and her latex allergy, it was posted in splash academy staff areas and I was highly impressed, with a latex allergy they were our greatest scouts, this port of call guests always get balloons from this venue be careful or this room on this deck has balloon door decorations.

 

 

 

 

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