Splash Academy FAIL

[Bluefox]

We were just on the NCL Getaway July 9-16. I have 2 children, ages 5 & 8. I have cruised with them both children before on Royal Caribbean. I have cruised multiple times with both lines. I looked into the kids club before even booking this cruise, as I didn't want to waste my time booking one yet if the club wasn't open. They LOVE kids club. I was assured on multiple occasions the club would be open by June 1 and there would be no issues. I figured a month and a half to sort issues would be good. That was an incorrect assumption. For starters let me say the staff we encountered was doing the best they could with the hand they were dealt. They handled the situation the best they could and we really appreciated them. Thank you to Jester and Pink. The manager Monkey, on the other hand, was not helpful at all and basically hid after the first night. She couldn't handle the situation as there were MANY upset parents and children. She never stood at the sign-in desk again to face the upset parents. The app and que are INFURIATING. First off, who wants to get up at 5:55am to rapid fire que to "maybe" get your kids into the club for a very limited amount of time. One of the upset parents said he was an app designer and was contemplating sending his resume in so he could fix all of the bugs in it. Parents were literally bonding over their frustration and high-fiving over getting low que numbers. I'm all for meeting strangers on a cruise and bonding- but this is not the way I envisioned it. 😆

The first night, my app said I was good to go and to "head to the kids club." I stood in line with my kids for 20 min, get to the front and was old that means your app "malfunctioned" and you only get "in" if the standby number says "0".  Another night my reservation "mysteriously" cancelled while I had already been waiting around for 20 min and I had finally gotten a low enough number that my kids should have gotten in. Instead we were turned away yet again, higher numbers than ours were called and my kids were crying. Then I was crying because I felt like I was failing my kids by not being able to get them into the one thing they were so looking forward to. 🤦‍♀️ It was a vacation fail moment. The kids club overall was just a VERY stressful component that was absolutely unnecessary. Both the kids club manager and the cruise director said there were "over 1k kids on this cruise." They only had about 5 staff members in there (normally 25 staff is what I was told), taking only around 25 kids a night.  This was a MAJOR staffing fail on NCL's part. A summer cruise, with over a thousand kids, and spots for 25 kids. Also they changed the ages allowed in the club after many families had booked; so kids aged 3 & 4 had no drop-off service available. Terrible. Also, the whole thing probably could have been avoided if there were just about 5 more staff members. That probably would have covered the kids that I saw waiting and hoping, every single session.

Anyways, I like you NCL, but this was so disappointing. Please staff your kids club appropriately- or at least warn people that space is so limited. RCCL's Ocean Academy kids club was always welcoming, available and it was NEVER stressful. Please fix this!!!

Edited July 25, 2022 by Bluefox

[redwave]

Sorry to hear. Was the capacity control for the daytime slots as well or just the evenings?

[travelhound]

This is very disappointing and I'm wondering if this restriction is fleet wide. We were on RCCL in March and Princess last week and our 11 year old could spent as much time as she wanted in the club without signing up.  I was surprised when I read they weren't open during spring break. They need to figure this out. It's our daughter's favorite thing about cruising. We have NCL booked for next March and hope I don't regret it. I'm so sorry you had such a frustrating and unsatisfying experience.

[Zippeedee]

I saw a video news report  that parents boarding the Getaway yesterday were told the kids clubs were closed for the week. I’m guessing there are a number of staff that are sick.

[raitch]

Yes, there is another post that Getaway has no Splash Academy at all this week.  Either there is an outbreak of illness with the staff or they’re trying to fix this issue 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

[dexddd]

I didn't read the whole rant, but did catch the part about no one there wanting to deal with 'infuriated' parents.  The crew there are normally very young and used to dealing with young children not infuriated adults.  

 

Maybe try management.

[Dcoy]

25 minutes ago, dexddd said:

I didn't read the whole rant, but did catch the part about no one there wanting to deal with 'infuriated' parents.  The crew there are normally very young and used to dealing with young children not infuriated adults.  

 

Maybe try management.

Sometimes dealing with “infuriated” kids is easier than infuriated parents. 

[puppycanducruise]

Sorry this happened to your family.

[JustAPilot]

Beyond the rant I didn’t know about this numbering system and phone app that must be used. I wouldn’t chance it regardless if everything went smoothly and just pick a cruise line like Disney if my kids need club access. 

[njkate]

Wow so sorry. Just off the Bliss and my grandson went every night from 7-10 PM and had a blast. It’s a nice perk they offer and allowed us to catch a show. So I don’t think it’s a fleet wide issue

[JT1962]

I’m guessing a Covid outbreak on the ship among the staff. This would also explain the change of ports and canceling Saint Thomas since that port will allow the ship to dock once cases exceed a certain threshold.  It also would explain why NCL is not giving an explanation for why they missed St. Thomas two weeks in a row.

Edited July 25, 2022 by JT1962

[mjkacmom]

1 hour ago, JustAPilot said:

Beyond the rant I didn’t know about this numbering system and phone app that must be used. I wouldn’t chance it regardless if everything went smoothly and just pick a cruise line like Disney if my kids need club access. 

This is most likely a NCL Covid staffing issue which can occur on any line. My kids preferred the kids clubs on NCL over DCL. This appears to be a one off (and I don’t blame parents for being upset, but hope they understand that things like this happen in the current climate).

[travelhound]

For the people that think it's a place to dump the kid, you must not have ever had a child in the club. Maybe some people use it that way, but for my daughter, who is an only child, it's what makes cruising extra special for her. We were just on Discovery Princess to Alaska and she met 16 new "friends" (she counted them) that she interacted with on excursions, at the pool, and has even played games with this week online. So it's not just disappointed parents. If I had to tell my kid there was no kids club after she was looking forward to it, that would be paramount to telling other people there are no bartenders for the week. So don't be too quick to judge. I wouldn't have stormed the kids' club or anything, but it would have felt a little bait and switch. And if it is because the staff is sick, NCL should be upfront about it. That's easier to understand than "unforeseen circumstances". That seems to be the excuse for everything now. Just be upfront. You don't have the staff.

 

We've been on plenty of vacations where our daughter is with us 24/7 and we know that's what it's going to be before we leave and we're all fine with it. Cruising it just one where she expects she can get away from us once in a while. 

[travelhound]

SeaShark - Clearly you've never had a child in the current kids' clubs. They don't think of them as daycare. It's a time to meet up with friends and do "kid" activities, some silly and some educational. Princess partners with Discovery and some of their programming is about the ports we were visiting. In Alaska, as a family, we ate every meal together - including dressing for dining room dinner each night - went on excursions in every port, played trivia and participated in other onboard silliness, played at the pool, and spent four days in Seattle together 24/7. I'd hardly say we didn't spend our vacation together. But, those times our daughter spent with her newfound friends, her peers, were special to her and added to the overall experience of the trip. They also talked about what they saw at the glacier or whale watching in their own language and at their own maturity level, which cements the experience in their minds. I find your judgmental comments to be based on an incorrect, preconceived notion of what the kids' club is to younger sailors.

Edited July 25, 2022 by travelhound

[jakeil7]

I’m just going to point out that the staffing fail may have also been due to the rescheduling of this cruise.  It was supposed to be in the Baltic but, for obvious reasons, was moved to the Caribbean. Difference in the number of expected kids obviously. 
 

To those being difficult, this was the most reasonable post I could imagine from someone stuck in that situation. The clubs are not a babysitting service but a place for kids to get away and socialize with…um, their own kind? 😝🤦‍♂️
 

Let’s give this parent a break for everything but wanting a kids club manager to deal with their fury. They are not equipped to do so. 

[Homosassa]

What is a "que?"

[travelhound]

I think it was supposed to be "queue" - meaning a line.

[Bluefox]

20 hours ago, redwave said:

Sorry to hear. Was the capacity control for the daytime slots as well or just the evenings?

Every session- which was only once a day at night on port days and twice (once for 2 hrs in the morning and once at night for 2/3 hrs) on sea days.

[Bluefox]

14 hours ago, dexddd said:

I didn't read the whole rant, but did catch the part about no one there wanting to deal with 'infuriated' parents.  The crew there are normally very young and used to dealing with young children not infuriated adults.  

 

Maybe try management.

That was done, all the up to the cruise director by myself and many, many others. Don't worry- no lectures are needed 😉 

[Bluefox]

9 hours ago, travelhound said:

For the people that think it's a place to dump the kid, you must not have ever had a child in the club. Maybe some people use it that way, but for my daughter, who is an only child, it's what makes cruising extra special for her. We were just on Discovery Princess to Alaska and she met 16 new "friends" (she counted them) that she interacted with on excursions, at the pool, and has even played games with this week online. So it's not just disappointed parents. If I had to tell my kid there was no kids club after she was looking forward to it, that would be paramount to telling other people there are no bartenders for the week. So don't be too quick to judge. I wouldn't have stormed the kids' club or anything, but it would have felt a little bait and switch. And if it is because the staff is sick, NCL should be upfront about it. That's easier to understand than "unforeseen circumstances". That seems to be the excuse for everything now. Just be upfront. You don't have the staff.

 

We've been on plenty of vacations where our daughter is with us 24/7 and we know that's what it's going to be before we leave and we're all fine with it. Cruising it just one where she expects she can get away from us once in a while. 

THANK YOU! I wasn't trying to dump them. My husband works offshore (and was sadly NOT on the cruise with us), I work from home, and we just moved here last year. They are basically entertaining each other most of the time during the summer because they don't really have any friends yet. They LOVE the kids club. I cried because I felt like I was failing them and not giving them the part of the vacation they were most looking forward to. 

 

 

Edited July 26, 2022 by Bluefox

[Bluefox]

9 hours ago, JT1962 said:

I’m guessing a Covid outbreak on the ship among the staff. This would also explain the change of ports and canceling Saint Thomas since that port will allow the ship to dock once cases exceed a certain threshold.  It also would explain why NCL is not giving an explanation for why they missed St. Thomas two weeks in a row.

St Thomas had been cancelled off our itinerary long before we sailed. They basically just said it was a "staff shortage" and they had "no control over the Que system" and that it was new and they had to use it "under directive from Miami." 

[Bluefox]

2 hours ago, Homosassa said:

What is a "que?"

An online waiting line (aka QUE) for the Kids club.

[Turtles06]

11 hours ago, Homosassa said:

What is a "que?"

 

11 hours ago, travelhound said:

I think it was supposed to be "queue" - meaning a line.

 

8 hours ago, Bluefox said:

An online waiting line (aka QUE) for the Kids club.

 

@travelhoundis correct.  The word is "queue"  [not "que"]

[Homosassa]

13 hours ago, travelhound said:

I think it was supposed to be "queue" - meaning a line.

I though that might be what was intended but wasn't sure.

[Homosassa]

11 hours ago, Bluefox said:

THANK YOU! I wasn't trying to dump them. My husband works offshore (and was sadly NOT on the cruise with us), I work from home, and we just moved here last year. They are basically entertaining each other most of the time during the summer because they don't really have any friends yet. They LOVE the kids club. I cried because I felt like I was failing them and not giving them the part of the vacation they were most looking forward to. 

 

 

It certainly could have been  a great life experience teaching moment for the whole family for how to handle disappointments and adapt to a situation.

 

If one travels, there will be many unexpected problems.  Some of the best travel memories will be the alternate experience that one would have never had if everything had gone to plan.