Encore with an 8 year old

[clbl99]

There are 1 0 of us traveling, all adults but my Aunt has to bring her grandson, who is 8.

 

I assured her it would be fine and he would have a blast. Anyone tell me about the kids clubs? IS there a page that says when they are open? Any information would be helpful to put her at ease.

 

Thank you!

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, clbl99 said:

There are 1 0 of us traveling, all adults but my Aunt has to bring her grandson, who is 8.

 

I assured her it would be fine and he would have a blast. Anyone tell me about the kids clubs? IS there a page that says when they are open? Any information would be helpful to put her at ease.

 

Thank you!

They kids club is great. Make sure to enroll the grandson on embarkation and day and make sure to go on the first night... that's when he will make friends for the rest of the cruise. After that, you can drop him off any time the club is open. It is space limited, so drop offs need to be planned. 

 

An example of the program on the Encore can be found on post #43 from my live post below. The rest of the tread is information on the Encore. 

 

 

Also, the following PDF is the kid's program from another ship with the Splash Academy Policies

Splash Academy Only.pdf

[YVRteacher]

@BirdTravels have you ever enrolled a child in Splash Academy?

[complawyer]

i have for many years, until he was to old to attend. this was all the way thru to  the entourage program and started enrolling him when he was 11.  my grandson had a great time,made friends with people he still has contact with (he's 24) and its  a  great way for an 8 year old to enjoy the cruise.

 

it's the very 1st thing we did after getting settled on board.

[bkrickles1]

4 hours ago, clbl99 said:

There are 1 0 of us traveling, all adults but my Aunt has to bring her grandson, who is 8.

 

I assured her it would be fine and he would have a blast. Anyone tell me about the kids clubs? IS there a page that says when they are open? Any information would be helpful to put her at ease.

 

Thank you!

The kids clubs are terrific!

As Bird said, make sure you register as soon as you can on embarkation day and have him attend that first night. 

We've sailed Encore, but without children. Great ship!

We just sailed Joy (very similar) last month and we had two 5 year olds in our group.

Their parents got them registered right away after boarding and the 2 girls ended up going almost every time it was open. They loved the activities and really loved the staff.

[clbl99]

No I have not

[clbl99]

1 hour ago, YVRteacher said:

@BirdTravels have you ever enrolled a child in Splash Academy?

Many years ago! My  kids are 20 and 26 so it's been awhile

[YVRteacher]

I wasn’t asking you. I was asking @BirdTravels which is why I tagged them in the post.

 

Enjoy your family cruise!

[Traveller1212]

We just got off Encore - cruised to Alaska with my 7 yo twin granddaughters - embarkation day is the only time adults can ‘tour’ Splash Academy, after that no adults can go past the gates so if you want to go inside & check it out… Sea Day hours were 9am to noon, 2pm to 4pm & then 7pm to 11pm - there is a fee after 11pm - Port Day hours vary - kids were excited to go… played basketball, LOTS of interesting crafts/artwork, played Mario Cart - Sea Days were very busy & they said harder to get a chance to do some activities (600 kids under 18yrs on our sailing) - the staff were great

[Bizaro86]

On 8/29/2023 at 10:06 AM, Traveller1212 said:

We just got off Encore - cruised to Alaska with my 7 yo twin granddaughters - embarkation day is the only time adults can ‘tour’ Splash Academy, after that no adults can go past the gates so if you want to go inside & check it out… Sea Day hours were 9am to noon, 2pm to 4pm & then 7pm to 11pm - there is a fee after 11pm - Port Day hours vary - kids were excited to go… played basketball, LOTS of interesting crafts/artwork, played Mario Cart - Sea Days were very busy & they said harder to get a chance to do some activities (600 kids under 18yrs on our sailing) - the staff were great

 

Were they ever open when the ship was in Port? We're considering NCL for the end of a European trip next summer, and I suspect the kids will be ready for some down time even during Port days by then. I like the NCL itinerary and food better than the RCL option but this is a big factor for us.

[Traveling Fools]

Only child in your party....he should be fine.  Our GD really enjoyed until her younger brother got old enough to join the club.  They are very close and disliked be unable to be with one another (age group rules were strictly enforced).  From that point on it became such a chore to get them to go we just stopped trying.

[kitkat343]

16 hours ago, Bizaro86 said:

 

Were they ever open when the ship was in Port? We're considering NCL for the end of a European trip next summer, and I suspect the kids will be ready for some down time even during Port days by then. I like the NCL itinerary and food better than the RCL option but this is a big factor for us.

Prior to Covid, NCL kids clubs used to be open during sea days.  We sailed the Baltics with them 10 years ago, and that was our backup plan if our 3 year old struggled, especially in St. Petersburg.  Thankfully, he loved touring Europe but we dropped him off the second we got back on board and the kids clubs were pretty full.  But currently each ship sets its own hours, and on our sailing last January they weren't open while the ship was in port, and according to this posting (jump to 13) they weren't open while the ship was in port during the day on someone else's sailing either.  However, it is possible that NCL will reopen the kids clubs during port days by next summer.   Their website currently only states "hours vary by ship" whereas pre-covid they guaranteed hours including while the ships were in port.  

 

. 

 

Please note that given the fact that you are sailing with kids in Europe in the summer I'd recommend looking into the Baltics or Norway since those ports are more easily accessible for kids, and much cooler in the summer than the Med.

 

 

I had been looking at the Prima's itinerary to Iceland/Norway because the itinerary looked amazing this summer, but didn't book it because NCL has had issues with keeping its itineraries.  On my cruise last January on the Getaway, one port and the morning of another was cancelled after final payment to help the environment.  When I called NCL to ask them to let me reschedule to an identical sailing a few weeks later because I was. pulling 3 kids out of school for the ports, they refused because they cancelled the ports after final payment.  NCL continued to advertise the original itinerary for the next month, and didn't notify passengers who booked with them them directly over the phone of the cancellations, nor did they let them cancel or reschedule.  

 

 

I'd recommend checking the passenger reviews on this year's sailings for the ship/itinerary you are looking at next summer.  

 

 

You can start with their most recent review of the ship you are thinking about sailing and go backwards to see what recent sailings have been like.  This is the star (one of the oldest ships in the fleet - someone was asking on another forum about the star so I was looking there) but you you can easily google the ship you are considering.

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=704939

 

Please check the cancellation policies of any private tours you schedule prior to booking.

 

 

Edited September 4, 2023 by kitkat343

[Bizaro86]

40 minutes ago, kitkat343 said:

Prior to Covid, NCL kids clubs used to be open during sea days.  We sailed the Baltics with them 10 years ago, and that was our backup plan if our 3 year old struggled, especially in St. Petersburg.  Thankfully, he loved touring Europe but we dropped him off the second we got back on board and the kids clubs were pretty full.  But currently each ship sets its own hours, and on our sailing last January they weren't open while the ship was in port, and according to this posting (jump to 13) they weren't open while the ship was in port during the day on someone else's sailing either.  However, it is possible that NCL will reopen the kids clubs during port days by next summer.   Their website currently only states "hours vary by ship" whereas pre-covid they guaranteed hours including while the ships were in port.  

 

. 

 

Please note that given the fact that you are sailing with kids in Europe in the summer I'd recommend looking into the Baltics or Norway since those ports are more easily accessible for kids, and much cooler in the summer than the Med.

 

 

I had been looking at the Prima's itinerary to Iceland/Norway because the itinerary looked amazing this summer, but didn't book it because NCL has had issues with keeping its itineraries.  On my cruise last January on the Getaway, one port and the morning of another was cancelled after final payment to help the environment.  When I called NCL to ask them to let me reschedule to an identical sailing a few weeks later because I was. pulling 3 kids out of school for the ports, they refused because they cancelled the ports after final payment.  NCL continued to advertise the original itinerary for the next month, and didn't notify passengers who booked with them them directly over the phone of the cancellations, nor did they let them cancel or reschedule.  

 

 

I'd recommend checking the passenger reviews on this year's sailings for the ship/itinerary you are looking at next summer.  

 

 

You can start with their most recent review of the ship you are thinking about sailing and go backwards to see what recent sailings have been like.  This is the star (one of the oldest ships in the fleet - someone was asking on another forum about the star so I was looking there) but you you can easily google the ship you are considering.

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=704939

 

Please check the cancellation policies of any private tours you schedule prior to booking.

 

 

 

Thanks for the detailed response. We've already booked a land based vacation in Italy, so we've got 3 choices for cruises. All depart from Rome - Odyssey of the Seas (RCL), Escape, and Epic. 

 

I'd prefer the eastern med ports as my wife and I have previously done the western med, which is the biggest reason I'm thinking NCL. However, realistically my kids aren't going to be happy with no kids club, and one of the NCL itineraries has zero sea days. Which is great, but not if they shut down the amenities we want while in Port.

 

I'm probably not willing to book this on a "maybe the individual ship will have it open" which I think puts us on RCL, or just coming back early and cruising another time.

[kitkat343]

4 hours ago, Bizaro86 said:

 

Thanks for the detailed response. We've already booked a land based vacation in Italy, so we've got 3 choices for cruises. All depart from Rome - Odyssey of the Seas (RCL), Escape, and Epic. 

 

I'd prefer the eastern med ports as my wife and I have previously done the western med, which is the biggest reason I'm thinking NCL. However, realistically my kids aren't going to be happy with no kids club, and one of the NCL itineraries has zero sea days. Which is great, but not if they shut down the amenities we want while in Port.

 

I'm probably not willing to book this on a "maybe the individual ship will have it open" which I think puts us on RCL, or just coming back early and cruising another time.

The kids clubs could be reopened on port days next summer but there's no guarantee.  

 

Longer term, look into the Baltics and Norway because they are amazing cruises for children -  a really nice balance of historical sites with fun kids activities (even in St. Petersburg if it ever is safe to reopen). My trip report under my signature line has a lot of info of what we did in those locations, but please note that Geiranger and Flam might not be available long term to ships that aren't zero emissions due to Norwegian laws.

Edited September 4, 2023 by kitkat343

[Traveller1212]

On 9/3/2023 at 7:30 PM, Bizaro86 said:

 

Were they ever open when the ship was in Port? We're considering NCL for the end of a European trip next summer, and I suspect the kids will be ready for some down time even during Port days by then. I like the NCL itinerary and food better than the RCL option but this is a big factor for us.

No, was closed - Our itinerary had 2 half days in port and only 1 full day (opened at 7pm, left port at 8:15pm) so kids went every day (to give us a break 😉) - was open on sea days 9am to noon, 2pm to 4pm & 7pm to 11pm