NCL Splash Academy

[Redsky5292]

Good morning fellow cruisers!

 

I know this is a lot like looking into a crystal ball, but does anyone have an idea as to when NCL might reopen their Splash Academies?  We have a family cruised planned in July and our 9 year old Twins will be with us, as well as our 10 year old nephew.  Hubby and I would like to take advantage of the spa...

[awsullivan]

We booked for our kids spring break just so we could enjoy splash academy (SA)! When I was booking I specifically talked about SA to the agent and nothing was said about it being closed, then I read on forums it had been closed and at the time of paying final balance we could not get a straight answer about if it would be open. We in the past used it to enjoy the high end spa packages and dinners, but if they do not have splash academy we will most likely cancel and if not then we certainly will not be spending the money on anything NCL while there or in the future. 

[Traveller20074]

June 1st.  3 days after we disembark  😞 

[Traveller20074]

I heard someone on a FAcebook group say they just dropped their kids off at Splash Academy today !

 

this is on the Bliss.  I hope it happens in 5 days when we board!!!

[Traveller20074]

YAY!   what a great surprise to see Entourage AND Splash Academy open!   my grandkids had a blast!

 

 

they've changed it a bit, from Circus at Sea, to activities.   one of them was to get a picture of you with a crew member 🙂  my grandson loved it

[JCMass.]

On 6/3/2022 at 12:21 PM, Traveller20074 said:

YAY!   what a great surprise to see Entourage AND Splash Academy open!   my grandkids had a blast!

 

 

they've changed it a bit, from Circus at Sea, to activities.   one of them was to get a picture of you with a crew member 🙂  my grandson loved it

We are traveling in August on the NCL Pearl with family including a 6 year old.  I know she will love spending time in Splash Academy, but I am wondering if it ever gets so full the don't let kids sign up.  I expect in August there will be a large number of kids on the ship.   The say first come first serve, but how early do we need to get there to be sure of a spot.  We leave very close to the port so we usually arrive later around 1pm will we have missed our chance for Splash Academy ?  

[kitkat343]

On 6/23/2023 at 2:08 PM, JCMass. said:

We are traveling in August on the NCL Pearl with family including a 6 year old.  I know she will love spending time in Splash Academy, but I am wondering if it ever gets so full the don't let kids sign up.  I expect in August there will be a large number of kids on the ship.   The say first come first serve, but how early do we need to get there to be sure of a spot.  We leave very close to the port so we usually arrive later around 1pm will we have missed our chance for Splash Academy ?  

Your initial boarding time on the ship isn't an issue at all.  Everyone will get a chance to register for splash academy, irregardless of boarding time.  When they say first come first serve, this means that whomever shows up first when splash academy opens gets admitted.  You don't preregister for what times you drop off your child like you do for paid nursery care of children under 3 on RC or Disney fee based nurseries.  

 

Unfortunately, that does mean that on some cruises people have reported on these forums that they have to line up before the kids club opens to get a spot each time it reopens.  I don't actually know how often that happens though.  It's never happened to me, but most of my cruises were during the school year (two in August and the kids club never filled up on those).  You can check your ship's previous sailing's roll call and see if anyone can let you know if there was a capacity issue for Splash Academy, but that's still no guarantee of your exact sailing.

 

People have also reported that Disney prevents this issue from happening by having specific limits as to how many children of different age groups are allowed to sail.  If you try to book  a room with children whose ages have reached capacity, they won't take the booking to prevent the kids clubs from ever being full, but I've never sailed them either.

Edited June 26, 2023 by kitkat343

[JCMass.]

30 minutes ago, kitkat343 said:

Your initial boarding time on the ship isn't an issue at all.  Everyone will get a chance to register for splash academy, irregardless of boarding time.  When they say first come first serve, this means that whomever shows up first when splash academy opens gets admitted.  You don't preregister for what times you drop off your child like you do for paid nursery care of children under 3 on RC or Disney fee based nurseries.  

 

Unfortunately, that does mean that on some cruises people have reported on these forums that they have to line up before the kids club opens to get a spot each time it reopens.  I don't actually know how often that happens though.  It's never happened to me, but most of my cruises were during the school year (two in August and the kids club never filled up on those).  You can check your ship's previous sailing's roll call and see if anyone can let you know if there was a capacity issue for Splash Academy, but that's still no guarantee of your exact sailing.

 

People have also reported that Disney prevents this issue from happening by having specific limits as to how many children of different age groups are allowed to sail.  If you try to book  a room with children whose ages have reached capacity, they won't take the booking to prevent the kids clubs from ever being full, but I've never sailed them either.

Thank you this is very helpful.  We are traveling in late August the week before the schools open in the Boston area where we live.  I know we have been on the weeks around the school vacation, the crew has told us there are often 800-900 kids on board and it is a mad house.  We are hoping late August will not be quite that busy.  It is good to know we can sign up most any time that day.