NCL Written Policy of Not Leaving Ship with Children at Splash Academy

[florida_gators]

We've been on almost 20 cruises, but only one prior cruise with NCL.  We worked with a cruise consultant in deciding to take our 3 and 5 year old children on a European cruise (instead of locally in the Caribbean).  Our cruise consultant (as well as many other customer service reps) assured us multiple times that there is plenty of babysitting on board, and that my wife and I could therefore enjoy the shore excursions together (such as in Paris, which is about 3 hours away from the port).  We were now just told from another consultant that while our children are at the Splash Academy (since NCL doesn't offer "babysitting"), that one parent must be on the ship at all times and available to pick up a child within 10 minutes (or else face fines).  We had the consultant verify this with a supervisor.  We've had a horrible time already booking this cruise with NCL, and this ruins our European cruise.  Has anyone else experienced this?  Did we miss a written policy?  We're past the deadline to cancel without penalty, so we're trying to decide what to do.  With other cruise lines, we've always been provided a cell phone when our children are left on ship in case we need to return.

[OrcaGirl]

I can't speak to a European cruise, but on my Alaska cruise on the Bliss a couple of months ago, Splash Academy was never open when the ship was in port.

[Capitan Obvious]

Welcome to Cruise Critic. It is a shame that you've been on nearly 20 cruises and are only coming here now.

 

I can't help but find it odd that you were "assured multiple times" about babysitting. Why wasn't once enough? It just seems odd to repeatedly ask the same question. 

 

You didn't miss a policy. They are your children and you are responsible for them...especially on a family vacation out of the country...but of course, you already know that. I'm sorry that having to be with your children "ruins your European cruise". Perhaps you can make the best of it and enjoy time with your family. I can't imagine that your children really want to go all the way to Europe only to be tossed into a daycare. Lousy vacation IMHO.

 

Both the babysitting question and the leaving the children onboard question are specifically addresses in the FAQ section of NCL's website under Youth Programs: Frequently Asked Questions (ncl.com) 

[Albinroo]

Yes, these days the kids club on NCL are closed during port hours. I can understand why you would have wanted to leave them there for the trip into Paris, young kids are not always entertained by long bus tours and city visits. However we have traveled with NCL with young kids several times and this has never been an issue, we found things to do together, on or off ship. Many European ports are easy to walk off, find a playground, enjoy a coffee somewhere and just walk around. It might be more fun than expected, even if you do travel on a cruise line which is open when in Port there is no guarantee that your kids will enjoy being left there .

[Uff da]

All I can say is WOW! I would have never done that to my children. If this cruise is so important to you, by all means, take it. Find a reliable family member near home to care for your kids while you are gone. You, and they, will be happier.

Apparently, you have not seen the horrific tale of the woman who left her kids onboard and didn't make it back and the ship left without her?

You could be one accident from leaving your kids onboard without a parent. Is that really a risk you are willing to take? Unreal. 3 hours away...OY! 

[bluesea777]

Sorry, but picture this, you put your children in Splash Academy and go off the ship to travel ALL DAY to Paris (3 hours each way plus 3 or so hours to sightsee), and somehow you get into a bit of a mishap and are unable to get back in time and the ship sails with your little ones without you.

 

No thanks, and that is the reason the Splash Academy do not open the hours the ship is in port. 

 

Find some short excursions that the whole family will enjoy off ship.

 

 

[Asawi]

Wow! I'm trying to get my head around this one! I don't have small kids anymore and I do get that parenting is different now than back in the '80s with parents being more "me" oriented now. I don't think that is a bad thing. but leaving your kids on a ship with (relative) strangers for more than maybe an hour or two... Wow! 

What if when you get on board it turns out that the kids don't actually like Splash Academy? Or even if they do, on that particular day one of them might not be "cooperative" (3- an 5-years old don't always "cooperate"...)

 

[RD64]

What if there is a medical emergency involving the three year old and you are off gallivanting somewhere in Paris - three hours away, and you can’t necessarily be reached?

[dexddd]

Welcome to CC.  I don't know current NCL policy but it used to be no.  DCL used to let you which we did once in Nassau with a couple families.

[njkate]

Good grief leave them home with family or pay for an adult to come with you as babysitter!!

I can’t believe you would even think about shore excursions leaving your kids on board

[All-ready2cruise]

I'm actually surprised that no one has brought up the possibility of legal ramifications. Here, this would be completely disallowed. 

[Funky Fusion FoodsJ]

Wow….speechless….

[njkate]

2 hours ago, All-ready2cruise said:

I'm actually surprised that no one has brought up the possibility of legal ramifications. Here, this would be completely disallowed. 

Excellent point!! Probably one of the reasons it's not allowed

[All-ready2cruise]

Well, the NCL lawyers are pretty careful regarding their passengers. Imagine them allowing this situation and something happens to a child under the care of an NCL staff member.  As someone who is a child advocate, I know that the care of a child/children is very seriously taken under consideration. 

Not going any further with this since it's nothing to do with cruising but just sayin', it's serious. 

[jemz1949]

I've made a personal decision to look at when the OP joined CC and how many previous posts they have made before proceeding with any sort of comment for posts such as this one...maybe not true in all cases but when I see a post such as this one in which the OP joined CC yesterday and this is their first post....I move on.

[JeanKC]

On our recent European cruise, Splash Academy was not open during the day when in port. It opened at about 7pm, I think. Plus, you did have to be contactable and available to collect the child should something happen (something happening included the child being tired and wanting to go the bed).

 

I'm not a parent......BUT, if I was, I don't think I would feel comfortable leaving my child on board while I went on an excursion (no matter how far away it was).....Not to mention, if something did happen and you did have to return to the ship.....would you expect the excursion bus to turn around and take you back, inconveniencing everyone else, or would you happily shell out the few hundred quid a taxi back to port would cost you? Or take a chance on public transport?  Or have you not actually thought about that?

Maybe, leave the kids at home or try to convince someone else to join you on the cruise as a nanny.

 

[Bulk-head]

Referring to the FAQ’s pointed out by Capitan Obvious, there is a written language allowing the leaving of the ship by the parents while child is in Splash Academy.  However it is also noted that these services are “Temporarily not available”. 

 

Can I or the authorized pick-up people, leave the ship on a port day while my child is in Splash Academy?

Yes, unless you are issued a handy phone or pager, which requires at least 1 authorized pick up person to remain onboard in case the staff or child needs your assistance. The Youth Program Manager will inquire with the security team.

This policy is in place for the safety of your child. Pagers and handy phones do not work ashore from the ship.

Handy phones or pagers will be given out for the following reasons:

• -If your child is in diapers
• -If your child or staff needs your assistance beyond the scope of the youth programs care provided
  
•  

Youth Program Manager reserves the right to issue a handy phone or pager to parents if the situation with the child requires parent/pick-up person assistance.

If a handy phone or pager is issued to you and your child is signed into the program, not responding to a page or call within 15 minutes will result in a $75.00 fee and your child will be dismissed from the program.

If a handy phone or pager is issued a fee of $150.00 will be applied to your onboard account if the device is not returned or if it is returned broken

How are the age groups divided on port days for Splash Academy?

Temporarily not available

On port days, children ages 3 - 12 are combined for programming from arrival into port until departure from port or 6:00 pm, whichever comes first. Please know that children under 12 are supervised when in Splash Academy.

Note to parents:

If parents go ashore, it is recommended to use the Splash Academy services for children under 12 year old. Parents should never leave their child(ren) unattended on the ship during a port day with no guardianship. Parents found to have left their minor (under 17) onboard with no guardian is subject to fines, ship dismissal, and a legal investigation.

 

Are babysitters available?

No, Norwegian doesn’t offer babysitting but instead offers Group Sitting Services for children ages 3 -12 years old every night from 10:30pm - 1:30am (Late Night Fun Zone) and on port days while the ship is docked.

Temporarily Not Available

On Port Days, a minimal fee is charged only during scheduled meal time per the activity booklet.

Nightly at Late Night Fun Zone, there is an hourly fee of $6.00 USD per hour, per child and $4.00 USD per hour, per child for each additional sibling.

Parents are encouraged to sign up in advance for both services. If no children are signed up or dropped off by 11:30 pm for the nightly service, the youth center will close for the evening. The fees are charged to your on-board account. Fifteen minute transition time is offered before charges apply from Splash Academy to Late Night. Both services are run by the Youth Staff in the Splash Academy Facility.

Hours of Operations
Port Day: Arrival into Port – Departure from Port
Overnight In Port: Arrival in Port – 8:00 pm

[df5250]

Was once in Bermuda many many years ago when a couple left their minor child onboard alone. I imagine in Splash Academy, and they missed the last ferry from St George!  We waited until they could arrive back to the ship. I know this because the captain told us, repeatedly, while we waited for them to taxi back to the port.  It is because of people like the OP that think it’s all about them that things change for for the worse for the rest of us!! 

[kitkat343]

I sailed NCL on a Baltic cruise when my youngest was 3, which was 10 years ago.  Back then the kids clubs were open during port days and parents could leave the children behind.  This was our backup plan for our Baltic cruise, since we weren't sure how our 3 year old would handle St. Petersburg.  Thankfully, he loved it and we've never needed to leave a child behind in the kids club.  But the kids clubs were quite full when we returned to the ship and dropped him off.  

 

Unfortunately, currently the NCL website states that each ship sets its own kids club hours so hours are not currently guaranteed.  I have no idea if the kids club will be reopened during port hours by next summer (the kids club was closed for port days last January when we sailed on NCL).  

 

I've taken a 2 year old to the Panama Canal, a 3 year old to the Baltics, and a 2 and 7 year old to Norway,  and my greatest recommendation for traveling with kids is to book independent excursions so you can control the itinerary.  But with NCL you need to be especially careful about checking those providers cancellation policies because NCL has sometimes changed itineraries after final payment.  On our cruise they cancelled one port and the morning of another to help the environment, continued to advertise the original itinerary and didn't notify customers who booked directly with them after the cancellation of the changes.  Those customers who booked after the cancellations directly with NCL consultants over the phone and weren't notified of the changes weren't allowed to cancel or reschedule.  Since you are traveling with small kids, it is extremely important that you research each port carefully to identify tours of  what your children might like.  On NCL, that also includes researching the backup ports in case they change your itinerary - on my cruise they'd had lots of problems with the DR, so I also had to research Nassau and GSK so I was prepared in case they didn't make the changes until after we sailed (they did give us a month's notice, with a sea day instead of a replacement port but Nassau and GSK were sometimes the backup port for the DR last year) .  Your best bet to see if they are likely to keep your itinerary or if there is anything else you should research is to go to the most recent reviews of your ship  on cruise critic and see if that ship has been able to make its itinerary recently and if not where the ship tends to go instead.    Start at the most recent review and then scan backwards through the previous reviews (this is the star but you should be able to easily search for the ship you are booked for). https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=704939

 

 

 

 

 

Also, I have no idea if this is possible but both the Baltics and Norway are wonderful cruises with small children; I'd check to see if you can switch to one of those cruises for your family without incurring a huge penalty.   They wouldn't let us switch our cruise (we pulled 3 kids out of school for the itinerary and wanted to switch to the same cruise a few weeks later), but maybe you'd get lucky with your NCL rep if you can find an alternative cruise that works for your family.

[kitkat343]

3 hours ago, df5250 said:

Was once in Bermuda many many years ago when a couple left their minor child onboard alone. I imagine in Splash Academy, and they missed the last ferry from St George!  We waited until they could arrive back to the ship. I know this because the captain told us, repeatedly, while we waited for them to taxi back to the port.  It is because of people like the OP that think it’s all about them that things change for for the worse for the rest of us!! 

This reminded me of a tour I took years ago.  I was on a cruise to Guatemala, and the government of Guatemala charges very high taxes and fees to cruise ships, so there are very few cruise ships that stop there even though it is incredibly beautiful.  I was looking for a private tour since we had a 3 year old, and found Go with Gus.  Normally I would have completely discounted them due to this review:  

but since there were so few options, we decided to take the chance (we booked a private tour for just our family so I knew they would return to the ship whenever I requested and that I could keep a close eye on the time).  According to that review, the captain of the HAL ships' wife and children took a tour with Go With Gus, and the operator returned their tour group back after sailaway time and the captain apparently announced to the entire ship he would wait for a little while for his wife and children but eventually they would need to leave.  

 

 Thankfully, we had a wonderful tour and were returned exactly when we requested but I always wondered what that poor captain would have done if his wife and children had returned much later!  

 

We were on a HAL ship, so we could have left our son behind in the kids club but would never have chanced it on that excursion!  

Edited September 9, 2023 by kitkat343

[Peachypooh]

Accidents happen in an instant. I know someone whose wife tripped hiking  on vacation and was in the hospital for 6 weeks in Spain. Taking care of my grandchildren once on a cruise ship I had one of them have an allergic reaction to something and fortunately I knew what to do.

[RD64]

5 minutes ago, Peachypooh said:

Accidents happen in an instant. I know someone whose wife tripped hiking  on vacation and was in the hospital for 6 weeks in Spain. Taking care of my grandchildren once on a cruise ship I had one of them have an allergic reaction to something and fortunately I knew what to do.

Literally true - also tripped and slid down a hill in Alaska - dislocated my shoulder.

[CruiseMH]

On 9/8/2023 at 7:07 AM, Albinroo said:

 young kids are not always entertained by long bus tours and city visits.

 

this is something one should think of BEFORE having children.

There might be situations or longer time periods where i can`t do what i want.

OP seems to care more about what he wants to see regardless if this is suitable for his/her children or not.

 

[Peachypooh]

1 hour ago, RD64 said:

Literally true - also tripped and slid down a hill in Alaska - dislocated my shoulder.

Sorry to hear that. I tripped and fell on an excursion at a resort in Curacao. Fortunately I always bring a first aid kit on excursions and I patched myself up.

[Albinroo]

16 hours ago, CruiseMH said:

 

this is something one should think of BEFORE having children.

There might be situations or longer time periods where i can`t do what i want.

OP seems to care more about what he wants to see regardless if this is suitable for his/her children or not.

 

Yes, that is why I suggested doing things WITH their kids on or off the ship instead. As a parent of four, crusing for us is more about getting to spend quality time together when we don't have to cook or clean. Mostly we are happy when the kids are happy, and the kids being kids are usually happy with very little since the ship/port is an adventure in itself.