JeninIndy

Splash Academy will hold their key cards for the kids while they are there. Also they have a great new virtual queue feature in the NCL app which eliminates (or at least shortens) all the lining up. If they have that on your ship, they’ll explain how it works during the sign up session. You can ask them to add both you and their parents as authorized persons for pickup. They will ask for your keycard and a family password which you get to set (e.g. a pet’s name). They’ll have fun!

We're renting a car at Enterprise next week and they don't open until 8. I believe it was the same for Avis last time we visited. There may be some independent rental places waiting at the end of the pier who can get you in sooner.

Just checked in- 21 days till our Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Encore!

We have 9 and 12 year old boys and they've been visiting Splash Academy (minus 2020 and 2021 🙂 ) since they were tiny and they look forward to it every cruise. It's basically a floating day care center staffed with a friendly, high-energy young crew. When you register on the first day, you will sit down with a staff member who will take all your information and answer all your questions and even give you a quick tour if you want. It's a drop-in format so not super structured. The social butterflies might choose to do the pre-planned craft or activity, while others might play a video game or do a craft and the staff won't force them to do anything they're not interested in. Some examples of activities we've seen are video game tournaments, T-shirt design for the Glow Party, banner/flag design, pirate parades, etc. Pre-pandemic, our kids also got to star in a talent show called the Splashtacular Extravaganza, which was held in the ship's auditorium and open to all the cruisers. When you enroll, they will give you a flyer with a schedule and all the themes for the week. That way you have an idea if the day's activities are something your kids would like. Hope they enjoy!

Thank you so much for this review. We're sailing the Encore again at the end of March and this helps temper our expectations. We've been sailing NCL since 2007 (+ our honeymoon on the Majesty in 2008 🙂 ) and have definitely witnessed this same culture shift. We were on the Encore for an Alaskan cruise in July 2022 while it was still at reduced capacity (about 70%) and had a similar experience with staff. They seemed overworked and still very COVID-cautious and standoffish (which was understandable as COVID was still rapidly spreading onboard). Lots of the main shows were cancelled and the rumor was it was due to performer union disputes. Towards the end of the cruise, they kept prompting us to nominate our cruise superstars, but honestly, even our steward wasn't super friendly the two times we saw him. I know even my own workplace hasn't returned to 100% post-pandemic, so I'm hoping over time things go back to normal and we don't have to break up as well. Freestyle is the way to cruise!

It might depend what ship you’re on. We were on the Encore last month and it was mostly back to normal at 10-12, 2-4, and 7-10 for kids 5 and up only. They have always breaked for meal times, and had not yet reintroduced the late-nite drop-off for a fee.

Agreed, it would only be preschoolers or homeschooled kids. Enjoy!

We’ve cruised the Encore and Breakaway this year and there was no drop off programming for kids under 5yo. There was also no late night (after 10pm) drop offs for anyone. I think it will take some time for them to get back to their pre-COVID Splash Academy staffing.

We have cruised twice this year with older kids (8 and 11) and it didn’t seem like there were any plans to resume preschool programming. They did have “family” programming shipwide and it didn’t seem like a problem to bring kids to the earlier (7:30) shows or dinner seatings. Hope it opens up for you by then!

We also missed Splash Academy earlier this spring on the Breakaway- no break whatsoever from our kids! Thankfully it was available on the Encore last month, but I noticed they no longer offered the late night service for a fee- pickup was 10PM sharp. We were happy it was back, but sad there was no pajama party like there usually is on the last night!

Same, came here to say crème brûlée was a dessert option one night in the main dining room on the Encore in July.

You can also request it via the free room service breakfast delivery and keep it in your fridge.

We’re on the Encore this week and there’s a sign in front of the Guppies room that says it’s permanently closed. 😞 There’s programming for 5+ only.

We sailed in room 10818 on the Getaway in 2018 and there was definitely a smoke smell that rose up to our balcony from deck 8, but we never smelled it in the cabin. We always avoid that part of the ship when choosing cabins now.

We cruised on the Breakaway in March and our room was ready when we boarded shortly after noon. The ship was also only 60% capacity. Interested to see more recent experiences!