NCL: New Youth Program

[ctfamilyof5]

The new kids club program rollout will take time. NCL will begin in late Feb. with Gem. They expect to complete all ships by the Fall. The Gem is a Jewel class ship and it is believed that they will continue on to another Jewel class ship.

 

The older the ship, the later the rollout.

 

Don't expect the Dawn or the Star to have made the changes before summertime. The Spirit and the Sky will probably have to wait to the Fall.

 

Problem is I have the 2yr old and am cruising on the GEM out of NY on 2/26/12 - As I stated before this is an issue for me especially if they are going to charge for them since when I booked this was not known.

[MelMac126]

My husband spoke with someone today and from what it sounds like on the Gem it is going to be similar to the RC way by having to pay to drop off your child for Group Sitting. Which is $6 an hour. We were told we could drop her off, but it sounds like we are going to have to pay if we take the Gem. I am going to call and see if I can get another person to tell me the same info. Will post if I hear anything different!

[aamiee]

I hope the new program will roll out by September. We will be on the Star with our baby. I would love to be able to drop him off at nursery and I don't mind paying for it :)

[denas]

My husband spoke with someone today and from what it sounds like on the Gem it is going to be similar to the RC way by having to pay to drop off your child for Group Sitting. Which is $6 an hour. We were told we could drop her off, but it sounds like we are going to have to pay if we take the Gem. I am going to call and see if I can get another person to tell me the same info. Will post if I hear anything different!

 

What is interesting is that I just checked a few minutes ago and the NCL site still mentions the Kids Club grouping as 2-5 and still states it is complimenatary. I would be very irritated if I had booked a cruise under these conditions and showed up on ship to find the conditions changed significantly. THere is no mention on the NCL site of any upcoming changes to the kids programming.

 

We just booked a cruise next January and our youngest will be a couple of months shy of 3. Our final choice was between an NCL ship and a Carnival and we went with Carnival based on the waterslide. Now I am glad we chose it because I would have been very upset to find that the kids program changed after I booked my cruise with apparently no notification to the families. Disney did this to us on our last cruise - changed the format of the kids program and we didn't find out about it until after final payment (and then didn't find out from Disney but rather from the message boards). It worked out OK although I didn't like the new kids program format at all, but at least it didn't cost us money to do something that had been advertised as free when we booked the cruise.

[mpcaruth]

This is great news. I especially like this part: "and will feature more family events such as parades and scavenger hunts." Carnival seemed to have more family events than NCL such as family disco, scavenger hunt, etc.

 

Also, my 9-yr old didn't want to participate in the Kids Crew activities because the age group was 6 to 9 and he didn't want to hang out with "little" 6 year olds; these age groupings sound better.

 

 

I am pretty sure my 12 year old son will will not want to hang out with 9 year olds. I don't agree with the new age group.

[DMH15]

Sorry if I wasn't clear in my concern. Other cruiselines kids programs have broken up hours. Just hope NCL keeps their kids crew program along with the freestyle concept and not close it for blocks of time in the middle of the day like other lines.

 

I also think the new age groups are great. Hope the 2y/o group doest get forgotten. I agree with another poster. They don't belong with 6mos olds and a lot of famlies enjoy being able to leave the 2y/o for a couple hrs of playtime

You are right. My friend's 2 year old is VERY energetic. She would wear the babies out!!!!

[guk]

I have just emailed ncl as booked to go on the epic transatlantic for the sole reason my 2 yr old would be able to go in the kids clubs allowing us to have a meal by ourselves a few nights also justified paying full price for both our children as knew we would be able to utilise the kids clubs however now really unsure whether to cancel. I got a very quick reply from them telling me all about the kids clubs as they are at the momment with no mention of any changes, I have now emailed them back with the quote on their website asking for clarification and hopefully reassurance as was really looking forward to this cruise but now dont know what to do.

[NJ Johnny]

I have just emailed ncl as booked to go on the epic transatlantic for the sole reason my 2 yr old would be able to go in the kids clubs allowing us to have a meal by ourselves a few nights also justified paying full price for both our children as knew we would be able to utilise the kids clubs however now really unsure whether to cancel. I got a very quick reply from them telling me all about the kids clubs as they are at the momment with no mention of any changes, I have now emailed them back with the quote on their website asking for clarification and hopefully reassurance as was really looking forward to this cruise but now dont know what to do.

 

 

Any response from NCL yet?

[guk]

Got an email acknowledging changes starting on gem and hat hey are going to contact head office and get back to me on thurs do hopefully will hear more this week.

[gonecountry]

For those already booked - this is not for you - the cruise needs to honor what you signed up for :)

 

However, for future cruisers - if children under 3 are free, then I don't think special programming for them needs to be offered. If you want special programs for 2 year olds, then you should also expect to pay for their cruise.

 

And I am a mom of 2 small kids

[NJ Johnny]

For those already booked - this is not for you - the cruise needs to honor what you signed up for :)

 

However, for future cruisers - if children under 3 are free, then I don't think special programming for them needs to be offered. If you want special programs for 2 year olds, then you should also expect to pay for their cruise.

 

And I am a mom of 2 small kids

 

 

Everyone already pays for the cruise for children over two.

[che5904]

However, for future cruisers - if children under 3 are free,

 

Everyone already pays for the cruise for children over two.

 

I was a little confused by that post as well, I know that unless the child is 3 years or older you don't pay for their DSC. But I tried to do a mock booking even with a one year old and their was still a charge. Granted the charge was cheaper for the 1 year old but the 2 and 3 year old were the same price. Am I missing something here?

[gaylemh]

I just paid over 1,600 for my 2 year old grandson.

[mpk218]

I just paid over 1,600 for my 2 year old grandson.

 

 

Thats stiff ... I feel it should be 3 and above , but I dont own a cruise line ;)

[gaylemh]

Thats stiff ... I feel it should be 3 and above , but I dont own a cruise line ;)

 

It's an Easter week cruise. I paid the same for him, as I did for everyone else.

To be fair though, I had three cabins booked and would have had to pay the single supplement for my cabin anyway, so booking him with me, saved the 3rd person rate for my daughters cabin.

[CruiseBoston]

Under 2 on NCL you just pay port fees and taxes. Over 2 is a regular passenger fare, which if they are the third or fourth guest in a room is cheaper, but not if there is only one other person in the cabin. Sales sometimes happen with further reduced faresfor third and fourth passengers or "kids sail free", but that is not the regular fare. The one compromise is that the $12 a day service charge does not kick in until they are 3.

[che5904]

Under 2 on NCL you just pay port fees and taxes. Over 2 is a regular passenger fare, which if they are the third or fourth guest in a room is cheaper, but not if there is only one other person in the cabin. Sales sometimes happen with further reduced faresfor third and fourth passengers or "kids sail free", but that is not the regular fare. The one compromise is that the $12 a day service charge does not kick in until they are 3.

 

Sorry but you are incorrect. If you look at the attached files, I put in "1" just as the directions said for children between 6 mos and 1 yr old. As you can see by the 2nd photo it was not just the port fees and taxes.

[mpk218]

Sorry but you are incorrect. If you look at the attached files, I put in "1" just as the directions said for children between 6 mos and 1 yr old. As you can see by the 2nd photo it was not just the port fees and taxes.

 

 

Theres something wrong here. Under the age of 2 is not a payed fare.. I would certainly check this. According to NCL booking department . :confused:

[che5904]

Theres something wrong here. Under the age of 2 is not a payed fare.. I would certainly check this. According to NCL booking department . :confused:

 

OK, I changed ships, changed months, same info

 

First post was the Pearl for Feb 2013, As you can see ages 30, 28 & 1

 

This post is the Dawn Mar 2013. Sorry I'm getting the same results.

 

BTW my babies are 28 and 30 :D, so this doesn't directly affect me. And I don't intend on taking my grandbabies on a cruise with me anytime soon. I was just curious at what age that NCL started to charge and whether it was full price, since the poster above said their wasn't a charge for under 3.

[mpk218]

Oh I see it . Im just saying it should not be . I just called NCL and they verified 1-23 months no fare .

 

Soooooo , I gues if anyone is making a booking for an under 2 Call and ask what the ;)

[NJ Johnny]

Oh I see it . Im just saying it should not be . I just called NCL and they verified 1-23 months no fare .

 

Soooooo , I gues if anyone is making a booking for an under 2 Call and ask what the ;)

 

 

In my own experiences, children 6 months to two years are charged a substantially reduced fare plus portfees and taxes. This info can be found on NCL's website under their FAQ's, also in their catalogues. Over two they travel at the third and fourth person fare if traveling with parents of two full paying adults, and the full rate if the second pasenger in the same cabin at any age. I know this because of our own families cruises. We have always booked through an NCl PCC. Carol

[SuiteCruiser]

For those already booked - this is not for you - the cruise needs to honor what you signed up for :)

 

However, for future cruisers - if children under 3 are free, then I don't think special programming for them needs to be offered. If you want special programs for 2 year olds, then you should also expect to pay for their cruise.

 

And I am a mom of 2 small kids

 

Just want to be sure you aren't suggesting that for those already booked that the ship offer both versions of their kids club. That won't happen, it will be one or the other.

[guk]

Just got a reply on they're Facebook page, non committed about what will be available for our 2 yr old and whether or not there will be an additional charge. Just says there will definitely be something to entertain him and we can leave him unsupervised although do not know whether it will be by the old age groups or the new ones. Aaaaargh so annoyed as I spent a long time researching which cruise line would suit our needs best with in regards to our sons age as swore after cruising with our DD when she was 2 we would never cruise again with a mobile toddler until they were 3. Was really looking forward to this cruise and now just don't know what to do. Just want to know one way or the other and can't seem to find the answers.

 

 

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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=53.754518,-1.663158

[puddles99]

I decided to try and see if I could get any info out of my PCC so I sent this email:

This press release recently came to my attention:

http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/pressroom/pressRelease.html?storyCode=PR_010512

Can you provide any additional information? I'd like to know in advance whether or not my girls will be in the same or different groups in the Kids Club. If there is someone else that would be better able to provide information, please just point me in the right direction.

 

Thanks so much,

XXXX

 

This is the reply that I received:

The new Kids Crew Program is being tried on the Norwegian Gem only. Below is the information for the current Kids Crew program on the Norwegian Sun.

 

And then he just included the current descriptions . . . so I know nothing more than when I started. Interesting that he doesn't mention that it's being rolled out fleet-wide, instead he implies that this is merely a pilot program that may or may not be implemented.

 

So, a whole lot of nothing! Darn it!

[russianmom]

This was recently posted on their FB page:

 

New Youth program will soft launch on Norwegian Gem on the Feburary 19 sailing and officially launch on Gem in late March. Norwegian Jewel will follow in late April.