New ncl kids camp policy (Live from the GEM)

[haply]

The ship knows exactly how many kids, ages, etc. are sailing prior to the sailing date. This should not be a surprise for the ship and they should plan accordingly. I am seriously thinking about cancelling my Thanksgiving cruise is I am going to have to wait in line, plan ahead. My kids are not big kids club fans, but it was nice on Royal Caribbean to be able to be spontaneous and drop them off for an hour or two when they wanted to go. We were never given a ticket system or asked to wait in line. Hmmm....

[Suzyrn89]

Not only did I talk to guest services, we are in the haven and have concierge looking into it as well. They said it was supposed to be fleet wide starting in March as a "high season" kids policy and all based on the security officers max capacity in each kids area. On the gem its 76 but for example the getaway its higher due to a dual floor kids club. They put in a call/email to ncl corporate for me and will let me know tomorrow what the answer is. Which is 1- if this was a high season only policy can they remove it now, 2- is this going to stay this way.

 

 

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We have a family cruise booked and paid for in July, this will be our first time with NCL but we never had this problem with RCCI, we switched from RCCI to NCL for our July cruise, now I'm hoping we dont regret it! Bad planning on NCL part.

[triptolemus]

amazing how upset some people get when faced with the fact that their own children might have to spend time with them on their "family vacation". Gone are the days when you could just dump your kids off and let someone else worry about them while you're out having fun.

 

Exactly why I don't have any... :cool:

[jbiz]

You are being purposely dense and unnecessarily negative and refusing to see the facts. The most important one is that this change is a safety issue. All cruise lines _have to_ adhere. Not an option. Nothing corporate or sneaky change to get more of your money about this. It doesn't get any clearer than safety.

 

 

Why do you keep focusing the a safety issue. It's not an issue of they need to capacity control the room. There are MANY other venues for them to host kids functions but they are choosing not to.

 

Everyone understands saying only x people in this room, but saying on a cruise with 500 or so kids that we will only have events for 76 of them is just not ok. they should find other ways to entertain and hold events thought the ship for the kids.

 

 

 

 

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Edited May 24, 2015 by jbiz

[RSLeesburg]

You are being purposely dense and unnecessarily negative and refusing to see the facts. The most important one is that this change is a safety issue. All cruise lines _have to_ adhere. Not an option. Nothing corporate or sneaky change to get more of your money about this. It doesn't get any clearer than safety.

 

 

We ran into same issue on RCI last year over Thanksgiving - the kids club was enforcing the capacity limits, which are clearly defined in the ships fact sheet we were given when we boarded. However, after three years on this board, it has never been brought up, which make me think that the lines were not enforcing these limits as well as they should - and, maybe the inspectors or auditors starting looking into this - hence the tightening on all the lines to enforce these limits.

[jbiz]

 

 

 

 

 

LOTS of drama in this thread :rolleyes:...amazing how upset some people get when faced with the fact that their own children might have to spend time with them on their "family vacation". Gone are the days when you could just dump your kids off and let someone else worry about them while you're out having fun.

 

 

I love how you think his has anything to do with dumping off kids. How about its their vacation too and they want to meet new people and play with other kids their own age and not just hang with adults.

 

 

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[legion3]

 

LOTS of drama in this thread :rolleyes:...amazing how upset some people get when faced with the fact that their own children might have to spend time with them on their "family vacation". Gone are the days when you could just dump your kids off and let someone else worry about them while you're out having fun.

 

Phooey on you.

 

You cruise with your kids and have your family vacation your way, and please let others choose what they would like to do.

 

Man NCL has a cult following.

[legion3]

I love how you think his has anything to do with dumping off kids. How about its their vacation too and they want to meet new people and play with other kids their own age and not just hang with adults.

 

 

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Yep, thank you.

[DebJ14]

This is going to impact those traveling without kids too. We try to sail when kids in our area are in school, but there are always kids because parents are willing to pull them out of school for a cruise (unexcused absences in our district) or they home school.

 

Usually, we are not bothered by kids on a cruise, but that is because so many of them are in the kids club. Now with only a small number of them in the kids club, I expect it will be a bother.

 

We wanted to take our grandkids on DCL and called to make reservations. We were booking fairly close to the sailing date due to a good price. The res agent told us that if too many kids were already pre-registered we would not be able to register the grandkids. But, they could not tell us ahead of time how many were already booked. It was a Catch 22 because we would have had to pay in full BEFORE we could find out if we could register the kids or not since we were within final payment.

 

We ended up going Carnival and the kids loved Camp Carnival, the splash pad, slides and the ropes course. They want to go RCCL now because they are big into climbing rock walls. But, with these new capacity restrictions I am just thinking it would be better to take them to a family friendly resort like Azul or Generations in Mexico where we know they will be well cared for while we do what we want. I am not about to let them be disappointed if they are shut out of the kids's club. We don't use it a whole lot, but there are certain activities that they love and they get excited about going at certain times and getting to play with kids their own age.

Edited May 24, 2015 by DebJ14

[swedish weave]

I 100% understand your frustration. But the way you make your point, screams conspiracy theory.

 

I can give you some insight.

 

1) Cag's on the Star was made smaller. one reason is it was not booking to capacity.

 

2) The KSF, they been doing it forever. Why change it now. Why piss everyone off.

 

3) waitstaff shortage. NOPE. It's the shnurra's. That kept the staff in a frenzy. Someone posted a video on YouTube last month. Is was on the GA, it was narrated by a passenger "it is so crazy on board, the waiters look like they want to jump off the ship... Stupid drink promo....

 

So that's my take.

 

Are you saying the Cagneys reduction in size was done spontaneously without considering the impact UDP would have on the bookings ? I don't think so !!!

 

The KSF was a large part of the promos to enhance first quarter bookings by families. Proper planning could have been done to facilitate the influx of "kids". The F&B director knows how many kids will be onboard and adjust his food requirements accordingly. Couldn't management use the same statistics to adjust the activities of the kids club to a larger venue ??

 

Waitstaff {drink servers) on the pool deck are reported to be almost non-existant by those who used to be constantly approached to buy drinks. That was before the UBP promo.

 

Coincidences or intentional management ploys ?? You decide!!!

Edited May 24, 2015 by swedish weave

[cruzsnooze]

How could you all not see this coming with the everyday "promo" of kids sail free. There's no such thing. Now the kids will over run the ship if they can't be entertained in the kids club, bad for everyone, even those of us without kids.

[jbiz]

Jbiz

This is CRAZY, I don't get this at all. Could it be a staffing issue on the ship?

I have seen your name pop up on so many threads over the years. You have lots of credibility here. It just does not add up.

 

Is there a sign or posting up somewhere. I'm A TA. I have clients sailing on BA, GA, Star, Gem, Epic in the near future Most with preteen. There will be fist fights on your cruise before weeks end.

 

A part of me wishes this was a joke. But you would have no reason to do so.

 

Anyway enjoy the week the best you can

 

 

I don't think it's a staffing issue. They said it was an email sent out with an effective date of late March.

 

We will enjoy the cruise just fine, I just feel bad for my kids who really used to enjoy the "freedom" they felt they had being in kids club by themselves and meeting new kids.

 

I also feel bad for people who didn't know this change was happening and now are bummed.

 

 

 

 

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[DebJ14]

I love how you think his has anything to do with dumping off kids. How about its their vacation too and they want to meet new people and play with other kids their own age and not just hang with adults.

 

 

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I totally agree!

[LrgPizza]

I thought maybe you were going to announce that they are going to actually call it "camp", which they don't.

 

On our cruises last year, my son spent every waking minute in Splash Academy that they were open. That was the only place he ever wanted to be. He would have been devastated had he been turned away. (Both cruises were high-volume of kids on board.)

 

Thankfully he will be a teen on his next cruise, so I don't see it being an issue.

Edited May 24, 2015 by LrgPizza

[triptolemus]

Now the kids will over run the ship if they can't be entertained in the kids club, bad for everyone, even those of us without kids.

 

Good, good.

 

The time for prepubescent marauders stalking prey in the elevators and terrorizing grandma in the hot tub is upon us.

 

[aquarianne11]

Also if you kid leaves for 30 min they will likely lose their "spot" and might not be able to come back in. We have sailed ncl for years with kids. Almost 10 years and there has never been such a crazy policy. If there are too many kids then break them up around the ship by age group, but right now it's 76 all inclusive. So when my son sees a basketball kids thing in the schedule he wants to attend, it's likely that he won't be able to because I didn't wait in line for 30 min before the session to get a ticket and he didn't START that session even though basketball isn't until the latter half of the session. He also will have no interest playing basketball (he is 10) with a group of 6 year olds, if his age group didn't make the cut.

 

Also getting a ticket doesn't mean you can leave the area and come back later, you get a ticket 30 min before and have to wait in line and can't leave, once they start letting kids enter the kids club your kids need to be with you or you pretty much lose their spot

 

 

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Wow this is crazy! :(

[dna529]

This is a deal breaker for me. We cruise because our kids enjoy it also. We don't cruise to stand in line for tickets and to be turned away. This is not a safety issue. It's a staffing issue that could be addressed by NCL.

 

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[jaja]

It cannot be mere coincidence that many of the "promotions" that created the flurry of first quarter bookings have now been eliminated or restricted. Those who booked expecting the benefits of the promos are being denied the use of them.

 

Yup...:mad:

[jbiz]

This is a deal breaker for me. We cruise because our kids enjoy it also. We don't cruise to stand in line for tickets and to be turned away. This is not a safety issue. It's a staffing issue that could be addressed by NCL.

 

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I agree, and I know the kids club staff is not happy about this either. I usually tip them all at the end of a sailing for keeping my kids entertained and safe, but I am pretty sure the kids will just swim in the haven this week instead. I feel bad for the staff, the pool of people that tip them will start to be much smaller and the quality of the staff might go down.

 

 

 

 

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[MissDaisyofTexas]

We've been on 4 Disney Cruises and have never been turned away from the kids' club, even on one of the rare Disney Kids Sail Free cruises in 2013. DCL caps the number of children for each age group during the cruise reservation process--our friends wanted to book the same cruise we were on but Disney had stopped taking cruise reservations for families with kids 3 and under due to nursery space capacity.

 

Next year we will be taking our first NCL cruise on the Breakaway. We have 3 kids and they typically spend 2-4 hours in the kids clubs each day. They like to spend time with kids their age, and we also like a break during dinner time. I hope that works out for us!

[newmexicoNita]

New ncl kids camp policy

 

much to my dismay ncl (at least on the gem) has instituted a new kids camp policy that now only lets 76 kids attend camp (of all ages, with a separate minimum for 13+)

 

We are onboard right now with two 4 yr olds, a 7 and a 10 year old.

 

This new system is beyond terrible and now having me reconsider sailing with ncl anymore. We booked this family cruise so not only the kids could have fun, but so could the adults. And now this new system is terrible

 

The new policy is there are 3 camp shifts 9-12, 2-5, 7-10 (this part may have been the same as before). you now need to line up at least 30 min prior and they hand out camp tickets. If you do not at have a ticket between 1-76 you get put on a wait list and they will call you if someone leaves and a spot frees up.

 

Also there is no guarantee that anyone your kids age group even gets in. So if all the 6 year olds happen to get in before your 10-12 year old, your older child would be stuck with a group of 6 year olds even if there were 50+ other older kids on board. Even if there are separate activities at the sports court, the same overall 76 kid total counts for that session.

 

Apparently this policy went into effect mid March. With 400-600 kids on board this sailing (which they say is not a lot and about average for a sailing), a kids sail free promo and the constant promotion of kids programs, ncl is failing miserably with this now.

 

So now I either need to line up three times a day 30 min before each session (and the line takes about 30 min to complete) as well as the pickup line is just as bad. So I now get to spend at least 1-3 hours each day waiting on kids camp lines.

 

Very disappointed, and as a loyal ncl platinum member with 4 more haven future sailing booked on ncl, I now need to start considering a new line that is more kid and family oriented. Maybe rccl will status match.

 

Did they give you any reason for this? I can understand how you feel, I can also understand why NCL might limit the number of kids they can handle in the kids programs.

 

I am surprised this is just being mentioned now. I understand NCL has been very lax on letting us know about changes, but it the policy went into affect 2 months ago, I wonder why no one has mentioned it before?

[newmexicoNita]

Yep, your 100% right. But, there was also a time when there was a midnight buffet on every line (lobster, shrimp, prime rib and every kind of treat you can imagine. We also used to be able to order anything on the ship for room service at no charge. Skeet shooting on the stern with big prizes, at no cost. Golf driving off the ship. All cruise lines did this. They never once sent an email, regular mail or any other communication notifying anyone of any changes, they just changed and when you got on the ship you found out.

Your contract with NCL or any other line is for passage and some meals. You are supposed to be kept as safe as possible and given reasonable care. That's it. Nobody likes to hear this, but if you want change, you have to vote with your wallet. Cancel, book another cruise line. Folks on here with experience already have said that even DCL has capacity controls. If it is inconvenient to stand in line to get you kid in the Kids club, keep them with you and enjoy your "family" vacation. Otherwise, do what you need to to make your kids vacation all that you want it to be. Rallying the same 20-30 people on here that are hoping to make NCL the cruise line you want it to be has not worked. After two months of complaining, NCL has not changed one thing. I don't like every single thing that's changed, but I'm not changing and starting over. It seems some of the mainstream cruise lines have already picked up on NCL's changes and soon many more will follow.

 

Iremember and it hasn't been all that many years ago, cruise lines didn't have kids programs. Like you are saying, people cruised with their kids for a family vacation. Oh, I do understand how great the kids programs are and i think they are an asset, but I can't imagine,when it is obvious most lines do set limits, people changing lines because of this. If that is what they want to do, fine, I just agree with you, very few people actually will jump to another cruise company.

[tvguy72]

I don't think it's a staffing issue. They said it was an email sent out with an effective date of late March.

 

We will enjoy the cruise just fine, I just feel bad for my kids who really used to enjoy the "freedom" they felt they had being in kids club by themselves and meeting new kids.

 

I also feel bad for people who didn't know this change was happening and now are bummed.

 

 

 

 

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Jbiz,

 

Stop posting until you back. Your just going to get angry and spoil your family vacation.

 

I hope the rest of your week you get to just enjoy the company of your family.

[jbiz]

Did they give you any reason for this? I can understand how you feel, I can also understand why NCL might limit the number of kids they can handle in the kids programs.

 

 

 

I am surprised this is just being mentioned now. I understand NCL has been very lax on letting us know about changes, but it the policy went into affect 2 months ago, I wonder why no one has mentioned it before?

 

 

I totally agree. When I heard March I was shocked to not hear more of this. and as I was saying earlier the room limit is just fine. I get that part of safety, but not really offering any events for kids outside of that program and therefore being very limited in those programs is my problem.

 

76 kids to 400-1500 kids on a sailing just seems WAY out of scale when you promote your company with things like this http://www.ncl.com/why-cruise-norwegian/family-cruises

 

It's almost not worth legitimately promoting if you can only accommodate such a small percentage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[jbiz]

Jbiz,

 

Stop posting until you back. Your just going to get angry and spoil your family vacation.

 

I hope the rest of your week you get to just enjoy the company of your family.

 

 

Haha. Not at ALL. (And I have the unlimited internet package which is great btw). we are (and will) still have a GREAT time. We have the Haven and plenty of places and way to enjoy this cruise

 

I just hate to see my "staple" cruise line for all these years start to make it less desirable. I have 4 more sailings booked between now and August 2106 and to have to think again, based on making sure my kids can have the very best time they can, is just disappointing.

 

I have been a loyal ncl customer for a long time, sailing my my kids as early as 9 months old, so when you start to see things going on the wrong direction you can't just sit and say nothing. Maybe they care, maybe the don't, but if I sat quiet about it I can't blame anyone but myself.

 

Clearly this new policy is not in the best interest of their customers.

 

For this cruise I am enjoying every minute with the family, just maybe next cruise I might branch out to see how rccl is now since its been many years since I sailed them. the Haven product, combined with the kids program, was a fantastic offering for me and my school aged kids but the kids enjoyment is more important to me than the accommodations of the Haven.

 

so to all that say it's about "dumping the kids off", you couldn't be more wrong. I am willing to give up the luxury of the Haven for them to have a better time by looking at another line the better suits their enjoyment.

 

And when my 10 year old just said to me, "I want to go back to camp, I made 10 friends today" on the first day alone, and now he might not be able to get back in to hang out with them because I had him dress in a suit and come to a family dinner at le bistro, it makes you think twice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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