{"id":10688,"date":"2017-02-25T06:00:17","date_gmt":"2017-02-25T11:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/candostreet.com\/blog-parents\/?p=10688"},"modified":"2017-11-07T08:22:00","modified_gmt":"2017-11-07T13:22:00","slug":"a-family-friendly-cruise-includes-youth-programs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/candostreetny.com\/blog-parents\/a-family-friendly-cruise-includes-youth-programs\/","title":{"rendered":"A Family-Friendly Cruise Includes Youth Programs"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1><strong><em><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10709 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/candostreet.com\/blog-parents\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/ncl-splash-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Splash Academy Youth Programs\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/candostreetny.com\/blog-parents\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/ncl-splash-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/candostreetny.com\/blog-parents\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/ncl-splash.jpg 630w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>If you are thinking about\u00a0 taking a family cruise, you need to know more about the ship than if it has laundry services, kid-friendly meals, and on board medical care; you need to think about the availability of youth programs that are age appropriate, interesting, and well supervised by staff that are experienced in caring for and recreating children.<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\">During the December holidays, I took a cruise on the Norwegian Breakaway that I would describe, not only as kid-friendly, but family friendly as well. Each morning, before I got on an elevator near my cabin, I caught a brief glimpse of young children making their way into one of the youth programs sites for a day of learning activities, games, crafts, and free play with new friends.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\">The Breakaway\u2019s Splash Academy hosts complimentary youth programs that provide children with fun-filled days at sea. Programs give parents the opportunity to enjoy a variety of cruise activities knowing their children are well supervised, and enjoy meeting and playing with others their own age.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\">Given my years of running a preschool and\u00a0 seasonal day camps, I was interested in learning more about the Splash Academy and its youth programs while at sea, and when in ports of call. I was given permission to meet with the manager of the youth programs, Carlos Perez. Carlos gave me a tour of the several large, well-maintained and colorfully decorated recreation rooms that are home to the Splash Academy on the 12th floor of the ship.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\">As Carlos described the youth programs, children are grouped by age and activities as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #666699;\">Guppies \u2013 ages 6 months to 2 years. Parents participate in the activities, which take place in the Guppies Playroom and are hosted by a certified staff. Activities include, but are not limited to, sensory play, music and movement, ball play and building with blocks.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #666699;\">Turtles \u2013 Ages 3-5 years. Programs take place in the main Splash Academy recreation areas and include: Arts and crafts, painting, games, sensory play, storytelling, developmental activities, parades and treasure hunts.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #666699;\">Seals &#8211; Ages 6-9 years. Programs are held in the Splash Academy recreation areas and include: Circus Skills and Show (Scarf Juggling, Plate Spinning, Devil Sticks, and Rope Spinning) theme nights, painting, sports and games, parades, treasure hunts, and video games<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #666699;\">Dolphins \u2013 Ages 10-12 years. Programs are in Splash Academy recreation areas and include: Entourage Takeover, Circus skills and Show (Stilts, Ball Juggling, Chinese Yo-Yo, Plate Spinner and Devil Sticks) scavenger hunts, sports and team building, theme nights, and video games.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #666699;\">Entourage \u2013 Teens get to hang out and play video games, see movies, enjoy music and sports with others their own age in supervised teen centers around the ship.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\">During days at sea, Splash Academy is open from 9am to noon and 2pm to 5pm and 7pm until 10:30 pm.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><em><strong><span style=\"color: #666699;\">Carlos shared that Splash Academy has a staff of over 25+ men and women experienced in providing youth programs for children. During my tour, I was impressed to see the modern equipment, and well maintained play areas. The kitchen area and bathroom facilities are sized appropriately for young children.<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\">On the last day of the trip, the children who participated in the youth programs, put on a production for their families and other shipboard guests.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\">Norwegian Breakaway delivered a cruise experience for the whole family. Thanks to Splash Academy, parents had free time to enjoy shipboard activities. In addition, kid friendly meals, pool time fun as a family, and other shared activities made for a family-friendly cruise.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><em><strong><span style=\"color: #666699;\">Not every cruise line offers youth programs, and not all youth programs are created equal; make sure you pick a cruise that has youth programs that will interest each of your children.<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-socializer wpsr-buttons\"><span class=\"wpsr-btn wpsr-srvc-facebook\"><div class=\"fb-share-button\" data-href=\"\" data-layout=\"button\"><\/div><\/span><span class=\"wpsr-btn wpsr-srvc-twitter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share\" class=\"twitter-share-button\" data-show-count=\"false\" data-related=\"\" data-url=\"\" data-size=\"small\" data-via=\"\" data-hashtags=\"\">Tweet<\/a><\/span><span class=\"wpsr-btn wpsr-srvc-google_plus\"><div class=\"g-plusone\" data-size=\"medium\" data-annotation=\"none\" ><\/div><\/span><span class=\"wpsr-btn wpsr-srvc-linkedin\"><script type=\"IN\/Share\" data-url=\"\" data-counter=\"none\"><\/script><\/span><span class=\"wpsr-btn wpsr-srvc-pocket\"><a data-pocket-label=\"pocket\" data-pocket-count=\"none\" class=\"pocket-btn\" data-save-url=\"\" data-lang=\"en\">Pocket<\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">!function(d,i){if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(\"script\");j.id=i;j.src=\"https:\/\/widgets.getpocket.com\/v1\/j\/btn.js?v=1\";var w=d.getElementById(i);d.body.appendChild(j);}}(document,\"pocket-btn-js\");<\/script><\/span><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Make sure you pick a cruise that has youth programs that will interest each of your children.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-socializer wpsr-buttons\"><span class=\"wpsr-btn wpsr-srvc-facebook\"><div class=\"fb-share-button\" data-href=\"\" data-layout=\"button\"><\/div><\/span><span class=\"wpsr-btn wpsr-srvc-twitter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share\" class=\"twitter-share-button\" data-show-count=\"false\" data-related=\"\" data-url=\"\" data-size=\"small\" data-via=\"\" data-hashtags=\"\">Tweet<\/a><\/span><span class=\"wpsr-btn wpsr-srvc-google_plus\"><div class=\"g-plusone\" data-size=\"medium\" data-annotation=\"none\" ><\/div><\/span><span class=\"wpsr-btn wpsr-srvc-linkedin\"><script type=\"IN\/Share\" data-url=\"\" data-counter=\"none\"><\/script><\/span><span class=\"wpsr-btn wpsr-srvc-pocket\"><a data-pocket-label=\"pocket\" data-pocket-count=\"none\" class=\"pocket-btn\" data-save-url=\"\" data-lang=\"en\">Pocket<\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">!function(d,i){if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(\"script\");j.id=i;j.src=\"https:\/\/widgets.getpocket.com\/v1\/j\/btn.js?v=1\";var w=d.getElementById(i);d.body.appendChild(j);}}(document,\"pocket-btn-js\");<\/script><\/span><\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2206],"tags":[2217,2215,2213,2214,2207,2211,2208,2216,2209,2212,2210,1610],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/candostreetny.com\/blog-parents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10688"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/candostreetny.com\/blog-parents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/candostreetny.com\/blog-parents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/candostreetny.com\/blog-parents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/candostreetny.com\/blog-parents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10688"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/candostreetny.com\/blog-parents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10688\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10717,"href":"https:\/\/candostreetny.com\/blog-parents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10688\/revisions\/10717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/candostreetny.com\/blog-parents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/candostreetny.com\/blog-parents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/candostreetny.com\/blog-parents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}