Cruising with a 19 month old

[Cstan]

Hi All,

 

I will be cruising on the NCL Jewel out of NYC in May. Never cruised with a baby before but i just read that babies are not even allowed in the pool unless they are potty trained. Do you know of a way around this? Like for example, if my son doesnt wear a swimmy diaper, or if he wears it under some big swimming trunks, will they even know hes not potty trained? he looks big for his age. Do they really look in the pools for babies and do they really ask you to take them out?

 

I hope not or else I would have never booked.

 

How strict are they with this rule?

 

thanks

C

[want2retire]

I don't know about NCL. Last summer we were on the Diamond Princess and there were at least 4 kids in the pools with "little swimmers" on. No one said anything to them or kicked them out of the pool, even tho it stated on the website that this would not be allowed. I wouldn't worry about it.

[NJfoodie]

Every cruiseline has a similar policy that non-potty trained infants are not allowed in either the adult or kids' pools. Only Disney and a few select RCCL ships have baby "splash areas" for little ones in diapers. It's a health regulation issue. How well they actually police it probably varies from boat to boat but when on my last trip on the Dawn, I did not see anyone trying to bring their baby into the main pool.

 

We'll be on the Jewel in May w/ a 14 month old but I don't expect to bring him into the pools, even with a swim diaper. We'll have a inflatable kiddie pool to use on our balcony or we might let him dunk his feet in the pool, but I'm sticking to the rules since swim diapers still aren't leakproof. His diapered behind stays out of the water. Personally, I wouldn't want to swim in a pool with my kid's poop, if he were to soil his diaper, and I wouldn't expect anyone else to either.

[bike1964]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=49

[lambs2]

Kids in "Little Swimmers" can sometimes lead to "little floaters". This continues to be a problem no matter what precautions are taken in public area where little tykes swim.

[bakerintn]

This rule is a health rule and it should be observed for the safety of the others. If they find excrement in a pool, they will close the pool, drain it and refill it overnight....thereby taking the pool away from everyone else.

 

These are the same rules that apply to any public pool in the U.S.

 

Many people who want their child to be in water bring one of those inflatable wading pool things and use it on their balcony.

[trtllovr]

I was on the Dawn last year with a 6-month old and a 3 year old. They were definitely watching over the pools for little ones with no diapers, we were questioned a couple times. We did let the 6-month old just dangle his legs in the water while the 3-year old played which seemed fine for the baby.

[Arwenmark]

Are you really wanting to endanger the health of everyone who uses the pool by breaking the Health laws so YOUR child can go in the pool?

 

The answer to your question is NO there is no way AROUND the rule.

 

You can bring a blow up pool and bucket and fill it your self so the baby can play in that. Also remember the swimming pools are filled with salt water and are COLD.

[DMH15]

If I had a baby with me, I would bring a blow up pool. Just think how you would feel if your baby had an "accident" and that was the cause of the pool closing. Or how embarrasing it would be to be approached and removed from the pool. Unfortunately, little ones have accidents and the cruise line has to make this rule. I don't even want to think of big kids and adults having accidents, but I am sure it happens (and might not always be an accident either - ewwww).

[beachchick]

It's actually not a cruise line rule, it's a CDC health regulation. No, you should not try to get around it. It's selfish, IMO, to risk the health of your child and other children, as well as the fair chance of an incident that will require the entire pool to be shut down for a day. I'm kind of appalled that you'd even consider putting him in the pool with no diaper just to sneak him in. That's a sure way to have a problem--for everyone. Do you really think that people will believe he's fully potty trained? I imagine you'd get many glares and possible questions. Seriously, how would you feel if another parent did that and their child contaminated the water, perhaps making your child ill? It happens even at large, heavily chlorinated public pools; the risk is even greater in small, non heavily chlorinated ship pools.

 

Sadly, there are many times when parents do get away with breaking the regulations and when cruise crew don't do anything. It's one of the reasons we don't put a toe in the pools (or hottubs for that matter) on cruise ships. If the cruise line won't even enforce the law they know they're supposed to enforce, then we can't trust the water. It's not pee that's the problem, it's poo and the bugs in the poo (which no swim diaper in the world can contain).

 

Do bring a small (very small) blow up pool if water play is critical. There a bunch of threads on the Family forum about how best to do that.

 

beachchick

[OKCThunder]

Hi All,

 

I will be cruising on the NCL Jewel out of NYC in May. Never cruised with a baby before but i just read that babies are not even allowed in the pool unless they are potty trained. Do you know of a way around this? Like for example, if my son doesnt wear a swimmy diaper, or if he wears it under some big swimming trunks, will they even know hes not potty trained? he looks big for his age. Do they really look in the pools for babies and do they really ask you to take them out?

 

I hope not or else I would have never booked.

 

How strict are they with this rule?

 

thanks

C

 

Why would you intentionally want to get other kids sick? You would be the one to get kids sick or your kid get sick and then come on here and blast NCL for letting you get sick.

If you are that discourteous to other passengers then I hope you cancel your cruise.

[Harleycat]

Hi All,

 

I will be cruising on the NCL Jewel out of NYC in May. Never cruised with a baby before but i just read that babies are not even allowed in the pool unless they are potty trained. Do you know of a way around this? Like for example, if my son doesnt wear a swimmy diaper, or if he wears it under some big swimming trunks, will they even know hes not potty trained? he looks big for his age. Do they really look in the pools for babies and do they really ask you to take them out?

 

I hope not or else I would have never booked.

 

How strict are they with this rule?

 

thanks

C

 

Why would you even consider "trying to get around it"? One accident and the pool has to be closed, drained and cleaned inconveniencing all the other guests. :mad:

[krijkee]

Our last cruise was with our eldest when he was 11 months. We had one of those duck baths that we blew up and set up on deck near the pools. It was out of the way, and pretty small. My son had fun splashing in that.

 

This time we are cruisin with a 3yo and 15 month old. The 3yo is potty trained so can swim this time and the 15 month old will have the same pool we used for big brother.

 

I would never break the rules and risk something happening.

[luddite]

They aren't strict enough with the rule.

Go to the family boards here for a lot more info and advice.

[Kerry's Girls]

Hi All,

 

I will be cruising on the NCL Jewel out of NYC in May. Never cruised with a baby before but i just read that babies are not even allowed in the pool unless they are potty trained. Do you know of a way around this? Like for example, if my son doesnt wear a swimmy diaper, or if he wears it under some big swimming trunks, will they even know hes not potty trained? he looks big for his age. Do they really look in the pools for babies and do they really ask you to take them out?

 

I hope not or else I would have never booked.

 

How strict are they with this rule?

 

thanks

C

 

I'm afraid this is exactly the kind of post that makes people cringe when they see children on board. I'm sure you don't mean any harm, but my understanding is that pools on a ship are different from land-based as they can't use the same chemicals (which would then be flushed into the ocean each time the water is changed). There have been many posts on the family board about hundreds of people not being able to use the pool on a sea day because one parent let their non-potty trained child in and contaminated the pool. Never mind that of course you would not want to go down the path of teaching your child that he can choose to dis-obey rules he doesn't like.

 

Many people bring on a blow up pool - or just save swimming for port-days at the beach or a local resort. We did many cruises before my twins were potty-trained and never missed being able to use the ship pool.

 

Best,

Mia

[garycarla]

Why would you even consider "trying to get around it"? One accident and the pool has to be closed, drained and cleaned inconveniencing all the other guests. :mad:

 

And that is if they KNOW something happened. If a child has a bowel movement, and just a little gets into the pool, many others may get sick. And they will then infect their parents. Their parents will then infect other passengers. And then they will no longer allow people to serve themselves at the buffet. And then there are posts about a noro virus (feces is a big reason for this) on this ship.

 

Please, skip the swimming. My brother decided to skip the cruise with his 2 year old and wait a year.

[pattyinny]

Not sure if it is from the kids crew program or from the several kids in the main pool wearing swim diapers. The problem I noticed is that there was no one watching who was in the pool and informing the parents that swim diapers weren't allowed. And this goes for the kiddie pool, kiddie hot tub and the area of the main pool where you can just sit and have the water wash over your legs...:eek:

[mymollysue]

We are bringing a blow-up pool with us so our 1 year old DD can splash away. Disney and the new RCL boats have splash zones for kids in swim diapers. The other cruise lines don't. If your LO does happen to have an accident in the pool, they have to shut down the pool and it ruins things for everyone else.

[cynbar]

I have several times seen parents forced to get out of ship pools with their babies, and sometimes it has created quite a scene with screaming children who didn't understand why they now had to get out when they were having fun. Plus, I can promise you won't get any sympathy from other cruisers --- no one wants to get sick on vacation, especially because someone else was selfish and thought it was all about them. And no one wants to see the pool closed down for cleaning. Please don't try it -- you'll probably be kicked out of the pool, and you'll be shunned all week by those who watched.

[Micchi]

If the crew notices, or if other passengers complain, they will have you remove the baby from the pool.

 

If I saw a baby in the pool, I would complain. Many other people would complain as well.

 

You are risking the health and safety of other pax and children by behaving in such a selfish manner. If you never would have booked, it's not too late to cancel.

[cynbar]

It'd true that the OP is well before final payment, still plenty of time to cancel if the restrictions on babies in the pool are really a deal breaker.

 

PS --- I don't mean this to sound snarky, I admire the OP for doing his/her research BEFORE the cruise. Too many people don't, then suddenly find cruise critic afterwards to complain.