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Most crowded pool deck and least crowded


never_cruised
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Thinking specifically about the pool deck which ship have you experienced the worst crowding on and which ship the least crowding and more pleasant to catch the sun ?

 

I'm meaning from the mainstream Cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean , NCL , MSC , Carnival , Celebrity and Princess.

Edited by never_cruised
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They are all about equally as crowded as each other - in particular on sea days - as that is when most passengers are congregating at those venues.  Our experience has been with RCI and Celebrity, but all of those you mention are similar in the design space for the pool deck area relative to the passenger capacity to each ship.  I don't think any one line is better than the other with this.

 

I will say that RCI Oasis and Quantum class ships with their number of different pool venues (to include the adult Solarium) seem to balance the capacity better than some of their other ship classes IMO.  We were recently on RCI Ovation on a repositioning cruise with 5 days at sea and never had an issue finding space in the Solarium on those days. Of course earlier in the day was easier but we always found chairs available.

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1 hour ago, never_cruised said:

Thinking specifically about the pool deck which ship have you experienced the worst crowding on and which ship the least crowding and more pleasant to catch the sun ?

 

I'm meaning from the mainstream Cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean , NCL , MSC , Carnival , Celebrity and Princess.

You've basically answered your own question with a qualifier (i.e., "mainstream") that suggests you already know that, for an uncrowded pool deck available to all passengers, you really need to consider premium/luxury lines.  

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2 hours ago, never_cruised said:

Thinking specifically about the pool deck which ship have you experienced the worst crowding on and which ship the least crowding and more pleasant to catch the sun ?

 

I'm meaning from the mainstream Cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean , NCL , MSC , Carnival , Celebrity and Princess.

Numerous variables dictate the number of passengers heading to the pool, length of time they stay & their activities - length of cruise generally dictates the age demographic and longer cruises have less 3rd/4th berths filled, time of year as during school holidays many 3rd/4th beds are filled and also cruising location/weather.

 

Have returned to some ships multiple times, some cruises the pools were crowded, others had lots of vacant loungers. 

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First, don’t let any specific cruise line shills fool you in to believing premium or luxury lines have less crowded pool decks. They do not. In fact, sometimes they are worse due to their small size. 

 

In general, I find Holland America’s pool decks to be least crowded. It probably has something to do with the older demographic and no live entertainment. I also agree that Oasis is pretty good.

 

The worst I’ve seen are NCL Breakaway (and newer) and Carnival Dream and Vista Classes. 

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I just returned from a cruise on MSC Armonia.  I must say that she seemed to have the most pool area I have seen for a small ship (65,000 tons).  My pics were all taken on sea days when most people were ashore...We don't frequent the pools.  

 

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This pool area was repeated on the other side of the hot tubs.  One part is only 10" deep.

 

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2 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

I am possibly the only avid cruiser never to have been in a ship pool.

Well, if we become "avid" cruisers we'll be joining you 🙂  We used to have an apt. in Rio and finally stopped even packing bathing suits.  I believe we went in the water once.

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Our last NCL cruise was on Gem from New York to the Caribbean (and I am pretty sure it will have been our last).  The ship throughout was crowded, the pools especially so, the decks were absurd mob scenes with a lot of people just standing around as there were stacks of deck chairs chained together rather than made available.

 

Yes, they have held down the cost of cruising.

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1 hour ago, clo said:

Well, if we become "avid" cruisers we'll be joining you 🙂  We used to have an apt. in Rio and finally stopped even packing bathing suits.  I believe we went in the water once.

 

1 hour ago, clo said:

Well, if we become "avid" cruisers we'll be joining you 🙂  We used to have an apt. in Rio and finally stopped even packing bathing suits.  I believe we went in the water once.

 

1 hour ago, clo said:

Well, if we become "avid" cruisers we'll be joining you 🙂  We used to have an apt. in Rio and finally stopped even packing bathing suits.  I believe we went in the water once.

I was last in a pool in 1986 in Allentown,PA

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1 hour ago, navybankerteacher said:

Our last NCL cruise was on Gem from New York to the Caribbean (and I am pretty sure it will have been our last).  The ship throughout was crowded, the pools especially so, the decks were absurd mob scenes with a lot of people just standing around as there were stacks of deck chairs chained together rather than made available.

 

Yes, they have held down the cost of cruising.

That may have been the cruise we were both on ??

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6 hours ago, never_cruised said:

Thinking specifically about the pool deck which ship have you experienced the worst crowding on and which ship the least crowding and more pleasant to catch the sun ?

 

I'm meaning from the mainstream Cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean , NCL , MSC , Carnival , Celebrity and Princess.

 

Doesn't it also kind of depend on the weather, the time of year, and the routing?

 

 

I have only sailed with Crystal in the last 10 years or so, but there the pool deck is usually only crowded during lunch, with people sitting at tables eating.  I don't think I've ever seen the loungers around the pool all taken - but (pertaining to my first comment), I've only been on longer cruises (>10 days) and most with lots of sea days.

 

 

Edited by calliopecruiser
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The most crowded for us was Carnival Liberty and the best was Oasis class on Royal.  But, as someone else said, Oasis class ships have multiple pools and a lot more space.  What is disliked about the pool area on Liberty was the adults only area.  It had no pool there, just hot tubs, but the seats were all taken with all day long chair hogs.  Chairs taken by towels, books, sunglasses, etc., and nowhere to sit other than the sectional type couches under the overhang by the small bar.  And when sitting by the actual pool no one came by for drink orders so...more space and better pool bar service on Royal for us.

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Back in 2017 the pools on Queen Mary 2's deck 8 [Terrace Pool] and deck 6 [Splash Pool] rarely had more than a single swimmer, and no one was using a deck chair.

 

Then again, it was the middle of the North Atlantic, with a nearby tropical storm supplying Force 11 winds. 😉

Edited by TheOldBear
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Probably any ship's pool area will be packed on a hot, sunny sea day; on cool days in port, there will almost no one there.    If you really want to lie in the sun, there are often plenty of lounges available a little further away from the pool, maybe an upper deck.    Since we live in a sunny warm climate, sitting out in the sun by a pool holds no interest for us, so we're happy to be elsewhere when everyone else wants to bake themselves!   

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I have only been on celebrity edge but even on sea days it was not that crowded around the pool. And there were loads of loungers available.

 

The biggest issue was getting served at the bar. Really crowded. Mainly by ignorant sorts who seem to think the bar is for them to sit and block others getting served. Whilst they enjoy their cocktails which take about 10 minutes to make.

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7 hours ago, calliopecruiser said:

It's probably the only pool I do go in, because I like to bob around in the movement of the water - a regular pool on  land doesn't have that 🙂

 

 

The first cruise I did the rocking of the ship made the pool water slosh from side to side in huge waves and people loved it 🤗. It was amusing seeing them being dragged from one end of the pool to the other. It was definitely a ship pool only experience. 

Edited by ilikeanswers
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39 minutes ago, clo said:

I'll never understand why some people still believe that a "tan" is attractive

It's an aesthetic, different for everyone.  I don't think it's healthy or safe, but I do like the look.  On others, not myself - I could never tan (even when laying out in the sun with my junior high friends was all the rage), but fortunately I don't burn either.   I'm a shade seeker, for comfort more than for safety. 

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1 minute ago, calliopecruiser said:

It's an aesthetic, different for everyone.  I don't think it's healthy or safe, but I do like the look.  On others, not myself - I could never tan (even when laying out in the sun with my junior high friends was all the rage), but fortunately I don't burn either.   I'm a shade seeker, for comfort more than for safety. 

I had a friend who grew up in San Diego and went to college in Arizona.  Her skin told the story and it wasn't a pretty one 😞  Gratefully I moved to SF while still in my 20s.  Tanning there was tough so I broke the habit.  Anyway back to our regular programming 🙂

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