Lifeguard

[ontheweb]

We were on the Prima earlier this month, and there was a lifeguard stationed at the main pool on the 17th deck. This was despite the first rule listed in the pool rules was there was no lifeguard.

 

Is having a lifeguard unique to the Prima (and possibly sister ship Viva) or is this now the common practice on NCL ships. We had never seen a lifeguard on a cruise ship on any of our previous cruises.

[catsarealiens]

there was one on the Joy last February (for kiddie pool).

I have seen them on other sailings as well

 

[chengkp75]

22 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

We were on the Prima earlier this month, and there was a lifeguard stationed at the main pool on the 17th deck. This was despite the first rule listed in the pool rules was there was no lifeguard.

 

Is having a lifeguard unique to the Prima (and possibly sister ship Viva) or is this now the common practice on NCL ships. We had never seen a lifeguard on a cruise ship on any of our previous cruises.

Disney has always had lifeguards, and RCI started a few years back.  I believe Carnival had them pre-pandemic, not sure now.  Just know that they are not "lifeguards", they are "pool attendants", in that they don't necessarily have any special training in lifesaving, nor is their entire focus on the people in the pool, like a lifeguard is supposed to be.  They are more for ensuring good behavior at the pool, not in lifeguarding.

[dallasdan]

1 minute ago, chengkp75 said:

Disney has always had lifeguards, and RCI started a few years back.  I believe Carnival had them pre-pandemic, not sure now.  Just know that they are not "lifeguards", they are "pool attendants", in that they don't necessarily have any special training in lifesaving, nor is their entire focus on the people in the pool, like a lifeguard is supposed to be.  They are more for ensuring good behavior at the pool, not in lifeguarding.

That is what I witnessed on Carnival Breeze last month.  

[paulis]

I believe NCL does have certified lifeguards on board.

https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/press-releases/norwegian-cruise-line-add-lifeguards-fleet

[mo&fran]

41 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Disney has always had lifeguards, and RCI started a few years back.  I believe Carnival had them pre-pandemic, not sure now.  Just know that they are not "lifeguards", they are "pool attendants", in that they don't necessarily have any special training in lifesaving, nor is their entire focus on the people in the pool, like a lifeguard is supposed to be.  They are more for ensuring good behavior at the pool, not in lifeguarding.

RCI has people identified as lifeguards by the pools and when not crowded I have seen them practicing getting disabled swimmers out of the pool and administering lifesaving attention. The will have a sign indicating they are training. Does that make them not real. 

[schmoopie17]

If they're like the Baywatch lifeguards, I'm all for it.

Unless it's Hasselhoff, or any of the guys 😁

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Disney has always had lifeguards, and RCI started a few years back.  I believe Carnival had them pre-pandemic, not sure now.  Just know that they are not "lifeguards", they are "pool attendants", in that they don't necessarily have any special training in lifesaving, nor is their entire focus on the people in the pool, like a lifeguard is supposed to be.  They are more for ensuring good behavior at the pool, not in lifeguarding.

Thanks, we just had never seen one before on a ship.

 

They did identify themselves as lifeguards and sat on a lifeguard chair. They did seem to focus on the pool when it was occupied.

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, paulis said:

I believe NCL does have certified lifeguards on board.

https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/press-releases/norwegian-cruise-line-add-lifeguards-fleet

Thank you. Good move on their part.

[Beer Belly]

Saw a lifegaurd explain to a parent babies in diapers not allowed, boy was she p*ssed. Lifegaurds are a good addition, I would like to see them keep young kids out of the ADULT pool, especially after the near drowning on the Getaway sailing we were on last year.

[MSUjohn]

20 hours ago, ontheweb said:

We had never seen a lifeguard on a cruise ship on any of our previous cruises.

i remember seeing a (very bored) lifeguard on all my NCL cruises. i checked NCL added lifeguards in 2018

[cruiseny4life]

We've definitely had very bored looking guards on all our sailings...I assume they are guards anyway. Their shirt says so, their chair does, and they sling their torpedo properly. 

[MSUjohn]

7 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

We've definitely had very bored looking guards on all our sailings...I assume they are guards anyway. Their shirt says so, their chair does, and they sling their torpedo properly. 

guarding an empty pool would be boring!

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, MSUjohn said:

i remember seeing a (very bored) lifeguard on all my NCL cruises. i checked NCL added lifeguards in 2018

OK, thanks, still new to us. We last sailed any cruise ship in 2018, and NCL in 2012. (We did a land trip to Peru in 2019. We did have a cruise booked for 2020, but Covid made it go away. We weren't ready in 2021, and we actually at first thought our 2023 cruise would be in 2022 as we at first didn't notice the ship was still being built when we got the brochure with its itinerary. I'm not sure we were even ready in 2022..)

[MSUjohn]

2 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

OK, thanks, still new to us. We last sailed any cruise ship in 2018, and NCL in 2012. (We did a land trip to Peru in 2019. We did have a cruise booked for 2020, but Covid made it go away. We weren't ready in 2021, and we actually at first thought our 2023 cruise would be in 2022 as we at first didn't notice the ship was still being built when we got the brochure with its itinerary. I'm not sure we were even ready in 2022

i think that there was a handful of drownings across NCL and RC over a couple of year period which resulted in both lines adding lifeguards.

[ontheweb]

11 minutes ago, MSUjohn said:

i think that there was a handful of drownings across NCL and RC over a couple of year period which resulted in both lines adding lifeguards.

Glad that they added lifeguards. Too bad it had to take drownings for them to make that sensible step.

[MSUjohn]

1 minute ago, ontheweb said:

Glad that they added lifeguards. Too bad it had to take drownings for them to make that sensible step.

4-year-old boy dies aboard cruise ship (usatoday.com)

10-Year-Old Girl Drowns on Norwegian Cruise Line Ship (nbcnews.com)

 

Lifeguards added after drownings in cruise ship pools (ajc.com)

[Two Wheels Only]

I know that my opinion on this isn't a popular one.

 

As a former lifeguard, I'm against cruise ships announcing that there are lifeguards at the pool. I fear that this will just lead to more parents/guardians being lackadaisical when it comes to the supervision of their child.

 

Having pool attendants is fine. Having those attendants trained in lifesaving techniques is fine. If there is someone in distress and the attendant takes appropriate action, that's fine.

 

I don't want anyone to die but I also don't want parents/guardians thinking that "... it's no worry, the lifeguard will watch the kids... Let's head over to the buffet/bar/casino for an hour...".

 

There's no excuse for a child that cannot swim to be left unsupervised at the pool. If parents use the lifeguards as babysitters, it would be a shame.

 

The articles linked above seem to share a common flaw in child supervision that a lifeguard shouldn't be asked to fix.

Edited September 1, 2023 by Two Wheels Only

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, Two Wheels Only said:

I know that my opinion on this isn't a popular one.

 

As a former lifeguard, I'm against cruise ships announcing that there are lifeguards at the pool. I fear that this will just lead to more parents/guardians being lackadaisical when it comes to the supervision of their child.

 

Having pool attendants is fine. Having those attendants trained in lifesaving techniques is fine. If there is someone in distress and the attendant takes appropriate action, that's fine.

 

I don't want anyone to die but I also don't want parents/guardians thinking that "... it's no worry, the lifeguard will watch the kids... Let's head over to the buffet/bar/casino for an hour...".

 

There's no excuse for a child that cannot swim to be left unsupervised at the pool. If parents use the lifeguards as babysitters, it would be a shame.

 

The articles linked above seem to share a common flaw in child supervision that a lifeguard shouldn't be asked to fix.

It seemed to me that on the Prima there was a real lifeguard, not a pool attendant pretending to be one.

 

I do agree of course that parents should be responsible for their children. Not watching a child who cannot swim is totally irresponsible.

[JeanKC]

Definitely a real life guard at the main pool on the Viva last week. Looking very bored but I guess that's better than the alternative of having too many drowning people to save. 

Edited September 1, 2023 by JeanKC
Typo

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, JeanKC said:

Definitely a real life guard at the main pool on the Viva last week. Looking very bored but I guess that's better than the alternative of having too many drowning people to save. 

I hope bored, but ALERT.

[Urban trekker]

They were definitely on the Jewel earlier this year and had shirts that said lifeguard.

Dennis

[LobsterStalker]

On 8/31/2023 at 4:08 PM, chengkp75 said:

Disney has always had lifeguards, and RCI started a few years back.  I believe Carnival had them pre-pandemic, not sure now.  Just know that they are not "lifeguards", they are "pool attendants", in that they don't necessarily have any special training in lifesaving, nor is their entire focus on the people in the pool, like a lifeguard is supposed to be.  They are more for ensuring good behavior at the pool, not in lifeguarding.

I can not speak to what training they actually have but I can tell you that RCI has what appears to me the most professional lifeguards I have ever seen ANYWHERE . So I would be shocked if they were not trained and certified

 

Cheers