Are there adults only pools and hot tubs

[Two if by Sea]

Sounds like it is a "sometimes" thing. I guess we'll see what it's like on our cruise. I have prepared my daughter for the possibility that one pool will be off-limits. Of course, she would like to know whether there is a kids-only pool to counter the adults-only pool :).

[AnneBonney]

And the results were ... ???

 

The only time I saw kids in it was when the Lido pool was closed because they were setting up the chocolate buffet.

 

But.....

 

We were traveling with two children so we really weren't back there that much.

[davenbeth7603]

I will be on the Volendam in June with my husband and 8 month old, so I need a little clarification. Is the pool adult only or the entire area enclosing the pool? (I don't really like it when people ignore rules and I want to make sure that I am not one of those people.)

[jtl513]

I will be on the Volendam in June with my husband and 8 month old, so I need a little clarification. Is the pool adult only or the entire area enclosing the pool? (I don't really like it when people ignore rules and I want to make sure that I am not one of those people.)

It's just the pool itself - but no diapered babies are allowed in either pool.

[davenbeth7603]

It's just the pool itself - but no diapered babies are allowed in either pool.

 

 

Even with swim diapers?

[Copper10-8]

I will be on the Volendam in June with my husband and 8 month old, so I need a little clarification. Is the pool adult only or the entire area enclosing the pool? (I don't really like it when people ignore rules and I want to make sure that I am not one of those people.)

 

The pool that, on occasion, will be designated as "Audults Only" is the one at the aft of the ship, also known as the Seaview Pool. Adults only refers to the pool itself. The second, bigger, pool on Lido Deck midships and the co-located hot tubs are for everyone's use. Kids underneath a certain age need to be supervised. Both pools have a series of pool rules listed. Enjoy your cruise on Veendam!:)

[pms4104]

Even with swim diapers?

No ... no diapers and no swimmies, as they still are diapers.

[RuthC]

Even with swim diapers?

No diapers. That would include swim diapers.

They can leak. :eek:

[wdw1972]

No diapers. That would include swim diapers.

They can leak. :eek:

 

I believe it's actually a law, governing ships at sea. It's more stringent than the laws on land, where it's acceptable for babies to be in resort pools if wearing swimmies. It's also fairly recent - like in the past 10 years.

 

Sue/WDW1972

Westerdam 1/11/09

[Two if by Sea]

Even with swim diapers?

 

As the others have said -- even with swim diapers. The suggestion has been made elsewhere that parents with babies can bring along a little inflatable pool because there is plenty of room on deck to set it up and fill it with water for a wee-un.

[onthegogirl]

I don't know how to solve the ever expanding problem of people who believe they are so special that rules don't apply to them. I've noticed folks who just have to use the restroom on a plane during landing, folks who can't wait 3 minutes to get their bags while the plane is moving. Most of the time the flight attendents do nothing and even when they try to get these folks to cooperate, they are ignored. When confronted these folks get downright loud and nasty.

 

I've come to realize that we can't expect to have "flight police" or "cruise police" around to enforce the rules. For better or worse we have to depend on the parents to control their kids. Like many of the other posters, this is why I choose to cruises when children are in school.

 

It doesn't have to be this way. On my last cruise, a 25 day WWII historic cruise, there was a family with young boys on board. They were just the best passengers, enjoyed the facilities and attended every lecture. They had their homework to do but the education they received about the war and the cultures of the places they visited was invaluable.

 

Bravo to parents who teach their children to follow the rules and respect other people. It's hard work, harder then letting the kids run wild, but that's their job. Unfortunately, some parents are just not up to the task.

[davenbeth7603]

Thank you to those of you who had helpful suggestions, I appreciate it. I think I will look into a little pool for him. Not that he'll care if gets to go in a pool or not :) . And as previously stated, I'm not wanting to find a way around the rules, but rather learn them so I may abide by them.

[innlady1]

Thank you to those of you who had helpful suggestions, I appreciate it. I think I will look into a little pool for him. Not that he'll care if gets to go in a pool or not :) . And as previously stated, I'm not wanting to find a way around the rules, but rather learn them so I may abide by them.

 

Kudos to you, Dave & Beth. Others should take a page from your book! ;)

[American-in-Belgium]

Perhaps the kids had 1 week off in February. With the weekends, this would be 9 of the 20 days. Many kids are quite bright and can miss a week or more with no problem keeping up.

 

And on many cruises, the history, geography and international culture is also of educational value.

 

My kids have seen Roman ampitheaters and colliseums in Pula Croatia, Rome Italy, Trier Germany, and Carthage Tunisia. What better lesson to learn the magnitude of the Roman Empire?

[jerseygirl3]

We were onboard the Westerdam two weeks ago. When we first boarded, we didn't even notice the sign that said "adults only" at the aft pool. My sister and BIL had their 7-year-old twins with them, and they had no sooner stuck a toe into the water when a security guard came over and told them they had to get out, that the pool was adults only. No problem. We took them out and certainly would not have let them go in if we had realized it.

 

Having said that, the Lido Pool was a nightmare with a group of adolescent boys who were completely out of control. Their antics were downright dangerous and at one point, we had to take the young kids out of the pool for fear they'd get hurt. I complained to the staff...nothing was done. My sister complained to the staff...nothing was done. We complained to the Purser's Desk...again, nothing was done. I had to tell one of the kids to knock it off because he was dangerously close to knocking over an elderly man who obviously had Alzheimer's Disease who was just trying to sit quietly near the pool. The kid looked at me like I had two heads, went over to his mother and said something to her, and she sneered at me. This was completely unacceptable. There was also a young couple who had 14-month-old twins (who, btw, were absolutely adorable) and they had them in the pool every day with swim diapers on. Again, nothing was done (however, I didn't lodge a complaint about that because I honestly wasn't sure if swim diapers were allowed or not...the sign at the pool just said no diapered children allowed). Anyway, one day we were told the kids could use the adults only pool because the Lido Deck was being transformed for the barbecue that night and we couldn't sit there and watch the kids. You should have seen the daggers shot our way when the kids got in the pool. My niece and nephew are very well behaved (no jumping, splashing, and if their voices got too loud, my sister immediately reprimanded them). My gripe is that if they are going to be so diligent about enforcing rules at the adults only pool, rules should have been enforced at the Lido pool as well.

[kryos]

Are there adult only pools and hot tubs on HAL? Do they enforce the no saving chairs by the pool rule? I don't like kids aned find chair hogs to be the rudest of all cruiser, but I really want to cruise HAL. Thank-you for your replies.

Personally, I don't think you're gonna find "adults only" anything on HAL, with the exception perhaps of the casino.

 

HAL is a family line and they won't restrict the kids from anyplace onboard.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[jerseygirl3]

We were onboard the Westerdam two weeks ago. When we first boarded, we didn't even notice the sign that said "adults only" at the aft pool. My sister and BIL had their 7-year-old twins with them, and they had no sooner stuck a toe into the water when a security guard came over and told them they had to get out, that the pool was adults only. No problem. We took them out and certainly would not have let them go in if we had realized it.

 

Having said that, the Lido Pool was a nightmare with a group of adolescent boys who were completely out of control. Their antics were downright dangerous and at one point, we had to take the young kids out of the pool for fear they'd get hurt. I complained to the staff...nothing was done. My sister complained to the staff...nothing was done. We complained to the Purser's Desk...again, nothing was done. I had to tell one of the kids to knock it off because he was dangerously close to knocking over an elderly man who obviously had Alzheimer's Disease who was just trying to sit quietly near the pool. The kid looked at me like I had two heads, went over to his mother and said something to her, and she sneered at me. This was completely unacceptable. There was also a young couple who had 14-month-old twins (who, btw, were absolutely adorable) and they had them in the pool every day with swim diapers on. Again, nothing was done (however, I didn't lodge a complaint about that because I honestly wasn't sure if swim diapers were allowed or not...the sign at the pool just said no diapered children allowed). Anyway, one day we were told the kids could use the adults only pool because the Lido Deck was being transformed for the barbecue that night and we couldn't sit there and watch the kids. You should have seen the daggers shot our way when the kids got in the pool. My niece and nephew are very well behaved (no jumping, splashing, and if their voices got too loud, my sister immediately reprimanded them). My gripe is that if they are going to be so diligent about enforcing rules at the adults only pool, rules should have been enforced at the Lido pool as well.

[kryos]

We just came back from a Westerdam cruise and I had specifically asked if there were areas on the ship where children could not go. My travel agent checked with her HAL rep and was told only the casino. When we were on the ship there was a sign by the Aft pool stating "adults only". I asked my TA when we got back, she double checked with the HAL rep and apparently the sign can be put out at the discretion of the captain/staff. We had over 300 kids on board, which I'm sure is what inspired the sign being put out on this trip!

Exactly. I think it all depends on the individual sailing. If a sailing only has a handful of kids, HAL probably figures a few of them at the aft pool with their parents are not gonna cause a problem, but if the sailing has 300 of them, then there could be a problem if they all descending on the aft pool with their running, jumping and splashing.

 

Personally, I don't think HAL would ever ask a parent to remove their child from the aft pool, though. Nor do I think HAL would ask the parent to take their child out of the hot tub if mom had the kid in there with her. Unfortunately for us who prefer child-free sailings, HAL is not that sort of line. In fact, they are trying to make themselves into a very family-friendly line. Therefore, I think it's highly unlikely anyone on the onboard staff is going to do anything to be any less than friendly to the families onboard, and so you will just have to deal with children in all sorts of areas where we would prefer them not to be.

 

After all, their parents paid for them to be onboard, and if HAL is not gonna say they shouldn't be somewhere, then who the heck are you (or me, for that matter) to do so? :(

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kryos]

My gripe is that if they are going to be so diligent about enforcing rules at the adults only pool, rules should have been enforced at the Lido pool as well.

To be perfectly honest with you, I think if I had been your sister, before I would have taken my kids out of the pool for fear of their safety, I would have brought them right on back to the aft pool for their swimming. I wouldn't have cared what the "rules" were. The kids have a right to swim in a reasonably safe environment. If a security officer had approached me again, I would have clearly told him that when he "secures" the environment at the main pool, I would be only too happy to bring my kids back there for their swimming, but until then, they were staying right where they are and he could go get the captain involved if he didn't like it.

 

I certainly understand that the aft pool should be the "quiet" area, but then again, if you're gonna encourage families with children to come onboard, you have an obligation to provide a reasonably safe place for those kids to have their fun swimming too. If you can't provide that, then I don't see anything wrong with mom and dad taking matters into their own hands, and that does not mean pulling the kids out of the pool and not letting them swim at all. I'd just take them back to the adults only area where they would have their fun until HAL could come up with a better solution.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[jerseygirl3]

To be perfectly honest with you, I think if I had been your sister, before I would have taken my kids out of the pool for fear of their safety, I would have brought them right on back to the aft pool for their swimming. I wouldn't have cared what the "rules" were. The kids have a right to swim in a reasonably safe environment. If a security officer had approached me again, I would have clearly told him that when he "secures" the environment at the main pool, I would be only too happy to bring my kids back there for their swimming, but until then, they were staying right where they are and he could go get the captain involved if he didn't like it.

 

I certainly understand that the aft pool should be the "quiet" area, but then again, if you're gonna encourage families with children to come onboard, you have an obligation to provide a reasonably safe place for those kids to have their fun swimming too. If you can't provide that, then I don't see anything wrong with mom and dad taking matters into their own hands, and that does not mean pulling the kids out of the pool and not letting them swim at all. I'd just take them back to the adults only area where they would have their fun until HAL could come up with a better solution.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

 

Hmm, what an interesting idea! I love it! Actually, that never even occurred to any of us, given the fact that the first day of the cruise (before we even sailed from Ft. Lauderdale), the kids were shoo-ed away from the aft pool before we realized it was adults only. And, honestly, my niece and nephew are extremely well behaved. So their being asked to leave the adult pool by the security guard had nothing to do with their behavior, but for the fact that there was a sign (which none of us noticed) that stated "adults only." But had we brought them there when the other kids started acting up, it probably would have gotten a better response from the staff to correct the problem at the Lido pool than we got, which was nil.

[hammybee]

 

In fact, they are trying to make themselves into a very family-friendly line. --rita

 

HAL has been a family friendly cruise line throughout it's transatlantic and cruising history. HAL has offered a children's program for decades. Only difference is that now days there are more famililies cruising in general, on every cruise line.

[hammybee]

 

I certainly understand that the aft pool should be the "quiet" area, but then again, if you're gonna encourage families with children to come onboard, you have an obligation to provide a reasonably safe place for those kids to have their fun swimming too. If you can't provide that, then I don't see anything wrong with mom and dad taking matters into their own hands, and ....................

Blue skies ...--rita

 

Let's flip this around.....if parents bring their kids on a cruise ship, parents have a responsibility to make sure their children are supervised and not creating a safety issue for others. Works the same way at the beach and resorts.

[jerseygirl3]

Let's flip this around.....if parents bring their kids on a cruise ship, parents have a responsibility to make sure their children are supervised and not creating a safety issue for others. Works the same way at the beach and resorts.

 

 

Well said.

[Stevesan]

HAL has been a family friendly cruise line throughout it's transatlantic and cruising history. HAL has offered a children's program for decades. Only difference is that now days there are more famililies cruising in general, on every cruise line.

 

Five years ago we took our 9 YO grandson on a B2B Alaska cruise on board Veendam. The "children's program" consisted of two very nice young college girls.

The kid's were consigned to the Half Moon, a meeting room furnished with a few tables and chairs. That was the "children's program".

 

One time when I picked him up early I found them gathered on the hallway floor outside the Half Moon room. An adult group was holding a get-together, and they simply evicted the children.

[hammybee]

Five years ago we took our 9 YO grandson on a B2B Alaska cruise on board Veendam. The "children's program" consisted of two very nice young college girls.

 

The kid's were consigned to the Half Moon, a meeting room furnished with a few tables and chairs. That was the "children's program".

 

One time when I picked him up early I found them gathered on the hallway floor outside the Half Moon room. An adult group was holding a get-together, and they simply evicted the children.

 

10 years ago we took our then 9 year old daughter to Alaska. She had the time of her life and met so many other kids. They had shore excursions, for kids, too. Maybe the difference was time of season /number of kids, onboard. Somewhere in a box, I still have a few of the Alaskan craft things she made on that cruise.

 

Fast forward to RCL, known for their children's programs. My daughter played wild card games in a conference room with a ton of kids. You just never know.:o