Question about SplashPark

[CandCMommy]

Can someone confirm whether or not my almost 2 year old son will be able to use the SplashPark on Carnival? I keep seeing conflicting information and would like feedback from others experiences.

 

If my son is not able to use the SplashPark, it is going to be three miserable sea days for us. How do you not take the 4 year old swimming because his brother can't go? How do you take the 4 year old to the water activities and tell the almost 2 year old he can't go. I thought I read somewhere that they would let them play in the SplashPark which we were okay with because the 4 year old would like that just as much especially with the slide. Now I just read he won't be able to. Can someone please confirm or deny for me?

[crusinmama06]

There is conflicting info because the crew onboard gives conflicting info.

 

Here's the deal - on Carnival, there is suppose to be a no non-potty trained infants/toddlers in the pool rule. All cruise lines have this rule for their pools because it is set as a health regulation...not set by the individual cruiselines.

 

Now, with that being said, Royal Caribbean and Disney were able to get around that rule by creating a special area with a special filtration system.

 

Carnival created the Water Works area and some parents HERE, were told onboard by the crew that the tots could play at the one water pipe. So no, he can't go in the actual pools. No he can't go on the slides. But, he may be able to splash around at that pipe.

 

The reason why I say "may" is that no one (that I have seen) has come back with proof either from it being printed in the Carnival Caper or a sign on the deck saying that the kids can "officially" play in that area.

 

But just be prepared...this is taken directly from Carnival's site...

Due to United States Public Health (USPH) Regulations, we do not allow children in diapers, in swimming diapers or those not toilet-trained in the pools.

 

That's why we talk about taking an inflatable pool on these type of ships. And if you get onboard and you see a sign that says "diapered children allowed" then PLEASE take a picture of that sign and post it. :D

[CandCMommy]

Thanks for the info Cruisinmamma! I knew about the pools but I thought we were going to be okay with the SplashPark. I will come back and post what I find out on our trip in April.

 

Somehow I don't think an inflatable pool will work with my almost two year old when he sees all the fun his big brother is having in the SplashPark. But it's a great idea for those with younger kids, for sure.

[crusinmama06]

Thanks for the info Cruisinmamma! I knew about the pools but I thought we were going to be okay with the SplashPark. I will come back and post what I find out on our trip in April.

 

Somehow I don't think an inflatable pool will work with my almost two year old when he sees all the fun his big brother is having in the SplashPark. But it's a great idea for those with younger kids, for sure.

 

Good luck! And take pictures!!!! :D:D:D

 

Nothing would make me happier than to have a picture of a sign that says those kids are ALLOWED in that splash park. I will make sure to splash it all over the carnival board...lol. ;)

[CandCMommy]

Okay, I'm back from the Carnival Splendor and did take the time to read all the signs. The signs posted in the Splash Park are the EXACT same signs that are posted at the pools. It says that children in swim diapers/untoilet trained are STRICTLY PROHIBITED. This is posted on both sides of the Splash Park as well as at all the pools. So there's the latest from the Carnival Splendor.

[crusinmama06]

Okay, I'm back from the Carnival Splendor and did take the time to read all the signs. The signs posted in the Splash Park are the EXACT same signs that are posted at the pools. It says that children in swim diapers/untoilet trained are STRICTLY PROHIBITED. This is posted on both sides of the Splash Park as well as at all the pools. So there's the latest from the Carnival Splendor.

 

Darn, I was hoping to see some good news about them. :(

 

So what did you observe? Crew members turning the other way if parents bring their infants?

 

You would think Carnival would look into making an "official" area for the diapered kids like Royal Caribbean and Disney.

 

Thanks for coming back to update us! :)

[Julienatul]

Thats too bad. We were on the first sailing that they opened the waterpark on the Inspiration. They had no signs up yet and the crew specifically told me that was where my non-potty trained 2yr old could play so I was under the impression it was for them but apparently not. I cant see how many older kids or adults would want to use that section but then again if its not filtered I see the point. Here is a photo of her using it. She's now potty trained so we use the pool but that stinks that Carnival didnt create a special area for the non-potty trained ones.

 

[crusinmama06]

Thats too bad. We were on the first sailing that they opened the waterpark on the Inspiration. They had no signs up yet and the crew specifically told me that was where my non-potty trained 2yr old could play so I was under the impression it was for them but apparently not. I cant see how many older kids or adults would want to use that section but then again if its not filtered I see the point. Here is a photo of her using it. She's now potty trained so we use the pool but that stinks that Carnival didnt create a special area for the non-potty trained ones.

 

Yes, you were one of the parents that I was referring to who were told by crew members that the infants/toddlers could use the splash area. That's a shame really. :(

 

How hard would it be to block off a small part of that fountain area and filter it?

[Julienatul]

I agree. We were even led there by staff members and told they hadn't put up the signs yet but it would be for non-potty trained kids also. And really, how many potty trained kids are going to enjoy the 6 inches of water coming from that fountain. It seems it was designed for babies/toddlers. Anyhow, Carnival should get with the program and get something comparable to Disney/RCCL!

[CandCMommy]

I have to tell you that we were planning on letting the baby play in the Splash Park unless they turned us away. However, it was almost nap time and he just wanted to sit on dad's lap and watch his brother play. We only visitied the Splash Park one time and I did see a child similar in age to my son playing there and no one ever said anything to them. But...I also saw a parent in the lido pool with their approximately 7-9 month old baby and no one said anything to her either. She did look like she was trying to be sneaky as she was sitting off in the corner and kept looking around. We left the pool shortly after that so I don't know how long she was allowed to stay.

[Julienatul]

Just about every cruise I have been on there have been non potty trained kids in the pools, splash parks and hot tubs. I have only seen the crew respond to it one time and I think that was probably a direct result of someone complaining. Most of the time if no one complains they ignore it. I am not advocating it, because I totally understand the health risk, just pointing out what I have observed.

[beachchick]

Just about every cruise I have been on there have been non potty trained kids in the pools, splash parks and hot tubs. I have only seen the crew respond to it one time and I think that was probably a direct result of someone complaining. Most of the time if no one complains they ignore it. I am not advocating it, because I totally understand the health risk, just pointing out what I have observed.

 

So true, sad to say. That's why so many people (including my DH and me) don't use the pools or hottubs at all. There really are good reasons for the CDC/health regulations for cruise ship pools. They are not like large public pools on land. I wish more cruise lines would enforce the CDC rules. Seems to me that not doing so opens them up to liability concerns, but I suspect it might take something like an e-coli outbreak with serious illness or even (God forbid) death before it's taken seriously.

 

Even though we don't use the pools/hottubs, we would have no problem getting the pool attendents (or other crew members/officers) and insisting that they enforce the rules, if for no other reason than concern for the safety of the pax who do enjoy using the pools/hottubs. One kind of selfish reason is that I don't want to have my cruise disrupted because pax have to be rushed back to port or airlifted off because of an illness they picked up in the water. I think that adults who have incontinence issues (and it's nothing to be ashamed of, it's just a fact of life) should stay out of the pools too. Anyone who is ill (digestive, of course) owes it to others to stay out of the water as well. I do not limit my "admonishments" to non-potty trained children.

 

Fortunately, most parents (and others) do follow the rules and do understand why they are important. But I completely agree with crusinmama06 that it's a real shame that most ships do not have the specially set-up and filtered water play areas for non-potty trained little ones. I know it wasn't a big consideration when many of the ships were built, but I'd sure like to see some facilities added when ships go through retrofittings.

 

 

CandCMommy: How did you all get along with your older son being allowed in and the younger one not? I thought of a possible option (too late for you in this case) of splitting up your boys at times with one adult taking the 4-y/o to the pool/splash park and the other taking the 2-y/o for his own "special" activity? Did you try the blow up pool option? How did you handle fussing (if any) from one son or the other? I feel certain that other parents might benefit from your experiences and suggestions.

 

Hopefully, both boys will be potty-trained next cruise and it will no longer be an issue.:)

 

beachchick

[CandCMommy]

CandCMommy: How did you all get along with your older son being allowed in and the younger one not? I thought of a possible option (too late for you in this case) of splitting up your boys at times with one adult taking the 4-y/o to the pool/splash park and the other taking the 2-y/o for his own "special" activity? Did you try the blow up pool option? How did you handle fussing (if any) from one son or the other? I feel certain that other parents might benefit from your experiences and suggestions.

 

Hopefully, both boys will be potty-trained next cruise and it will no longer be an issue.:)

 

beachchick

 

This was one of my big concerns since both of my boys are water lovers but it ended up not being a problem at all. Since there are so many other fun things to do on the ship we only made it to the Splash Park one day and it was right before nap time so the little one just wanted to sit and watch his big brother play. I did take him in his swim clothes and would have let him play had he wanted to. We only took him swimming on two occasions and both times my mother in law took the baby to take a nap. I think she uses him taking a nap as an excuse for herself to take one too. ;) Plus we planned on taking them swimming in the ports and since we had three port days, we had three swimming days. That helped also. Little ones are always in need of a nap so I say take the little ones for the nap and have dad take the big ones for a swim or vice versa. I know I would never complain about taking a nap or getting a little alone time for myself. One other thing that could be done is if the little one is over two and you're on Carnival, take the little one to Camp Carnival for the fun activities there while the rest of you take a swim.

 

We did not try the blow up pool and quite frankly I don't think we would have used it if we did, unless we used it in the shower.