Pools on Fantasy and Dream

[Dogsambam]

I have read so much negativity on the crowded pool situation on the Dream and Fantasy that I am trying to figure out is it just people being picky or is there a real problem. We also have two groups of friends who just got off the Fantasy and they said that it is no exaggeration, that the pools were so crowded and cloudy, they were afraid when the kids were in them. Any input which could help me feel comfortable on still going with an 8 and 4 year old.

 

[kuhltiffany]

The pools are busy at peak times. But first thing in the morning and during the evenings they quiet down, so those are good times to go. The pools have a ledge where people sit around the perimeter, so that often blocks the view/makes it hard to see the kids. I can't remember exactly (we tried to avoid them) if it's one or both, but they are actually multi-level, with a deeper part indented in the middle. This catches some children off-guard, as well as provides another spot for kids to jump from, making the already crowded pools more dangerous...

 

[Silverfox97]

We have a 6 year old. We go right after breakfast and then leave at or after lunchtime on sea days. It starts to pick up around 11am-Noon and gets super packed. We like to hit the 3pm show matinees, so by 1:30-2pm, we are done. I've never hit the pool deck on the evening - this is on our "to do" list.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[disneylove5]

We cruised on the Fantasy 4/13/13. The pools are extremely crowded and quite cloudy. My 12 and 10 year olds went in once. I would not allow an 8 and 4 year old in the pool if I wasn't physically in the pool with them. There are just too many people on top of each other and it's really hard to see them once they go under the water as the pool water is so cloudy. We LOVED the ship, but the pools are just way too small.

 

[caribbeandreaming]

The pools are extremely crowded, especially at peak times. You can't even actually swim in them during these times because they're so packed. All you can do is stand, but kids will still be trying to do "tricks" like handstands (and kicking others in the face), cannonballs off the side (and landing on people), etc.

Luckily, there are many other things to do on the ship besides swim, so it never bothered us. We can go to the community pool when we're at home anyways - I'd rather do something else on vacation. I would save your swimming for non-peak times or for CC.

But yes, Disney definitely needs to take action to fix the pool issue. I think they should have lines and let a safe number of people in for 10 minutes at a time. I'm very surprised this wasn't addressed in the design process. It's a major flaw IMO.

 

[~Mandy~]

I found Donald's pool to be just as others describe, but we really enjoyed mickeys pool with our 5 year old last year. It was crowded, but also so shallow that I never really worried about the kicking, jumping etc.
Your 8 year old probably won't want to hang out in the "baby" pool though.

 

[calismic]

They are horrifying. I will not be visiting the pool on my next cruise. We ventured over while we were docked in Nassau and managed about 15 minutes before wanting to kill everyone and everything, lol. My 2 year old couldn't move her arms it was so stuffed with people.

 

[MaleficentRN]

It can be, during the middle of the afternoon. My son had plenty of room to swim in the morning and the evening. I told him, if the pool was a "kid soup" he needed to find something else to do. And he did. He'd go to the Lab or sit on the deck and watch a movie until the pool was less crowded.
It just isn't possible to build a pool on a boat that would be large enough for hundreds of people. At least for now.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I have read so much negativity on the crowded pool situation on the Dream and Fantasy that I am trying to figure out is it just people being picky or is there a real problem. We also have two groups of friends who just got off the Fantasy and they said that it is no exaggeration, that the pools were so crowded and cloudy, they were afraid when the kids were in them. Any input which could help me feel comfortable on still going with an 8 and 4 year old.

I am a trained lifeguard...

And IMHO it was a REAL problem on my Dream cruise.

Here's my suggestion Go early or late But at midday on sea days PLAN on doing something else.

It's a shame and I can't figure out why parents are lined up 50 deep at the Guest Services counter to raise Heck, but Disney does not seem inclined to limit the number of bodies or do anything else to deal with the issue.

 

[cpc430]

Do the pools get uncloudy during the cruise? Do they change the water (I have no idea how cruise pools change it filter their pool water so please excuse my ignorance). I was just wondering if the water gets gross in Day 1, is it gross the entire time?

 

[lbgraves]

They change the water each night, as well as during the day as accidents dictate.

DD12 sat around the ledge area with her friends on our 3/23 cruise on the Fantasy. She told me there were too many little kids who couldn't swim in the pool by themselves splashing around trying to grab onto someone to keep themselves above the water. We didn't let the kids in the family pool without us right next to them until they could touch the bottom with their toes. It's just common sense IMO. The problem with kids jumping in on the classics seemed to stop when the dumbotron was installed from our experiences, but that doesn't make a difference on the Fantasy. Kids were cannon balling into the pool when there wasn't any water for there to land in -- just people.

 

[jetskigrl]

We did a B2B on the Dream in 2011 and the only time my kids were in the pool that entire week was on the turnover day when only the B2B passengers were on board (regular boarding hadn't started yet).

We are lucky to have access to a pool anytime we want at home so we just avoided them the rest of the time. But yes, it could be an issue for someone that is really looking forward to pool time, especially in the middle of the day.

One thing that made it seem even more congested on the Dream (to me, anyway) was that the two pools share the same space. At least on the Wonder/Magic, the two pools are separated by a funnel and that spreads out the people a bit more. On the Dream, both pools are in the same area...so even more congestion.

 

[Dogsambam]

Wow. I cannot Disney designed these ships with such a design flaw. My daughter only wants to be in the pool. I am not depending thousands of dollars to limit her pool time, unless it is due to Disney Getting smart about this issue. We were on a fully booked Allure of the Seas last year, and there were NO issues ever with the pools. As much as I Iove Disney, I am apt to switch our booking to Royal. There is no reason that Disney doesn't try to fix this issue. Limit numbers, age limitations, stationing security by pools to prevent horseplay etc. Life guarding would be nearly impossible, but there has to be a fix.

 

[Lucijoy]

I was reading through this thread earlier and wanted to come back to make an observation. First, yes it is puzzling why Disney did not increase the pool size on the new ships (only been on the Magic; will be on the Dream May 12!) ; however, they didn't and obviously there are issues. So I thought about this novel idea that could improve some of the problems--what if parents took responsibility for and control of their children's actions? Something like, "Hey, sweetie, it's a bit crowded right now. Jumping in doing cannon balls/turning summer-salts/splashing around could get someone hurt. Let's just swim right now." Unfortunately, too many parents think vacation is a vacation from parenting and discipline. We may all have more enjoyable vacations if parents kindly taught their kids that their actions affect others. Even if the action itself is not wrong, it may not be the best choice under the circumstances. By the way, I am not anti-children. I have four who have managed to grow into fantastic young adults. Off the soap box now.

 

[AdaraRae]

I was reading through this thread earlier and wanted to come back to make an observation. First, yes it is puzzling why Disney did not increase the pool size on the new ships (only been on the Magic; will be on the Dream May 12!) ; however, they didn't and obviously there are issues. So I thought about this novel idea that could improve some of the problems--what if parents took responsibility for and control of their children's actions? Something like, "Hey, sweetie, it's a bit crowded right now. Jumping in doing cannon balls/turning summer-salts/splashing around could get someone hurt. Let's just swim right now." Unfortunately, too many parents think vacation is a vacation from parenting and discipline. We may all have more enjoyable vacations if parents kindly taught their kids that their actions affect others. Even if the action itself is not wrong, it may not be the best choice under the circumstances. By the way, I am not anti-children. I have four who have managed to grow into fantastic young adults. Off the soap box now.

I agree 150%. Mother of a four year old and 15 month old. And very close to my niece, nephew,& handicapped brothers. People need to be responsible for their dependents!! Period!!!

 

[khardy]

Hope the pools are not too busy my daughter is super excited about swimming

 

[lbgraves]

Hope the pools are not too busy my daughter is super excited about swimming

It's probably best to prepare her for not being able to before you go and let her see the other things on the ship. There are not many times that anyone is actually able to do anything but stand or bob in the water. Swimming is definitely not something she will be able to do very much onboard.

 

[Bear3412]

Hope the pools are not too busy my daughter is super excited about swimming

As stated you have to go early or late. In our experience as the cruise progresses people figure this out and it slowly becomes more crowded each am and pm. So I suggest do this as early into the sailing as possible. Also bad weather closes the pools, so ....

 

[amylia403]

I was reading through this thread earlier and wanted to come back to make an observation. First, yes it is puzzling why Disney did not increase the pool size on the new ships (only been on the Magic; will be on the Dream May 12!) ; however, they didn't and obviously there are issues. So I thought about this novel idea that could improve some of the problems--what if parents took responsibility for and control of their children's actions? Something like, "Hey, sweetie, it's a bit crowded right now. Jumping in doing cannon balls/turning summer-salts/splashing around could get someone hurt. Let's just swim right now." Unfortunately, too many parents think vacation is a vacation from parenting and discipline. We may all have more enjoyable vacations if parents kindly taught their kids that their actions affect others. Even if the action itself is not wrong, it may not be the best choice under the circumstances. By the way, I am not anti-children. I have four who have managed to grow into fantastic young adults. Off the soap box now.

We are also going on the May 12th Dream! ...and I agree. I have 3 tweens with me, and they have already been given the rules. No jumping, no rough housing, no diving...etc. They will honestly probably just do the Aquaduck a few times and then avoid the pool crowds all together

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

We cruised on the Fantasy 4/13/13. The pools are extremely crowded and quite cloudy. My 12 and 10 year olds went in once. I would not allow an 8 and 4 year old in the pool if I wasn't physically in the pool with them. There are just too many people on top of each other and it's really hard to see them once they go under the water as the pool water is so cloudy. We LOVED the ship, but the pools are just way too small.

We were on same cruise as you, and totally agree. Our kids didn't go in at all.