Adult Only Pool Areas/Deck...

[jerseygal]

Age of adult only pool areas/decks is 18, correct?

What is the process of "checking" to ensure guests are 18 since the adult area pools seem much less crowded than the family areas?

Much thanks!!!

 

[RealLifeCinderella]

From what I've expierienced on the Magic they dont check. When I turned 18 on the Magic 2 years ago I was never once asked to see my KTTW card.

 

[kcashner]

Well, when I complained to GS and the cruise director, they did put CMs at the elevators on deck 9 forward and at the entrance by the Cove Cafe--and they were carding people then.

Normally--good luck. Unless guests make a fuss, they don't do anything. The time I really complained, there were kids all over the adult only areas including a 6ish year old in the pool! People were bringing kids in strollers into the Cove Cafe, etc. The bartender in there wants his tips--he doesn't want to say anything.

This will undoubtedly result in the posts about how it is OK for kids to walk thru, come in to contact parents, OK for parents to walk thru the area with kids, what does it hurt if they are being quiet, etc.

Again, each to his own opinion. Mine is that there are signs clearly saying "This area reserved for guests 18 and over." That says to me that if you are not 18, you should not enter here.

I have seen enforcement in the night clubs--DD has been "carded" a couple of times, and I saw a show stopped when a parent entered with a small child and not resume until they left. I've also seen enforcement when a young family planted themselves on Serenity Bay and pretended to not speak English. A French speaking CM was dispatched to the area and they were removed. I speak enough French to be able to follow some of the discussion, and it was a hoot!

 

[Minniemiss]

Sadly there is always someone who thinks their 15 or 16 year old should be allowed to stay because their parents and older sibling are there.

 

[algae]

There wasn't any checking when we sailed the Dream in Feb. There were clearly some people younger than 18 in the hot tub, but nobody sent them away in the hour that we sat there. On the other hand, there's not a whole lot of people there in the first place, so it wasn't a really big issue.

 

[Maddle]

Sadly there is always someone who thinks their 15 or 16 year old should be allowed to stay because their parents and older sibling are there.

Eighteen is Eighteen... it should be enforced, because that is clearly understood by passengers that come onboard without minor children, and by the parents who have an afternoon to themselves while their children are in one of the Youth Program areas.

Two years ago while onboard the Magic, a child wandered down the hall to the Piano/Martini Bar. I had stepped away for a few minutes to the rest room at that time, but my husband said it was like a scene from Monsters Inc. He said they practically set off an alarm. (Which is pretty droll coming from a guy that I often refer to as "the undertaker.") That's when he was sold on DCL as a good idea for adults traveling without children.

Up until then he was just humoring me...although I know he can't wait to go with our grandchildren and young nieces and nephews, and he will enjoy the family multi-generation locations and activities at that time.

Maddle

 

[noladave]

I agree that it should be adults only, the problem is that Disney designed things improperly.

From what I've heard on the Dream, it's very difficult to avoid it.

As for the Magic (and I assume Wonder), for anyone in the forward cabins - 50xx, 55xx
60xx, 65xx
70xx, 75xx,
80xx, 85xx, the main elevator that takes you to the pool deck drops you off right at the adult cove. The only way to get to Mickey or Goofy pools are to walk through the adult area.

Until Disney really makes a commitment to having "true" adult areas, it will always be this way.

And, with that said, you can still find quiet time up at the adult cove. We had early dinning, and found that if you go right up to the pool after dinner, most "adults" have 2nd dinning, and found that we could be alone most of the time. It only lasted about 30-45 minutes, but it was still a great time to be alone on that area of the ship..

 

[thechief]

If there is a kid in the pool I tell them it is adults only. They leave. You should never be afraid to question or tell kids to leave.

 

[CADisneyMom]

I completely agree that it should be 18 and over like posted. But, I can honestly tell you that when my daughter was 16 she would go into the Cove Cafe to get her latte and they never questioned her about it (true she didnt look 16 but that's not the point), though all she did was go in, get it and leave. I didn't know about this at the time until the last night on the ship when she showed me her Cove Cafe card for frequent purchasing for a free drink. She never did try to go into the adult clubs though, she just wanted her coffee.

 

[dsneygirl]

I agree that it should be adults only, the problem is that Disney designed things improperly.

From what I've heard on the Dream, it's very difficult to avoid it.

As for the Magic (and I assume Wonder), for anyone in the forward cabins - 50xx, 55xx
60xx, 65xx
70xx, 75xx,
80xx, 85xx, the main elevator that takes you to the pool deck drops you off right at the adult cove. The only way to get to Mickey or Goofy pools are to walk through the adult area.

Until Disney really makes a commitment to having "true" adult areas, it will always be this way.

Correct. We were FORWARD on the Dream right by the elevators and they bring you right out into the adult pool. We and every other family I saw on the elevators would just quickly hustle through the Adult area to get over to the family side.

 

[ThePedersonFamily]

I agree with the previous poster...it is a terrible design!! Our family was in a forward cabin on the Wonder last week and we consistently forgot about the Quite Cove and got in the elevators and pushed 9. We would end up on the 9th floor deck with our only option being to either get out of the elevator walk down a flight of stairs and across to midship and back up the stairs to the 9th deck...or quietly push our girls through the adult area to the midship. We almost always opted to scurry through the adult area. My girls never went into the adult area except for those times and I really didn't see any other children in the area either. I don't think you'll find it to be a problem!! The only problem we had was the fact we could never find a deck chair in the adults area!! Have fun!!

 

[3Mickeys]

We were in a forward room on the Magic deck 8. Often without thinking (we tried to remember if we were with our kids!) we would go up to deck 9 forward. My kids would get freaked out. I noticed that the signs that said Adult only were on the dividers surrounding the pool area, and not throughout the walkways on the side. I took this to mean "keep on walking". If we found ourselves 9 forward we would quickly walk through quietly. Poor design.

A few times DH and I were alone enjoying the area. We did witness drink servers telling parents their kids had to leave. Occasionally we saw a "check in" where a kid would come in and the parent would quickly stand up and escort them out. That I believe was fine. Another time though a child stood next to her parents table for at least 5 minutes having a conversation, and I believe some whiny tears about something. A server came over and told the parent she had to leave. The parent obliged. I believe it was handled appropriately.

What I didn't get was parents sitting in there with strollers and children. Indeed it made me wonder. Is it ok if the child sleeps? Is it ok if the child is contained to the stroller and not running around? Is it ok if the child doesn't make noise? I'm not sure how I felt about that.

We also were in the Piano bar and saw many families with kids stroll down not knowing what it was and each one was immediately approached. I think they do a good job of policing when it needs to be. How to weed out the older teens?? That's a much harder job.

 

[La2kw]

Correct. We were FORWARD on the Dream right by the elevators and they bring you right out into the adult pool. We and every other family I saw on the elevators would just quickly hustle through the Adult area to get over to the family side.

Other than the concierge rooms that are on the same level of the cove pool area, couldn't the occupants of the forward rooms on the other decks walk to the midship elevators before going up to the pool deck? Wouldn't that eliminate the "need" to walk through the adult areas? Shouldn't the adults with kids on the ship respect the adult areas and enforce in their own children that they shouldn't be in the adult areas? I mean, there already is no casino on board, and the kids have so many areas set aside for them. Why do the need to invade those adult areas? Even if it's just passing through. My kids always understood that they needed to avoid those areas when we were on any cruise ship.

 

[DoOverDreams]

Other than the concierge rooms that are on the same level of the cove pool area, couldn't the occupants of the forward rooms on the other decks walk to the midship elevators before going up to the pool deck? Wouldn't that eliminate the "need" to walk through the adult areas? Shouldn't the adults with kids on the ship respect the adult areas and enforce in their own children that they shouldn't be in the adult areas? I mean, there already is no casino on board, and the kids have so many areas set aside for them. Why do the need to invade those adult areas? Even if it's just passing through. My kids always understood that they needed to avoid those areas when we were on any cruise ship.

 

[ThePedersonFamily]

Other than the concierge rooms that are on the same level of the cove pool area, couldn't the occupants of the forward rooms on the other decks walk to the midship elevators before going up to the pool deck? Wouldn't that eliminate the "need" to walk through the adult areas? Shouldn't the adults with kids on the ship respect the adult areas and enforce in their own children that they shouldn't be in the adult areas? I mean, there already is no casino on board, and the kids have so many areas set aside for them. Why do the need to invade those adult areas? Even if it's just passing through. My kids always understood that they needed to avoid those areas when we were on any cruise ship.

I really do understand this thought process. I also have been in a forward room with a 4 year old and a 9 year old. After 2 previous cruises in an aft cabin it took us almost the whole week to remember to walk midship prior to riding the elevator to the 9th floor. As I stated in an earlier post we did occasionally walk the girls down to 8 across to midship and back up to 9, but there were times we just walked them through the adult area. Before finding fault in the parents who choose to do this, find fault in the design of the ship. Both kids pools as well as the buffet and other fast food restaurants are all on the 9th floor. It stands to reason that people will be in and out of those elevators constantly and some simply don't realize it's the Quiet Cove until they are out on the deck. While I feel like the design could be better I truly never found it to be a problem when I was relaxing in the adult area...as I said before, quite honestly the kids never bothered me in the Quiet Cove it was the adults who "reserved" chairs all day and never sat in them forcing me on almost every occasion to lay out on the 10th floor with all the kids playing basketball.

 

[mom2brooke76]

Correct. We were FORWARD on the Dream right by the elevators and they bring you right out into the adult pool. We and every other family I saw on the elevators would just quickly hustle through the Adult area to get over to the family side.

I agree. We stayed forward on Deck 10, so it was one flight of stairs up. It's convenient and even though I hate that the doors come out into the middle of the adult pool area, I'll continue to do it should I stay in that room again (of course, I have a well behaved child too). I can't imagine that Disney will ever truly keep people from doing that, especially when it is their poor design choice that created the problem in the first place.

 

[3Mickeys]

I posted earlier that when we found ourselves at the Magic 9 forward stairs/elevators we quickly and quietly walked our kids back. Dh said it perfectly... this was our first cruise ever and it took nearly the entire 7 days for us to wrap our head around what was up, down, forward and aft. We weren't there long enough to develop any meaningful habits about how to get where we need to go. For those of you who have been on many cruises, and many Magic and Wonder cruises, maybe you don't remember what it was like the first time. As I said, it was never intentional.

But with that said, like others, I was never bothered with a quiet family walking down the side. That in no way ruined my quiet time. I agree, people saving lounge chairs was far worse! The adult pool area is a place to sit and not have loud noise, running, splashing, chicken finger papers blowing over your toes, fruit punch spills under your feet, etc. Every time I was there that was what I experienced and I enjoyed every minute!

 

[QuiltTeddy]

.
Again, each to his own opinion. Mine is that there are signs clearly saying "This area reserved for guests 18 and over." That says to me that if you are not 18, you should not enter here.

Eighteen is Eighteen... it should be enforced, because that is clearly understood by passengers that come onboard without minor children, and by the parents who have an afternoon to themselves while their children are in one of the Youth Program areas.

I totally agree. Eighteen is eighteen period.

We've been on a few Disney cruises and they do enforce it, even if not pointed out to CM's. I guess it also depends on which CM's are working.

One cruise we went on, a woman was playing with a 3-4 year old in the pool and then plopped the kid on the side of the pool and left. Some of us went nuts because she totally left the area, leaving the child, without any life preserver or floaties on right at the edge of the pool. The CM's went and caught up with the woman who said it "wasn't her child." The CM's then spent about 20 minutes trying to locate the parents and were about to take the child back to the office when someone came wandering down from the deck above the pool and claimed the child. How in god's name can you NOT notice your child of 3-4 years old has been missing for over 30 minutes?!?!?!? I mean, I admit I don't have kids, but holy crap, if I did, I would KNOW when one went missing!!! The CM's were totally blown away and I'm shocked that they let them leave so easily with the child.

 

[Goofy4Disney99]

We have taken several Magic/Wonder cruises and we have never experienced a problem with children at the Quiet Cove Pool. But with the exception of our last cruise (Panama Canal on the Wonder in January) we have had negative experiences with unruly adults at the Quiet Cove pool. They save chairs that are then never used, belly flop into the pool and scream at each other from one side of the deck to the other. Personally, I'd rather have children at the pool than unruly adults. The CMs did the best they could to calm the situations, but as is often the case with children, as soon as the CMs left the area the bad behavior resumed.

 

[GoofyGolfGuy]

I guess I'm a little curious. To the OP, are you asking because you want it enforced or because you are hoping to get an underaged teen into the area?