Do people swim on an Alaskan cruise?

[Ashleybritton]

This may be a silly question, but we’re going on a 7 day Alaskan cruise the first of June and I’m curious if I need to pack swimsuits. Are the pools heated to where my kids would enjoy swimming, or should I just leave the swimsuits behind?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

It really depends on the weather. The pools are all outside, and early June can be chilly. There is also often rain on that itinerary. The pools are heated, but are also the standard very small DCL pools, so when the weather is good for swimming, they are people soup.

I'd pack suits, but they may or may not use them.

 

[mmouse37]

We went during the month of August and it was cool and rainy the whole week. We did not use the pool but we did use the hot tubs!!

The pools are heated so its just the getting out of them that could be chilly.

MJ

 

[belle032]

We did the British Isles in September and we imagined it might be similar to Alaska weather wise. We did use the hot tubs quite a bit and people were in the pools on the sunny day we were in Liverpool, but still a little chilly for us!

Oh and DH and 2 other men we ended up hanging out with did the waterslides on our last sea day, but the wives and I were definitely waiting with towels and clothes at the end for them!

 

[WishUponAStarryNight]

We sailed in May and it was warm enough for DS to swim on both glacier day and the last sea day.

 

[Cruising Engineer]

Our first time to Alaska was the end of May/first of June. The weather was rainy and cold. Very few kids in the pools but the hot tubs were being used in the adult section. Alaska showers pass through irregularly, so even though I was comfortable in the hot tub, my towel and stuff on the lounger were wet. All pools were being used on our last Alaskan cruise in the month of September. Usually warm and sunny in 2018.

 

[WDWLODGE]

We were on the first Alaskan Cruise this past May. My son and I braved the elements of Glacier Day of all days. We did the slide several times and swam in the pool. I don't remember the air temperature off the top of my head but I think it was in the upper 40's to low 50's. Honestly it wasn't bad at all. Even waiting for the slide while wet. The water temperature in the pool was practically hot enough for it to be considered a hot tub.

 

[lklgoodman]

We went first week of June in 2014. We had nice weather, no rain. Dd and her cousins swam every day. I don't think too many people brought swimwear because the pools were nearly empty.

 

[TinkLoverSam]

We went in the hot tubs on our Alaskan cruise, the only people in the hot tub with us? Fellow Canadians!

 

[Geomom]

It really depends on where you're from. We're from MA, so we can deal with colder weather. Air temps were in the high 50's-mid 60's on our August 2016 cruise. DD (then 12) and I went in the heated pool on our Alaska cruise (and then went straight into a hot tub to get overly warm before we got out of the water for good!) We had a lot of fun and it's NOT kid soup because it's an Alaska cruise, so there are a lot fewer people using the pools!

 

[Dreams&wishes]

It really depends on the weather. The pools are all outside, and early June can be chilly. There is also often rain on that itinerary. The pools are heated, but are also the standard very small DCL pools, so when the weather is good for swimming, they are people soup.

I'd pack suits, but they may or may not use them.

Oh nooo are the DCL swimming pools in warmer areas/months really that bad? We were attracted by the DCL mainly for the pool and the Dunk Slide!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Oh nooo are the DCL swimming pools in warmer areas/months really that bad? We were attracted by the DCL mainly for the pool and the Dunk Slide!

The pools are very small on Disney ships.

 

[iloveeeyore]

We brought our swimsuits to Alaska and used them on the last "at sea" day just for the hot tub. There were very few others using it. This was not on DCL but another line. It was cool and rainy every time we had time on the ship, but we could still enjoy the hot tub.

Swimsuits take up such little room in the bags, it can't hurt to have them just in case! Better to have them and not need them than have the kids begging to swim and not have them!

 

[justafigment27]

We were there during a heat wave this summer and had some shorts and t-shirt weather. The hotel pool in Vancouver was very busy prior to the cruise. On the cruise, kids were swimming in the pools most days - it actually looked fun b/c it wasn’t crowded. There were even a couple of hardy little boys in swimsuits splashing in the ocean at Icy Strait.

 

[hogie1]

It really depends on the weather. The pools are all outside, and early June can be chilly. There is also often rain on that itinerary. The pools are heated, but are also the standard very small DCL pools, so when the weather is good for swimming, they are people soup.

I'd pack suits, but they may or may not use them.

They say the pools are heated, I say they are not heated nearly enough. We went on NYC to Bermuda DCL Magic cruise last Oct into Nov, and it was just too cold for me in the pools, even though my daughter dragged me in several times. I would go so far as to say the family pools had nothing close to warm, I wanted a vacation, not a Navy SEALs tryout!! Hot tubs are good to go though, so bring your suits.

 

[Dug720]

They did at least the first part of the season this past summer - in the first month or so of the season they sold more swimsuits onboard than in the past seasons all together.

 

[TestingH2O]

This is what they looked like on our cruise. Kids and a few parents swimming, everyone else bundled up. Notice the lifeguard. They provided blankets for parents watching their kids.

 

[tvguy]

DCL pools are heated. Not on Disney, but HAL, we used the pools in Alaska. My wife got great photos of us in the pool with the glacier in the background. But we cruised when they were having a "heat wave" in Alaska, it was 70 degrees. And on DCL in the Caribbean we never used the pools.
But I swim twice a week year round at home at the gym. Outdoor pool, heated, even on days when it is in the upper 30's.

 

[Ravenclaw78]

Life guards wear insulated gear and parkas, parents huddle somewhere sheltered with coats and hot cocoa, and kids swim like it's 80 degrees out.

 

[seanfaulk]

Pete and I went on one in August and it was way too cold for me to swim, but I also live in Florida.
The weather was in the mid 50s most of the week in the daytime