Freakin' out about hot tubs...

[Ariel Wanna-be]

...okay, so over on the "Resorts" board, there is a thread about the nasty things that can live in hot tubs.

DH and I were thinking about spending some time in one on our upcoming cruise (if we have time), and so I'd REALLY appreciate it if someone could tell me when the hot tubs are the cleanest. Are they cleaned every night, so that first thing in the a.m. they are sanitary? Or are they never emptied, so that they become cess pools?

Some of the comments on the "adult behavior" thread have greatly contributed to my concern about the hot tub's "eeewww" factor!

 

[ChrisnSteph]

I think the hot tubs are drained every night too. But I wish they were actually HOT.
On our most recent trip last month they were always the temp. of the pool water - all of them! The staff told us that they were fine, but hot tubs are supposed to be HOT!

 

[Corryn]

Hot Tub Story:
Every year we go camping with the same group who's coming on the cruise. Last year, one of the guys we'll be cruising with was sitting relaxing in the Hot Tub at the Jellystone Campground upstate and he said he felt something BITE him! He immediately got out of the hot tub and let everyone around know what had happened. So when we were planning the cruise last year, I sent over to him a bunch of photos of the hot tub on board (But I guess you had to be there)

 

[arlenesp]

I think the hot tubs are drained every night too. But I wish they were actually HOT.
On our most recent trip last month they were always the temp. of the pool water - all of them! The staff told us that they were fine, but hot tubs are supposed to be HOT!

Not on our 2 Wonder cruises. My husband kept complaining it was too hot.I had to remind him hot tubs are hot.We were at the adult pool. Both times.

 

[TDC Nala]

So who bit him?

 

[JennsBabySky]

My general rule of thumb, if you can smell the chlorine, you're probably fine! I'd be much more leary of a friend's hot tub than Disney's. They are very cautious about presenting the spread of microbes!

 

[Magic3forme]

The hot tubs on the Wonder on 2-6 were HOT! and very clean!

 

[mickeyboat]

OUr hot tub experience was that the tubs near the Goofy Pool were just warm - there were a lot of kids in them. The tubs near the adult pool were very hot, just the way we like them.

Denae

 

[DancingBear]

Seinfeld to Kramer: "I'm not going anywhere near that human bacteria frappe you got goin' on in there."

 

[Rence]

OUr hot tub experience was that the tubs near the Goofy Pool were just warm - there were a lot of kids in them. The tubs near the adult pool were very hot, just the way we like them.

I believe they do that because it is not really safe for small children to be in a HOT hot tub for any length of time, as small bodies cannot dissipate the heat as well as an adult body. There used to be warning signs, but so many kids kept going in the tubs, that I believe Disney turned the heat down to prevent problems.

 

[suwoogie]

I love hot tubs, but don't go in them anymore. DH ruined it for me when he called it a putrid pool of bubbling bacteria. He's no fun.

 

[madisonsmom]

Yesterday morning on the Today show they did a segment about Cruise ships and the bacteria and chances of getting sick from "common areas" (as well as staterooms) and THE DIRTIEST PLACE on the ship was the HOT TUB (and the toilet seats)!!! Filled with E Coli and a bunch of other stuff I can't pronounce(lol). Not sure what Cruise Line they investigated, but that is enough to make me wonder about if it is worth lounging for a few minutes in a hot tub?

 

[dwkwootton]

Interesting to see things pull together ... I just started a thread a few hours ago because I was watching the Today Show today and was shocked to learn that liquid hand sanitizers are not effective against Norwalk Virus. I missed the segment about the cruise ships (hot tubs) yesterday, but I had always thought, as another poster stated here on this thread, that the hot tub was ok because of the chlorine. Since hand sanitizers only hit certain things, chlorine only hits certain things and the hot tub isn't so "clean" after all?

 

[Macnjac87]

Very funny, Dancing Bear!!!

**But I'll be in the adult hot tub on my cruise with a banana daquiri with a Myers Floater on it*** Look for my smiling face***

 

[cwf1028]

I'm a little on the germ phobic side, but I plan to go in if it smells enough like clorine and "looks" clean. I will just make sure it is at a time of day that I plan to go back to the room and take a shower. I don't think I would allow the kids in it as they tend to inadvertantly drink the water. You would have to think however that if the hot tubs bother you, the pool should too. I'm sure many people hop from one to the other and cross contaminate!

 

[Dis]

A properly sanitized hot tub will NOT smell of chlorine. You are smelling chloramines which are produced by chlorine reacting with contaminants. You would want 3-5ppm free chlorine available at all times. A strong chlorine smelling hot tub is NOT safe.

 

[madisonsmom]

I don't know if hoe they treat Hot tubs on the Cruise ship is different than a personal hot tub one would have at their house, but our home hot tub is not cholorinated like a pool. You put treatments in the water when you clean it but the water in it isn't treated the same as a pool with chlorine. But like I said before on a cruise ship it may be different, is there maybe an industry standard that must be followed? Surely there is?!?

 

[Corryn]

Seinfeld to Kramer: "I'm not going anywhere near that human bacteria frappe you got goin' on in there."

That's the one in which he stayed in the hot tub all night long & fell asleep, during which time the water turned cold and he was frozen the rest of the episode, right?
That Kramer!
BTW, we live down the block from the man (Costanza) that Jerry based his George Costanza character on. He looks like George, only taller with no glasses.
Sorry to be off topic

 

[MrsMork]

Sounds like there might be more room for US in the hot tubs. We have been using hot tubs for many years, in many places, and never got any kind of crud from them. Chlorine will kill alot of things. Think I feel safe, with Disney standards, that I will remain healthy even if I use their tubs.

 

[tiggrbaby]

Above a certain temp. (84 - 86F) chlorine begins to lose some of its sanitizing properties. That's why they need to drain and scrub the hot tubs more frequently than pools.