Infants in the pool

[belu]

When I told my husband we wouldn't be able to take our son in the pool on our May 3rd Magic Cruise I thought he was gonna hit the roof.

He asked why and just said okay we'll do something else.

I realized that his idea of the perfect vacation wasn't the same as mine. And then I realized that he was right. I have read the debate about the new pool rules and I don't want to continue it.

I do want to say that we will make the best of it and I will put my mind to work by figuring out some projects we could do with our 15 month old. So if youre the parent of children who can longer use the pools, let's share our ideas and experiances so we can make the best of it.

Also, anyone with the non potty trained who is sailing with us on the May 3rd Magic, maybe we can come up with a group plan for an event, maybe a potty training seminar, or a waterless swimming party, who knows lol.

 

[Twinave]

My 2 children are potty trained, but I remember sitting in the hot sun at certain places during vacations and not being able to let them in the water. What if Disney could set aside a small area near the Mickey pool with some sprinklers of some kind, and a rubberized matt like they use at thier waterparks. Little ones could get wet, parents could relax a bit knowing no one was going to "go under", and no more worries about poo-poo in the pools. It seems this could be done without a major expense, and would save Disney money.
Anyone out there listening?

 

[Cone Family]

My brother in law and his wife took their infant into mickeys pool in a bathing suit with a swim diaper under it and no one said a thing.
I watched a couple get asked to remove thier child because he only had on a pair of rubber swim pants on.
I guess that you can do it, but you have to fly under the disney radar.
I also watched a 9 year old, throw up in Goofys pool and leave. A parent who saw it, went to the pool "monitor guy" and tell him, over a period of 10 minutes he talked to three crew members and two white suits before they closed and drained the pool. people where getting in and out the whole time. I was in the hot tub with my daughter at the time and thought it took an awfully long time for disney to make the call.
Had a great time all the same.

 

[mcnuss]

The pools are sounding less & less appealing with every passing day. I kinda wish I had never looked at any of these threads...

 

[Pugdog007]

ALL ADULTS: Stick with the Quiet Cove pool. No problems

 

[MelissaE1]

I don't know if this will work for anyone, but I'm throwing it out here anyway. When my kids were tiny and we took them to the beach, where they couldn't really get in the water, we would bring a dishtub and fill it with water and water toys. Then the baby/toddler could sit there and splash and play. It seems like a tub could be easily packed in luggage if you filled it with something like socks and underwear, or the like. It would only work if you had a verandah or a child who would play near the pool without fussing I guess, but like I said, I thought I'd throw it out there.

 

[Fawn]

Originally posted by MelissaE1
I don't know if this will work for anyone, but I'm throwing it out here anyway. When my kids were tiny and we took them to the beach, where they couldn't really get in the water, we would bring a dishtub and fill it with water and water toys. Then the baby/toddler could sit there and splash and play. It seems like a tub could be easily packed in luggage if you filled it with something like socks and underwear, or the like. It would only work if you had a verandah or a child who would play near the pool without fussing I guess, but like I said, I thought I'd throw it out there.

Check out camping supply stores and catalogs. There are blow up sinks used for camping that would take little space in luggage. Small enough to be blown up by mouth, and filled with a couple buckets from the pool. Good idea for the real tiny ones.

 

[atigeg]

Well, Pugdog, ALMOST no problems...
A rude person plopped their diapered infant into the adult pool last time we were on board. I was thankfully sitting the the whirlpool, so no danger of E coli for me. But I think the people in the pool must have said something to her without even waiting for a crew member, as she took the kid out within a couple minutes and left. There is no way she didn't know what she was doing...the "adults only" signs are positioned so that you practically trip over them, and the total absence of kids would be another big clue. Some people are just rude (or maybe generous...they want to share their kid's germs with the poor unfortunates in the adult pool who are missing out).
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[ncligs]

Boy am I glad we will be at the "adult's only pool".

 

[carone0318]

Well, we have a little bit until it is time for us to cruise, hopefully they will come up with another activity in that time frame. Anyways, here are my thoughts. Luckily we are only doing the 3 night cruise, I don't have to worry about days at sea. When I cruise I will have a 6 yr old and a 2 yr old. The 2 yr old will probably not be trained by then. I would think that most of the kids who can't use the pool still nap. Well when my ds is napping is when my dd can go to the pool. She can go with either dh or myself. There will be plenty of things that we can do instead of swimming. He will also get to play on the beach at Castaway Cay. I will try not to even take him by the pool, so that I won't have to fight that battle. Besides, after our cruise we will be spending 5 nights at BWV, so he can do all the swimming that he wants when he is there.

I know that my kids think differently and love to swim, but my opinion is if all I wanted to do was swim, I wouldn't have spent all that money for a cruise, I'd just go to my mom's house and use her pool I do know that I am in the minority on that one.....

 

[dgroet]

Either it wasn't very well posted or I completely missed something, but when we sailed at the end of August, there were a lot (mine included) of kids with swim diapers on, in the mickey pool. My youngest is 2 1/2 and not potty trained, and he was in the pool every day. What else is there to do with a child of that age onboard the ship? Actually that Mickey pool was wall to wall people. About the only thing that annoyed me was the adults that parked themselves in the "ear" portions of the pool and wouldn't move. It's one thing to get in the pool and interact with the kids, but it's another to just plop down and strech out in a kids pool.

 

[mrsltg]

Actually, dgroet, this is a fairly recent (last week or two) decision on the part of Disney. I doubt that your cruise would have been affected by it.

BTW... adults have germs, too! So, don't fool yourself into believing that you're in a bubble in the absence of kids!

Erin

 

[aseafish]

adults have germs, too!

And sadly, some adults do intentionally what very small children do accidentally in pools. I am inclined to stay out of all public (and some private) pools.

 

[tksbaskets]

This is just great that this thread was started to find a positive way to approach this change. I especially like Melissa's idea of bringing a little tub with some toys.

When my DSs were small it was easier when they were playing outside the pool than trying to keep an eye on them in the pool.

Can't wait to see the Mickey pool in person

TK

 

[ducklite]

Originally posted by mrsltg
Actually, dgroet, this is a fairly recent (last week or two) decision on the part of Disney. I doubt that your cruise would have been affected by it.

BTW... adults have germs, too! So, don't fool yourself into believing that you're in a bubble in the absence of kids!

Erin

Hellooooo...this was NOT DCL's decision, they are simply following the mandatory guidelines set up by the US DOH. Complaining to DCL won't help--call you congressperson. If they do'nt follow the regulations, they could lose the right to dock in the USA.

Anne

 

[mrsltg]

Ummmm... "Hello" to you too, ducklite!

There is NO (let me repeat) No, NONE, NADA, Zip, NO such thing as the US DoH. Perhaps you're referring to the Department of Health and Human Services? This is HHS. (States have individual Deparments of Health. These, however, hold no power over any cruise ship.) Now, HHS generally concerns itself with things like AIDS and cancer. Granted, they have other issues on their plates as well. But let me assure you, calling your Member of Congress to demand an end to this (or most regulatory issues) won't get you too far.
And, as far as following regulations, I could be wrong, but DCL is not a US flagged ship. The US can come up with just about any rule or regulation that they like, and once a cruise ship passes into international waters, the US can't do a thing. This is why crimes that are committed in international waters (ie cruise ship rapes) are nearly impossible to prosecute.
Bottom line... DCL has adopted this rule... so be it. The intent of the OP was to find some other plans for her cruise. My intent was to answer the question posed by the poster before me. That's all. This issue has been debated to death!

 

[Michelle]

Yes, this issue HAS been debated to death and is closed.