Quiet Cove Pool & proof of age

[Empress Room]

I never said that those under 18 shouldn't be there. Reporting someone who appears to be 17 when he/she is actually over 18 is rude IMO. Sure, you may be right sometimes but you will also be wrong at other times making you look like a "nosy Nellie". It is DCL's job to enforce its rules. I have spent at least 13 full Sea Days onboard the Magic and most of those were spent partially or fully on the pool deck. We have spent many days at the Quiet Cove pool on sold out cruises, and I have yet to have difficulty finding a place to sit in a lounger or in the pool itself. Where are these teens who hog the chairs that in this "small" area?

It is certainly not my intention to argue with you, KS, but to the extent that reporting someone who is under age 18 to a CM or officer for being in an adult-only area is "rude," I would suggest that it is no more rude (and actually much less so) than someone under 18 (and his/her parents) consciously deciding to come into an area known to be off limits.

As to your lack of difficulty in finding a lounger in the Quiet Cove pool area on busy days, you are incredibly fortunate. I have spent a significant number of sea days on the Magic and Wonder (in excess of 13) and have seen many days where folks are staking out their spots and saving their loungers as early as 6:00 a.m. If you add guests who otherwise shouldn't be there into that mix, I've certainly witnessed a pretty crowded pool deck.

At the end of the day, my point is simple: for many adult-only cruisers (and even those traveling with kids who are looking for an adult exclusive experience), the adult-only areas are one of the main reasons why we cruise DCL. If not for those areas being enforced, our enjoyment of the cruise suffers. No one wishes to be on pool police duty while on vacation (and there are certainly times when a teenager comes into the area mistakenly), but an obvious violation of the policy is more rude than making DCL aware of the violation and allowing it to handle/respond to it accordingly.

 

[KSDisneyDad]

I'm positive a Disney cruise is for me. I've done enough cruises to know that. I enjoy my Disney cruises. Disney has set aside three small areas of the ships for adults and thankfully most of the adults respect that and keep their kids out of them.

I have never seen drunken belly flops, people yelling across the pool, or anything else like that. What I have seen are plenty of parents who think that just because their kid is quiet that the kid is welcome in the adult pool. They feel entitled to ignore the rules set up by DCL.

Fortunately, the vast majority of parents on the ships I have been on have had more class than to think that the rules don't apply to them. For example, my MR cruise last month had 800 kids on board. Out of those 800 kids, just five sets of parents felt it was okay to ignore the over 18 rule. Most of the parents had more sense than that. A few young children stumbled through the adult area, unattended and looking lost, but that's a whole 'nother issue!

I admit that the examples I used were extreme, but I have witnessed personally all of those items at the "Quiet" Cove pool. CM's finally intervened after a few days of rowdy behavior that had effectively caused us to seek refuge at the less crazy family pool. Unfortunately, the screaming across the pool seemed to be confined to one family on our last cruise that also seemed to think they could do the same thing at Serenity Bay. I never saw one of those family members without a beer in their hand. They definitely broke up the "peacefulness" of the adult-only areas, but they were all of 18 (well over 18!!!) so had a right to behave rudely and loudly in the adult-only areas.

Even though I've witnessed these extreme examples, I have yet to witness kids hanging out in the adult-only areas like you have on your cruises. I agree that most people follow rules and are well-behaved on Disney cruises. I just think it's extreme to single out those 18 and over who may look like they are under 18 from enjoying the adult-only areas.

If there are younger teens, tweens and toddlers in the area, that's a whole other story IMO. That's a topic for a whole other thread, but with all of my days on-board I have not witnessed younger kids in the adult-only areas other than the occassional family who walks through the Quiet Cove pool area or the occassional child who comes and checks in with their parents. This hasn't bothered me personally as the kids were respectful and left quickly. It's not like they were taking advantage of the amenities in the area.

Each Disney cruise is different. Perhaps next time I'll witness more kids in the Quiet Cove pool area and you'll witness some extremely rowdy adults.

 

[KSDisneyDad]

This situation you describe is an extreme reaction; one I've never encountered (or even heard about firsthand). It's not reasonable to expect that in general, someone will go into convulsions due to exposure to cigarette smoke, especially in an environment where smoking is allowed in some areas. I can imagine that there are obsessive/compulsive types who have a negative reaction whenever they see rules being broken (I know someone like this).

So if you think it's fair to assume that no one should be bothered by children in an adult area, it's just as fair for me to assume that no one will be seriously impacted by my smoking.

But I can see I'm wasting my breath here. People will continue to pick and choose which rules to follow based on how convenient they are to them personally at the time, and there's nothing I can say or do that will change their minds.

For all those worried about me being the "rules police", let me put your minds at ease: I've cancelled our cruise and will pick a less contentious holiday.

These boards have certainly been an eye-opener. I hope you all enjoy your vacations, and best of luck.

Disney cruises are quite magical IMO. I think Disney does a great job of keeping guests happy. Yes, there are those that break rules but like I've said, I try to not let that bother me. It's a lot more relaxing than a week of the stroller brigade, line cutters and dealing with last-minute arrivals at WDW. But even with WDW rule-breakers, we thoroughly enjoy each trip.

The examples brought forth on these boards are the exception, not the norm. Do we wish that everyone would follow the rules? yes. But we don't live in utopia and Disney chooses not to enforce all of their rules/ suggestions. Overall, I think they do a great job of keeping the adult-only areas as adult-only.

It is certainly not my intention to argue with you, KS, but to the extent that reporting someone who is under age 18 to a CM or officer for being in an adult-only area is "rude," I would suggest that it is no more rude (and actually much less so) than someone under 18 (and his/her parents) consciously deciding to come into an area known to be off limits.

As to your lack of difficulty in finding a lounger in the Quiet Cove pool area on busy days, you are incredibly fortunate. I have spent a significant number of sea days on the Magic and Wonder (in excess of 13) and have seen many days where folks are staking out their spots and saving their loungers as early as 6:00 a.m. If you add guests who otherwise shouldn't be there into that mix, I've certainly witnessed a pretty crowded pool deck.

At the end of the day, my point is simple: for many adult-only cruisers (and even those traveling with kids who are looking for an adult exclusive experience), the adult-only areas are one of the main reasons why we cruise DCL. If not for those areas being enforced, our enjoyment of the cruise suffers. No one wishes to be on pool police duty while on vacation (and there are certainly times when a teenager comes into the area mistakenly), but an obvious violation of the policy is more rude than making DCL aware of the violation and allowing it to handle/respond to it accordingly.

I would agree with you that it is rude to break the rules. Unfortunately nearly everyone does it on Disney whether it's wearing shorts to the MDR, saving a seat, smoking in non-designated areas such as Deck 4 during the day or checking fragile liquids in your luggage. And even though I haven't witnessed it myself, it appears that on some cruises, there are some under 18 trying to enjoy the adult-only areas.

If I truly couldn't locate a seat, yes, I would consider reporting someone who was clearly under 18 (looked like they were 14 or under) sitting in a lounger. I'd also consider asking a CM to remove a towel from one of the perpetually "saved" seats as that is just as rude IMO as a 17-year old in the Quiet Cove pool area. I don't see any difference between the two. Even though I'm up at 6:00 am a few times on the cruise to witness a sunrise or to enjoy the peace and quiet of the ship early in the morning, I have never witnessed someone trying to save a seat so early. But I've never looked for it either on my morning strolls.

However, this thread was about someone who was 18 and was carded by DCL. I hope that it was the DCL CM who decided to do it and not a fellow guest who was simply frustrated that a young looking adult was in the area. I would not report someone unless I was 100% positive they were under 18. It appeared from your original post that you would take that chance and if my assumption is incorrect, I apologize. My comment about being rude was only directed at reporting someone who you were not 100% positive was under 18.

I guess we have been lucky with loungers by the Quiet Cove pool. I can't think of anytime where we have not been able to find one. Finding one in the sun on Deck 9 was difficult at times, but if we want to be in the sun we headed up to Deck 10 for a while to read or watch the ocean. Fortunately, I really cannot recall kids in the adult-only areas. On one cruise, there were some "celebrities" aged 17 or 18 who were in the area that caused a lot of tweens to try to come by and sneak a peek. However, the CM's did a good job of keeping them out of both Deck 9 and Deck 10 above the Quiet Cove pool area.

 

[SoCaOC-Mom]

For all those worried about me being the "rules police", let me put your minds at ease: I've cancelled our cruise and will pick a less contentious holiday.

These boards have certainly been an eye-opener. I hope you all enjoy your vacations, and best of luck.

Why would you do that?
I feel you are over thinking this way too much.

Looking at some of the responses on here it's obviously not something that even the regular DCL guests ALL agree on-but at the end of the day it wasn't something that ruined their cruise experience. At most, it was an annoying moment if it was something that was actually experienced.

I don't think I would let a discussion on "What would I if do IF X happened/" on some of the minor details that can easily be corrected if someone chooses to bring it to a CM attention determine if the this holiday is for me. Real issues like service, food, amenities, destinations IMO should the deciding factor.

No matter what vacation destination someone chooses, there is never going to be a guarantee that someone wouldn't come across rude/obnoxious people.

 

[SoCaOC-Mom]

I never said that those under 18 shouldn't be there. Reporting someone who appears to be 17 when he/she is actually over 18 is rude IMO.

I'm not sure why you feel that it is rude
.
There are PLENTY of times in life where we have to show proof of things. If we get pulled over for speeding, we have to proof that we have a drivers license, insurance, registration.

When we were younger but old enough to drink, we have to prove it before we able to walk into the bar/club.

Really, DCL should add another notation on the cards, M=Minor, YA=Young Adult for 18-20 and A=21+, so that all that would be required would be to show the card. Or they could make the cards different colors so that that it would be visible just by looking at their lanyards - just to save people from carrying proof of age on the ship.

 

[mmouse37]

All sides have been heard from and I am going to close this now.

MJ