Update on kids in pools

[pal2pluto]

Okay, I've been lurking on this thread for a while.....and I confess.....my ds(2 1/2) did a #2 in the mickey ears. This is a kid who will go to another room to "do his business", so it is pretty obvious when he is going. He absolutely refuses to sit on the potty, it's becoming a battle of wills that my Dr. said to back off of.

So I thought I'd "know" when he would need to go.....yeah, right. Well, he went on a fruit-eating jag the week we cruised. The fruit was so good and fresh, it was all he ate! Well, you know what that does to your bowels So here we are, playing in Mickey's Ears in our new swimmies and cute little swimshorts.....loving every minute of it.........this is so much fun.........hmmmm,is that dirt or seaweed floating.........wonder where that came from..........hey, it's on your back............wait...........OH MY GOSH!!!!!!! And yes, I left before I said anything to a CM..........because at that point, when I took him out of the water, the water dripping off his suit was yucky brown!!!!!! Did I feel bad??? I was horrified!

So, I understand why they are taking this stand. I love the idea of a splash/squirt area for little kids. We are cruising again in Oct., and have already decided that our ds would not be with us, so the issue is moot for us this time (thank heavens) I feel very bad for those who have already booked and are blindsided by this news after they board. But it looks like all the cruise ships are "banning" non potty trained (NPT) kids!

 

[jel0511]

So, can I assume that it's just the disposable swim diapers that have been banned not the children themselves. Then I guess my next question, would the bathing suits that have the build-in diapers, like the Flap Happy's I've seen discussed on this forum before be able to be used.

 

[indymom1]

I just talked with a supervisor with DCL Castaway Club and they are stating if you are not potty trained you are not allowed in their pools at all...period...end of story. He stated it is not in the terms and conditions portion of the cruise planner but will be. I would be travelling with my 11.5 month old and have talked to several people over the last two days and my husband has also. We are getting the same story every time if your little one is NOT potty trained you will be asked to leave the pool...Mickey Ears area included. I also knew about several swimmie products and each one I asked about was a resounding no. So I asked are you saying that a non potty trained child could be in the pool without a diaper and he said NO. No non potty trained child allowed in the pool. He said that the pool attendants are to be enforcing this policy by asking the parents to remove their children from the pool. I hope this helps

PS I sure do feel sorry for those pool attendants. I wouldn't want to be the person that has to ask a parent to remove their child from the pool!!

 

[jel0511]

Thanks Indymom, this is definately disappointing news!!! We're leaving in 6 weeks and the thought of DS 18 months not being to use the pool is very upsetting. DD 4 is looking forward to it, but how can I let her in, if her brother can't go in. Personally we were thinking of taking another cruise with DCL next year, but now I'll definately wait until I'm sure DS is potty trained. I think this new policy is going to cause a lot of problems with people traveling with little children. If I had known about this policy I NEVER would have booked this cruise. I'm going to contact my TA with this information and see what she can come up with.

 

[taswira]

Thank you, Lori! My thought was that by banning diapers and swimmie diapers, DCL was just <I>assuming</I> responsible parents would have the common sense <I>not</I> to put non-potty trained kids in the pool. But we all know that attempting what you think you can get away with often overrides common sense, even if it is a health risk for your own child and others. I <I>do</I> feel SORRY for those who have already booked with their tiny tots, but feel it is for the best if DCL does not sidestep around the issue and officially states, as they did to Lori, what they mean - - NON-potty trained kids are not allowed in any of the pools.

 

[DreamsDoComeTrue]

Darn! That really bites. I was trying SO hard to find a positive spin on the interpretation, but this looks pretty clearly spelled out now. I'm so sorry for everyone with younger siblings being left out. My heart goes out to you.

 

[jel0511]

I am SOO MAD!!! I'm just sitting here seething!!!! I'm surrently on hold for a supervisor to find out what options I might have. The policy is currently in effect and became effective yesterday. The CM I spoke with told me that the memo came out yesterday and it stated that "ALL non potty trained children were banned from the pools onboard." I don't know if I'm going to cancel or what.. I probably won't and I understand why this in effect, but if I had known, oh well.... I just talked to a supevisor and was told that this is going to be inforced and I could not cancel without a penalty due to this change. Since they are being forced to make the change, no accomdations are being made. I told the CM I was VERY angry about the change and asked in any special programs would be made available for the non-potty trained set and he said that at this time no, no additional programs would be made available. I said I was disappointed to hear that, since basically I'd have to pay $6 an hour to let my son have fun, since he's under 3 and not potty trained. We'll see how this works out in the next couple of days, but I'm one VERY UNHAPPY camper!

 

[indymom1]

I can certainly relate to your problem. We were planning to cruise next March 2003 when our 6 yr old is on Spring break. I see no way that I can let one child swim and tell the almost one year old that he can not go into the pool for the entire seven day cruise. I just don't feel that there is enough other things to do that are geared to the under three age group without the pool at this price. Thus my DH and I are under massive discussions about cancelling our cruise and starting the tedious task of looking for something else to do. I sure hope that it works out for you. The only saving grace for me is that we are still 6 months out so I can get my money back and do something else. I feel for those families that will be impacted by this that are within their 60 day time period. Good luck and let me know how things went when you get back.
Kathy

 

[SueEllen]

yet once again--HOW will DCL know if a child is potty trained? Potty training happens anywhere from 15 months to 5 or 6 years! Some kids just get it earlier than others. This will be almost impossible to police unless they just institute an age policy (which too wouldn't be very fair to those that are potty trained and younger than any age they set!)

I have to agree about not having ANYTHING for those under 3 to do. You have to be 3 for the kids clubs, or pay for Flounders, and even that time is limited. So what do you do with a child under 3 if you can't take them swimming, which is basically the ONLY thing on the ship to do with them.

Sue Ellen

 

[indymom1]

Please keep me informed as to what the supervisor tells you. I have been getting the exact same info over the past three days that you are getting today. I have spoken to reps, supervisors etc and they all say the same thing. Not potty trained no pool. That was the reason that I called DCL again today was because as I can understand the policy(not that I like it) I am more upset that I am a paying customer and if I were not proactive and been following this the past few weeks then I would not know anything about this until we got on board. I asked if all customers who this would involve would be getting a letter about this and the answer was no. Seems to me that would be very simple do a search for families with small children and send them letters and let them make the decisions for themselves. I certainly this works out for you!!
Kathy

 

[taswira]

Originally posted by SueEllen
yet once again--HOW will DCL know if a child is potty trained?

DCL won't know until an "accident" occurs, but the PARENTS know. Irresponsible parents who let their non-potty trained kids into the pool will be doing so at the expense of those with young children who ARE potty trained, because if that happens, DCL <I>might</I> decide to set a minimum age that would penalize those who might be potty trained <I>earlier</I> than most.

 

[shmoogrrrl]

Originally posted by SueEllen
So what do you do with a child under 3 if you can't take them swimming, which is basically the ONLY thing on the ship to do with them.

You bring an entire suitcase of their toy from home and stay in your stateroom all day at sea to allow them to play.

Oh wait.....we can do that with our kids at home without paying the $3,000.00+ that it costs to sail.

Kathy

 

[taswira]

Forgive me for my ignorance here, but are those of you with infants and toddlers saying the only reason you were cruising DCL was to allow said infant/toddler to go in the pool? Couldn't you do that a whole lot cheaper on land, even at a resort? On DCL cruises I've seen numerous parents with tiny children who were <I>not</I> in the pool. I've seen them with their kids on their laps, laughing and playing, pointing to the Mickey hand, listening to the music, playing with a few toys, the parent making fun of someone in the pool and the baby laughing. I've seen them carry babies on a stroll around the deck, pointing out everything. The little ones always looked amused to me. I know the new "potty trained only" rule is a shock and a disappointment, but it's hard to believe it's worth cancelling a cruise (or staying in your stateroom!) over unless the <I>only</I> attraction was the pool!

 

[pal2pluto]

Taswira, I think the difficulty lies in the fact that an older (non infant) kid, say up to 4 years old, who enjoys the pool otherwise, would have a very hard time accepting the fact of walking by the pool to Topsiders for lunch, or Scoops for Ice Cream, seeing the pool, and not being allowed to swim. Or watching an older sibling swim and not understand why for the next 7 days, they are not allowed to step foot in the water. This will be difficult for many parents to explain to a kid who doesn't understand the bacteria info. My ds is 3, very stubborn, and not potty trained, but loves splashing in water. My dd is 11 and swims like a fish. It would be hard, sending my dd to swim and keeping my ds away from the pools........my husband and I would need to split up in order to supervise them.....which would not be fun for us at all.

We cruised in January because when you add up expenses of hotels/dinners/tips/entertainment/etc., the cruise was a cheaper alternative!

 

[jel0511]

One of the activities we had planned on was letting my children play in the pool. My son is a VERY active 18 month old and unforunately, he just doesn't sit anymore and find facination in the things around him, he wants to move!!! He loves the water and loves playing in a pool any chance he gets. We belong to a swim club and go there often and he has gone n the pool on all of our vacations to WDW since he was born. He's a fish and loves the water. My DD also loves the water and since her brother can't go in the water, neither can my DD without causing a trantrum from DS. Now I know since she's 4, she can go into the clubs, but this is a family vacation and I don't want her in the clubs all day, away from us. I'm hopeful they'll be plenty for us to do onboard, we do have an excursion planned for our Nassau day and Castaway is a no brainer, so we're really left with one day to fill. What burns me up, as other posters, is that with the under 3 set, the pool was the really only free diversion and now that's been taken away from us. I want my kids to have as much fun as I can have on the cruise, but their main fun was going to be the Mickey Pool during our time on the boat. That has now been taken away from us. I don't know how to explain to my 4 year old that she can't go in now. She is potty trained, but my son doens't understand that and probably won't stand for his sister swimming, while he has to watch from the sidelines. Could I do something else than take a Disney Cruise and spend less money, you bet, but I wanted to take the Cruise with my kids because I thought it would be the best one geared towards families. It is, but a little less so with the new rules in effect.

 

[SueEllen]

but are those of you with infants and toddlers saying the only reason you were cruising DCL was to allow said infant/toddler to go in the pool? Couldn't you do that a whole lot cheaper on land, even at a resort?

No, definitely not the only reason I was cruising--however it is the ONLY activity other than paying for babysitting suitable for a toddler. I have a very active child and yes, strolling him around will be nice, and showing him the ship, however there comes a point when other things are necessary.

Sitting by the pool watching others isn't very viable in our instance because he is used to the pool. We have one at home and he is used to swimming (never had an accident--knock on wood). Also on all of the vacations we have taken since he was born he has been in the resort's pools or lazy rivers as the case may be. Trying to explain to such a small child that while other children are playing in the pool (including a sibling) that they cannot go in is not going to be fun for any parent. I understand that all children cannot just do whatever they want and that there are rules to be followed, I just think that DCL suddenly instituting this policy after HOW MANY YEARS OF CRUISING really stinks! I certainly don't think that they should have instituted it without planning something for the under 3 crowd to do.

Seriously though, what is a parent of such a small child to do? The shows are in the evening, the activities during the day are planned for older children, other than the pools there really isn't much to do with such a small child. Remember this is for 7 whole days. If you don't have children maybe you wouldn't understand.

DCL is touted as a family cruise, NOT a cruise for families with children over the age of 3. Taking away such a basic activity for the little ones just doesn't make sense. That Mickey pool is basically a wading pool.

The comment of being stuck in your room was said tongue in cheek, but seems almost to be what will happen.

Sue Ellen

 

[mlshields]

As a mother of two 6 & 8, I was very happy when I saw the lifeguards pull everyone out of the pool and empty and clean it when an accident occurred. When the pool was emptied for the second time the same day I became very concerned. When the pool was emptied for the third time I pulled them out for the rest of the cruise.

My question is: Why would you willingly put other people at risk for your own pleasure? Is it SO important for your child to be in that pool that you will risk being "caught" by the Disney police? I would never put any child at risk with my own childs pleasure.

Two suggestions, If your child is an infant, sit on the side of the ears with their bottom on your lap and splash them with water. Secondly, if your child is older than the lap & splash how about a movie or sign up for one of the activities that the ship has to offer on sea days (e.g., hidden mickey, learn to draw characters etc).

Please just don't throw my child's safety out so yours can swim.

 

[taswira]

pal2pluto - I understand. But I think happiness is a way of travelling - an attitude. If the younger child who can not go in the pool is made to think it's bad and unfortunate, it will be more of a problem. My sister is six years older than I. When we were kids, I was often jealous of her being older and able to do certain things. My mother would quickly remedy the situation by involving <I>me</I> in things that made me think I was the one who was privileged to be doing whatever it was. It worked beautifully. It just takes a bit of thinking, creativity. Right now I am picturing all these parents telling their little ones how <I>awful</I> it is that DCL has banned them from the pools. Instead, it's JMHO, but I think it would be better for parents and children if a different approach was taken. After all, it's now the "rule." There are good reasons for it. To view it as "Look what DCL did to us!" can only be harmful to all concerned.

 

[SueEllen]

Just another thought here--have any of you with non-potty trained children and a cruise planned thought of emailing DCL with your concerns. The above comments are perfect to calmly spell out the concerns raised about this policy. Maybe if everyone sent an email to DCL guest relations regarding this matter they would have some feedback on how the guests are feeling about this.

Secondly, if your child is older than the lap & splash how about a movie or sign up for one of the activities that the ship has to offer on sea days (e.g., hidden mickey, learn to draw characters etc).

Getting a toddler to sit through a movie is a joke. Also, most of them are not old enough for those other activities, hence the concern. There are NO activities for children under the age of 3.

Sue Ellen

 

[mlshields]

Sorry to offend you SueEllen, my son made me sit through the Lion King at least 100 times - including 5 times at the movies and twice while on board the Magic. He was three.