What can/cant infants wear in pool?

[SueEllen]

I would not like to think that DCL would use their foreign registry to get around healthy sanitation standards, as some lines have been known to try to do.

Not what I meant to imply at all. I just wanted to comment that Disney does not necessarily HAVE to compy with US standards as the other poster had thought.

Also, I am curious as to whether or not the "no non-potty trained children" in the pools policy has indeed been implemented on the Magic as stated in the earlier email from Disney. And, if it has, how they are enforcing it.

As I said earlier, since there are no activities for the under 3 and non-potty trained children, surely Disney would need to provide *something* for them to do if they did implement this policy.

It would seem to me though that the Mickey pool is more of a wading pool for the little ones, and wouldn't necessarily fall into the category of regular pools--but you never know.

I hope this is clarified soon.

Sue Ellen

 

[scottie]

I’m curious too about the Magic???…The response I received noted that steps to adhere to the policy are in place on the Magic already and will be for Wonder down the road. What exactly has changed on the Magic if anything (as I don’t think I have read anywhere that it has)? Maybe they have the steps ready to go for the Magic but haven’t implemented them yet?

“For the health and safety of all of our guests, we are in the process of taking steps to adhere to the USPHS requirement. This is already in place aboard the Disney Magic…”

 

[pal2pluto]

npall is currently on the Magic and has a thread going. I just posted, asking him if he noticed any changes. Perhaps after he gets back on board from CC he will check his thread..............

 

[SeaDog]

I just scanned this thread and, if I understand what I have read...

Non potty trained rug rats in swim diapers can't use the Mickey Pool but "potty trained" kids without diapers can...

Think about it... wouldn't you rather see a kid in a swim diaper in that pool than kids without one?!?!? Geeeeze... some bureaucrats just don't have enough to do...

 

[scottie]

It will be interesting to see what comes out of all of this!

 

[Michelle]

Npall reports from her current Magic cruise that her child was allowed in the Mickey pool in swim diapers and she saw no changes whatsoever to the rules.

 

[taswira]

That's good news for those with infants and toddlers! My only complaint is that for some reason DCL is extremely inconsistent in the information they are putting out to guests and TA's, whether regarding dining times or new rules or whatever. I am baffled as to why this happens so frequently.

 

[jellymoon]

Do you suppose it could be the distinction between a swimming pool and a wading pool? In other words, maybe non-potty trained kids can't go in the Goofy Pool, but can go in the Mickey?

In any case I'm relieved to hear that our Magic trip will still let us splash with Mickey!!!

 

[srodriguez001]

Late last month there was a post on the Trip Report board from someone who had just returned from a cruise on the Magic. The report was only on the board for a day since it received some harsh criticism...For those of you who may have read it, it included some critical comments about the service, "that our nanny and cleaning lady take better care of us at home, etc., etc.

In any event, in the post, one of the criticisms was that they were prevented from putting swim diapers on their 1 year old. The poster felt that this was ridiculous and received no clear reason behind the policy.

It appears their may be various different interpretations and implementations to DCL not yet enforced policy...

I as well have a cruise booked for May 3-10 of 2003 in a cat 3 --- if my 15 month old can't swim in the pool while his 4 year old brother swims all hell will break loose. I may as well spend the 10K at the resorts. At least there the kids can swim.

 

[OurDogCisco]

I think, there is more to this because I haven't heard about resorts and public pools being closed to non-potty trained kids. My gut tells me that DCL is not complying with some other law either because they can't or it is too expensive which is causing this to be the only option available. We were on the wonder in August and they did not tell us that our 14 month old could not go in the pool. I was concerned because I thought they were going to based a previous thread. This new rule would really make me re-evaluate my vacation plans with my younger children. This is also a bummer because I really felt I found an awesome vacation idea for the whole family to enjoy. Now, I am not so certain.

Oh, well, Disney's loss!

Tina

 

[gottaluvdisney]

I was asking a friend of mine that maintains pools and it all has to do with the flow and filtration of the water. (I really didn't understand all the clinical terms!) I am now assuming that DCL doesn't have the filtration system of a normal pool. Also my friend questioned as to whether the pools were salt water or fresh water and I advised that they are salt water and chlorinated so you can't tell they are salt water. (I have been on RCI and it was a shock the first time to find out the pool was salt water) Anyway, my friend said this could be an issue about the filtration system wouldn't be able to flush out the old water and bring in new AND keep the salt water chlorinated.

So - I also went to the CDC website and found some interesting info -http://www.cdc.gov/healthyswimming/newsletters/vol1no1.htm

I am just thinking that all this misinfo maybe because DCL is in limbo and trying to figure out what exactly to do with this requirement (or recommendation) from the USPH.

But after reading all the CDC info...all I can say is YUCK!

 

[taswira]

gottaluvdisney - I think it was on another "swimmie diaper" thread that I mentioned the CDC also having a HUGE manual (a big PDF file) on cruise ship sanitation standards and recommendations. When it comes to pools, be it fresh or salt water, the situation is far different than on land. You have a much higher concentration of people in a much smaller area, as well as the filtration problems. If everyone read the CDC's manual and articles, there would probably be a whole lot <I>fewer</I> guests in the pools! As you said, in a word, YUK! But I commend DCL for ANY steps taken to improve the situation, and I feel confident that IF they do end up enforcing a ban on the non-potty trained, they will create something equally entertaining for those affected.

 

[Judgekw]

As far as I am concerned they should make a pool just for the little ones. We went on the Magic in June and the pools were so crowded and nasty my 9 & 10 year old did not swim at all! Swimming in the pools is probably best for the littler children because they are less likely to put their heads underwater. I talked to a pharmacists on deck and she did not allow her son to swim. She said it was absolutely amazing that more people were not ill from the water. There are just too many people for the pools. The Goofy pool is about the size of a small backyard pool and at times there were probably 50 kids in the pool. You really can't "swim" anyway, the pools just are not big enough. In addition, there is a sign above the hot tubs that specifically says imunosupressed people are not allowed in the hot tub. I never figured out if it was because the bacteria content was so high that they were afraid the imunosupressed would get ill or they were afraid, the imunosupressed would introduce some element into the hot tub.

Either way we stay clear of the water on the deck. However, we did have a great cruise and found plenty of other stuff to do. We got our swimming in when we went to the beach. I would not recommend to anyone that they go on the cruise if their main activity is swimming in the pools.

 

[akasleepingbeauty]

I am very disappointed to think that DCL would have to ban non-potty-trained children from the pools. For many families, the pools are a big draw and it would be especially difficult for families with older and younger kids to have some swim and others not.

That said, we took dd on the Magic last year when she was 13 months old. We never, not even once, used the pools with her. All of the pools were soooo crowded and chaotic that it seemed a completely unappealing prospect for both her and us. We did swim at St. John and at CC and found that enough for our family. Our dd had a GREAT time on the cruise and we found plenty to keep her entertained without swimming on board. Now, I realize that this would not work for all families but I did want to mention that it did indeed work well for us.

I hope, at the very least, that DCL is able to work out a consistent answer so that all families traveling with little ones will know what to plan for.

Happy Cruising!