Toddlers - Swimming Pools

You know...some of the replies and the posts by parents of infants are really scary...

 

 

It is not a matter of "i want">> I know that babies can be on board, I don't have a problem with that....I expect their parents to follow the rules and health guidelines....period. Then NO problem right?

 

However, in both this thread and in other threads I see over and over that parents of infants seem to want to bend the rules or bring up irrelevant things like people's bladder control when drinking

 

I hate to say it, but thanks for letting me and others know of the way that people are getting around these health rules. As other people said on the other thread, some of the parents are very flippant about this and seem to want to find loopholes and ways to sneak their kid in.

 

The funny part is...in a few years when your little one IS potty trained and able to use the pools, you would be the first ones to get upset if another parent snuck their untrained infant in and your child got sick from their feces

 

Think about it...after reading this stuff I dont even plan to go into a pool to be honest with you, but I do worry about the little kids that you want your swimdiapered baby to share the pool with

Sharecruises: I think we agree more than disagree. As I said before, I don't condone rule breakers. I guess I was a bit defensive in my post and for that I apologize. I wanted to state my intentions...I wasn't looking for a way around the rules or how to sneak my baby in where she didn't belong but you are right, there is a LOT of that on these boards. I was looking to see if there was something aboard the ship like you described the Disney pool having - a splash area.. a few inches of water, not something that my baby would be fully immersed in, that she could splash in.

The beginning of the this thread starting by sharing information on shallow pools that were appropriate for swim diapered babies. One parent even posted a picture of the splash area. I responded to Kaki's post where she stated that she called Carnival and asked the Carnival rep specifically if it would be ok and was told yes. While I can understand that the staff may be polite, they aren't going to give her the a ok to break the rules.

Not to get anything started again but the only reason the subject of people's bladder control during drinking was brought up is to point out that if the pool isn't chlorinated, it's not safe at all - babies or not - which I do feel is relevant.

Bottom line, I now know more than I ever wanted to know about pools aboard a cruise ship and if it was already packed, I would be packing the inflatable pool of which I will fill up and empty myself. Cheers and happy sailing all!

Okay, no unpotty trained kids in cruise pools...

But I'm still trying to figure out how they get away without chlorinating. I would think that would be majorly against health codes. It isn't just pee or poop--any kind of thing on your foot or anything body like, with multiple people, multiple days, no chlorine--that's a germ fest for norwalk virus, colds, strep, herpes, etc. In my opinion, far more dangerous to be with assorted adults in an unchlorinated pool than with little kids in a chlorinated pool.

Why no chlorine?

I think they change the water each evening. Chlorine doesn't kill things instantly anyway, it takes up to 24 hours for certain bacteria to die.

Hi all,

We just got back from our cruise on the Carnival Destiny which is a big ship. The kiddy pool was up higher on a deck and it seemed to never be in use. But we took along a blowup pool and there was plenty of room there for it. I wouldn't recomend putting it down by the bigger pool. There was another family there with a 1 year old, not potty trained. They had him in the kiddy pool and encouraged us to put our 10 month old in it. Which we did and no one said a thing, and there was several employees that saw us and were laughing at our son enjoying himself. So if you want, I say take a blowup pool, just be careful of where you put it. Our son did great at flying and cruising and everyone working and vacationing made over him and couldn't believe how great he did. Happy Cruising, Debbie

Carnival Paradise-94

Carnival Destiny- 06

I love kids and want to see young families on board as I am sure I one day will cruise with my children as well. I am concerned about the interpretations of the no diaper age children in the pool. This rule is not a cruise line rule but a Center for Disease Control, Vessel Sanitation rule. Any ship found to be in violation of this rule has their sanitation rating decreased. If a ship scores less than 85 percent the ship is deemed unsatisfactory and must be reinspected to check if conditions have improved.

The CDC Vessel sanitation also states that whirlpool water is changed daily and that swimming pools utilize a flow through sea water system in which while underway the water in the pool is brought in from the sea and sent back out into the sea. This system is why cruise lines state that their pools are salt water and therefore are do not use chlorine.

CDC vessel sanitation website on their frequently asked questions states the following: Why are children who are not toilet trained forbidden from swimming in pools on cruise ships?

Children who wear any type of swimming diaper or who are diaper-aged are not allowed to swim because fecal matter may contaminate the water. This can expose other swimmers to fecal matter that is potentially infectious.

You can view the vessel sanitation program at the following website: http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/

Sorry if you feel I am being harsh...I only came to this thread cause of another one on the other board where again moms were "sharing" ideas of how to let babies swim in swim diapers

 

The ocean is a whole lot bigger than a tiny confined pool..:)

 

Yes, I am sure there are kids who are not that well behaved in pools, that is a scary thought...that is why I will probably use the adult hot tub in the gym area if anything, honestly reading some of this stuff is just scary

 

I do hope people will keep their kids out of the adult hot tubs, not to mention that hot tubs are NOT reccomended for any kids, let alone babies

 

I guess some older folks could ...make a mess too ?? I don't know...it is something to think about. I think I was simply shocked when I read the various ways that parents would try to "work around" the rules. I hope the staff on the ships will stop this, but many of them are out for the tips, and are trying to just keep things "happy" so who knows??

 

I think that most of you do know that little babies are not allowed in pools in swim diapers, that is why there are all these posts telling "how" to hide the swim diapers or get around the issue.

 

I personally do not feel that strongly about some stuff that people get upset about, like if you wear jeans I may not think it is great, but it wont make me sick

 

But...a baby's dirty diaper, could get the kids in the pool sick...could spread to parents....could be that they touch stuff in the buffet line...others get sick

 

you know...all these "sick cruises" start somewhere don't they??

 

Here and on the other thread we have people simply sharing ideas of how to sneak their kid into a pool with swim diapers or sneak an untrained infant into a pool

 

Disney apparently has a pool or spray for babies, that might be a good idea, or you might suggest it to the cruiselines..

 

this is not just about being "polite" or "manners">>> this is about health issues.

I don't think you are being harsh in the least. You nailed it on the head when you pointed out that there are people exchanging ideas on how to get their infants into pools where they absolutely do not belong. It is good to see that a vast majority of people will report the ignorant and/or the uncaring to the ship's staff.

That said, the idea of bringing a blow up swimming pool is fantastic:D

Smooth sailing,

Tim

(father of a 1 month old)

don't you know that most of the pools are NOT chorinated?? except for princess..and they are NOT set up for swim diapers

To clarify some of the misconceptions quoted above. Many, if not most of the newer cruise ships have fresh water pools (I know from personal experience that most of the pools on RCCL and HAL as well as Princess are fresh water). The CDC which inspects cruise ship sanitation has regulations regarding the operation of pools on ships (http://www.nspf.com/documents/articles/cdcarticles/cdccruiseshipregs.pdf). Pools that are not constantly refreshed with sea water must use filtration and chlorination systems. Also note that these regulations require that "Children in diapers or who are not toilet trained are not permitted in the public swimming pools and whirlpool spas." Though many have noted that this is not always enforced.

From a public health standpoint, there are many things we can all do to improve safety in pools both on land and on ships. This happens to be Recreational Water Illness Prevention Week. The CDC has a nice web site on Healthy Swimming that has several tips for reducing the risk of disease transmission at pools. Check out their web site at: http://www.cdc.gov/healthyswimming/

For what it's worth, DD hasn't been in a pool on board in our four cruises pre-potty training. And, she hasn't missed it. There were absolutely NO issues with her wanting to go. Possibly because our first cruise was when she was 25 months, and she was eligible for camp (we've only cruised Carnival.) We planned water-related excursions in most ports, and that kept her happy.

Now that she is potty-trained, I will still keep her out of the pools, for the reasons cited here. DS (now 7) is forbidden from going in the hot tubs, and I keep his time in the pool to "little or none". I do let him go down the slide (inconsistent, I know, but he so loves the slide.)

There's so much fun to be had on board, the inability to swim (in what are, after all, pretty tiny pools) just isn't a factor for us!

HI all,

I was informed by my cruise lines rep that no diapers of any sort (swimmmies or otherwise) are permited in the pools. I was told that my daughter could use the pool, so long as she was not wearingg a diaper while in the pool. My DD only "POOPS" in the evening, and has never done so in a pool. We are in a pool all summer long for the past 2 years without mishap

Based on this, unless I am informed by staff otherwise, my daughter will be enjoying the kids pool area, diaperless.

I feel that the cruiselines have installed the kids pool for the kids enjoyment, and the adults have the adult pool for theirs.

Lets face it, there is pee in all public pools, like it or not, adult or kids. If you think otherwise, you are sadly mistaken, if this bothers you, don't go into the public pools.

It's kinda like the dustmites (or whatever they are called dustbunnies..lmao) in your bed and floating around your home, its disgusting, you can't see it, you know it exists, but you still sleep in your bed and breathe in the air!

If you think long and hard, there is always something that will disgust you or pose some threat of illness, sometimes you just have to stop thinking long enough to enjoy some things in life, like swimming in a public pools!

That was an interesting guideline from the CDC regarding cruise ship pools.

I've said it before, but I'm still mindboggled. Unless only one person is using that pool, without chlorine, there is sharing of thousands of bacteria and viruses. What if someone has an infection or a sore or something? Given the epidemic rates cruise ships have of stomach flu, I'm mindboggled that this is allowed. It's like sharing bath water (without soap) with hundreds of people. We wouldn't all be rushing out to do that!

So I'm the person who did 360. I couldn't believe kids couldn't use the pool--but I assumed it was chlorinated. Now that I hear it is salty bath water, none of us will go in.

HI all,

 

I was informed by my cruise lines rep that no diapers of any sort (swimmmies or otherwise) are permited in the pools. I was told that my daughter could use the pool, so long as she was not wearingg a diaper while in the pool. My DD only "POOPS" in the evening, and has never done so in a pool. We are in a pool all summer long for the past 2 years without mishap

 

Based on this, unless I am informed by staff otherwise, my daughter will be enjoying the kids pool area, diaperless.

 

I feel that the cruiselines have installed the kids pool for the kids enjoyment, and the adults have the adult pool for theirs.

 

Lets face it, there is pee in all public pools, like it or not, adult or kids. If you think otherwise, you are sadly mistaken, if this bothers you, don't go into the public pools.

 

It's kinda like the dustmites (or whatever they are called dustbunnies..lmao) in your bed and floating around your home, its disgusting, you can't see it, you know it exists, but you still sleep in your bed and breathe in the air!

 

If you think long and hard, there is always something that will disgust you or pose some threat of illness, sometimes you just have to stop thinking long enough to enjoy some things in life, like swimming in a public pools!

I am so glad I am not on your cruise! I do hope someone reports your if they see you in the pool with your unpotty trained child.

Not to make a statement on whether or not someone SHOULD do this, but as a FACT I can say that when we were on the Sapphire Princess in January the Splash pool was officially for kids who did not wear swim diapers (as per the Kids Club Attendants).

HOWEVER I saw many parents walking through the kids area to go to the Splash Pool with Swim-diapered kids and no one mentioned it or approached them.

As a reference, here is a picture of the Sapphire Princess Splash Pool.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f380/helenb2/IMG_4318.jpg

I would rather see a child in a swim diaper than a child who is not potty trained and not wearing one. Accidents do happen even if you believe that your child only goes in the evening. It would be a shame to close the pool at anytime. This has happened to the neighborhood pool a few times

I was reading this thread a few days ago and decided to do some research into the swimming pool. I'm not sure I'd use the ships pool at all if I didnt get a good understanding ( & satisfaction) of how it can NOT be chlorinated and still be safe. I won't put my toddler in the pool out of concern for his health. I also will not go against the law on that. What I've been finding about germs and pools makes me even more leary. Here is one article that I found and its not good .Please take note of the info about contamination with NO fecal accident. Thats what got my attention. Yikes !

This serves as a reminder that many diseases area capable of being transmitted in the swimming pool environment Outbreaks of disease have been associated with pool water contaminated with feces. Cryptosporidium is a bacteria that shows up in human feces and can contaminate pool and spa water.

Keep in mind that you share the water with everyone else in the pool.

DIARRHEA-

If swimmers are ill with diarrhea, the germs that they carry can contaminate the water if they have an "accident" in the pool. On average people have about 0.14 grams of feces on their bottoms which, when "rinsed off" in the pool, can contaminate recreational water. When people are ill with diarrhea, their stool can contain millions of germs.

A child or adult with infectious diarrhea can contaminate pool water even without having an "accident" in the water. Even 2 weeks after a person's diarrhea has stopped, he may still contaminate the water.

Therefore, swimming when ill with diarrhea can easily contaminate large pools or waterparks so imagine what it does to a small 20,000 gallon pool!

In additionpools can be contaminated bywater runoff following rainfall.

If someone swallows water that has been contaminated with feces, he/she may become sick. Many of these diarrhea-causing germs do not even have to be swallowed in large amounts to cause illness!

Would it really make you feel better to know the feces you just swallowed had been chlorinated or "shocked"?

Heard attorneys love the resulting lawsuits to pool owners! sigh....I guess everyone is looking for a way to make a fast buck.

Pools are particularity vulnerable to illness-causing bacteria or germs introduced into water by swimmers.

The incubation period for the most common types of infection is from 1-10 days, so many people don't make the connection between pool use and illness. As a result, the number of actual outbreaks is probably much greater than those currently reported.

Cryptosporidium

One of the most common illnesses associated with public pools is diarrhea caused by a parasite called Cryptosporidium (crip-toe-spo-RID-ee-um). Cryptosporidium is found in the intestinal tract of infected humans and animals and is transmitted through the ingestion of fecal matter. This becomes a problem when the fecal matter is in the form of watery diarrhea, which rapidly dissipates in a large pool of water and becomes virtually invisible, says Ashley Lamonte, MPH (Master of Public Health) with the CDC. A pool may be contaminated, even without a "fecal accident:" trace amounts of bacteria on a person's bottom can be washed into a pool.

E. coli is a bacteria that lives in the intestinal tract of healthy humans and animals; one strain of the bacteria, however, is particularly virulent and can cause extreme illness and even death. In 1998, a contaminated home pool caused an outbreak of E. coli that hospitalized eight people and one child died.

E. coli can also be transmitted through the ingestion of fecal matter. E. coli is particularly dangerous and symptoms of the disease include diarrhea, listlessness, abdominal cramps, blood in stool and sometimes fever. Someone with these symptoms should seek immediate medical attention.

Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease

Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is another common illness that can be the unfortunate result of a day spent at the local pool. Symptoms of HFMD include fever, sores in the mouth and a rash with blisters. The illness begins with fever, loss of appetite and lethargy, and often a sore throat. After a day or two, sores develop in the mouth -- on the tongue, gums, and inside the cheeks -- and they often become ulcers. After a day or two, a skin rash appears that is often located on the palms, soles of feet or buttocks. The rash consists of flat or raised red spots, some with blisters. The rash does not itch, and a person with HFMD may have only the rash or the mouth ulcers. No specific treatment is available for HFMD, though medication may be given to alleviate symptoms, and HFMD usually resolves in 7-10 days.

• Body discharges such as mucous from the nose, saliva, sweat, fecal matter, urine, dead skin.
  
• Street and workplace soil, body lotions, suntan creams, dust, pollen, air pollutants, animals droppings, insects.
  
• Persons with sore or inflamed eyes, colds, nasal or ear discharge, boils, eczema, seborrhea, dandruff, or other acute or obvious skin or body infections, or cuts

MOST DIARRHEAL OUTBREAKS IN POOLS APPEAR TO BE RELATED TO ACCIDENTAL FECAL CONTAMINATION OF THE WATER BY SOMEONE WHO IS ILL WITH DIARRHEA.

• Cryptosporidium parvum
  
• E. coli 0157:H7
  
• Giardia lamblia
  
• Shigella

• Major germ that causes outbreaks.
  
• Extreme chlorine resistance.
  
• Small size.
  
• Will challenge even the best equipped and maintained pool.
   
  Crypto in human intestine
  
• E. coli 0157:H7

• Hepatitis A 16 minutes
  
• Giardia 20-45 minutes
  
• Cryptosporidum 9600 minutes (that is 160 hours!! or 6.7 DAYS that awful stuff can live after dousing) Do you really want to be paying for a pool and not be able to use it for days at a time?

1. CLOSE THE POOL!!
   
2. Remove as much feces as possible.
   
3. Disinfect: CT value of 9600 (where C= chlorine and T=time)
   
4. Monitor hourly.
   
5. Recirculate continuously
   
6. Low volume: drain & disinfect
   
7. Proper pH and chlorine to reopen.

The above post brought back a memory, about five years ago I had a customer who had just returned from Mexico and came down with some kind of illness. He was sick for about 6 months before he die. They believed that it came from swallowing pool water. I belive that it attacted his liver because his skin turned a yellowish color.

I think that after reading some of these post, I will keep my daughter out of public pools.

Yikes, after reading that, I am afraid to go in my own backyard pool! I have a feeling I will be spending a lot of money in the casino this cruise!!:eek: :eek: :eek:

eagmommy your postt just CRacked me up as Im sitttting here, thats how I Feel, I acutalllyl didnt know the poools ddnt have clhorine in them yikess I feel stupid until I firstt came to the cruise Fourrums, being its sstuch an efffot for my spousee to GET me into the poool even (I CAn transfer from my wheelchair to cane and he CArries me after I am put on side of pool, but gettting me BAck up is going to be one serious Chore, but hes big guy and Im SO small, then I thiohght oh no no Clhorine, then my mind wandereed,ha,ha,ha just cant go there, will enjoy it whene we can and just if I sit by pool with Feet in I will be ok just to Cool off at least.

The beginning of the thread seemed like a question an answer exchange with parents asking parents what was ok and what was not. It did not seem to me that anyone was trying to get away with anything. I understood that parents wanted to be clear with what exacly was expected and it's too bad that this turned into an ugly exchange instead.

As I was reading through the posts, I couldn't help but think that an outbreak of illness would just as likely come from a potty trained older child that didn't wipe well, and/or doesn't wash their hands completely rather than a toddler in a swim diaper or one that goes undiapered. (More often than not, infant/toddlers go on a pretty reliable routine/schedule.)

My next thought was that someone that had diarrhea would be just as likely to spread illnesses.

After reading the information posted about all of the bacteria, My thoughts/worries were confirmed. I really started to wonder why infants/toddlers pose more of a threat than anyone else. It seems like the likelyhood of an infant having a BM in the pool is about as likely (or less likely) as a bad wiper/handwasher being in the pool. (or someone that has had diarrhea two weeks ago, or two days ago)

I will be cruising only for the second time, but, it will be the first time with our 2 year old. Our older children will be young teens and this will be their second cruise as well. I want to thank the parents for the advice on the exact questions about swim diapers that I had. I found your posts most helpful! Thank you!

-Michelle

There is risk in everything we do. Just walking past the pool you could slip on a wet deck and suffer a serious head injury. Both of my kids (2 and 5) love swimming and always have. Fortunately they were both potty trained shortly after their 2nd birthdays (kudos to my wife), so the swim diaper issue did not have to last quite as long. At the local public pools, they require kids 3 and under to wear a tight fitting swim diaper that they sell at the pool. We used this on our last cruise with the younger one just in case. Yes there is a risk of getting sick from a pool, but if I gave up all fun activities because of the risk involved, my family and I would have a very dull life.

Just wonder if they were to do a survey of the passengers who got ill on a ship who had an outbreak of noro or any illness ,if they had been in the pool and on what days what the result would be? Could it have been spread through the pool as apposed to just the ships surfaces? I would hope that the CDC and the cruise lines would take a second look at this.

I, also had a scare when my DD attended a waterpark when she was 8 . On the day she attended ,several children had gotten very sick and one almost died from e coli contamination. She was in the hospital for weeks .I found out about this on the news the next day .I asked her had she been to that part of the park and she said no . I still watched her to make sure she showed no signs of sickness. Needless to say, she never went back.

The illness was caused by fecal matter in the water,and the park was sited for not having enough chlorine to treat the pool area. I do not want to go through that again ,and I would hope, and hope no one would else would risk putting anyone through that. Whether it is adults , teens, children ,or parents who just want their babies to have a little splash time. Please , Please , Please, consider the consequences of what could happen, not only to others ,but to you and your family as well.

Jackie

 

I don't believe toddlers in swim diapers are allowed in any pool. As

stated in another thread, we brought a small blow up pool which our

room steward was very happy to get blown up for us. We used it

in our shower and also took it up to the aft pool and found a little

niche beside the pool to put it. It was in no ones way and there

were no other blow up pools there.

 

A couple of the other toddlers aboard came over to play and enjoy.

We filled the pool from the shower rinse water and disposed of the

water the same way. The aft pool is less crowded and our toddler

was able to cool off on the days at sea.

 

Hope you enjoy your cruise!!!

Was this on a carnival cruise? We are cruising with our 1year old. And we were planning to bring a small blow up pool and we have a travel bucket.

We are on the Miracle in May, so I called and asked about this. The Triumph had a similar pool on the same high deck (windy as hell up there too! :mad: )

 

This is a children's pool which is 1 foot deep and 9 feet in diameter. It is for small children. The Carnival Rep told me swim diapers are not a problem here, and they have never enforced this rule in the children's wading/splash pool

 

The other pools, different story. If Carnival doesn't kick ya out I bet other passengers would based on what I read on these boards! :eek:

We are going on the triumph in December. So there is a pool for my one year old . I am trying to understand so I can gather some options like a small blow up pool or something

We are going on the triumph in December. So there is a pool for my one year old . I am trying to understand so I can gather some options like a small blow up pool or something

You have pulled up an 11-1/2 year old thread. You can pretty much disregard much of what is said here. The only lines that have splash pools for diapered children are Disney and RCCL Freedom class and Oasis class. Swim diapers are NOT allowed on Carnival. You are not going to get any different answers no matter how many old threads you pull up or how many new threads you start. When you find people that 'did it' without any problems, it will be because they didn't care what the rules were, or the staff didn't want to upset them by enforcing the rules. If you don't take them to the pool, they won't miss it at that age. There are lots of things to do on a ship without the pool, unless that was the main thing YOU wanted to do. EM

Also RCI's Quantum class ships.

Also RCI's Quantum class ships.

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