Serenity Decks WITH a pool

[amyj23]

Hello all,

After our last cruise on the Vista, I told my husband I'd never go on another cruise without an adults only pool.... No need for that to become a debate in this thread. I'm simply stating what my criteria is for our next cruise.... I thought based on that we would be done cruising with Carnival and we'd be moving over to Viking Ocean cruises. But as I'm starting to research for our cruise next year, I think I've found that there are a few Carnival Serenity decks that have pools! I DID know about the pool on the Sunshine and that pool looks amazing. But I started really digging and I need to know if I am correct that in addition to the Sunshine, the Miracle, Pride, and Legend also have a pool in their Serenity area? Some of the pictures I saw may not be up to date. So hopefully people who have recently been on these ships can confirm. Although I've read some threads that state there are adults only pools on some ships (that are NOT in the Serenity area), I'm not willing to take the risk that we'll book on one of those ships, and then Carnival will change the policy before we sail. We're platinum and like the perks that come along with it on Carnival, plus, Carnival usually is the best value, so we'd love to be able to find a few ships that still work for us with them! Any info anyone has is much appreciated!

Edited October 24, 2018 by amyj23

[firemanbobswife]

Doubtful Carnival will reverse their Adults only aft pool policy on the Conquest Class ships and Splendor (Victory is getting a remake as Radiance so not sure what will happen there) again. They tried that once and we got it changed back. But that does solve the issue of whether or not any family that isn't quite 21 yet will be given the boot or not as it's 18 and up in those pools (not directed at you, just a statement for those that have that concern) . I LOVE the Conquest Class ships.  

Edited October 24, 2018 by firemanbobswife

[firemanbobswife]

And yes I am aware that when Carnival changed course they reserved the right to make them "family friendly" again in the instance of high kid occupancy or whatever they want to say. I can report that the signs are back up and they did not allow kids in even during Spring Break so I feel pretty confident they won't be going back and forth if for no other reason as to avoid confusion and a bunch of ticked off people. 

[amyj23]

Is that so?! Wow!!! I’m going to research Conquest class ships tomorrow. We will be traveling during the school year, so there won’t be a large amount of kids on board. Well, there shouldn’t be. Last year we went the first two weeks of November and apparently parts of NJ had some sort of vacation during those weeks?? So we had way more kids than we’d bargained for. Enough to disrupt pooltime and dinner... Thanks for this valuable info! 

Edited October 24, 2018 by amyj23

[Pellaz]

Yep, if there was one thing I really missed on the Magic, it was an adults-only pool.   Worse, the Dream class has only two pools, while the Conquest class has three.   

 

At least on the Vista you can access the Havana pool after 7 pm, and the odds of finding kids there would be....low.    

 

 

 

[amyj23]

5 hours ago, Pellaz said:

Yep, if there was one thing I really missed on the Magic, it was an adults-only pool.   Worse, the Dream class has only two pools, while the Conquest class has three.   

 

At least on the Vista you can access the Havana pool after 7 pm, and the odds of finding kids there would be....low.    

 

 

 

But I can’t get a tan at 7pm. Plus, we were at dinner at 7. Lol. I’ll never go on the Vista or any in that class again. I didn’t realize that the Conquest class had three pools. Now I understand how they can get away with the adults only pool! I’m glad I asked this question. 

[PhillyFan33579]

To answer your question, Spirit class ships have a pool in their Serenity area. 

[firemanbobswife]

Glory only has 2 pools due to the addition of Waterworks, however, the aft pool remains Adult only. 

[Essiesmom]

Spirit class has the pool in Serenity, but good luck getting a lounger there.  It's chair hog city.  Fantasy class has two hot tubs in Serenity areas.  EM

[amyj23]

2 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

Spirit class has the pool in Serenity, but good luck getting a lounger there.  It's chair hog city.  Fantasy class has two hot tubs in Serenity areas.  EM

Well, as long as there’s somewhere for my husband and I to lay our stuff, I just want to sit in the pool anyway! 

Thanks all for this great info!

[Treyatl2006]

4 hours ago, amyj23 said:

But I can’t get a tan at 7pm. Plus, we were at dinner at 7. Lol. I’ll never go on the Vista or any in that class again. I didn’t realize that the Conquest class had three pools. Now I understand how they can get away with the adults only pool! I’m glad I asked this question. 

Why didn't you get a havana cabin? Yeah it's not adults only..... But it's rare to see kids in this area since most kids would rather go to the main pools where most of the kids hang out at. And the havana area is 12 and up.

Edited October 24, 2018 by Treyatl2006

[beachys]

We just stayed in the Havana Area on the Vista. No kids at all.  In fact very few people.  If you like Carnival this is an adult's (over 12) pool and area option. 

[amyj23]

1 hour ago, beachys said:

We just stayed in the Havana Area on the Vista. No kids at all.  In fact very few people.  If you like Carnival this is an adult's (over 12) pool and area option. 

If we were interested in an itinerary on the Vista (or any other ship with Havana) we would look in to it. But they don’t have a cruise we’re interested in. There are some 11-14 day cruises next fall that we’re looking at. Honestly, I don’t like the Havana balcony cabins. #1, almost no privacy, #2, the view from the lanai is obstructed by the outer railing. An adult only pool is really the perfect choice for us. ☺️

[amyj23]

2 hours ago, Treyatl2006 said:

Why didn't you get a havana cabin? Yeah it's not adults only..... But it's rare to see kids in this area since most kids would rather go to the main pools where most of the kids hang out at. And the havana area is 12 and up.

To answer your question, we thought since we were going on cruises during the school year there would be very few children. And another mark against the Vista was that there were far more passengers than any other Carnival cruise we'd been on but only two small pools. That was just one of many complaints we had about that. And we weren't the only ones remarking on the shortcomings of the design of that ship. Seemed like they were more interested in cramming people on the ship than with having room for all these people... I digress... if I remember correctly, the Havana cabins were quite expensive when we were booking. I don't think I realized that they were 12+ until after we were on the ship. But after seeing the lanais outside of the cabins, I realized that I'd prefer a private balcony with a clear view of the ocean. 

 

[Luke Saint Joe]

We've been on Sunshine already & Pride twice, with repeat Sunshine coming up over Christmas. We LOVE Sunshine's Serenity deck. I can't recall the pool's maximum capacity, but it was always PACKED when we sailed on her last. We're out by the pool very early and get a few hours in before the place gets mobbed. The waterfall flowing from the 2nd level of Serenity feels incredible when you stand under it. Free massage!  Pride's Serenity deck is nice, too, and we enjoyed our time out there as well. I sailed Legend many years ago, but don't recall the Serenity area as I sailed with teens back then. 

[Bookbug53]

18 minutes ago, Luke Saint Joe said:

We've been on Sunshine already & Pride twice, with repeat Sunshine coming up over Christmas. We LOVE Sunshine's Serenity deck. I can't recall the pool's maximum capacity, but it was always PACKED when we sailed on her last. We're out by the pool very early and get a few hours in before the place gets mobbed. The waterfall flowing from the 2nd level of Serenity feels incredible when you stand under it. Free massage!  Pride's Serenity deck is nice, too, and we enjoyed our time out there as well. I sailed Legend many years ago, but don't recall the Serenity area as I sailed with teens back then. 

And not a kid in sight trying to cannonball into the pool!

[amyj23]

30 minutes ago, Bookbug53 said:

And not a kid in sight trying to cannonball into the pool!

I laughed out loud when I read your response because that’s exactly what I thought! And there’s also no kids snorkeling in the hot tubs. Lol

Saint Joe, thanks for the picture and your experience. The Pride has an itinerary that’s a big contender for us, too!

The crowds don’t bother me. As long as I’ve got a spot to sit in the water with my beer. Our favorite cruise of all time was the 14 day on the Glory in 2015. The pool was packed (with adults) but we met the nicest people. And since it’s often the same people every day, we made friends that we still talk to to this day! 

[riclop]

You will not find a pool on any of the newer ships.

[Quilcruisers]

I don’t know if this is in your area of interest but we just cruised the freedom from Galveston on September 29 and did not see any kids on the ship, let alone in the aft pool. We don’t use the pool as much as I would like but often came up the stairs as we  had an aft cabin (best location ever by the way ) . The hot tub was pretty full a lot but not the pool.  I met some very nice people there too.  The absolute best times to enjoy the aft pool in peace is when the ship is in port.  The aft pool is also covered in inclement weather, although you won’t get sun at that time. 

[SNJCruisers]

18 hours ago, amyj23 said:

 I’ll never go on the Vista or any in that class again.

Your best bet to guarantee you'll have a kid free pool, along with no chair hogs, would be to sail on the Panorama, Horizon or Vista in the Havana area, but I will infer that you had a bad time on the Vista.  Would have been a great time if you had the forethought to book a Havana cabin.  After 19 times cruising Carnival, it's the only way I will cruise with them in the future, including #20 doing the southern route on the Horizon in August.

[SNJCruisers]

12 hours ago, amyj23 said:

 Honestly, I don’t like the Havana balcony cabins. #1, almost no privacy, #2, the view from the lanai is obstructed by the outer railing. An adult only pool is really the perfect choice for us. ☺️

It seems like the cabins you don't like are the lanai ones on deck 5.  On decks 6-7-8-9 there are a total of 8 corner and 26 aft facing balconies that are just like the balconies that you're accustomed to seeing on other Carnival ships.  Of course you could also save money and get an inside and enjoy the pool and two hot tubs and everything else that the Havana area offers.

I can tell you from first hand experience that the pool and hot tubs in Havana do not look like the adult soup picture from post #15.  But if you prefer adult soup....enjoy.

[beerman2]

Sailed the Vista in May and even though the Serenity Pool isn't "kid" free, the adults took over the pool and the kids had nowhere to frolic/cannonball.

 

The adults didn't plan it, it's just more and more adults ( with drinks in hand) started to socialize taking up most of the space/water.

 

With nowhere to play , the parents took the kids elsewhere.

[ProgRockCruiser]

23 minutes ago, beerman2 said:

Sailed the Vista in May and even though the Serenity Pool isn't "kid" free, the adults took over the pool and the kids had nowhere to frolic/cannonball.

 

The adults didn't plan it, it's just more and more adults ( with drinks in hand) started to socialize taking up most of the space/water.

 

With nowhere to play , the parents took the kids elsewhere.

I don't understand - by definition the entire Serenity area should be kid free.

 

Did you mean a different pool?

[PhillyFan33579]

45 minutes ago, beerman2 said:

Sailed the Vista in May and even though the Serenity Pool isn't "kid" free, the adults took over the pool and the kids had nowhere to frolic/cannonball.

 

The adults didn't plan it, it's just more and more adults ( with drinks in hand) started to socialize taking up most of the space/water.

 

With nowhere to play , the parents took the kids elsewhere.

 

Did you mean a different ship?  Vista doesn’t have a pool in the Serenity area. 

[sanmarcosman]

18 hours ago, amyj23 said:

 The Pride has an itinerary that’s a big contender for us, too!

 

If fun in the sun is desirable bear in mind that the first and last sea days on the Pride in winter are typically too chilly for laying out.

 

 

Edited October 25, 2018 by sanmarcosman