Serenade of the Seas - Are Pools Heated (in Alaska)

[Travel R]

I have tried to search through posts on CC and the web itself, and cannot find a clear answer.

 

• Most people agree that the pools are salt water.
• Most agree that they are emptied in the evenings and re-filled each morning.
• All agree that the hot tubs are heated [even Mr. Obvious].
• What they do not agree on is whether the pools (indoor (Serenity) and outdoor) are heated. I have seen people replying "all are heated," "none are heated," and "the inside pool is heated, but not the outside."

 

Can someone who has cruised the Serenade of the Seas for an Alaskan itinerary, please let me know the answer to "Are the pools on the Serenade of the Seas heated in Alaska?"

 

Thank you,

 

Travel R

 

 

[orville99]

14 minutes ago, Travel R said:

I have tried to search through posts on CC and the web itself, and cannot find a clear answer.

 

• Most people agree that the pools are salt water. All the water on a cruise ship starts out as salt water so i suppose someone could make that argument, but “salt water” pools is a misnomer. Salt is used in the process, but is converted into the same chlorine compound found in chlorinated pools. 
• Most agree that they are emptied in the evenings and re-filled each morning. we often do B2B or longer cruises, and have rarely ever seen a pool emptied.
• All agree that the hot tubs are heated [even Mr. Obvious].
• What they do not agree on is whether the pools (indoor (Serenity) and outdoor) are heated. I have seen people replying "all are heated," "none are heated," and "the inside pool is heated, but not the outside." Pools are “warmed” to about 80 degrees by the circulation and filtration systems, but I would not call them heated. The Solarium on Radiance class ships has a retractable glass roof, and we have always found that pool to be warmer than the outdoor main pool.

 

Can someone who has cruised the Serenade of the Seas for an Alaskan itinerary, please let me know the answer to "Are the pools on the Serenade of the Seas heated in Alaska?"

 

Thank you,

 

Travel R

 

 

Radiance Class solarium:

Edited May 7, 2022 by orville99

[Travel R]

21 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Radiance Class solarium:

3DD24CC6-26FE-472B-A44F-36D823C95E60.MOV

 

Thanks for your video. A very nice beautiful pool area, but I do not believe this answers the question about the temperature of the water. I did not read it on the Pool Rules board being displayed either (unless I missed it).

[orville99]

7 minutes ago, Travel R said:

 

Thanks for your video. A very nice beautiful pool area, but I do not believe this answers the question about the temperature of the water. I did not read it on the Pool Rules board being displayed either (unless I missed it).

Sorry if i was not clear, but there are no actively heated pools other than the hot tubs that i know of on any RCL ship. The pools are passively warmed by the circulation and filtration systems, and the fact that the plumbing runs through non air conditioned interior space to get them to their low 80 degree temperature. 

 

The solarium pool, because it is enclosed and has a glass roof, benefits from a slight amount of additional radiational warming and slightly less heat dissipation from the surrounding air flow, so its temperature is much more consistent.

[Travel R]

2 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Sorry if i was not clear, but there are no actively heated pools other than the hot tubs that i know of on any RCL ship. The pools are passively warmed by the circulation and filtration systems, and the fact that the plumbing runs through non air conditioned interior space to get them to their low 80 degree temperature. 

 

The solarium pool, because it is enclosed and has a glass roof, benefits from a slight amount of additional radiational warming and slightly less heat dissipation from the surrounding air flow, so its temperature is much more consistent.

 

Thank you!

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, orville99 said:

Sorry if i was not clear, but there are no actively heated pools other than the hot tubs that i know of on any RCL ship

The Flowrider water is usually heated when cold out.

[John&LaLa]

2 hours ago, pinnacle_king2023 said:

sereande is an old ship i dont think the pools are heated 

 

Not sure age has any bearing, though

 

[orville99]

50 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

The Flowrider water is usually heated when cold out.

I do not consider a venue with an inch and a half of flowing water to be a pool - which is moot since Serenade doesn't have a flowrider

[flamingos]

Hard no, unless something has changed. We took Serenade on a transatlantic in 2018, and once we turned north at the Azores there was no one in the pool.  Hot tubs still worked and had some hardy souls in them.

 

But the lifeguards were on duty all day, in sweat pants and hoodies, just in case.  I felt like they needed some diversion in their day and jumped in the pool after a hot tub visit - and nope. Not heated.  🙂

[deliver42]

The solarium pool should be OK.

[John&LaLa]

2 minutes ago, pinnacle_king2023 said:

just a guess....newer ships probably have heated pools vs the older ones 

 

There were a lot of interesting features in the older ships. Heated pools have been around for eons

[orville99]

1 hour ago, flamingos said:

Hard no, unless something has changed. We took Serenade on a transatlantic in 2018, and once we turned north at the Azores there was no one in the pool.  Hot tubs still worked and had some hardy souls in them.

 

But the lifeguards were on duty all day, in sweat pants and hoodies, just in case.  I felt like they needed some diversion in their day and jumped in the pool after a hot tub visit - and nope. Not heated.  🙂

First Alaska cruise was in 1991 on the Sky Princess. When we got up to Glacier Bay, the captain put down a lifeboat and "rescued" a small iceberg. They hoisted it up and put it in the pool on the fan deck so everyone could see it up close. My two teenagers decided to go swimming with it.🧊🧊

[Coralc]

The Solarium pools were heated when we were in Alaska on Serenade. IIRC they had 2 hours of "family" swim time every afternoon where they relaxed the solarium age rules.

[Ashland]

2 hours ago, Coralc said:

The Solarium pools were heated when we were in Alaska on Serenade. IIRC they had 2 hours of "family" swim time every afternoon where they relaxed the solarium age rules.

Great to hear as I only thought they did this during inclement weather ...We'll be on Serenade with extended family that includes our two grandkids in September.

[twangster]

On Serenade now.  Solarium pool is heated but not as warm as hot tubs.  Stuck my hand in it, didn’t feel cold.  Outdoor pool is not heated. 

[Travel R]

On 5/7/2022 at 9:51 PM, twangster said:

On Serenade now.  Solarium pool is heated but not as warm as hot tubs.  Stuck my hand in it, didn’t feel cold.  Outdoor pool is not heated. 

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

 

As I had originally mentioned, there are so many different answers to this question, I am glad to get one from someone currently on the Serenade while travelling on an Alaskan itinerary.

 

Thanks again,

 

Travel R

 

 

[HokieK]

Glad to hear they have family swim in the indoor pool ... hopefully it ' not only on port days. My sons are already asking if they can swim in it or sneak in if early enough in the morning 😆