Kids in the Solarium

[Sally Forth]

My concern with kids in the whirlpools has to do with health issues. Whirlpools have much less water than big pools and you are far more likely to get infections from them. A young child dunking his or her head under the water is getting exposed to all sorts of nasty stuff.

 

Viv

[MAHA]

I guess I didn't clarify in my post that the jacuzzis I was talking about that had age limits were at the local pools in our area, not on the ships. I have never seen an age limit posted near the jacuzzis on any of our RCCL or X cruises.

[Candleonwater]

On the Mariner last week I didn't get to spend any time in the Solarium, but it is my favorite place on the ship. For some reason DD decided she hates Adventure Ocean so this time I had to hang out with the splashers in the other pools.

 

I wouldn't have hesitated asking an attendant to remove a child, but then I tend to be VERY rule oriented. Even DD is this way. There were a few times when we were in the forward elevators, going to Windjammer, and DD would flip out because I was cutting through the Solarium with her. "Mom, I'm not allowed in here!".

 

Definitely going to schedule some down time in the Solarium next time!

[Suzanne74]

I guess I didn't clarify in my post that the jacuzzis I was talking about that had age limits were at the local pools in our area, not on the ships. I have never seen an age limit posted near the jacuzzis on any of our RCCL or X cruises.

 

Oh woops - sorry. :o I see what you are saying. Isn't it weird RCCL doesn't enforce that issue??

[tkportersat]

The Solarium was very much kid free on my Rhapsody trip, with the exception of the ping pong tables and the grabbing of Hamburger/hotdogs.

 

I personally don't think any kids should be allowed in Hot tubs unless a parent is with them. I like to hang with my kids there and it never fails that a group will come and ruin the relaxation by cannonballing into them. On every cruise I have either had to use them during the dinner hours or show hours when a lot of people are occupied, otherwise they always seem to be full of kids.

 

If they are full of them in the Solarium in June, I will be speaking up :)

[Dolby1000]

1st point - The people who bring kids into the Solarium and into the Hot Tumbs are not likely on this board or this thread. So, we can agree amongst ourselves that:

a:) We all like and enjoy being around children

b:) Except in adult only areas on ships or hotels

c:) Enforcement of the rules is inconsistent, such no adults in AO but sometimes no one enforces the no kids rule in the Solarium.

 

2nd Point - Per our doctor, at no time, in no place, anywhere, anyhow should children under the age of 12 spend any time in any jacuzzi. Period. Especially important for children under 5. Babies and tots can DIE from exposure to the hot water. Look it up on Google, these are facts. Hot tubs and such should only be used by grown ups and even we should limit our time in them.

 

We just got off the Brilliance of the Seas and were lucky enough not to encouter many children in the Solarium, however, we did not spend much time there (we like the sunny skies and slathering on the SPF 45).

But, there were children, regularly, in the poolside hot tubs and I cringed anytime I saw them in there.

 

Dolby1000

[Onessa]

. . .There were some teens (questionable if they were 16 or not) in there on our Rhapsody cruise - one time hogging both whirlpools. DH and I finally squeezed into one, then came the other two couples we were traveling with and one by one we all got in. DH tried engaging the remaining teens in conversation (okay, he was playfully giving them the third degree for not being in school in the middle of September) and they left pretty quickly. I'll admit that was kinda fun. :)

 

Adults behaving badly. We don't like the teens there. We're not sure that they are really 16, so rather than go through appropriate channels, we practice vigilante harrassment. Two wrongs DO make a right after all!

 

I'm now at the age that EVERYONE under thirty looks 12YO to ME:D. I've given up trying to "guess" people's ages. We were on an extended family cruise last winter. My 21YO niece had some 40-something "old" man give her a hard time about being in a hottub in the Solarium and made similar confrontational comments about "why aren't you in school". She went to a different hot tub and the idiot followed her there - SHE finally went to an attendant to explain the situation. She showed the attendant her seapass (which clearly was not punched - so she was NOT a minor and definately over 16YO). The attendant tried to nicely explain to the man that she was legitamately in the area and that he should back off and the man got all blustery and belligerent and stormed off to "report" the attendant. DN was very disturbed - after all the attendant was only doing his job and was protecting her peace (and safety). So she and I visited the customer service area to formally "commend" the attendant for doing the right thing - hopefully to counter anything that the man may have said. Granted, I've only heard HER side of the story - but she's a good kid (will graduate this spring with her BA in special ed), normally very quiet and shy, and she was alone at the time so I have no reason to believe she did anything other than 'being there' to deserve such treatment.

[Onessa]

I was just going to ask about the "family time". We're booked for a late October New England/Canada cruise. I sure hope there is a couple hours a day that our son can swim. I checked the average weather and it's supposed to be chilly.

 

Do you know first hand if the New England ones are included in the "family time"? I've only read where the Alaskan ones do that.

 

We will abide by the time slot of course. I've been on many a cruise where I didn't appreciate children in the solarium area either.

 

We cruised on Voyager a few years back out of NY up to the maritime provinces in early June. There was "family time" in the Solarium pool posted daily. Don't know if anything has changed since then. DD of course LOVES the slides in the kids areas and spent anytime that they were open going down them no matter what the weather was at the time!

 

Have a great time.

[emen822]

I used the Solarium for the first time in my 3 cruises. It was great. And I used it one night right before going to bed. I slept like a baby that night. ;)

 

Where or where is this food everyone is talking about? Did someone say crepes?? :) I didn't see anything but, to be fair, I forgot to look. :(

 

As far as the kids go, my girls knew they couldn't go in there from day 1 on our first cruise. They didn't even want to walk through there for fear of getting in trouble. Same with the casino but I told them it's ok just to walk through and keep going.

 

My nieces will be 16 on our next cruise and I told them about the Solarium. They definitely don't look their age so we may have some people questioning them. We are going in early December so I'm not even sure if they would go in there since the other pools/hot tubs might not be crowded.

[Cheryl H]

We cruised on Voyager a few years back out of NY up to the maritime provinces in early June. There was "family time" in the Solarium pool posted daily. Don't know if anything has changed since then. DD of course LOVES the slides in the kids areas and spent anytime that they were open going down them no matter what the weather was at the time!

 

Have a great time.

 

Good to know. We'll watch for the posted times. Thanks!

[SherriZ366]

2nd Point - Per our doctor, at no time, in no place, anywhere, anyhow should children under the age of 12 spend any time in any jacuzzi. Period. Especially important for children under 5. Babies and tots can DIE from exposure to the hot water. Look it up on Google, these are facts. Hot tubs and such should only be used by grown ups and even we should limit our time in them.

 

Dolby1000

From a liability standpoint, RCCL should become stricter about kids in the hot tubs. If someone baby died in the hot tub, they would have a big law suit and probably negative media attention. Don't know how this issue is covered in the contract.

[KerriL]

RCCL's Guest Conduct Policy states that children under age 16 must be accompanied by a parent or adult guardian. It also prohibits children who are not toilet trained.

Kerri

[pearlie]

Hi,

I was on the Navigator a couple of years ago, and at that point children were not allowed in the hot tub.. I was going down the hot tub steps and almost stepped on a submerged 4 or 5 year old.. very young to be unattended.. If i had stepped on him i could have really hurt him or worse. I asked if their parents were nearby, nope, off somewhere else on the ship, could have been a tragedy..

[Silque1964]

So, we can agree amongst ourselves that:

a:) We all like and enjoy being around children

 

WRONG! :D

[SherriZ366]

What I don't like is being around kids whose parents don't take responsiblity for keeping an eye on them, disciplining them or generally doing the hard work of raising them.

[westcoastboy]

I thought I had read that, at least on the Serenade, there were certain hours when kids could swim. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

We're going on our first cruise on the Serenade in a couple of months.

[FitzLA]

I thought I had read that, at least on the Serenade, there were certain hours when kids could swim. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

We're going on our first cruise on the Serenade in a couple of months.

 

usually only in bad weather. If it is raining, they will sometimes open up the solarium to kids for a while. Or in Alaska, when it is super cold, sometimes they will open it up for kids for a time. But as a general rule, kids are not allowed in the Solarium. The things that urks me is the rule is 16 and older. Last time I checked, 16 year olds were still kids.

[Onessa]

. . . The things that urks me is the rule is 16 and older. Last time I checked, 16 year olds were still kids.

 

The "rule" is not "no kids", it is "no one under age 16"

 

I would suggest that if this RCCI guideline bothers you, you should write a genuine snail mail letter pointing out that you are a loyal customer of RCCI and that you influence others' vacation choices, and that this policy bothers you. Suggest that they increase the age to 18, 21, 42, 87 or whatever (although I think it would be easiest to justify 18 :D ).

[lindalo5032]

Yea, it is hard to tell sometimes, my own son looks very young if he shaves everyday. If he doesn't he will have a decent beard after a couple of days and looks older. We are taking him and his sister to Alaska this summer and he WILL be shaving everyday so I am expecting he might have trouble in the solarium. BTW he will be 19 by the cruise.

 

As stated in a previous post, on Alaska cruises they do have "family time" in the solarium area at certain hours during the day. So it isn't exclusively adults only in Alaska. :)

[Kevbear]

Perhaps if the solarium was a clothing optional area... the parents would be more inclined to follow the rules :cool:

Kevin

[SeafordCruiser]

The reason WHY we love the Solarium so much is because it is peaceful. When we were on the Explorer last year the staff there were great. They kept telling kids to leave and kept the area unbelievably GREAT!!!!!!!...no jumping, no yelling...just like a vacation should be.......:)

[bankonus]

That is great when the attendents are there to stop the problem BEFORE it starts. You don't have to tell them to get out of pool, if they stop them before they get in. :)

[Annefran]

If the world was a perfect place, everyone would follow the rules. Unfortunately, they don't. I guess I was raised right, I ALWAYS follow the rules and I'm raising my teenager to do the same. I usually chose to sit up on the upper deck overlooking the main pool area on our cruises. My daughter knows where to find me because I sit in the same area. But when I want to be quiet and read, I head to the Solarium. It's always nice to know it's there for some solace.

[Andy99]

Perhaps if the solarium was a clothing optional area... the parents would be more inclined to follow the rules :cool:

Kevin

 

I think this is a Great idea!

[vjmatty]

Just wondering...would it bother any of you if a 13 year old girl was quietly reading on one of the chairs next to her mother, far away from the pool? (in the Solarium)

 

It is not the 13 year old girl reading that would bother me per se, it is the slippery slope that is created by this kind of selective enforcement that would be a problem for me. ;)