No more adult only aft pools?

[firemanbobswife]

What is a "Blue Card"? Suites? Thanks.

 

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First time cruisers. Carnival doesn't issue cards based upon cabin type but on VIFP level.

[amydresh]

Dream was never mentioned. They were speaking about Conquest Class ships which is why I replied "It was".

 

You obviously never read my original post specifically asking about Dream when the poster I quoted had answered me and then you piped in saying that it was adult only. :rolleyes:

[Marciaab]

Sailed the Glory on March 18th, the aft pool was made family friendly because the water slide was not operating, at least that's what I was told by guest service on the ship. I seldom complain because I am on vacation and in warm weather. I found this family friendly atmosphere horrible. Carnival now supplies little swim jackets that parents can either save deck chairs around the aft pool with or put on their little ones who are learning to swim (lots of kicking) and just ignore them. Put the jacket on the kid, and lay butt up in the sun, facing away from the pool sunning yourself. At one time I counted 25 little kids and 2 adults in the Azure aft pool. An adult would have a hard time getting in the pool because kids were hanging on to the ladders for dear life. Forget the jacuzzis...they are now kid diving pools. I wouldn't mind so much, but the screaming, fighting and parents yelling got a little too much. I guess the parents who weren't really watching the kids anyway didn't want to expose them to the bikini clad set around the main pool; Lots of drinking, swearing, etc. Serenity was still adult only as we're the Jacuzzis up there, but you wouldv die of thirst going to get a drink. That's a heck of a walk for an iced tea or even a cold beer. There were no services up there most of the time. So let Carnival do what they have to do to increase their bottom line. I can find other cruises that will live up to their word and not lie.

[firemanbobswife]

You obviously never read my original post specifically asking about Dream when the poster I quoted had answered me and then you piped in saying that it was adult only. :rolleyes:

 

It is you that is confused. See posts #55, #57, and #121 :rolleyes:.

[amydresh]

It is you that is confused. See posts #55, #57, and #121 :rolleyes:.

 

NO, I am not the confused one.....YOU are.....go back and read post #52 where I asked about the Dream being adult only pool and then I quoted the poster who responded to you about Conquest class being the only ones that *had* adult only aft pools. You butted in quoting MY post about being glad that my kids weren't in an adult only pool telling me that it was in fact adult only pool on Dream. We have never been any ship other than Dream so when I said "Phew, glad that my kids weren't in the adult only pool" your reply telling me "it was" means you didn't even know what you were talking about. You THOUGHT I was talking about Conquest class, but in fact I wasn't.....

[firemanbobswife]

NO, I am not the confused one.....YOU are.....go back and read post #52 where I asked about the Dream being adult only pool and then I quoted the poster who responded to you about Conquest class being the only ones that *had* adult only aft pools. You butted in quoting MY post about being glad that my kids weren't in an adult only pool telling me that it was in fact adult only pool on Dream. We have never been any ship other than Dream so when I said "Phew, glad that my kids weren't in the adult only pool" your reply telling me "it was" means you didn't even know what you were talking about. You THOUGHT I was talking about Conquest class, but in fact I wasn't.....

 

 

You quoted the poster that quoted me. I was responding to them talking about the Conquest Class ships. Nowhere between Computer Nerd and I did your post #52 come up. When you quoted them about the Conquest Class ships saying "Phew I am glad to hear they weren't an adults only pool" I was telling you that Conquest Class ships were adults only pools. It had nothing to do with the Dream statement you made earlier as I was unaware of it and being it wasn't quoted or pointed out in your response I didn't correlate the posts as being tied together.

 

While it may have been clear to you, it becomes nearly impossible to keep track of what people said previously. If you had said "I'm glad to hear the Dream Class pool wasn't adult only" when quoting the post about the Conquest Class ships, or even said it as a stand alone post, you would have gotten a different answer from me. I have no idea what ships you have or haven't been on. Not only are Conquest Class ships affected but so are the Victory and Splendor.

 

Anyway, have a good night [emoji4].

[amydresh]

You quoted the poster that quoted me. I was responding to them talking about the Conquest Class ships. Nowhere between Computer Nerd and I did your post #52 come up. When you quoted them about the Conquest Class ships saying "Phew I am glad to hear they weren't an adults only pool" I was telling you that Conquest Class ships were adults only pools. It had nothing to do with the Dream statement you made earlier as I was unaware of it and being it wasn't quoted or pointed out in your response I didn't correlate the posts as being tied together.

 

While it may have been clear to you, it becomes nearly impossible to keep track of what people said previously. If you had said "I'm glad to hear the Dream Class pool wasn't adult only" when quoting the post about the Conquest Class ships, or even said it as a stand alone post, you would have gotten a different answer from me. I have no idea what ships you have or haven't been on. Not only are Conquest Class ships affected but so are the Victory and Splendor.

 

Anyway, have a good night [emoji4].

 

Sorry my posts were confusing....for some reason when I quoted the poster who had quoted you, I thought they were quoting me, don't know why, maybe because they said that about Conquest class being the only ones with adult only aft pools and I had been looking for some type of response to whether or not my kids had been in an adult only pool? :confused: I'm just glad that I didn't break any rules and make people mad at me. ;p In any case, have a good night too. :)

[firemanbobswife]

Sorry my posts were confusing....for some reason when I quoted the poster who had quoted you, I thought they were quoting me, don't know why, maybe because they said that about Conquest class being the only ones with adult only aft pools and I had been looking for some type of response to whether or not my kids had been in an adult only pool? :confused: I'm just glad that I didn't break any rules and make people mad at me. ;p In any case, have a good night too. :)

 

 

No worries, it happens. Especially in threads with a lot of posts. I'm sure someone would have given you the evil eye or something if you were in the wrong! LOL. Have to get some sleep now. At least you can rest easy knowing you followed the rules [emoji4]. Night!

[SNJCruisers]

....often compromise what they do to keep little johnny from being a royal pain in the --- for an entire vacation.

If little Johnny was being a royal pain, he would be cruising on a different line than Carnival. ;)

[SNJCruisers]

Great for you, but most will continue to sail carnival because it continues to be the cheapest option to cruise.

 

Fact is Carnival's data must tell them they make more off families, vs people sailing kid free. This is what it boils down to.

I will totally disagree with your assumption that Carnival is the cheapest option to cruise. If you're talking about bare bones rates....more often than not MSC is cheaper than Carnival when you compare the Divina to a comparable 7 nighter on Carnival, and if you add in the Cheers program to the cost of a Carnival cruise, NCL is usually cheaper as well because of their drinks package as an included perk.

 

Carnival at this point is marketing towards the blue cards, those who are first time cruisers. They will inadvertently accept the funship special as they are exploring the ship on embarkation day and then will be taken aback when they need to hand over their sail & sign card to pay for the "free" drink. They will buy the pictures, and go on Carnival excursions and play bingo and do most of the other frivolous things that experienced cruisers either no longer do or do at a cheaper rate.

[SNJCruisers]

If an adult only pool makes or breaks your vacation, it may be time to consider someone else. Carnival is a family line, it is going to cater to families.

I know you'll agree with me that Disney is an even more family oriented cruise line than Carnival, yet they have an adult only pool and at least one of their ships, an adult only restaurant. There are 24 ships in the Carnival fleet and at this point only 3 have an adults only pool. The Sunshine and Pride in their Serenity area and the Vista in their Havana area (until 700 pm). And the Havana area is open to teenagers.

[SNJCruisers]

Clearly nobody is using the aft pools in the adult area, so let the kids have it.

Post #84 from this thread begs to differ. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=52777134&postcount=84

[SNJCruisers]

To summarize the effected ships are those that are the Conquest class, consisting of 110,000 tons of fun. Conquest, Freedom, Glory, Liberty and Valor. I believe it also includes the slightly smaller Victory and the slightly larger Splendor.

[SNJCruisers]

To summarize the effected ships are those that are the Conquest class, consisting of 110,000 tons of fun. Conquest, Freedom, Glory, Liberty and Valor. I believe it also includes the slightly smaller Victory and the slightly larger Splendor.

Looks like my summary was spot on. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=52786104&postcount=104

[Saint Greg]

Even more of a reason to cruise while school is in session. Let the urchins run wild during the summer. I'll get on when there's 200 of them instead of 2000.

[kroozers]

Terrible decision by Carnival. We have a Glory cruise coming up this month that may well be my last with Carnival. We rarely cruise at all anymore - we instead have enjoyed adult only all-inclusive vacations. As much as we love cruising, with the kids now grown, vacationing with other people's kids isn't what we're looking for...and with Carnival close to making the entire ship family and kid friendly, they've apparently chosen their preferred demographic.

[pghsteelerfan]

Meh, let the kids have it. The pools are filled with cold sea water every morning & never quite warm up except in the deep tropics. I suppose they'll partition off the serenity area somehow. Clearly nobody is using the aft pools in the adult area, so let the kids have it.

 

 

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I know someone else shared the link to a picture of a crowded aft adult only pool that was attached in another post. But I also never found the aft adult only pools empty...they've always been packed on the cruises we've been on. It does appear there were some empty loungers...it's because the people using them were IN the pool or along the side.

 

[Born2BMild]

Our first cruise is upcoming - a delayed honeymoon. While I'm slightly put out to learn of the policy change regarding the adults only pool, I'm moving on with my plans. Since the adult's only pool is out, where's the next best cool spot on the ship for a bit of quiet and crowd avoidance. Can we take drinks into the library?

[honestguy]

I will totally disagree with your assumption that Carnival is the cheapest option to cruise. If you're talking about bare bones rates....more often than not MSC is cheaper than Carnival when you compare the Divina to a comparable 7 nighter on Carnival, and if you add in the Cheers program to the cost of a Carnival cruise, NCL is usually cheaper as well because of their drinks package as an included perk.

 

Carnival at this point is marketing towards the blue cards, those who are first time cruisers. They will inadvertently accept the funship special as they are exploring the ship on embarkation day and then will be taken aback when they need to hand over their sail & sign card to pay for the "free" drink. They will buy the pictures, and go on Carnival excursions and play bingo and do most of the other frivolous things that experienced cruisers either no longer do or do at a cheaper rate.

 

first off, while MSC may be cheaper, lets not act like it's been accepted as a mainstream line. Very few people have heard of them. they sail one ship from one us port, so they are hardly relevant. Now when the seaside, and the few others they have slated come online, then they will be a true player in this. That being said, yes they are slightly cheaper. As for NCL I've never found them cheaper, other than last minute cruises. I had two cruises booked this summer, and both times ncl was almost 2k more than carnival.

 

you're arguing just for the sake of arguing. Carnival is the price leader when it comes to cruising. The same cruise on RCCL or NCL will cost the average family of 4 1000-2000 more than carnival. I know I price them all the time. I don't cruise carnival cause I'm loyal to them. I'm loyal to their prices. When I can get a 7 day cruise for under 3 k peak season on rccl or ncl I will try them. Now they may be comparable if you're sailing the first week of december, and if you are, kids in the pool will be a mute point.

 

you hit the nail on the head about the blue cards and carnival's marketing. It's a sound business practice. Lets market our ships to those who spends the most on board. Vs some older couple that come on board, and hardly spend a dime, and sit on the serenity deck sipping the free water all day.. That's what this decision is all about getting those on board that spend the most money.

[telebax51]

Our first cruise is upcoming - a delayed honeymoon. While I'm slightly put out to learn of the policy change regarding the adults only pool, I'm moving on with my plans. Since the adult's only pool is out, where's the next best cool spot on the ship for a bit of quiet and crowd avoidance. Can we take drinks into the library?

 

If you have a balcony that would be it, someone may know of other places, enjoy your Honeymoon

[Tigeroy]

I am also very disappointed Carnival is taking away the aft adult only pool. I did post on the other site that I did get in the adult only pool last cruise. I work with children, love my job, while on vacation I am not able to stop children from being unsafe or disrespectful. I like to find places to go to relax and unwind away from my work world.

 

I'm all for an adult only pool. Adult only jacuzzis would be great too. I just wish Carnival would have stairs into the pools like NCL does. NCL I believe has a kid pool and adult pool on the Lido Deck. Oddly the kid pool had the stairs:confused:

[RachelC33]

I probably have a different perspective on this because my one and only cruise was a spring break cruise on the Sunshine (with kids). We learned that ~1,300 of the ship's passengers were children under of the age of 18 (nearly half of the guest capacity). With that being said, Lido pools and hot tubs were jam packed, while the Serenity deck was nearly empty the entire cruise. While I'm sure the 21+ passengers were in heaven, it sure would have been nice to have a little more space to spread out considering how many kids were on this particular sailing.

 

It would probably make more sense for them to "do away with" the adults only areas on certain sailings (for instance, spring break) where there are just as many (or more) children as adults on the cruise, versus completely getting rid of it all together.

 

That being said, it doesn't really bother me either way. I didn't use the adults only area at all on our ship. I could see how this would be really frustrating for people who fully utilize this area of the ship though.

[42CruiseCrazy]

I probably have a different perspective on this because my one and only cruise was a spring break cruise on the Sunshine (with kids). We learned that ~1,300 of the ship's passengers were children under of the age of 18 (nearly half of the guest capacity). With that being said, Lido pools and hot tubs were jam packed, while the Serenity deck was nearly empty the entire cruise. While I'm sure the 21+ passengers were in heaven, it sure would have been nice to have a little more space to spread out considering how many kids were on this particular sailing.

 

It would probably make more sense for them to "do away with" the adults only areas on certain sailings (for instance, spring break) where there are just as many (or more) children as adults on the cruise, versus completely getting rid of it all together.

 

That being said, it doesn't really bother me either way. I didn't use the adults only area at all on our ship. I could see how this would be really frustrating for people who fully utilize this area of the ship though.

 

 

That is actually a brilliant idea! Using the adults only pool during certain peak family weeks March Break, Summer vacation, Christmas week, etc. Would make the most people happy. Adult cruisers who want to avoid children avoid those weeks anyway.

 

 

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[Organized Chaos]

Away for a couple days and this thread has grown significantly. Sorry, but so many posts = so many replies. :D

 

I think a lot of frustrations could be addressed if, first and foremost, parents took parenting more seriously. I'm referring more to the parents of the kids who aren't well behaved at all and are allowed to run ragged unsupervised most of the time. These little terrors are out there causing problems, disturbing guests and their parents aren't around or just let it happen if they are around. No one's allowed to say anything to them because in today's day & age, you'll get accused of abuse if you try to tell someone else's kid to behave. Then after the parents comes the ship's crew. They need to enforce the rules more sternly when it comes to unruly kids. But they're afraid because those parents I described will most certainly get all bent out of shape and start threatening lawsuits when you accuse their little "angels" of being little devils. Yeah, the kids have a right to have a good time, but that doesn't mean they get to be out of control and their good time shouldn't come at the expense of the adults.

 

That said, families should be thrilled that there is one area for people to have an "adult only" area because it gives them one place they know they can send the dissatisfied cruisers who want to yell at kids for being kids. I have seen it too many times. Older folks being excessively rude to my nieces when we cruise. I politely point them to the adult only areas and tell them there is a great place for them to go for peace and quiet. If they want to lay out by the kiddie pool and family pool- they should and must expect "family" noise and excitement.

Just because someone is unhappy with out of control kids doesn't make them excessively rude. That's not to say there aren't rude adults, because there are, but the adults have a right to enjoy themselves too and I don't see a problem with adults speaking out as long as they aren't mean about it. The only thing as frustrating as out of control kids are their parents who don't care how they're acting. There is no "kiddie pool," unless count some of the smaller pools near the slides that haven't been upgraded to WaterWorks. Yeah, the main Lido pool is a family friendly one, but is not a kiddie pool. The adults in & around it should be able to enjoy themselves as well without little heathens terrorizing the pool because their parents don't care about their kids acting crazy. What you describe as "family noise and excitement" can oftentimes be much more than that. Again, several unsupervised children who are acting wild and out of control doesn't equate to typical "family noise."

 

And who exactly thought it was a brilliant idea to start it half way through a cruise with no prior warning? More research, right? [emoji849].

As the old saying goes, it's easier to ask forgiveness than it is to ask permission. I think Carnival takes that mantra to heart.

 

Fact is Carnival's data must tell them they make more off families, vs people sailing kid free. This is what it boils down to.

Throughout this thread, you keep implying that the only people who used the adults-only aft pools are "kid free" guests. Not so. Many cruisers who enjoy these areas do have kids, but want to find time away from them on occasion. Or have well behaved kids and want to get away from the unsupervised, not so well behaved kids who run roughshod throughout the ship. And let's face it, there's plenty of those to be found.

 

Did you ever even once think that maybe those parents didn't even know that their kids were running rampant? My boys were in Circle C often and they could come and go as they pleased, which was the way the club ran....they weren't always with dh or I so that we could monitor that they were behaving. We have told them time and time again what is appropriate behavior and what is not, but alas, they are 13 and 11 and boys, they don't always think about their actions while they are doing things. I saw kids running around one day and asked them if they made sure that they weren't running while not with us and they admitted that they had been running around. We scolded them and told them to make sure to not do it again. There's only so much parents can do while not with their kids, doesn't mean we are irresponsible parents, we are actually pretty great parents with very well behaved, respectable kids (but again, they are KIDS and they will do stupid things every once in awhile that they know they shouldn't be doing, probably has something to do with the fact that their frontal lobes aren't fully developed until into the early twenties)

I agree, but only in that kids will be kids and will sometimes act in a way that goes against their upbringing. But if you as a parent aren't aware that your kids are practically terrorizing other guests throughout the ship with their ill-mannered behavior, then you aren't doing your job as a parent. Not directing that at you, per se, but parents in general. You mentioned there's only so much parents can do when not with their kids. As a parent, you should know that your kids aren't behaving as they should and take action accordingly. If they can't behave themselves while unsupervised, then they shouldn't go unsupervised. Kids have a right to have a good time on a cruise too, but that doesn't mean they get to be out of control and disturb others.

 

Carnival at this point is marketing towards the blue cards, those who are first time cruisers. They will inadvertently accept the funship special as they are exploring the ship on embarkation day and then will be taken aback when they need to hand over their sail & sign card to pay for the "free" drink. They will buy the pictures, and go on Carnival excursions and play bingo and do most of the other frivolous things that experienced cruisers either no longer do or do at a cheaper rate.

I hate when this self-righteous hierarchy of cruising rears its ugly head. You've been on more cruises than us so we're just low class passengers down in steerage who don't know what we're doing. We've been on one cruise, with a second now booked, and I'm not afraid or ashamed to admit we're beginners. Even so, there's a lot to cruising that can be all figured out just from one cruise. Much of it isn't that difficult to learn. Shoot, I knew things about cruising on our first one that a couple who went with us didn't even know, and they've cruised several times. Because I like to research my vacations ahead of time and I discovered things they didn't realize or things they knew and thought they'd teach us, but I had already learned. You turn your nose up at "blue cards" (if creating a cute little term for first timers makes you guys feel superior, so be it) and imply that they are the only ones who partake in things such as photos, excursions, & bingo...activities you deem "frivolous." Are you so sure about that? So then, which types of entertainment are more suited for you high-society experienced cruisers? To say they are taken aback when discovering they have to hand over their S&S cards for the "free" drink, you seem to be implying that they are somehow less of a cruiser than you just because they're new and aren't aware of how some of the things work. Everyone starts as a beginner, even you. There's no need to try to make anyone feel lesser just because they haven't gone on as many as you.

 

Our first cruise is upcoming - a delayed honeymoon. While I'm slightly put out to learn of the policy change regarding the adults only pool, I'm moving on with my plans. Since the adult's only pool is out, where's the next best cool spot on the ship for a bit of quiet and crowd avoidance. Can we take drinks into the library?

Could you tell us which ship you'll be on? That'll help determine some of the places you could go to get away from the hustle & bustle. For instance, does it have a Serenity area? While they can be full at times, they are still adults only, so there's that. Another example, we had our first cruise aboard the Conquest last year and there was an area on Deck 10 that was not Serenity, but was always very quiet with hardly any people. I believe that same area on Glory is an actual Serenity. And Conquest will be getting a Serenity area during their upcoming dry dock.

[KatieCharlotte]

For every change, there are cruisers who hate it and cruisers who love it.

 

I appreciate the adults-only Serenity decks with loungers and hot tubs. I do think that every ship should have a quiet area (not that Serenity is always quiet!). But I am happy that all the aft pools will all be open to children.

 

When we sailed on the Victory over spring break several years ago, the aft pool was already open to everyone. Thank goodness, because it has a retractable roof, and one day at sea was rainy and windy. It was also a welcome escape from the lido craziness for my kids and for me. I personally prefer cannonballing kids to hairy chest contests (and hot tubs full of laughing children to hot tubs full of drunk adults), even when I'm cruising without my kids. I don't spend my cruise complaining about obnoxious adults, and I hope no one spends their cruise complaining about children.

 

I was fine with the former rule, because I don't think that all the ships in the fleet need to appeal to the same demographic, but this will mean that more ships meet our needs and the needs of other families.