Solarium adults only... Not so much. 😐

[KasioSails]

2 hours ago, snowballs mom said:

@KasioSailswhere did you find that in the app? We sail are on the March 17th Solstice sailing and I did not see it.

I saw it in the activity area - when you swipe to the ship view

 

[snowballs mom]

1 hour ago, KasioSails said:

I saw it in the activity area - when you swipe to the ship view

 

Sad to say I found it for my sailing, too. I would not have seen it if you hadn't told me where to look.

 

[StartrainDD]

Interesting as this discussion made me look at the AP for our two soon cruises.  The Constellation (boarding Friday) specifically says "Find true serenity... and an adults-only policy."  Nothing about family time.

 

The Summit (on April 26) lists family time from 5-7 PM.

 

We have always found the solarium to be adults-only except in cold weather areas where there would be limited family hours.  I see no need for solarium family hours on any sailing from San Juan, so this is a disturbing change...

[cruiserjt]

It appears that the variations align with school vacations. New Hampshire has Winter Break toward the end of February and Spring Break toward the end of April. Others have a week at Easter which is in early April, and college Spring Break spreads through the 2-4th week of March. They know how many kids are booked and likely expand pool capacity by opening up the solarium - Not fair for those without kids but think about it - maybe 50% of the ship is booked as a family vacation - they may be just giving in to this larger group. 

 

[TeeRick]

I agree with all of you who support that the Solarium area should be adults only at all times.  No Family Time hours.  No cold weather exceptions.  No kids in hot tubs.  There are usually very few kids anyway on the cruise, but they have the whole pool area.  

[cruisin_123]

I disagree with this whole topic, in tropical sailings. There is an adults-only area for a reason. No one wants to be splashed, or have to deal with kids running around the pool deck, yelling, etc. Do they allow kids in the solarium on Royal Caribbean cruises? Honestly, if they want to welcome kids on Celebrity cruises, they should beef up their camp at sea offering, by providing more activities for kids. When we sailed with our kids, I never even set foot in the solarium (on Royal) as I wanted to make sure my kids could easily find me without having to go to the adults area. Now that I'm an empty nester, I would prefer to not have to deal with everyone else's bundle of sunshine. I made sure my kids were well-behaved on our cruises and I knew where they were every second. I wish other parents would do the same.

[cruiserjt]

23 minutes ago, cruisin_123 said:

I disagree with this whole topic, in tropical sailings. There is an adults-only area for a reason. No one wants to be splashed, or have to deal with kids running around the pool deck, yelling, etc. Do they allow kids in the solarium on Royal Caribbean cruises? Honestly, if they want to welcome kids on Celebrity cruises, they should beef up their camp at sea offering, by providing more activities for kids. When we sailed with our kids, I never even set foot in the solarium (on Royal) as I wanted to make sure my kids could easily find me without having to go to the adults area. Now that I'm an empty nester, I would prefer to not have to deal with everyone else's bundle of sunshine. I made sure my kids were well-behaved on our cruises and I knew where they were every second. I wish other parents would do the same.

I could have written this myself!  I am a new empty nester heading out on my first cruise with just my husband in a couple months. Agree with you 100%. The cruise line is trying to make everyone happy - at the expense of making everyone unhappy. Enforce the rules and do not allow children in hot tubs and in the solarium - BUT provide good alternatives for families - there is so much more for kids to do than swim in a tiny pool on a cruise ship.

[dunedinmaiden]

I so wish the cruise lines would enforce THEIR OWN rules!  This includes the Solarium and chair hogs 😡

[want2seaitall]

On 3/12/2023 at 11:03 AM, phoenix_dream said:

Actually, there are cameras everywhere on the ships except in private areas like cabins and bathrooms.  I think there's a fair chance that this was captured on video.  I don't like to make waves (pun intended) but I would definitely escalate this to security and whoever else I needed to tell to get this taken care of.  

Yes... This is how the head of security was able to locate the father who threatened us. There are cameras everywhere. I will say that Sergio head of security took it very seriously and the individuals have been talked to. Hopefully the problem has been resolved. We have his personal number if there are any further problems. 

[want2seaitall]

1 hour ago, cruiserjt said:

It appears that the variations align with school vacations. New Hampshire has Winter Break toward the end of February and Spring Break toward the end of April. Others have a week at Easter which is in early April, and college Spring Break spreads through the 2-4th week of March. They know how many kids are booked and likely expand pool capacity by opening up the solarium - Not fair for those without kids but think about it - maybe 50% of the ship is booked as a family vacation - they may be just giving in to this larger group. 

 

Florida elementary, middle and high schools all have there spring break in varying weeks of March. I will say there are few children on this ship. And those who are on board have followed the rules. But as proven by my experience it only takes one to ruin it for everyone. 

[ivanidea]

Take one Sharpie, change pm to am, problem solved.  Simples 😄 

[TeaBag]

2 hours ago, want2seaitall said:

Yes... This is how the head of security was able to locate the father who threatened us. There are cameras everywhere. I will say that Sergio head of security took it very seriously and the individuals have been talked to. Hopefully the problem has been resolved. We have his personal number if there are any further problems. 

So glad the father was spoken to by security.  I'm very sorry your cruise had to start off this way and I hope things are better now.  

However, the one I feel sorriest for is the poor child being raised by such an immature individual.

[jaywoods678]

19 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

Don't fret, on most Celebrity cruises there are really not that many children and on every other sailing I have been on (70+ so far, including 13 between this year and last) and the children were only allowed in the inside pool when sailing in cold areas, and then only for a period of time.  Maybe that's changing but that's how its been.

I did find your comment about kids and school interesting.  In all my travels, including cruises, I am shocked at how many kids are not in school no matter the time of year.  I know that some areas (not all that many) have year-round schools.  But this never happened pre-Covid to the extent I see it now.  Nowhere close.  I just don't understand it. Are these kids supposedly being "home schooled"?  Are these kids supposedly being given their lessons by their parents while away from home?  Not from what I've seen.  I definitely am not in a position to judge any particular family as I of course don't know their individual circumstances (nor is it my business) - I just find it very strange and concerning.

I've had parents tell me that they take their kids out of school (they like to take their vacation during cheaper times when kids are out of school, so the only way they can do that is by pulling their kids out of school). I was even on an 11 day cruise where the parents said they took their kids out. That means the poor kids were out of school for about two full weeks. And they were not given lessons while on vacation. I guess the parents' vacation is more important than the kids' education.

[davekathy]

2 minutes ago, jaywoods678 said:

That means the poor kids were out of school for about two full weeks.

Poor us on those cruises. 🙃

[horseymike]

31 minutes ago, jaywoods678 said:

I've had parents tell me that they take their kids out of school (they like to take their vacation during cheaper times when kids are out of school, so the only way they can do that is by pulling their kids out of school). I was even on an 11 day cruise where the parents said they took their kids out. That means the poor kids were out of school for about two full weeks. And they were not given lessons while on vacation. I guess the parents' vacation is more important than the kids' education.

Then when the kid gets a poor report card they want to blame the teacher.

[Dancing Shoes]

5 hours ago, ivanidea said:

Take one Sharpie, change pm to am, problem solved.  Simples 😄 

At our condo in Hawaii, my friend took a Sharpie to add: No Marco Polo to the rule board at the pool. 🤣

[omeinv]

20 minutes ago, Dancing Shoes said:

At our condo in Hawaii, my friend took a Sharpie to add: No Marco Polo to the rule board at the pool. 🤣

 

5 hours ago, ivanidea said:

Take one Sharpie, change pm to am, problem solved.  Simples 😄 

Yes, nothing like graffiti to point out the misbehavior of "the uncouth others"

 

Harris

Denver, CO

[PineappleTraveler]

8 hours ago, StartrainDD said:

The Summit (on April 26) lists family time from 5-7 PM.

Interestingly the app shows the same for my April sailing but there are no kids on the charter, so the app may not reflect what will happen in the future.

[phoenix_dream]

4 hours ago, jaywoods678 said:

I've had parents tell me that they take their kids out of school (they like to take their vacation during cheaper times when kids are out of school, so the only way they can do that is by pulling their kids out of school). I was even on an 11 day cruise where the parents said they took their kids out. That means the poor kids were out of school for about two full weeks. And they were not given lessons while on vacation. I guess the parents' vacation is more important than the kids' education.

Wow that is really irresponsible.  In full disclosure, I confess when my youngest was in kindergarten or first grade we took him out for a couple days only.  But we also contacted the school to get his homework or other assignments, and we made sure to sit down with him and make sure he did it.  At that early age it was possible.  I would not consider it as he got older, nor would I consider doing it for any great length of time.  You hear so much about Covid shutdowns causing kids to fall so far behind (and this is NOT meant to start discussion about whether that should or should not have been done), but I suspect things like this are exacerbating the already bad situation. And as to cheaper times, deal with it.  Take a cheaper vacation - I certainly couldn't afford fancy vacations when my kids were young.  

[davekathy]

1 hour ago, PineappleTraveler said:

Interestingly the app shows the same for my April sailing but there are no kids on the charter, so the app may not reflect what will happen in the future.

One thing that is consistent about the app, it's inconsistency. 

[D. B.]

We had the 5-7pm family thing in the Solarium on Mille in Feb.

 I was surprised but then We go to dinner at 5:45pm and are not using the Solarium after 5pm so it was not a problem.

 However, I Do think the No Children in the Solarium rule is a good one.

 If we wanted to be around rug rats we would sail on Disney.

[cruising sister]

At least on Disney they have a true adult only area that is very nice. 

[omeinv]

32 minutes ago, D. B. said:

We had the 5-7pm family thing in the Solarium on Mille in Feb.

 I was surprised but then We go to dinner at 5:45pm and are not using the Solarium after 5pm so it was not a problem.

 However, I Do think the No Children in the Solarium rule is a good one.

 If we wanted to be around rug rats we would sail on Disney.

And I suppose if they wanted to be around Coffin-Dodgers, they'd sail Holland America; yet here we are learning to coexist. 

 

Harris

Denver, CO

[Born2go]

We were on the Infinity in January, Antartica itinerary with many sea days that were really cold. The Solarium had family hours 4-7pm but there were not very many kids and the families that were there were pretty respectful. The place was hopping most of the time because there were so many sea days. Because of the many cold weather sea days, I was a bit more flexible in my “no kid zone” attitude. 
 

I did however, take umbrage of the woman with her long lens camera that OPENED the solarium window (it was windy and freezing outside) to take photos. Not just one quick photo either. She of course was in a winter coat and effectively lowered the temperature of the whole solarium! 
 

Rude people, with or without kids are among us on our cruises. ☹️

[trivia addict]

First, I agree with those that believe that solariums on ships should be adult only.

As I have witnessed myself, people neither abide by the hours or the ages posted.

I have left solariums when seeing small children in the hot tubs or taking up lounges meant for adults.

But, for those of you that think it’s ok to take your child out of school for a week or two, because you  “  get the assignments from the teacher”, did you ever stop to think of the extra work you are putting on the teacher?

Teacher  is dealing with 20-25 children all with individual needs. Now teacher has to sit down and figure out what curriculum will be covered in the next 1-2 weeks, writing out specific instructions for 4-5 subjects, making sure that child has all of his needed books and worksheets. Then child comes back and teacher has to find free time in his day to administer any tests that child missed.

Please DON’T  hijack this thread to be a discussion on teachers, but since it was brought up, I want parents to know that taking a child out of school for a week or two is not as easy as you think.