Floaties for kids?

[littledebs]

I will be taking my 5 and 3 year old on Carnival Pride in January. They can't swim without floaties. Do I have to pack their own, or is there a place where we can borrow/rent them on board. Worst case scenario I'll inflate some water wings on board, but my 3 year old prefers something more substantial. Thanks!

[kitty9]

What kind of floaties are you talking about? Different areas of the country use different terms for floatation devices. But, I've not seen anything like that for rent or use on a ship, so bring your own for the little ones. The little blow up arm ones seem to pack the easiest.

[Kerry's Girls]

I think that because of the size of the pool and the number of children, large floaties aren't allowed, but water wings would be perfect. I was on the Pride last Jan and I don't remember seeing anything like that for sale on board - just a small section of beach toys, etc. You may want to bring blow up floaties that they like for the pools at the resorts though - that's what I do, and just blow them up once we arrive at the pool.

 

Best,

Mia

[Paleochick]

For liability reasons alone, I doubt cruise lines would offer these for rent. If their floaties failed and your kid drowned, that would be very bad and you'd be mad at the cruise line.

[Cruisin' Chick]

We brought along the float suit for our girl when she was 3, even though that meant finding room in our suitcase. The major problem was inflating it (I can't remember how that was done -- that was in March 2001).

[askfrog]

They make those swimming suits now that have the built in life jackets things we used that for our 3 yr and 6 yr old. They come in differant sizes and you can just buy them at Walmart. My girls swimming teacher said those blow up arm floties aren't very safe because when they get wet they can slip right off their arms.

[notentirelynormal]

We brought our 3YO his own life vest (like for water skiing).

[OceanDreamin]

I just want to point out that they don't heat the pools!:eek: It is just filtered ocean water and that area of the Pacific is COLD in January!

 

We went on the Pride in late April, and there were VERY few people in the pool even then. My 6-year-old DD decided it was too cold for her to go in. I put my foot in and took it right back out again! Now I understand why there are so many kids in the hot tubs - it was the only place warm enough to swim, and I must confess to letting her go in to one of the kid-infested hot tubs one afternoon!

 

There is a Children's wading pool on board as well, which was fun for my DD to splash around in (go to the aft pool [which is the adult's only pool], and then go up a flight of stairs, and it is near the entrance to the water slide). The water line was below her knees, but because it is so shallow, it warmed up in the sun much faster. The children's pool area is fenced in for safety, so it is a nice place to sit and relax and watch the kids play.

 

As far as floaties, if you think that your kids will brave the cold water (or will want to swim in the hot tubs with the dozens of other kids), definitely bring floaties with you as they do not offer anything like that on board.

 

Have a great cruise!

[notentirelynormal]

Princess uses fresh water and its heated. Going to Alaska last year there were bunches of people using it.

[littledebs]

Wow! I didn't expect the pool water to be so cold on board. Probably the wading pool would be the best option for my 3yr old then. She has one of those 'life jacket' type vests, but it is bulky and was hoping to pack light, the water wings do tend to slip off those little arms!

Thanks to everyone for their responses.

[crusinmama06]

Bring them! I didn't bring any floaties because my 3 year old REFUSES to wear them. Well on our only sea day (on Carnival Sensation) someone defecated in the children's pool :mad: so they had to close it for cleaning.

 

So we had to use the pool that is 4'9. So we needed the floaties and couldn't buy any onboard (I tried)