swimming pool access

[BAYA]

I am asking this question for my Mom's info, since she is my cruise companion. Mom has problems with her shoulders that prevent her from using a ladder to get out of swimming pools. After one time of total embarrassment on a cruise where the crew needed to use the lift chair to get her out of the pool and they were very unsure of how to work it (!), she has stayed away from pools that only have ladder access. This issue has prevented us from sailing on several otherwise enticing ships. :( On some Celebrity ships the adults-only pool has a very nice staircase to access the pool, which Mom can do with no problems. Example: the thalassotherapy pools on Millenium and Constellation. Also the solarium pool on Jewel of the Seas has the staircase.

 

Can anyone say which other ships have pools with that staircase access?

 

Many thanks!

[Tubasop]

Hi

RCI Mariner of the Seas & Explorer of the Seas (Voyager Class) have steps access to the Adults only Solarium pool. Obviously the Millennium class ships on Celebrity as you say, but I couldn't find any others, and I've looked at virtually every image and spoken to some of the cruise lines (HAL, Cunard, P&O). I think this is a real problem, only having ladder access in most cruise line pools as it restricts so many people. It would be great if more cruise lines could offer this. It really makes the cruise, being able to spend some time in the pool and even with restricted mobility a few steps (even getting in on your bum) just means so much to us. I'm hoping Celebrity's new ships have step access to at least one of the pools - I've asked but they can't confirm yet.

 

Thanks

 

Karen

[wrp96]

On RCCL, the pools in the Solariums all have stair access. The only RCCL ships that don't have Solarium pools are the Sovereign class (Sovereign of the Seas, Majesty of the Seas, and Monarch of the Seas).

[NorthernLite]

And here I'm wondering why all newer ships don't have lifts to the solarium and other pools. It's embarassment?

[WEELYNCRUZER]

If you use the lift you are the entertainment. I think it is nice they have them but I tried it once. That was enough. If you want to go in the water go in a beach chair in Labadee or Coco Cay.

[sailinglisa]

Island, Coral, Grand, Star, Golden, Sapphire, Diamond, Caribbean, Crown, Emerald and Ruby Princesses all have pools with stairs going into them - either the Aft Terrace pools or the Lotus Spa pools.

[beachchick]

If you use the lift you are the entertainment. I think it is nice they have them but I tried it once. That was enough. If you want to go in the water go in a beach chair in Labadee or Coco Cay.

 

That is such a shame. I attend an aqua therapy/exercise class in a warm water (90 degree) outdoor pool in a complex that also has a half-Olympic size regular pool. Now, maybe it's because there are all ages in the pools and many types of classes or maybe because it's a large outdoor area or maybe because the complex is just the two pools and seating for diving/swimming/water polo events, but no one has ever been "the entertainment" when entering the warm water pool using the lift chair. In fact, people are helpful and accomodating. It simply wouldn't occur to anyone, not even the kids when they're having their swim lessons, to treat it as a form of entertainment.

 

What is wrong with people that they would behave like that, making fun of or laughing at or using the whole thing as a form of entertainment? Why the heck aren't they out there helping when possible and being kind regardless?

 

I'm so sorry you had such an experience, but I'm sure it wasn't the first (or last) time you had to deal with something like that.:(

 

beachchick

[BAYA]

Thanks a bunch to everyone who has posted the ships which have stairs into pools. Much appreciated.

 

As for the lift user being "the entertainment", I'd say it wasn't so much that people laughed or pointed, but it drew the attention of everyone on the pool deck, just about. My Mom was terribly embarrassed being gawked at in her swimsuit in a lift chair that took a very long time (at least 10 minutes of being stared at) to get her out of the pool (due to inexperienced operators of the lift). She is able to use stairs, and those are the only pools she ever uses now.

[WEELYNCRUZER]

I should have been more specific. Baya did a better job. Nobody pointed or laughed. People aren't rude, it's more like rubber necking when there is a car accident. They just watch. I don't mind answeing question about being in a w/c. Children have a lot of questions and I don't mind answering them. I'm a former 6th grade teacher and in most cases don't mind being the center of attention but there is something about that pool lift that is uncomfortable. It is slow and the attendants don't know how to use it. It's also a control issue. I have a lift in my pool and can operate it myself. I can't move my legs so stairs are not an option. I'm glad that they have stairs for those who can use them. I don't mind sitting and watching other people enjoy themselves. I still say that if you are w/c bound cruising is the way to go and RCCL is the best line for Wheelers.

[beachchick]

I should have been more specific. Baya did a better job. Nobody pointed or laughed. People aren't rude, it's more like rubber necking when there is a car accident. They just watch. I don't mind answeing question about being in a w/c. Children have a lot of questions and I don't mind answering them. I'm a former 6th grade teacher and in most cases don't mind being the center of attention but there is something about that pool lift that is uncomfortable. It is slow and the attendants don't know how to use it. It's also a control issue. I have a lift in my pool and can operate it myself. I can't move my legs so stairs are not an option. I'm glad that they have stairs for those who can use them. I don't mind sitting and watching other people enjoy themselves. I still say that if you are w/c bound cruising is the way to go and RCCL is the best line for Wheelers.

 

Well, that's better than my original vision of it, but it's still not great to be in that situation. If they're going to have a lift chair, they should have at least a few crew members who really know how to use it. Sure, it's always going to take a few minutes, but it doesn't need to be the centerpiece of the pool deck for so long.

 

beachchick

[BigWheel]

I've been on twp ships with a lift chair. First up was the Vision of the Seas (RCCL) a couple of years ago. No one was around so my wife did the honours - the two buttons were "UP" and "DOWN" so it wasn't hard to figure it out. Kudos to RCCL.

 

Last week I was on Sapphire Princess. The seat was removed from the lift so I found a staffer. "No problem. I'll find someone trained to operate the lift and we'll get you in the pool," was the first response. After a few minutes, the same person returned to tell me that before I could use the lift, I had to go to the Passenger Services Desk to sign a waiver. What crap! Is this supposed to make me fell welcome? Ironically, I had just come from Disneyland and had been on rides far more dangerous than a pool lift chair but never had to sign a waiver. I am disgusted by Princess and their CYA rules.

[NorthernLite]

If you use the lift you are the entertainment. I think it is nice they have them but I tried it once. That was enough. If you want to go in the water go in a beach chair in Labadee or Coco Cay.

 

 

Wheely, um, I get overheated easily. I just want a place to semi-chill out while getting some much needed sun. I'm no gorgeous poster child for wheelers but it did get rather warm on our South America and Canal cruise. We had a huge aft CC cabin balcony but with no cooling system this body went from 97.1 to 101.4 between 6:15am and 8:30am on humidity alone. That was just on Canal day.

 

On the opposite end the inner thermostat takes forever to warm up after freezing in the cinema. I would love 20 minutes in a hot tub to 30 minutes in the spa for a shoulder and neck warming massage so I can move my neck again. The hot tub is free and the spa treatment is $90.

 

I understand the embarassment thing. Our second trip on the Celebrity Constellation I had to ask where the seats to the lifts were also. Seems they remove them during the summer months because kids do play on them. The pool guy couldn't find them for 3 days and by then the air outside had cooled considerably.

 

I'll be trying the lifts on the Constellation in Oct/Nov this year and see how bad the glare factor is. But if we take the Mercury on the 15 day Hawaii Circle from San Diego next spring do you know of any beaches once we hit land that have beach chairs? That should be what the sea days are for IMHO.

[TheRoff]

I believe most Priness and Cunard ships should have pool lifts. It may take a gaggle of crew to figure out how to operate it, but that is their problem. No one should be embarassed to use it. Kind of fun actually.