Cruisers Split on Carnival Pool Change

PHOTO: Havana Pool, Carnival Vista, Carnival Cruise Line.

Carnival Cruise Line has announced that several pools on its ships that were previously exclusive to adults have now been opened to all families onboard.

Carnival brand ambassador John Heald made the announcement on Facebook, where he revealed that the Conquest, Glory, Valor, Liberty and Freedom Conquest-class ships, as well as the Splendor and Victory, would have their aft pools available to all passengers.

While some adults may be perturbed by the news, Heald reminded travelers that the Freedom, Glory, Liberty, Splendor, Valor and Victory cruise ships all had Serenity adults-only areas. In addition, the Conquest vessel was scheduled to add a Serenity area during dry dock in October.

“There were a number of ships in the fleet on which all pools were already family friendly.  The change on the particular ships in question was made based on the high volume of families on board at this time of year, although, we very much appreciate the view of those who like having an adults-only pool option,” a Carnival spokesperson said in a statement to TravelPulse.

“With limited exception, our ships have adult- only Serenity decks which we very much encourage those guests who want a kid-free environment to enjoy. We are currently evaluating our plan going forward with respect to the aft pools.”

Regardless of the cruise line’s reasoning or justification of the decision, it has caused backlash from some customers, with an actual online petition started to convince Carnival to turn the aft pools back into adult-only areas.

As for how travelers are responding on the website Cruise Critic's Carnival forum, many posters are strongly against the decision, with over 85 percent of responders saying they would rather have aft pools exclusive to adults.

“Do they have to deny the adults a pool where we can be free of kids splashing around and jumping in?” user "firemanbobswife" said on the Cruise Critic forum. “I love kids as I have my own and don't have anything against them in general. It's just that it's nice to be able to get away from them all.”

There may be plenty of complaints, but other cruise enthusiasts are simply indifferent to the decision.

“It honestly doesn't faze me. We have cruised as a family the last 7 years. Our kids are now 16 and 20,” user Moosevilleco said. “There were times we spent maybe an hour in the adult pool on a sea day. I actually prefer the Serenity area. Maybe this will help with the overcrowding of the hot tubs.”