Tag Archives: family pools

Norwegian Cruise Line Hires Lifeguards After Multiple Child Deaths

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Me on the Norwegian Star, Pool side

Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) today announced that the line will begin employing certified lifeguards at all of the family pools across their fleet.

Disney Cruises was the first large ship operator to hire lifeguards several year ago following the near-drowning of a four year old boy  which caused significant brain injury and led to a large settlement for the medical needs of the child. 

Since gCaptain first highlighted the problem several children drowned in swimming pools on NCL ships says Jim Walker, a cruise ship blogger and legal expert that’s been closely following the numerous swimming pool tragedies aboard ship. Two years ago, a 10-year-old girl drowned in a swimming pool aboard NCL’s Norwegian Gem and, in 2014, two small children were pulled from a pool on NCL’s Norwegian Breakaway as the cruise ship was sailing from New York to the Bahamas. Both children were unresponsive. The younger child (age 4) died on the cruise ship. The other child (age 6) was medevaced by the Coast Guard.  

Royal Caribbean became the second cruise line to hire lifeguards when it announced two months ago that it would abandon its swim-at-your-own-risk which had been the industry’s standard policy for decades.  

According to Norwegian Cruise Line the new lifeguards will be trained and certified by the American Red Cross in lifesaving rescue measures and will monitor the family pools during scheduled pool hours. The lifeguards will begin service this summer on the line’s four largest ships – Norwegian Escape, Norwegian Getaway, Norwegian Breakaway and Norwegian Epic – and on the remainder of the fleet by early 2018.  

“Norwegian has stationed pool monitors on our largest ships since 2015 and we are now taking further steps to ensure the safety of our youngest guests with the addition of certified lifeguards across our fleet,” said Andy Stuart, president and chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line. “While parents are always the first line of supervision when it comes to water safety, we felt it was important to provide this added measure across our fleet.” 

Disney adds lifeguards to its cruises

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Disney adds lifeguards to its cruises

Disney Cruise Line has reportedly become the first major cruise line to install lifeguards on all of its ships.

Although no official announcement has been made, passengers on board the Disney Dream and Disney Magic have seen lifeguards stationed by family pools since late September, according to Cruise Critic.

Disney Fantasy and Disney Wonder are expected to follow suit with the new policy within the next couple of weeks.

Lifeguards will be on duty at all times the pools are open, which is generally all hours of the day, apart from night-time and if there’s bad weather. Disney stated that it regularly looks at its policies on these and all issues and is always willing to make changes where necessary.

Currently, most cruise lines do not provide life guards for their pools. However, the issue has been cast into the media spotlight in the last few weeks following the drowning of a young boy onboard a ship operated by Carnival.

The tragic event occurred onboard the Carnival Victory while it was at sea and en-route to Port Miami in the US. At the time, Carnival told the Associated Press: “To the best of our knowledge it is the first time a child has drowned aboard one of our ship.

“Carnival extends its heartfelt sympathy to the family during this very difficult time. The company’s CareTeam is providing assistance and support.”

Although such cases are rare, it did prompt many to suggest that cruise lines and hotels have an obligation to ensure that youngsters in their pools are safe. On the other hand, some remain adamant that the responsibility for watching children while they are on a cruise ship remains with parents.

According to Carol Finkelhoffe, chair of the Cruise Line & Passenger Ship Committee in the US, all cruise lines should be providing lifeguards for family pools. She said earlier this month: “Someone should be watching the pool. It’s foreseeable that these types of accidents can happen … and they should do something to prevent them.”