Jump to content

Baby Splash Zones


Recommended Posts

Greetings All.  I hope everybody is safe and well.

My wife and I are planning our next cruise for sometime in 2022 (assuming/fingers crossed that cruising and the world have returned to something resembling pre-COVID normal), but we will have an infant with us for the first time ever.  Our little man will be at least 16-18 months old, if not a bit older, based on the window of sailings I am looking at.

I was wondering if Matt or anybody had an updated list of ships that have the baby splash zone that children in swim diapers can enter.  I am aware of Allure, Oasis, Freedom, Liberty, Independence, Anthem and Quantum having them.  I wasn't sure if due to the Royal Amped Program and/or newer ships (specifically Odyssey, Symphony and Harmony) had them as well.

Also, any tips for cruising/traveling with an infant are welcome.

I'm still by no means set on going on a cruise and/or other vacation at this point given the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19, but I am definitely dreaming of it and hoping that the vaccine rollout gets us one step closer to it being a reality.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, Matt said:

Not sure of an official list. 

If the ship has Splashaway Bay, then you're good.

I seem to recall even ships with H2O Zones are good as well (I remember going on Freedom of the Seas with my first child and being so happy there was a splash zone).

Awesome! I was curious of the Splashaway Bay vs H2O Zone. I remember being on Allure with the H2O zone and it having the baby only splash zone. 

 

I was on Indy in December of 2019 and didn't pay much attention to the Splashaway Bay setup compared to H2O Zone. I figured I was good with H2O Zone ships based on previous experience, but was concerned about the other. It sounds like we are good either way. 

 

Too bad Mariner doesn't have anything like that after the Amplification. There is a great 5 day Labadee and CocoCay itinerary that would be perfect, and we love the ship. The lack of the splash pad on her is a no go though. 

 

It looks/sounds like we'd also be good to go with Odyssey, Symphony and Harmony in addition to the above ships then. Any idea about Navigator post-Amp?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Splashaway Bay in general does not allow swim diapers.  The baby splash zones have a separate filtration system so that the other areas for older children don't become contaminated when swim diapers leak which they all eventually do.  

The exception is the children's aqua areas on CocoCay.  These fall under Bahamian law so apparently the Bahamas public health rules don't seem to consider it an issue. 

Navigator has a baby splash zone:

Jfjenoq.jpg

To the left on the other side of the glass divider is for older children, babies straight ahead.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, twangster said:

Splashaway Bay in general does not allow swim diapers.  The baby splash zones have a separate filtration system so that the other areas for older children don't become contaminated when swim diapers leak which they all eventually do.  

The exception is the children's aqua areas on CocoCay.  These fall under Bahamian law so apparently the Bahamas public health rules don't seem to consider it an issue. 

Navigator has a baby splash zone:

Jfjenoq.jpg

To the left on the other side of the glass divider is for older children, babies straight ahead.

 

Awesome! When speaking of both H2O Zone and Splashaway Bay, I was speaking of the special area for diapers that was filtered separately. That was a big reason for us looking at ships specifically with those areas, as he will almost certainly still be in diapers when we are looking to go. 

 

I saw a story Matt wrote around 2015 that mentioned the ships with the baby splash zones at that time, but there have certainly been a lot of changes and additions since. I'm glad Navigator is on the list. We love Voyager Class. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...
22 minutes ago, royalcaribbeannewbie said:

We have a little one (sub 2) and are planning to go to on Spectrum shortly. I have been confused by these H2O, splashaway zones on board, as in I can't seem to find either of these on the ship deck plan.

Are there swimming-diaper-safe water zones for young ones on the Spectrum?

Thank you in advance

Spectrum has a Splashaway Bay Area on Deck 14. From my understanding, all of the ships with Splashaway Bay or H2O zone, or essentially Freedom, Quantum, and Oasis Classes have areas for swim diapers. I believe Navigator also does post-refit, but it is the only Voyager class vessel that does if that is true.

 

I see what APPEARS to be the area for swim diapers on a couple of videos for Quantum I was watching. I hoped to pinpoint the exact time it popped up if I could make heads or tails of it, but I couldn’t see the signage. 
 

The small splash pad areas on these ships are filtered separately with UV sterilization above and beyond typical filtration and chlorination, and they are drained at the first sign of an accident. The water is also exchanged much more frequently due to the significantly lower volume. The CDC Vessel Sanitation Program doesn’t allow for swim diapers elsewhere on ships originating from the US without those measures in place. 
 

So, given the age of Quantum relative to older ships with baby splash zones, and in comparing it to Odyssey, it appears that the swim diaper splash zone is the small circular part of Splashaway bay on the port side toward the bow of the ship. That is where it is located on Odyssey as well, but the aesthetics are a bit different. Take a look at Deck 14 on the plan. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, royalcaribbeannewbie said:

That is definitely helpful. For some reason I was being really stupid and thought deck 1 was at the top 😬

Thank you

 

Haha. No worries. Glad I could help. From what I can tell, you should be good to go, but hopefully some folks with more knowledge about Quantum can chime in. I actually just saw my OP on this from last year and read where Quantum is good to go. 
 

Matt also chimes in and said a ship with Splashaway Bay is good to go, and I certainly trust his input. 
 

We are looking at booking a trip next February or March when my son will be approaching 2-1/2 years old, so I imagine this will also still be a consideration for us at that point. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks for all the input and commentary on this topic previously. The wife and I booked our first cruise since December 2019 for March 2023 on Oasis. Little dude, who will be 2-1/2, will be along for the journey. 
 

Baby splash zones were a must for us, and the choice came down to Oasis and Odyssey for this trip. Oasis won on a cost-per-night basis and due to a slightly better itinerary to us subjectively.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...