Cruise Ship Hot Topic: Why Are There So Many Kids in That “Adults-Only” Pool?

I’m not trying to stir the pot here, but the topic of kids in adult-only areas on a cruise ship seems to keep coming up. Whether it’s in the solarium, aft pool, or any other part of the vessel that is supposed to be kid-free, some guests say that the problem isn’t going away.

A recent social media post from a Princess Cruises guest once again highlighted the lack of enforcement for this simple rule.

Most cruisers just want to bask in the sun in an open lounger, eat an irresponsible amount of chocolate lava cake, and enjoy some R&R.

And while many mainstream cruise lines cater to families with younger children, not every area of the ship is supposed to be open season for the little ones.

Isn’t This Supposed to be Adults Only?

A Reddit post entitled “Aft pool is supposed to be adults only???” hit on a sore spot that every regular cruiser has probably encountered at least once.

The person posting the rhetorical question is currently sailing on an Alaska itinerary aboard Emerald Princess.

They were “confused” to find kids crowding the aft pool despite a sign clearly stating “Terrace Pool: Adults only.”

“The adults only pool is always the highlight of the trip for me so I’m just confused, because the sign is right there on the aft pool too!” the cruise passenger shared.

They added later in a comment that at one point there were “like 20 kids at one point though this poor old lady was calmly swimming laps and promptly left.”

The comments to the post revealed what any veteran cruiser already knows: this rule is often ignored.

Why “Adults Only” Is a Tough Rule to Enforce

For adults traveling without kids (or even with them), dedicated pools offer a quiet sanctuary away from the splash zones. But when what was supposed to be a tranquil pool to enjoy those awesome aft views of the ship becomes a splash zone itself, it only makes for annoyed travelers.

Keeping those spaces quiet isn’t always as simple as reading a sign, though.

Let’s be real, crew members just want their cruise passengers to have a great, enjoyable cruise. Being the “bad guy” by playing the pool grinch who kicks out the kids usually leads to immediate conflict with angry parents.

It’s not an excuse, but it’s definitely the primary reason a lot of these adult-only spaces don’t get enforced. Deck staff would much rather keep things friendly than start a deck-side showdown over pool rules.

As one commenter put it, “The pool deck attendants are not interested in being yelled at by passengers. If you see a supervisor, they may step in. Otherwise try guest services.”

In this case, we’re talking about an Alaska cruise. Even if it was 60 degrees in Juneau, Alaska today (I just checked), anyone would be drawn to that inviting warm water.

One cruiser pointed out, “You cant blame kids for going for what is comfortable. Blame Princess for creating a magnet by heating one pool and not the other in a colder environment.”

In addition to all that, the signs are often small and out of the way. Although, this is more of a poor excuse than anything else. The parents who let their kids in the adult-only areas probably already read the sign but chose to ignore it.

Enforcement with Cruise Lines

How cruise lines enforce the child-free zones are all over the map and can even vary by ship and crew member.

While some passengers reported that staff on some cruise ships rarely step in unless directly asked to do so, others stated that cruise lines like Celebrity take a firmer stance.

“Celebrity seems to be pretty strict when it comes to adults only in the solarium pool. W when sailing in Alaska or Norway the pool is open to families from 5 PM to 6 PM and it is really strictly enforced,” one traveler said.

A Guaranteed Adult-Only Cruise

Of course, if you want a guaranteed break from tiny swimmers, you can always look toward fully adult-only cruise lines like Virgin Voyages or Viking.  These two cruise lines have carved out a high-demand niche that isn’t going away any time soon.

Even Carnival Cruise Line is seeing the demand for adult-only sailings as they have run special SEA (Sailings Exclusively for Adults) cruises.

Offered through their casino loyalty program, these specific 21+ sailings turn the entire ship into a kid-free zone, so adults never have to share the pool deck or hot tubs with children.

In my experience, it’s those hot tubs that can really fill up with kids fast on certain sailings.

Finding the Quiet

If quiet pool time is a dealbreaker for your vacation, you should also look at the time of year as a big factor.

As one comment stated, “This happens every summer when the kids are out of school and all cruise ships become populated with kids. I only set my expectations of being left alone in the aft pool without kids around during typical school months.”

I can confirm this myself. Not only are summer cruises typically more expensive they also can have more children running around as families take advantage of school being out.

This isn’t an easy topic to address, but consistency matters. If a cruise line is more consistent with enforcing a rule, then it will hopefully form better habits as a whole. 

No one wants to play lifeguard or have to complain about a pool being too unruly. After all, kids need a break too.

But we can at least make a deal. As long as kids stay out of the adult-only pool in the aft part of the ship, us older folks will promise to stay off the splash pad, leave the soft-serve machine alone, and stay completely out of the arcade. Fair’s fair.