I was saddened to read that earlier this week a 6 year old child was found unconscious at the bottom of a swimming pool on the Royal Caribbean ship the Independence of the Seas, he is currently in a critical condition in a french hospital after the ships on board medical team had initially treated him and then altered the course of the ship to get the boy to hospital.
On my recent cruise on the the Ventura, the captain made it very clear at the Muster Drill that there was no on board lifeguards and parents/guardians were wholly responsible for the welfare of their children, especially when using the swimming pools.
After reading news reports in the last year of several drownings or near drownings happening on some of the largest cruise ships/companies in the world, we have to ask should the cruise liners be employing lifeguards?
If you had paid to stay at a land based holiday resort that has a swimming pool, you would be very surprised to find that the hotel/apartments had not provided a lifeguard that is on duty during the day. So why do we accept this on a cruise ship?
Water is water and a child can drown in just inches of the stuff. I know that ultimately any adult should be taking full responsibility of their children and their whereabouts at all times and this should be anywhere not just on a cruise ship. Parents should not be more relaxed and leave their kids to it whilst they enjoy their cruise too and certainly not even if their child can swim or is with another child.
Any number of things can happen to someone in the water to cause drowning. I remember as a child, never being allowed in the water until at least an hour after I had eaten, in case I felt too bloated, got cramp or took in water and was sick to which I could choke. On a cruise ship it can be 24 hours of eating and I am sure like most kids they don’t want to wait until their food goes down before jumping back in the pool.
My dad is a great swimmer, he was a diver for the royal navy and both myself and brother was taught how to swim from a very young age. Although we was both confident swimmers my dad always taught us to respect the water. My mum is a non swimmer and after an incident at the school swimming pool from her childhood, she has always been afraid of the water , something she has never been able to overcome. When my dad was working long hours my mum would still take us swimming several times a week but with the knowledge that their was a lifeguard on hand to assist if required.
So who do we blame for these accidents? The cruise line for not employing a lifeguard for each of their pools that children can use or the parents for not being vigilant enough ?
I read that Disney Cruise line is the only major cruise company that now employs lifeguards at all their family pools onboard their ships after the drowning of a child earlier last year. How very sad that it took the death of a child for them to take action and make the decision to employ a lifeguards.
After reading some of the comments on forums regarding lifeguards on cruise ships, it seems their is a divide between passengers.
Some say no, it is the responsibility of the parents and why should the cruise line employ lifeguards. Some comments were based on personal experiences of seeing kids running around without supervision and the parents just enjoying themselves rather that supervising their children.
Some comments say yes, the cruise lines should employ lifeguards, that although children are the responsibility of their parents/guardians, the cruise lines do need to take some responsibility and employ lifeguards.
I suppose we have to remember that it is not only children that are at risk, adults can drown too…
What’s your opinion? I would love to know…
Dawn x