In light of guest danger and news of children drowning in unmanned cruise ship swimming pools, Royal Caribbean aims to become only the second cruise line to employ lifeguards to protect its guests in 2017.
Royal Caribbean has experienced drownings on its cruise lines, including an 8-year-old boy on Liberty of the Seas in 2015 and another on Anthem of the Seas in 2016, as well as a string of near-drownings, including a near-death of an 8 year old on Anthem in July 2016. Following the death of a 72-year-old on the same ship in August, a Royal Caribbean spokesperson told the New Your Times that parents and caregivers were to provide supervision. However, the Miami-based cruise line quietly placed an advertisement for lifeguards last month. The advertisement requests supervision of swimming pools, H20 Zones, Splashway Bay and other water attractions.
Currently, Disney Cruise Line is the only major cruise line to feature lifeguards on cruises.
–Lissa Poirot
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