After Another Child Drowns, Critics Ask: Why Don’t More Cruise Lines Have Lifeguards?

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A cruise ship pool can be a dangerous place. (Photo: Thinkstock)

A tragedy at sea is bringing renewed attention to a controversial cruise ship safety issue.

On Sunday, a 10-year-old girl drowned on the pool deck aboard Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Gem. The ship had left New York on Saturday for a seven-day cruise to Florida and the Bahamas.

The accident reportedly happened while the Norwegian Gem was some 75 miles off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

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A 10-year-old girl drowned aboard one of the pools on the Norwegian Gem. (Photo: Norwegian Cruise Line)

“On Sunday afternoon, the ship’s medical team responded to an emergency call from the pool deck, as a ten-year-old female guest was reported unresponsive,“ Norwegian said in a statement. “The team quickly administered CPR and full emergency care. After extensive efforts, the guest could not be revived. We extend our deepest sympathies to the family during this very difficult time. Norwegian’s care team is providing full assistance and support to the family.”

Sadly, children have been involved in a number of recent poolside tragedies aboard cruise ships. In February of last year, a 4-year-old New York boy drowned while swimming in the adult swimming pool aboard another Norwegian ship, the Norwegian Breakaway (his 6-year-old brother, who’d been swimming with him, was revived). In October of 2013, a 6-year-old Florida boy drowned aboard Carnival Cruise Lines’ Carnival Victory.

WATCH: 2013 Boy, 6, Drowns in Carnival Cruise Ship Pool

And in May of 2013, a 4-year-old boy nearly drowned aboard the Disney Fantasy. He was rescued by a passenger but suffered severe brain damage.

It was that accident that preceded a major change. About six months after that near-drowning, Disney became the first major cruise line to post lifeguards onboard its ships.

Still, the top three biggest cruise lines — Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, and Carnival — don’t employ lifeguards. And there’s no sign that’s going to change.

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After a 2013 near-drowning, Disney added lifeguards to its cruise ship pools. The other major cruise lines haven’t followed suit. (Photo: Getty Images)

“As with many cruise lines and land-based hotels and resorts with swimming pools, we have highly visible signage to alert guests to the fact that a lifeguard is not on duty,” Norwegian says in its statement. “At the pools, we also require that children under 12 are accompanied by an adult at all times.”

The other cruise lines also leave it up to passengers to watch over themselves and their children. “We extend our most sincere and heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the 10-year-old guest who died while onboard Norwegian Gem,” Royal Caribbean tells Yahoo Travel in a statement. “As you are aware, Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises do not have lifeguards by their pools, and have signs to notify guests of this fact. We strongly recommend that children not be in the pool area unsupervised.”

The sad fact is that in some of these tragic drownings, adult supervision, or the lack thereof, is found to be a contributing factor. According to the Orlando Sentinel, police looking into that 2013 Disney near-drowning said the child had been “inadequately supervised” (that case was deemed an accident and no charges were filed).

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Are watchful parents enough to prevent kids from drowning aboard cruise ships? (Photo: Thinkstock)

But some aren’t buying the “parents-should-watch-their-kids” argument. "Of course, parents are expected to supervise their own kids, but the reality is that sometimes they don’t,” maritime attorney Jim Walker tells Yahoo Travel in an email. He notes that typical cruise ship pools are teeming with distractions — large crowds, music, super-sized TV screens — that can distract even the most attentive parent.

Plus, experts say drowning children often don’t make noise as they go underwater; they just sink quietly, often without anyone noticing. Says Walker: “Add in lots on booze sold by the cruise line and you have a disaster waiting to happen.”

Walker feels cruise lines have no excuse for not having lifeguards. “Cruise lines make hundreds of millions of dollars a year (tax-free) pushing alcohol sales during cruises,” he says. “The cruise lines need to replace some of the bar servers with lifeguards who are trained and experienced. Too many young children have died or have been permanently injured due to drowning or near-drowning in pools without lifeguards.”

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Cruise lines often bristle at being held to different standards than hotels, which, as Norwegian pointed out in its statement, also tend to have “swim-at-your-own-risk” policies. Cruise Lines International Association, the cruise industry trade group, makes a similar point. “As with the majority of land-based hotels and resorts, many cruise lines provide clear and conspicuous signs that a lifeguard is not present,” CLIA says in a statement to Yahoo Travel. “With guidance from public health and safety authorities, CLIA’s member cruise lines continue to assess the need for further action beyond current practices, including evaluating the level of supervision of pools onboard.”

Still, fairly or unfairly, it’s drownings aboard cruise ships that tend to make national news, especially when they involve a child. Disney obviously has decided the cost of posting lifeguards is worth reducing the chances of appearing in another tragic headline. It’s now just a matter of seeing if, or when, other cruise lines make that same calculation.

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