Jim Walker at Cruise Law News is reporting that “Royal Caribbean Cruises,” presumably meaning the Royal Caribbean International brand, has posted a lifeguard position for staffing its ship pool and water park facilities as of December 21, 2016.

Walker has quoted the job description as reading that the lifeguard, “will need to perform rescue of Guests in danger of drowning and be vigilant to potential accidents. Will be trained to administer first aid, CPR, Oxygen & AED as required. This position will open, close, monitor and operate aquatic recreational spaces including but not limited to Swimming Pools, H2O Zones / Splashaway Bay and other designated water attractions . . . “

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Currently, Disney Cruise Line is the only company to hire lifeguards onboard its ships, but it would appear that Royal Caribbean is soon to do the same following an eight-year-old child drowning on the Liberty of the Seas and near-drownings of kids on both the Oasis of the Seas and Independence of the Seas, all cited by Walker. This would be a departure from the unattended “swim at your own risk” and life jacket availability approach taken by the line thus far.

When TravelPulse asked for a comment and whether or not there were plans to implement lifeguards across the entire fleet, Royal Caribbean did not have anything to announce at this time.

Although Norwegian Cruise Line does not have lifeguards onboard its ships, we recently witnessed the presence of many watching the pool and beach at its new Harvest Caye destination in Belize. Collectively, these developments might foreshadow a broader shift towards greater safety measures onboard, which is always a positive change.

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Of course, individual responsibility must still be taken into account with parents watching their children first and foremost, but added lifeguard precautions only stand to ensure drownings are considerably more avoidable. Walker added, “My thought is that children are best protected from drowning only through a combination of well-trained lifeguards and attentive parents working together to keep kids on the ships safe.”

How soon guests will benefit from lifeguards onboard Royal Caribbean is to be seen. Cruise Law News did not include a link to the job listing, and it does not appear on current searches, so it may have already closed.

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