There's A Reason Cruise Ship Pools Are So Small (And Why It's Unsettling)
By Nicole Cord-Cruz
VACATIONS
Seasoned cruisers know that cruise ship pools are notoriously puny. This is because an Olympic-sized pool could tip the whole thing over.
The water sloshing around inside the pool makes the ship less stable and more prone to tipping over — a phenomenon known as the "free surface effect."
The larger the pool, the more it destabilizes the ship as the water moves. Smaller pools mean less water movement, and it's easier to install slosh-reducing features in them.
A user on the subreddit r/cruise explained that if pools were located in the lower parts of the ship, they could be larger, but no one wants to swim in a dark, below-deck pool.
If you're scared of capsizing, consider taking a river cruise, as their ships often lack pools. However, even with a pool, the chances of a cruise ship tipping over are minuscule.