Plantation Bay is very clear on our website as well as on social media about its strict policies regarding noise-making by anyone. Our first reason for this is safety. There are almost 3 hectares of lagoons and swimming pools in the resort, ten times more water area than most resorts in Mactan. It is essential that our staff be able to hear cries of distress even from far away. Moreover, it is essential that our staff not become so used to hearing screaming that they ignore a real cry for help. And once one child starts screaming, others tend to follow in imitation. Therefore, since our opening, for the safety of all guests, we have imposed stricter rules on noise-making than other resorts. As a result of our policy, no child in Plantation Bay has ever come to serious harm, much less drowned. NO OTHER RESORT in Mactan can claim this safety record. Children have died in all other major resorts on the island, as indeed they do in most resorts around the world, even those with tiny wading pools. 0 deaths in 25 years is a good safety record, one we aim to keep.
Secondly, most people come to a resort to relax. You cannot relax if people around you are constantly screaming. Every customer should be respected, not just one parent and one child. Most of our guests fully understand and agree with this idea: it is not a resort for noise-makers, regardless of their reason. To demand that all the customers just shut up while one child screams his head off? That's not our idea of fairness.
Third, if she were truly concerned for her child's welfare, a person who doesn't want, or is unable, to control her child, should have read and noted our policies before choosing Plantation Bay. These policies are in our website, in our confirmation letter, and in social media. Therefore this parent is trying to blame the resort for her own failure to look after her child's interests. While we are sorry that we are not the right resort for this parent and child, we hope that in the future other parents who want their children to scream constantly and bother other guests, will do their homework and choose another resort, one which doesn't care about the 99% of guests who want to relax in peace and quiet.
Finally, in the age of Covid-19, everyone should remember that screaming, even loud talking, spreads a higher viral load a much farther distance than ordinary talking. With loud shouting, viruses scatter in a radius of 10 meters or more, not 1 meter as in normal speech. For public health, it would benefit society that everyone learn to speak in a soft voice in all circumstances except real emergencies. https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/05/13/1001696/loud-talking-could-leave-coronavirus-in-the-air-for-up-to-14-minutes/
Sincerely,
Manny Gonzalez
Resident Shareholder
