Waterparks
www.parkworld-online.com Waterparks enhance the cruise ship experience Sail ‘n’ slide!
Ever since Royal Caribbean installed a FlowRider surf simulator on its ship Freedom of the Seas, the cruise industry has been steadily adding more and water recreation to its vessels. Forget a simple swimming pool, it’s now all about replicating the waterpark experience – at sea! Industry expert Jeff Coy gives us the lowdown
t all started back in 2005 when Royal Caribbean added rock climbing walls, mini-golf and ice-skating rinks to its cruise ships. A year later it launched Freedom of the Seas, with an onboard FlowRider and an “H2O Zone” aqua park. The race began. My own company, JLC Hospitality Consulting, compiles a worldwide database of waterpark hotel/resorts open, under construction or in development, and we recorded a surge in waterpark features opening on cruise ships during 2009 and 2010.
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In 2009, Carnival Cruise Line entered the market with its WaterWorks concept on itwo new ships, Ecstasy, based in Galveston, Texas, and Dream, at Port Canaveral in Florida. Royal Caribbean returned in December of last year with a second H2O Zone and two FlowRiders on Oasis of the Seas, its biggest ship yet.
Norwegian Cruise Line got in on the act this summer when it added a waterslide to each of four ships – Jewel, Jade, Pearl and Gem – and now Costa Cruises plans to add waterslides to seven more of its ships. Why? To attract the “bread and butter” family market during a tough economy. As the economy improves, people are starting to spend money on vacations again. That’s good news for the mostly-Florida based cruise industry.
WaterWorks on board Carnival Cruise Line’s Imagination OPERATOR Royal Caribbean Carnival Carnival Royal Caribbean Norwegian Norwegian Norwegian Norwegian Norwegian Costa Carnival Disney SHIP HOME PORT Freedom of the Seas Port Canaveral, FL (Florida) Ecstasy Dream Oasis of the Seas Epic Jewel Jade Pearl Gem 7 ships 7 ships Disney Dream Galveston, Texas Port Canaveral, FL Port Lauderdale, FL Miami, FL Miami, FL Bermuda Barcelona, Spain Seattle, Washington Various Various Port Canaveral, FL
By far the most anticipated new ship this year was Norwegian Cruise Line’s Epic, which was launched on July 10 and will sail year round from Miami for seven night tours of the Eastern and Western Caribbean. Introducing new features such as curved walls, lots of balconies, the Blue Man Group and 128 studios for singles at 100 square feet each, it’s an impressive vessel. Aqua Park is the name of Epic’s expansive deck-top water play zone. The family-friendly area includes the only tube slide and largest bowl slide at sea – bound to be a big hit with the under-18 set. The tube slide twists and turns down three stories. The Epic Plunge, meanwhile, is a family raft ride that spins around the inside of a bowl and then drops 200ft into a splashdown lane. A third waterslide, designed for younger children, zips straight through the rock-climbing wall. Aqua Park has two main pools with arching water effects that are illuminated at night, five hot tubs, a wading pool and a kid’s pool with play toys, water sprays and a small slide.
LAUNCH DATE ROOMS 2006 2009 2009 2009 2010 2010 2010 2010 2010 2010 2010 (Dec) 2011 (Jan) 1,800 1,026 1,800 2,706 2,000 1,100 1,100 1,100 1,100 Unknown Unknown 1,250 WATERPARK FEATURES FlowRider WaterWorks (Twister slide) WaterWorks (Twister and Drainpipe) H2O Zone (2 FlowRiders) Aqua Park (Plunge, Super Bowl and 4 pools) 1 Slide 1 Slide 1 Slide 1 Slide 1 Slide per ship WaterWorks (1 Twister per ship)
AquaDuck (Master Blaster), slides/lazy river SOURCE: JLC Hospitality Consulting (
www.jeffcoy.com)
38 OCTOBER 2010
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