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You can find one of these parks on every ship in their fleet, although what they have to offer will differ from ship to ship. Carnival has really outdone the competition in cruise water slides with what they call the Twister Waterslides, spiraling enclosed slides that whip around for hundreds of feet. Some ships even have side-by-side racing slides so you can compete with your friends to see who can zip down the fastest.
The Splashy Leader in Cruise Ship Water Parks is Carnival WaterWorks
It is not just about the thrills themselves; it is about how the neighborhood can create memories for everyone onboard. Groups of four can ride together and boomerang off of a lotus leaf while soaking up some incredible ocean views. Thrill Island is an immersive experience that's themed after a lost island. Details include distressed wood, a sunken boat, and even small artifacts left from prior explorers.
Cruises
The water park can be found on select Carnival ships, including Carnival Freedom, Sunshine, Breeze and Magic. Each ship has slightly different offerings and themes, but you can expect water slides tall enough for even the bravest thrill seekers. Below, you'll find everything you need to know about Carnival WaterWorks. NCL’s newest ship, Norwegian Prima, debuts a new class of ships for the line, along with a new waterslide – a single-rider tube ride called The Wave. And the onboard water park game grows more daring, more techno-oriented, and frankly, more fun each year, with features and attractions that rival those on land. When it comes to the best cruise ship water parks at sea, five cruise lines stand out because of their impressive aquatic chops.
Norwegian Epic
The standing wave simulator gives passengers the chance to boogie board or surf while on the ship. And while some of the cruise line’s largest ships have two of the rides, Icon of the Seas will only have one located at the back of the ship. For lighter crowds, try visiting the park on port days when most guests are off the ship or on embarkation day. Category 6 Waterpark is included in your cruise fare and has no additional cost.
Nearby are the Flowrider, Adrenaline Peak climbing wall, and Crown’s Edge attraction. Choose a ship with Splashaway Bay if you've got older kids (say 8 to 15), as the slides and tipping bucket will be more interesting to them than running under a bright red and blue, mushroom-shaped water fountain. Splashaway Bay also features an adjacent baby splash zone that is appropriate for babies and toddlers in swim diapers. This space typically features ankle-high water, a small slide and a variety of splash apparatus.
Is There a Charge for Thrill Island/Category 6 on the Ship?
On the four Oasis-class ships, there's also a third, Champagne bowl-style slide called Supercell. It'll swirl you around a big basin before plummeting you "down the drain" into a plunge pool. On Liberty of the Seas, a third slide called The Tidal Wave sends you screaming down a steep hill on an inner tube to a nearly vertical incline. Zooming upward, topping out and dropping back, you'll get a blissful moment of complete weightlessness. Just six years later, in 1996, Carnival would make news with the unveiling of a 214-foot-long corkscrew waterslide on what then was called Destiny. (The ship currently sails as the Carnival Sunshine after being rebuilt in 2013.) At the time, Destiny was the biggest cruise ship in the world.
Enhancing the family vacation experience
From death-defying cruise water slides, to interactive multimedia adventures, here are some of the best cruise water parks out there. Offering the largest fleet of water parks at sea by far, Carnival Cruise Line is known for keeping things fun and light, even while drenched head to toe. Arguably the best of all cruise water parks is Carnival’s signature aquatic playground, WaterWorks.
And let’s be honest—aside from the endless soft-serve ice cream—the water park is the next best thing on a family cruise. One thing that helps with the crowds is that Category 6 Waterpark is just the water slides; there are no pools or splash pads in the waterpark. If they want to swim, they’ll have to go to one of the many other pools around the ship. Also, younger children will spend more time in SplashAway Bay in the Seaside Neighborhood, which helps with the crowds. Royal Caribbean is making waves with its latest cruise ship attraction, the Category 6 Waterpark.
Carnival Breeze, Carnival Magic and Carnival Dream offer Twister and DrainPipe, a 104-foot tube that empties into a giant funnel. Carnival Breeze and Carnival Magic also have PowerDrencher tipping buckets, mini-racers and splash parks. For the younger set, Caribbean Princess offers a splash pad area for toddlers and little kids. Winnie the Whale greets young kids with a big grin and small toddler slide inside her mouth. There are spray guns and fountains and bucket drops all conveniently located next to the outdoor lawn game area, where you can enjoy giant games as a family. Located four stories above the pool decks at the top of the ship, The Epic Plunge takes waterslide lovers on a 200-foot journey with or without an inner tube, before swirling you around.
royal caribbean's icon of the seas to sail in 2024 as world's biggest cruise ship with waterpark - Designboom
royal caribbean's icon of the seas to sail in 2024 as world's biggest cruise ship with waterpark.
Posted: Thu, 13 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Speedway Splash, meanwhile, is a racing slide featuring awesome lighting effects. Then there’s the DrainPipe, which swirls riders round in circles at the end. There’s no better way to cool off on a hot day than with the PowerDrencher – a huge bucket of water which tips down from above. Two of the three slides are the Cyclone and Typhoon – twisting racer slides. The third slide varies by ship (except Adventure of the Seas which doesn’t have the third slide). On Harmony of the Seas it’s the Supercell which has a circular bowl at the bottom which riders swirl around in before sliding down one final length into the plunge pool.
At times, you go flying over the side of the ship, over open water (not that you have much time to take in the view). As watery cruise ship attractions go, it has long been the staple — something found on nearly every cruise vessel going back to the 1970s. Adventure, Freedom, Harmony, Independence, Liberty, Oasis, Ovation, Spectrum, Symphony, and Wonder of the Seas cater to kiddos with a few smaller waterslides and more substantial water features at Splashaway Bay. Carnival Horizon features the cruise line's only Dr. Seuss-themed WaterWorks, with a striped Cat in the Hat slide, a polka-dotted Fun Things slide featuring special effects, and of course buckets, mini-racers and a splash area.
While AquaDuck is slightly shorter than The Blaster at 765 feet in length, it has a bigger presence, thanks to its prime location encircling the main pool area. If you're lounging up top, it's hard to miss the massive, clear acrylic tubing of the ride, which is held up by 46 giant white stilts. And although it's not a waterslide, to catch even more speed and thrills, head to the Ultimate Abyss, a dry slide on Harmony, Oasis, Symphony and Wonder of the Seas to whiz down ten decks, ending on the Boardwalk. Liberty of the Seas has a boomerang-style two-person raft ride called Tidal Wave, and Navigator of the Seas has two unique slides – Blaster and Riptide. You will step out onto a ledge that hangs 154 feet above the ocean right by the infamous Royal Caribbean crown and anchor. The walkway will stop, and you will be left admiring the ocean views until the trap door releases, sending you on a short glide right back where you began.
That name isn’t just a clever play on the hurricane scale, but it also ties in with the staggering six different waterslides that are available to ride. Put simply, you can think of Thrill Island as a full theme park aboard Icon of the Seas. Whereas on some cruise ships this area might house a pool or open space for lounge chairs, Royal Caribbean has turned it into a complete destination. Added to Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas in 2019, it's a seemingly endless stretch of yellow and orange tubing that winds around the back deck of the vessel like a snake. Carnival, the so-called Fun Ship line, would go on to become the early leader in waterslides at sea. The 2,056-passenger Carnival Fantasy, which debuted in 1990, was the first cruise ship with a significant waterslide.
Emily Rodriguez, Senior Product Owner and Product Development, said that they really took into consideration the excitement that they were seeing guests display for their thrilling experiences. They knew that those were the kinds of things that they were looking for. Royal Caribbean wants to draw in adrenaline junkies with Thrill Island onboard their newest class of ships. Base CampInstead of having to leave the fun to get a bite to eat, Thrill Island includes Base Camp — a family-friendly spot where you can grab burgers, sandwiches, and sides. No word on the exact menu as of the time of this article, but Royal Caribbean has said it is “meant to be both complementary and for-pay” food and beverage spot.
Connected to the ship’s main pool, Pirate’s Cove has four water slides, water cannons, and climbing features. While the configuration of waterworks may vary, it is offered on the majority of its ships….and it’s not just for kids, either. If your family would love to spend time in a water park on-board a cruise ship, the cruise lines to look out for will be Norwegian Cruise Line, MSC Cruises, Royal Caribbean and Carnival Cruise Line. Whilst Royal Caribbean isn’t known for its water slides, they still feature on several ships, and the splash areas are well-designed and loved by younger cruisers.
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