If you’ve watched a promotional video for the cruise line industry lately, you’ve probably noticed that what the average cruise ship has to offer has changed a lot in the 21st century. Sure, the old-school concept of a classic ocean getaway, featuring fine cuisine, fancy adult beverages, luxury suites, pampering and dressing up just to go to dinner, not only still exists, but has been perfected by a number of cruise lines that specialize in that concept.
But, as they say, “the tides are changing”. There is a growing segment of the marketplace who are demanding a whole new concept of cutting-edge amenities.
Waterslides? Check! Mini-Golf? Check! Roller Coaster?…Umm… What?
Yes, many of today’s biggest and newest cruise ships are starting to look, quite literally, like a floating theme park. As the boats get bigger, the number of attractions they can attach to the top deck seems to be limitless!
Cruise ships meet theme parks: the first roller coaster at sea
Carnival Cruise Line has long promoted itself as being the “Fun Ship”. But, despite that tagline, Carnival’s vessels have always been a little more traditional in design. This all ended with the launch of the Carnival Mardi Gras in 2021. This new Excel class vessel features Bolt, the first roller coaster at sea.
Unlike a traditional roller coaster that uses a launch or lift hill to get things started, the Bolt coaster is powered from start to finish. Carnival’s Bolt coaster is actually the “Spike” coaster concept from Maurer Rides. Perhaps it is better to think of this as if someone decided to mount a large motorcycle to a roller coaster track, and then mount a track featuring a series of turns and hills across the top deck of the ship.
The Carnival Celebration, a sister ship to the Mardi Gras, launched to guests in late 2022. This will be followed by the Carnival Jubilee, which is expected to launch in December 2023. All three of these Excel class ships will have a Bolt coaster installed on the top deck.
The fun doesn’t end with the Bolt coaster, however. These ships also offer WaterWorks (a small waterpark), alongside a ropes course and a mini-golf course. WhiteWater has installed water park and family attractions onto several Carnival Cruise Line ships.
Carnival offer evolves
Prior to this, the biggest class Carnival vessels were the Vista class. This range includes Carnival Vista (2016), Horizon (2018), Panorama (2019), Venezia (2023) and the upcoming Firenze in 2024. The primary attractions of the Vista-class ships include a small top-deck waterpark, a mini golf course and a ropes course. There is also a suspended guest pedal-powered SkyRide. This features cars that run around the outside of the ship on an inverted track system.
There are some differences between them. The Vista and Horizon feature IMAX theaters and Panorama has a unique trampoline park. The Horizon’s waterpark has a unique Dr Seuss theme and the Venezia has one more water slide than the others.
Altogether, Carnival has over 25 different ships in its fleet. This includes a number of older and smaller vessels that have a more traditional line-up and fewer special attractions. However, based on the current direction of the company with the Excel class design, it is now pivoting to take advantage of this latest trend.
Theme park attractions on Princess cruise ships
Princess Cruises will soon join the fun too. In 2024, it will launch its first new Sphere class vessel in 2024, the Sun Princess.
The Sun Princess will offer a virtual amusement park of fun on Deck 19. This starts with the new Sea Breeze Rollglider from Walltopia. This powered creation is essentially a hybrid between a zip line and a suspended roller coaster. It will propel guests around a track over the ship’s top decks at 11mph.
Other features will include a ropes course, a wet playground and splash pad, and the Infinite Horizon Tilt Wall. This is in addition to other amenities on the lower decks, including three kid’s lounges for different age groups.
A second Sphere class ship, the Star Princess, is also planned to launch in 2025. The Sphere class appears to be Princess Cruise Line’s first attempt to add more attractions to its fleet’s vessels.
The line’s previous efforts were focused on its six Royal class vessels that started rolling out in 2013. While they were designed to be top-tier Cruise Vessels, they offer a more classic cruise experience. So, they are less about the extra attractions.
This class includes the Royal Princess (2013), Regal Princess (2014), Majestic Princess (2017), Sky Princess (2019), Enchanted Princess (2020) and Discovery Princess (2022). The line also offers seven smaller Grand Class vessels that were launched between 1998 and 2008.
Adults-only cruising with Virgin
One of the newest cruise lines is Virgin Voyages. This launched its first vessel, the Scarlet Lady in 2020, followed by the Valiant Lady in 2021. It has now added the Resilient Lady in 2023 and is expected to launch the Brilliant Lady later this year. These new cruise vessels were designed to turn the concept of cruising on its head. However, they do not offer any of the traditional modern attractions you might find on the mega-ships from other lines.
Instead, Virgin Voyages’ philosophy was to design its ships as an Adult Only (18+) getaway experience. One that is entirely free from the watching eyes of children. This in itself could be considered an attraction to some! Having sailed on Virgin, I found that the atmosphere on Virgin vessels is a unique and very different freewheeling experience.
On Virgin Voyages, the idea that you get from the experience what you are willing to put into it is extremely true. There are some unique surprises that guests can find here as well.
MSC joins the theme park rides trend with new cruise ships
MSC Cruises joined the club with the launch of the MSC Seascape in late 2022. The Seascape features Robotron, which mounts riders to the business end of a giant KUKA robot arm that will spin, shake and bounce you in every direction possible. Robotron was developed by JRA – part of RWS Global.
The KUKA robot arms were also used as the basis for Universal’s ultra-popular Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey dark ride. MSC Seascape also features a number of other high-tech-based attractions. This includes a VR 360º Flight Simulator, a VR Motorcycle ride, a Formula Racer simulator game and an XD Cinema ride.
WhiteWater, which has provided aquatic equipment for ten of the company’s cruise ships, has brought a custom-themed Adventure Trail, an AquaPlay 150, AquaSplash spray toys, and three water slides to MSC Seascape.
See also: Ideum creates world-class interactive wine-tasting experience for MSC Euribia
Norwegian attractions
Norwegian Cruise Line is another fleet that offers a variety of options. It has smaller older ships that are more traditional and some newer models that offer unique attractions.
The line’s four largest ships are part of what they call the Breakaway Plus class vessels. Most feature attractions like a waterpark with attractions from WhiteWater, as well as a mini-golf course, a laser tag arena, a ropes course, a VR arcade, duckpin bowling and even an electric go-kart track. Yes, the sight of a go-kart track at sea is perhaps one of the strangest things you might ever see. But it does appear quite magical. You’ll find most of these features on the Norwegian Joy, Bliss and Encore. However, the Norwegian Escape lacks the go-karts, laser tag and VR game arcade.
Next in line are the two slightly smaller Breakaway class ships. These still include a waterpark, ropes course, and mini-golf course attractions. Moving down from here, the remaining classes stick with a more traditional cruise experience.
Disney theme parks meet Disney cruise ships
Disney is the king of the theme park world, yet the Disney Cruise Line is still a young fleet of ships. The line is growing slowly, ship by ship, adding new offerings and concepts to build the company’s vision of what a floating Disney experience should be.
The Disney Cruise Line started out in the late 90s with two modest-sized Magic class vessels, the Disney Magic and Disney Wonder. These which launched in 1998 and 1999 respectively. They were followed up by two larger Dream class vessels, the Disney Dream in 2011 and the Disney Fantasy in 2012.
Finally, the first of the larger class Triton vessels, the Disney Wish, launched in 2022. This will be followed by the launch of the Disney Treasure in 2024. There is also a third yet-to-be-named sister ship coming in 2025.
Interestingly enough, Disney purchased a nearly completed vessel from a foreign cruise line meant to sail the waters of the Asian cruise market. This will be bigger than any of the other existing Disney vessels when it launches. Currently, the ship is undergoing final construction along with extensive modifications to fall more in line with Disney’s design aesthetics.
It is worth mentioning that the original design of the vessel was to have a powered roller coaster, almost identical to the Bolt coaster on Carnival’s Excel class line. However, renderings from Disney show that the coaster will no longer be part of the re-design for the ship.
See also: Sustainability innovation leadership at Disney Cruise Line
IP & themed experiences
Each Disney vessel is somewhat unique, offering a variety of different tie-in experiences to various Disney IPs. The older Disney ships mainly feature more in the way of Disney live entertainment offerings, musical shows and even Marvel-themed play areas, but still manage to include one thrilling waterslide as well.
The next tier ships began to play more to Disney’s popular live films. These created play spaces and activities onboard themed to the Marvel and Star Wars universes, in addition to the live entertainment Disney Cruise Lines is known for. They also upped their game with the addition of WhiteWater’s AquaDuck water coaster slides. These feature clear enclosed tubes that can even extend over the side of the ship.
Lastly, the Triton class ships have evolved to offer a more themed AquaMouse water coaster slide experience, along with themed experiences tied to Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar and Disney films. They have even incorporated live adventures into some of the dining experiences onboard, such as the Ant-Man and Wasp Quantum Encounter dining experience. However, when it comes to extra attractions on the top deck, the Disney ships are lacking behind the competition.
Theme park thrills with Royal Caribbean cruise ships
Royal Caribbean currently holds the record for having the world’s biggest cruise ship with the Wonder of the Seas, which was launched on its maiden voyage in March 2022.
Wonder features an assortment of attractions including a small waterpark, the Ultimate Abyss slide (tallest dry-slide at sea), a FlowRider stationary surf wave, a rock climbing wall, a playground, a 10-deck tall zip line, a cantilevered bar, an outdoor movie screen, mini golf course, an aqua-theater and more.
This ship took the title of the world’s largest cruise ship from another sister Royal Caribbean vessel, the Symphony of the Seas. This features three waterslides, a laser tag arena, and a FlowRider.
Both vessels are part of the line’s Oasis Class ships, which includes the Oasis (2009), Allure (2010), Harmony (2016), Symphony (2018), Wonder (2022) and the upcoming Utopia that is set to launch in 2024 as the last of the Oasis class vessels. As they were built over a 15-year period of time, each Oasis-class ship may offer some different experiences not found on the others, such as the Abyss slide, rock climbing, a zip line and even an ice skating arena.
Icon of the Seas
In January 2024 Royal Caribbean’s newest vessel class, the Icon of the Seas (pictured, top), will embark with passengers with an offering like no other.
One of the vessel’s biggest claims to fame is that it will feature Category 6, the largest waterpark at sea. This will include slides like Pressure Drop, Storm Chases, Storm Surge and Hurricane Hunter, as well as featuring the tallest drop slide at sea, Frightening Bolt. Icon will also feature water play areas and the first “suspended infinity pool at sea.” There is also the AquaDome area which features an AquaTheater entertainment venue.
The Icon of the Seas won’t be alone for long, however. A second yet-to-be-named Icon class vessel is already under construction. That is expected to launch sometime in 2025.
If all this wasn’t enough the Royal Caribbean vessels also stop at Perfect Day at CocoCay. This private island features more than just a private beach club experience.
In addition to beach and poolside fun, guests at the island stop can take to the skies via zip lines or try a 450-foot high ride on a helium balloon. If you want more wet fun, the island also features a private waterpark that features the tallest waterslide in North America, dropping siders 135 down from the top of Daredevil’s Peak. Royal Caribbean worked with WhiteWater and Martin Aquatic Design & Engineering on the creation of the water park at Perfect Day at CocoCay.
Whatever adventure you are seeking, from adults looking for a little fun without kids to amenities and attractions designed for the entire family to enjoy, there is a cruise line out there trying to serve it up to you on a silver platter.
