Guest Author - Samantha Eyre-Herring
Large cruise ships have changed dramatically in recent years. In the past, large cruise ships were more for the traveler who wished to sit around the pool and be lavishly pampered while cruising from port to port. While that sounds great to me right now, what I love about the direction some of the larger ships are going, is the onboard activity that goes way beyond aerobics classes. Cruising today doesn’t mean waiting for an exotic shore excursion, and clearly Royal Caribbean has taken the step to attracting active travelers further than any other cruise line with their signature rock-walls, and ice-skating rinks.
As an avid “rock wall climber”, I have a hard time passing up any wall I see. Royal Caribbean’s rock walls are now standard fleet-wide, and are over three stories tall, which, when you reach the top, puts you at over 200ft above sea level! The views are the best on the ship, so clip your camera to your belt and lift yourself up. Help is available for beginners, and the walls have several routes with varying degrees of difficulty to suit all levels of ability.
Bungee trampolines are the newest attraction on the newly refurbished Enchantment of the Seas. Four were recently installed on this ship during July 2005. Passengers strap themselves into harnesses and amaze their family with back flips and other aerial acrobatics 20 feet or so in the air.
Freedom of the Seas sets sail to the Caribbean June 2006, and while Royal Caribbean is keeping mum on this new ship, their largest to date, they promise to amaze us. One tidbit that they are willing to share is the inclusion of a Flowrider. The Flowrider is a 32-foot-wide by 40-foot-long pool, which enables people to surf or boogie board against a wave by simulating a current. Surfing on ship? You bet!
Ice skating rinks are also now on all Voyager class ships, along with full size basketball courts, miniature golf courses and golf simulators. How much more can they pack in? However, before you book a cruise, make sure that the ship you are traveling on has the amenities you desire. Not all ships are created equal, even within the same cruise line. For example, not all of Royal Caribbean’s basketball courts are full size, if this is important to you, find out in advance.
Other cruise lines have courts and golf, but they don’t have the variety of Royal Caribbean, however I doubt that it will be long before more of them do. Don’t pre-judge cruises based on images of luxury liners from old movies, or from what your grandparents told you about their honeymoon all those years ago. This is truly not your grandparents cruise ship!
