Ice skating rinks on board?

[Eclipsepearl]

We're still in the planning stages and are not even sure of dates, locations, etc.

 

I just wanted feedback from other parents who have cruised on ships with ice skating rinks. The fact is that I have three ice-skating mad children. Two take lessons are actually quite good, doing leaps and turns, etc.

 

I'm kind of curious, would it be worth it to book on one of these ships? Which lines and ships have rinks? Or do you think it's a waste to factor this in when they can just as well ice skate at home? I imagine the rinks are quite small. Also, any information about availability, fees or schedules would be appreciated. I wouldn't want to get on board and find out it's really expensive or hardly open to the public, or any special rules that make it not as fun.

 

The older two would enjoy the ice shows.

 

Please note that this would, in no circumstances, be a "deal breaker". So would it make a nice plus to our cruise or a gimick that the kids couldn't really enjoy that much?

[crusinmama06]

The ships that have ice skating rinks are:

Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas, Liberty of the Seas, Independence of the Seas, Explorer of the Seas, Voyager of the Seas, Mariner of the Seas, Adventure of the Seas, Navigator of the Seas, Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas (not launched yet, Dec 2010)

 

There is NO charge to use them.

 

You can buy private lessons. That would be a fee service. I don't know off the top how much that would be since I never used them.

 

They have the ice skating open not only for "Open Skate" but they also have it open for Advance Skater times which would be a benefit for your children.

 

The rinks are small. They are large enough for the ice show performers but they are really small in comparison with a land ice rink.

 

We had no problems getting in. We went on the last sea day. The only "requirement" is to bring long pants and socks. They give you the skates (and helmets if you wish). No fees at all.

 

 

 

 

 

[Eclipsepearl]

You rock! So fast with pictures and everything! Thanks!!

 

So it's only on RCCL? That would probably have been our pick anyway. It's helpful to know that it's only on that one line. Is there a difference between the rinks between the ships? Are they all about the same size, quality, etc.?

 

What I like about the photos is that it doesn't look too crowded. My kids love outdoor rinks but if there are too many people, it's not that fun.

 

I was hoping you would bash this so that I wouldn't have to pack their ice skates ;)

[Mack2]

Like cruisinmama06 stated, the Voyager class, and Oasis class RCI ships have the ice skating rink.

 

I think I remember them saying at the show that the rink is 1/3 the size of a normal rink?

What's really nice is that the skaters from the show run the open skate times. They're sizing you up for the skates on-board.

 

One couple that was in the show were former Canadian Olympic qualifiers or something... it was neat chatting with them about their experiences with the competitive skating world.

 

 

 

 

edit:

Voyager-Class, Oasis-class, and Freedom-class

 

I neglected to mention the Freedom-class vessels in the post.

We've been on the Explorer of the Seas, Navigator of the Seas, and Liberty of the Seas... the rinks have all pretty much been the same... Don't know what's on the Oasis.

[boulders]

In order to get access to the Advanced skating times, you would have to bring their own skates. I found that the rink was very small on the 2 ships we tried it on - maybe 50 by 50 feet. Even though the rink for the ice show was 1/3 of regulation size, they didn't use all of it during open skate - maybe 1/2 of it. Cruisinmama's pictures show all of it in use though. It was also quite interesting skating while the ship was moving - you felt much more rocking that way. During the times my kids tried it, it was very crowded, and had a lot of inexperienced skaters on it. We brought dd's skates, and she enjoyed it for about 15 minutes.

[sharktums]

We've found that the 'advanced skate' times are AWESOME and EMPTY!!! So if the kids have their own skates bring them and take advantage of a pretty much empty rink.

 

Love RCCL and the ships that have the rinks!

[crusinmama06]

I always loved that picture of Mack's daughter on her little skates! :D So cute!

 

Yep, I am pretty sure that Royal Caribbean has the only rinks at sea. And I haven't seen anything that suggests that Oasis has a larger rink than the Freedom or Voyager class.

 

It was a great tip to know that the advanced times are empty and you would need your own skates. Great tips boulders and skartums! :D

[sbhdmh]

We were on IOS last month and I also have a little skater. If we were able to drive it certainly would have been better to bring her own skates. Flying made that impossible, though. They provided equipment free of charge but the skates were horribly uncomfortable for her. She was crying to get off the ice within 15 minutes. The ice shows are AMAZING - really superb! The performers run free skate and also do lessons. My dd had just turned 5 so couldn't do the lessons - they start at age 6. Too bad - the performer working with the people who knew how to skate was teaching all sorts of turns and various moves she would have LOVED to learn. DH and I took the basic learn to skate lesson - my skates were also really uncomfortable and I only lasted about 20 minutes (but I felt my feet for a few hours) DH said his skates were fine. His knees were another story;)

 

We went to open skate the last day and it was very, very crowded. The performer handling the check in was very overwhelmed. We had met him earlier in the cruise - a very sweet young man. He told us that free skate is fun when it's empty but if you wait until the last day the crowds and their attitudes make it less than pleasant. Some inexperienced skaters were also making it pretty unsafe with the crowds. Since dd was under 6 dh or I had to be on the ice with her. My aching feet trumped his aching knees and he took her.

 

All in all skating on the ship was not as fun as I had expected it to be. The ice shows were SO good that the skating portion wasn't really necessary, though. Hope this helps.

[Gonz]

Do they have any open hockey? Ha! I've been playing hockey all my life, through college, and I coach youth hockey in our town's association. And of course my 3 & 6 year old skate, I coach my older son's team as well as our association's goalies.

 

That would be really fun if they had a few sticks/puck and helmets for the kids!

[boulders]

No hockey. ;)

[Eclipsepearl]

I'm not sure how hockey would work on such a small rink. Lots of scoring! :D

 

Cute photo Mack! She's adorable.

 

If they're used to their own skates, they got all fussy with rentals. We've BTDT too.

 

How do they decide who is "advanced"? Does just having their own skates do it? Can I leave them?

[boulders]

If they're used to their own skates, they got all fussy with rentals. We've BTDT too.

 

How do they decide who is "advanced"? Does just having their own skates do it? Can I leave them?

 

Yes, just having their own skates allows them access to the advanced time.Not sure if you can leave them. If they're used to skating, the rental skates onboard are truly blecch. They're more like ski boot shells with a blade attached.

[crusinmama06]

How do they decide who is "advanced"? Does just having their own skates do it? Can I leave them?

 

You sign your life away. ;) Before you can even step on the ice, everyone signs a waiver. So you would be signing the waiver. But I don't remember being told that I had to stay.

[junglejane]

Do they have open skating times when the ship is in port? Are they less busy then? Just wondering because we are going on our first RCL cruise on the Mariner of the Seas next month. We've been to Mexico on several prior cruises and are more interested in the ship than the ports this time. I'm wondering the same thing about the rock climbing wall: is it available on port days?

[Eclipsepearl]

No thread-jacking lol!

 

But I was wondering the same thing about the ice skating rinks. Can they be used on port days? That would be great (although I would have a parent on board if we did).

 

If the kids were with an instructor, I wouldn't imagine that I would have to stay. I don't have to stay for their skating lessons at our local rink. We can if we want but some activities actually don't want the parents present (my girls' gymnastics, for example).

 

Also, I had no luck getting info about these activities on the RCCL site. Am I just lame or am I not alone?

[dreaminofsun]

OMG! I want a job with RCCL. I used to be a figure skating coach before I had kids :)

[Eclipsepearl]

OMG! I want a job with RCCL. I used to be a figure skating coach before I had kids :)

 

Lol! Yes, that would be a cool job. I imagine they're performers from the shows??? I hope so. That would be fun for my kids, to see a show and then get tips from those who were in it!

[beachchick]

Eclipsepearl: You are not lame and you are not alone.

 

The ice skating rinks have limited and specific hours for use by passengers. It's not a thing where they have open-ended hours or where passengers can come and go at will. Instead they have 45 minute sessions (I think they're still 45), mostly if not all on sea days as I recall. They allow a limited number of passengers on the ice at any one time. You have to sign up/sign in and sign a waiver. Parents must sign waivers for their children. After your session, you must exit the ice so the next group can have their turn. If there are "openings," you can do the next session, but you have to go sign up again.

 

There are many passengers who've never skated before and have no idea about ice etiquette or anything, so watch out for them. My DH spent a good deal of time just dodging beginners who were out of control. BTW, they have both hockey and figure skates, but they are the most uncomfortable skates in the history of the world. (Well, okay, in the history of my life. I grew up with my own figure skates--real skates, even though I'm a CA girl. My DH grew up in New York state on hockey skates and concurs that the skates onboard are the pits. But it wasn't worth it for us to bring our own for 90 minutes total of skating during the week.)

 

There are fewer advanced sessions than open sessions, but the advanced ones are not nearly as crowded. Those are the ones where you must have your own skates. They are the only ones where spins or jumps of any kind or anything other than regular circle skating is allowed.

 

There is no hockey allowed, period. There couldn't be! The rink is much too small, and how on earth could they decide who would get to play, even a pick up game? I can just see the injuries and upsets. No waiver on earth would cover the possible issues with kids/people who are barely able to skate, much less wield a hockey stick or slap a puck. Hockey sticks, a bunch of kids, little space to skate, and a moving ship. Yeah, not a good picture.

 

As an FYI, you must wear long pants for all ice skating. Shorts and even capris are not allowed. Those who wear and bring skating outfits with tights have reported being allowed to wear them in lieu of long pants. Of course, socks are a must, but that's kind of "duh," isn't it?

 

I hope you all have as much fun as we have. Well, there was one time it wasn't so fun when my DH was dodging yet another woman who was of the "Oh no, I can't control where I'm going on the ice," combined with a mom "herding" her 3-y/o beginner right into DH's path, so he ended up flat on his back on the ice.

 

beachchick

[Eclipsepearl]

...with a mom "herding" her 3-y/o beginner right into DH's path, so he ended up flat on his back on the ice

 

Ugh! poor guy. Scary. Could have really been bad. Hope the kid wasn't hurt!

 

Once some woman actually grabbed me and dragged me down once here. That wasn't as bad as the fact she didn't apologize and thought it was funny :mad: You'd think they'd be careful on a ship, where you might run into the same people again!

 

Thanks for explaining. Those are very reasonable, standard rules. I'm surprised mittens aren't required (they are in our local rink). I used to make mine wear helmets but stopped about a year ago when they got better and the helmets got in the way. I'm also paranoid of lice (really paranoid! France, lice-infected country, yuk!!)

 

The time limit too is reasonable. My kids usually last an hour.

 

If they tried playing hockey on such a small rink, it would end up being more Pong than Hockey. Lots of scoring!

 

Luckily my son likes figure skating, not hockey. Hockey's a rough game! Although I would be the supportive mom if he did love it. I'm secretly relieved he doesn't :D

[sbhdmh]

Luckily my son likes figure skating, not hockey. Hockey's a rough game! Although I would be the supportive mom if he did love it. I'm secretly relieved he doesn't :D

 

LOL! At the age of 3 my dd fell in love with hockey and the women's team at the university where dh is a professor. She has become a little mascot and we now attend just about every game. I never would have thought that my little pink wearing, tea party loving, ballerina princess would have wanted a full set of hockey equipment for her 4th birthday... The tiny hockey pants are very cute but I am also relieved that she seems to like the pretty outfits and dance moves she sees in figure skating. I'll be fine (gulp!) with whatever she wants to do. Really I will. At least until some big brute knocks her over to get to the puck :eek:

[beachchick]

...with a mom "herding" her 3-y/o beginner right into DH's path, so he ended up flat on his back on the ice

 

Ugh! poor guy. Scary. Could have really been bad. Hope the kid wasn't hurt!

 

Once some woman actually grabbed me and dragged me down once here. That wasn't as bad as the fact she didn't apologize and thought it was funny :mad: You'd think they'd be careful on a ship, where you might run into the same people again!

 

Thanks for explaining. Those are very reasonable, standard rules. I'm surprised mittens aren't required (they are in our local rink). I used to make mine wear helmets but stopped about a year ago when they got better and the helmets got in the way. I'm also paranoid of lice (really paranoid! France, lice-infected country, yuk!!)

 

The time limit too is reasonable. My kids usually last an hour.

 

If they tried playing hockey on such a small rink, it would end up being more Pong than Hockey. Lots of scoring!

 

Luckily my son likes figure skating, not hockey. Hockey's a rough game! Although I would be the supportive mom if he did love it. I'm secretly relieved he doesn't :D

 

Glad I could help.

 

Fortunately, my DH is quick on his feet, even though he ultimately couldn't keep up with the train wreck around him, and the child was uninjured. Her mother was a, well, not a nice word. She "blamed" my DH for being on the ice in the first place: "This is for children!" No, actually it's for everyone, but never mind that. My DH was slightly stunned, but was his usual polite self (even though his head was killing him).

 

I so agree with you about lice worries. Ick, ick, and double ick.

 

How wonderful that your son likes figure skating. It requires strength, agility, and grace--all at the same time. Great experience for him.

 

beachchick