NCL Aqua Ship Aqua SlideCoaster and The Drop pricing?

[LoryAnn]

Are their extra fees on board with the upcoming 2025 NCL Aqua ship when using the  Aqua SlideCoaster and The Drop water activities? Getting conflicting info. Thanks.

Edited February 18 by LoryAnn

[hallux]

I would be surprised if anyone knows for certain one way or the other at this point in time.

[Two Wheels Only]

Price will probably fluctuate just like when the go-karts were first introduced. Even if you see a price when the ship first launches, there's no guarantee that the price won't go up...like it did with the go-karts. 

Edited February 18 by Two Wheels Only

[macewank]

Considering nobody can even book or look at the entertainment options on the ship right now (because it's not finished being built) this isn't a surprise. 

 

I wouldn't expect anyone to have accurate info on this stuff for at least a few more months. 

[david_sobe]

The Go Karts are a big revenue stream for NCL so my hunch there would be a charge for the waterslide roller coaster.  

[Liljo22]

NCL has already said the aqua coaster will be free.  The drop slide is also free on the Prima and Viva.  

 

From their press release:

Edited February 19 by Liljo22

[Pitzel]

I have never seen NCL charge for any of their water slides. I'm not sure why they would start doing so with Aqua.

[david_sobe]

46 minutes ago, Pitzel said:

I have never seen NCL charge for any of their water slides. I'm not sure why they would start doing so with Aqua.

That's true.  But with only 2 users at a time the line is going to be HUGE.  We remember things like Margaritaville being free until it was overwhelmed and a fee was then added.  NCL charges to play darts so it would not be surprising to me to have a fee for the roller coaster slide.  The Go Kart tracks kept getting bigger and bigger with each ship.  Its a huge revenue maker for NCL.  How will the Aqua make up for that shortfall?

I agree that if NCL charges for a waterslide they will get flamed.  

Edited February 19 by david_sobe

[Pitzel]

True.

On the Prima, the for-fee mini golf never worked right, so they couldn't charge for that. They did have darts (also for a fee), but I never saw anyone actually playing darts there. Some people sat around on the couches, but it didn't look like they made any money from that space (at least not on our sailing). Not the reliable money makers that they were hoping for.

[rodndonna]

12 hours ago, Pitzel said:

On the Prima, the for-fee mini golf never worked right, so they couldn't charge for that. They did have darts (also for a fee), but I never saw anyone actually playing darts there. Some people sat around on the couches, but it didn't look like they made any money from that space (at least not on our sailing). Not the reliable money makers that they were hoping for.

 

It was the same on the Viva late January. Mini-golf was free although was no "interactive" feature and did not see anyone play darts (although we did not spend much time in the area.

 

They were charging $5 for the zoom video you take from the top of the ship which I had been led to believe was free at one time (from Youtube reviews)

 

[cruiseny4life]

19 hours ago, Pitzel said:

True.

On the Prima, the for-fee mini golf never worked right, so they couldn't charge for that. They did have darts (also for a fee), but I never saw anyone actually playing darts there. Some people sat around on the couches, but it didn't look like they made any money from that space (at least not on our sailing). Not the reliable money makers that they were hoping for.

Unfortunately mini golf is now a fee-based activity. $10 per person for nine holes. The features work. They're not exactly...awe inspiring. It was a fun thirty minutes with my husband, but we probably would not do it again. 

[ray985]

On 2/19/2024 at 6:03 PM, david_sobe said:

That's true.  But with only 2 users at a time the line is going to be HUGE.  We remember things like Margaritaville being free until it was overwhelmed and a fee was then added.  NCL charges to play darts so it would not be surprising to me to have a fee for the roller coaster slide.  The Go Kart tracks kept getting bigger and bigger with each ship.  Its a huge revenue maker for NCL.  How will the Aqua make up for that shortfall?

I agree that if NCL charges for a waterslide they will get flamed.  

2 users at a time shouldn't be a problem. The Ultimate Abyss on Oasis-class ships only allows 2 people at a time; the ship holds double the people and the line is usually less than 15 minutes at most. Same thing for SkyRide on Carnival Vista-class ships. It's manageable, it's just a gloried water slide in this case. 

As for making money on Aqua, they're making more money by packing more people on the ship compared to the Prima/Viva. 
 

[Onrcl]

2 users at a time may...I emphasize may...also be inaccurate.  There are two slide tubes but I believe they are saying more than one person rides in the innettube per slide. It looks still fairly short also...so it's not going to need the reduction in participation that the go carts do to not make a line from the go carts all the way to the buffet...lol.  I've seen lines for free waterslides but if you had to pay even like $5 per one swish down....there would never be a line. It's not impossobele that they charge...but given how less kid friendly the viva and prima are generally ( not unfriendly...but not as kid oriented I mean)   I really think it's a reasonable hope the Aqua racer is free ...I hope they don't prove me wrong and keep it empty all the time

Edited March 15 by Onrcl
Typo

[cruiseny4life]

7 hours ago, Onrcl said:

2 users at a time may...I emphasize may...also be inaccurate.  There are two slide tubes but I believe they are saying more than one person rides in the innettube per slide. It looks still fairly short also...so it's not going to need the reduction in participation that the go carts do to not make a line from the go carts all the way to the buffet...lol.  I've seen lines for free waterslides but if you had to pay even like $5 per one swish down....there would never be a line. It's not impossobele that they charge...but given how less kid friendly the viva and prima are generally ( not unfriendly...but not as kid oriented I mean)   I really think it's a reasonable hope the Aqua racer is free ...I hope they don't prove me wrong and keep it empty all the time

I think that in one of my webinars I heard the Aqua Racer will be no charge. Don't hold me to that, but I am almost positive that's what I heard.