Skating on Cruise Ships??

tazsk8s · January 13, 2011, 09:31:08 AM

Hubby and I are going on a cruise in a couple of weeks! We are on the Royal Carribbean Freedom of the Seas, which has an ice rink.

Has anyone skated on a cruise ship before? Is it real ice or artificial? If it's real ice I'm definitely packing skates....on the fence if it's artificial, as I've heard that dulls your blades really fast, although they're close to being due for a sharpening anyway so I might as well just accelerate that process a bit.

Isk8NYC · January 13, 2011, 09:58:53 AM

The CruiseCritic message boards say it's real ice.
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=652386&highlight=skating+real+ice

Royal Caribbean may have cornered this market, all these ships in their fleet have real ice skating rinks:

Adventure
Allure
Explorer
Freedom
Independence
Liberty
Mariner
Navigator
Oasis
Voyager

(All ~ of the Seas. I have a skating student whose family always cruises on these ships.)

Carnival's skating rinks appear to be synthetic ice, based on what I saw on cruisecritic.com.
There are a couple of threads kicking around on this board about skating on synthetic ice.

fsk8r · January 13, 2011, 10:22:09 AM

I saw an article in a skating magazine on the cruise ship rinks. Apparently they're very tiny so not good for doing too much other than spins and the odd turn but the ship the article was written about had a real ice.
I also remember reading that they didn't get the amount of ice time that you'd have thought. The rink would be covered over at times for other entertainment.
Still you avoid having to commute to the rink which has to be a bonus.

ChristyRN · January 13, 2011, 03:07:34 PM

We just booked our honeymoon on the Allure of the Seas (the biggest one!) I am taking my skates and will try to skate at least once, just to say that I've done it. And I'm going to make D take pictures. Maybe I should try it in my wedding dress?!?

Isk8NYC · January 13, 2011, 03:45:19 PM

You could have the wedding party on the rink:
http://aurora17.com/skating-party-cruiseoasis-of-the-seas-allure-of-the-seas/

Just a note: I mis-read a line toward the bottom of the page that said "She has multiple personal experiences" as "She has multiple PERSONALITIES!" lol.

Sk8Dreams · January 13, 2011, 04:29:33 PM

I know someone who went on a cruise with real ice and she said that when the rink was available, it was very crowded. Still, I would bring skates.

spiralina · January 13, 2011, 04:41:57 PM

I've tried skating in a white dress with a train. It works very badly...

Btw - congratulations!

ChristyRN · January 13, 2011, 07:30:35 PM

I figure that my skates don't take up that much room and my large suitcase was pretty empty on my last cruise so there will be room. I did see the rink on the Voyager on my first cruise, but I wasn't skating then. I was impressed with what they could do on that tiny rink. With my luck, the ship will lurch as I'm landing my triple axel and I'll break my ankle again...Or at least that's the story I already have lined up for any injury I get. Although I might have to come up with a different one for the zip line.

Hey, maybe I could make a new skate dress that's a shorter version of my wedding dress. Off to look at my patterns and get creative. Maybe I should wait until I actually have a dress...

tazsk8s · January 14, 2011, 11:52:25 AM

Thanks for the input. I have no major expectations of being able to "do" much on the ice. Just want to skate on it to say I skated on my cruise ship.

Hubby of course thinks I am nuts for bringing skates...can't believe he's just now figuring out I'm nuts! LOL

FigureSpins · January 14, 2011, 12:05:25 PM

I would bring my skates, too! (I think that's why DH booked a cruise ship without a rink, lol.)

morgail · January 15, 2011, 01:06:45 PM

I skated on the rink on Mariner of the Seas back in '05. It was tiny (but real ice!), but they allotted 2 sessions during the week for people who brought their own skates. I think these were maybe 45-60 minutes long, and were at 8 or 9 in the morning during the "at sea" days. There were maybe 7 people who showed up. They had another couple of sessions during the week (later in the day) for anyone, and they supplied plastic rental skates. I didn't go to those sessions.

It turned out the guy who ran the sessions (and was a member of the skating show cast) was someone who'd grown up skating at my local rink in the '80s, before he left town to train seriously.

tazsk8s · January 16, 2011, 09:50:32 AM

Quote from: morgail on January 15, 2011, 01:06:45 PM
I skated on the rink on Mariner of the Seas back in '05. It was tiny (but real ice!), but they allotted 2 sessions during the week for people who brought their own skates. I think these were maybe 45-60 minutes long, and were at 8 or 9 in the morning during the "at sea" days. There were maybe 7 people who showed up. They had another couple of sessions during the week (later in the day) for anyone, and they supplied plastic rental skates. I didn't go to those sessions.

ooooh - the early morning/bring your own skates sessions would be ideal! I'll definitely look for those. Thanks!

LaterSkater · January 16, 2011, 05:36:51 PM

I actually JUST got a new adult LTS student this past week whose only ice skating experience was . . . on a cruise ship! She said it was a really tiny rink. But apparently enough to give her a little nudge to try it on a bigger scale!! (She says learning to ice skate is on her "bucket list." and she is doing great!! Welcome to AOSS, baby!)

tazsk8s · January 31, 2011, 10:29:36 PM

Back from my cruise, had a blast, and yes, did get to skate. There was one "Advanced Skate" session, the morning of our last day at sea, and I waited all week just for that. Basically the requirement to skate on that session was "must have your own skates". Out of 3,000 or so passengers I was the only one nutty enough to pack skates so I had the ice totally to myself.

It was a little softer than I'm used to, but in decent shape. Didn't have any real problems with the motion of the ship...we were going through a pretty calm area when I skated, so I didn't even notice any motion. The walls sure do come up quick on the small ice though!

They had a number of "all skate" sessions throughout the week, but I didn't feel like dealing with a bunch of kids in rentals, and we were busy doing other stuff anyway. We went to the ice show one night...I wasn't sure what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised. I thoroughly enjoyed it. And was amazed that the skaters were doing 2axels and some triples on the small ice.

Isk8NYC · January 31, 2011, 10:32:27 PM

That's great! I was thinking about you and wondering how it all worked out. Thanks for sharing.

Skittl1321 · February 01, 2011, 08:59:23 AM

Did you see any of the ice shows Royal Carribean does?

IceNetwork had an interview with one of the skaters on Allure of the Seas (I can't remember his name- he was at Senior Nationals last year). He said he manages a quad toe!!!! on that tiny rink.

ETA: It's Shaun Rogers.
Here is the article: http://web.icenetwork.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20101221&content_id=16352936&vkey=ice_news&print=true (there is another about him in the January archives also...)

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Skating on Cruise Ships??