Top 10 Cruise Lines with Waterparks at Sea
There are some things that the whole family can enjoy together, with one such as activity been spending time in the pool but to make the most of your time together and to keep everyone entertained for hours after hours, you really need to head to waterpark and thankfully, there is now a growing number of lines that offer the chance to do just that.
I have many memories as a kid heading to a Spanish costa and spending a day in a waterpark and it was always a highlight of any holiday and even as an adult, a day riding flumes and relaxing in a lazy river still makes for a great day on holiday but one thing that cannot be ignored is the cost of visiting them.
On a cruise ship, you can enjoy splash parks, flumes, swimming pool and even water rides and all of it is including in the cost of your holiday.
With so much water-based fun awaiting you, all you need to do is choose a line that offers waterparks, but just which ones do just that?
That is what I look at in this list where I take you through the top 10 cruise lines that have waterparks.
Our Top 10 Cruise Lines with Waterparks at Sea
Royal Caribbean
Royal Caribbean are known for operating the largest cruise ships in the world, so it is no surprise that they also offer the biggest waterparks at sea.
Available across the majority of their ships, Royal Caribbean offer a great mix of splash parks for younger kids, swimming pools for those wanting a more relaxed day in the sun, large flumes and their famous FlowRider surf simulators.
On their largest ships, you get some of the biggest flumes at sea including racing ones and bowl ones and some ships even have large 2-person raft slides, so basically whatever your preference is for a waterpark, the chances are that you will be able to do it on a Royal Caribbean ship.
Carnival Cruise Lines
Carnival Cruise Line are known for having a fun-first philosophy, so it is no surprise that they have some of the biggest and best waterparks at sea which are often branded as WaterWorks.
As with all lines, it does depend on which ship you sail on but across the line as a while there is everything from racing flumes to twisty thrill flumes complete with modern effects.
It’s not just all about the flumes of course as their ships also offer large swimming pools, multiple hot tubs and splash parks to allow you to have fun under the sun.
Norwegian Cruise Lines
If you want to sail with NCL but also want to spend your time at sea enjoying a waterpark, you will need to sail on their newer ships but whilst they may not have the widest range of ships to choose from, they do have a wide range of water-based attractions.
Some ships, such as the Epic have huge tube bowl rides, some have high speed drop styles flumes and some have racing slides.
The splash parks on some NCL ships have arguably the best splash pools at sea where kids can not only swim, splash and get wet but they can climb towers, walk over rope bridges and even spray each other with giant water guns.
They also offer the usual range of swimming pools and hot tubs, but their newer Prima class ships also have a beach resort style set up on their promenade deck.
MSC Cruises
MSC have taken a different approach to their onboard waterparks as they have relied on heavy theming rather than coming up with record breaking flumes or unique attractions and in the main, its works great.
On the MSC Seaside, the Forest Aquaventure Park features slides, flumes, a splash pool and rope bridges and water cannons all with a forest theme whilst the Seascape has a pirate theme.
Some of their more modern ships have interactive slides that use music, lights and even games to make the experience even more fun but if you don’t fancy a modern mega ship, even some of their smaller ships have flumes, splash parks and all ships of course have swimming pool and hot tubs.
Disney Cruise Line
As you would expect, the waterparks on Disney cruise ships are, well, Disney themed, with splash parks that feature Disney characters to interactive videos featuring Disney characters that start your ride with a story.
The offering is different on every ship, but popular water rides include the AquaDuck, a 2-person raft water coaster and the Aquadunk, a hide speed flume that goes over the edge of the ship.
With it been Disney, there is a heavy focus on Disney branding throughout the water parks so if your kids love all things Disney, they are sure to love spending day splash splashing about on a Disney cruise ship, but they still offer plenty for the whole family to enjoy.
Costa Cruises
Costa are an Italian based low budget cruise line operating mostly in the Mediterranean but despite their cheap prices, they still have some of the best water parks at sea included in their base cost.
Some of their older ships offer splash parks to go alongside swimming pools and hot tubs, but their newer ships, including the Costa Smeralda and Costa Toscana, offer flumes including tube slides and spiral slides as well as larger splash parks.
AIDA Cruises
AIDA maybe most famous for the giant lips that feature on the front of their ships, but the German brand is perhaps best known in their home market for their resort style of cruising which includes large water parks on their new ships.
Some of their ships have dual racing tube slides, some have a beach resort style of water park but for me the highlight of AIDA is that they offer a lazy river at sea.
Onboard the AIDAPrima, you can jump in a tube and relax floating around an indoor lazy river which is ideal for itineraries sailing out of its Northern European homebases.
Adora Cruises
Adora were established a joint venture between the China State Shipbuilding Corporation and the Carnival Corporation to develop a new cruise line for the Chinese market.
It is perhaps no surprise then that they have added huge water parks to their ships, with the Adora Magic City having an elaborate water park to rival those across the Pacific.
It has a range of swimming pools, a few large flumes including high-speed racers and open-air spiral flumes and they also have large splash zones including fountains, water cannons, tipping buckets and min slides for younger kids.
Dream Cruises
Things have been rocky for Dream Cruises, a Malaysian cruise line operating out of multiple ports across the Malayan Peninsula but their main ship offers a great water park, so if you want a more local experience in the region, they could be a good option, especially if you want to take advantage of the constant warm temperatures near the equator by spending time in a water park.
The Genting Dream has multiple flumes, of varying thrill levels, a large splash zone including mini slides and a large main pool area full of hot tubs.
Private Islands
So, this one maybe a bit of a cheat but hear me out as if you are sailing in and around the Caribbean, there are several private islands that feature huge water parks, bigger than anything onboard a ship itself, the can visited not only by the big resort style ships but by smaller more luxurious ships.
These make for a great option for those who want a more relaxing holiday, maybe without 100 of kids running around but who also want at least 1 day at a water park and riding huge flumes, surviving wave pools and relaxing in a lazy river.
These private islands are extensions of the ships themselves so you can carry over any drink packages and also get free food and basic drinks whilst on them.
Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day at CocoCay is one of the biggest water parks and can be visited by those cruising onboard Celebrity cruise ships and Norwegians private resorts can also be visited by those onboard Regent and Oceania ships.
