Long lines for Flow Rider?

[TMJBR]

I have never sailed RCL, but I was watching a commercial and saw how they have the Flow Rider. I was wondering, are there lines of people waiting to use it?

[ldparker]

I was on Freedom last May, before schools let out, and there was about a 15 minute wait in line between rides. If you sail when there are more children onboard, the wait will be considerably longer. If the sailing is in a cooler time of year, the wait may be shorter.

 

The Flowrider is open about 4 hours per day for general use, the rest of the time is reserved for private lessons and private use at an extra cost.

 

If you try it and like it, the best thing to do is signup for a one-hour lesson, with a maximun of 8 people. That way you ride about every 5 minutes and get some good instruction at the same time. I think the one-hour was about $65.00.

[TMJBR]

Thanks. I wonder how long the wait is when school is out. I can just imagine it leading to a lot of frustration.

[TMJBR]

Thanks. I wonder how long the wait is when school is out. I can just imagine it leading to a lot of frustration.

[H8mundays]

I think the one-hour was about $65.00.

 

Is that per hour or per person per hour? I am guessing per person as it sounds very inexpensive.

[akcruz]

Thanks. I wonder how long the wait is when school is out. I can just imagine it leading to a lot of frustration.

 

There are so many others things do on the Freedom class, if the line is longer than you'd like, go do one of the other things and come back. Or plan to go when other activities are going on, hopefully a lot of others will be there and the line will be shorter. Was there a wait when we were on board, yes, was it unbearable, no, and there were a number of kids on board (NJ school break in November). Think about it, when its your turn, you get to stay on the board until you fall off. Usually with beginners that's not too long so the line does move. One word of advice, get out there early in the cruise while everyone has those first time jitters!

[AMR40509]

This may vary from ship to ship, but on Liberty awhile back they opened it up pretty early, I think like 8 or 9 AM. The same group of about 10 (I was one of them) showed and played it for an hour or so most mornings and got to ride with no real lines. Later in the day, there were pretty big lines.

[abct7654]

Just got off Freedom yesterday. Flowrider was open 8-9 am for advanced surfing, 9-11 for stand-up surfing, 11-3 for boogie boarding, then 3-5 for stand-up surfing (think I'm remember correctly). Evenings are reserved for private lessons and private rentals. We waited until Saturday to try out the boogie boarding and had a BLAST! Wish we had tried it out earlier in the trip so we could have done it more. The line moved quicker than I expected - it took about 15 minutes from end of line to beginning of line. Since it was the last day and we had so much fun, we signed up for private lessons that evening even though it was the last day of the cruise. The lessons are $60 per person per hour with a maximum of 8 people. I highly recommend the lessons - you'll get private instruction plus more time on the flowrider.

[Coolcruise02]

I did it on a morning of a port day and there were about 6-8 of us for the first hour.

[snorkelman]

I've been on both the liberty and the freedom and the wait varies, and you just deal with it. The Oasis will have 2 flowriders which should address the wait. The private sessions are well worth the cost.

 

For those of you who want to do tricks, there are only a handful of times when they allow you do perform certain tricks (such as standing on the boogie board) but the private sessions are great because you can do basically anything.

 

[Samira0207]

how long does each person have to try it out?? Is it like 3 strikes your out...where if you fall 3 times you go to the back of the line until your next turn??

 

I think i'm gonna go straight there on my 1st day before it gets too crowded.

[akcruz]

how long does each person have to try it out?? Is it like 3 strikes your out...where if you fall 3 times you go to the back of the line until your next turn??

 

I think i'm gonna go straight there on my 1st day before it gets too crowded.

 

Unfortunately its more of a 1 strike and you are out. Once you fall its the next persons turn. Therefore, the line can move real fast in the beginning of the cruise!

[snorkelman]

how long does each person have to try it out?? Is it like 3 strikes your out...where if you fall 3 times you go to the back of the line until your next turn??

 

It depends. If the line is real long, you get less chances. However, if you screw up when immediately entering (even if attempting a trick such as this

 

or this

 

)

 

They let you try again. But if you have gone for 10 seconds or so and you fall, your turn is over. If the line is very very short (usually only on the day of departure) then you may get a second chance even if you fall after 15 or 20 seconds, but it doesn't matter much because when the line is short the wait is short. The instructors usually don't let even the experienced riders stay up for very long and will enter the ride and interrupt their flow or encourage them to attempt a trick which usually ends their run.

[ehfl]

On the Freedom, I went on the flowrider during a port day. It was about a 5 minute wait between turns.

[Kerrupt]

Do you have to have a group of 8 people or do you just sign up with others single riders until there are 8?

[snorkelman]

Do you have to have a group of 8 people or do you just sign up with others single riders until there are 8?

 

you just sign up. This is the one that costs $60. They need a minimum of 4 people but cut it off at 8. That way you get a lot of on-the-water time with the cap at 8, and obviously more on-the-water time if only 4 people sign up.

 

If you have a group, then you can rent it out for the hour for $300 and you won't have to share with strangers if you don't want to.

[marci22]

Our private group consisted of six people and everyone got lots of rides. You will definitely be tired at the end. The instruction they provide is very helpful.

 

The lines are shortest in the morning when people are still getting up and having breakfast and build as the day goes on. Wait times will vary depending on the amount of kids on board. During the most crowded times, my kids waited about 25 min in line.

[marci22]

Do you have to have a group of 8 people or do you just sign up with others single riders until there are 8?

 

You can sign up for a time slot and they will fill it up to 8 people. Sometimes you may get lucky and not all the slots will be filled, as in our group of 6.

[marci22]

It depends. If the line is real long, you get less chances. However, if you screw up when immediately entering (even if attempting a trick such as this

 

The instructors usually don't let even the experienced riders stay up for very long and will enter the ride and interrupt their flow or encourage them to attempt a trick which usually ends their run.

 

We saw that a lot, where some riders were really good and the instructors would tell them to do a trick and they would fall right away: turn over. They'd let them go for 30-45 seconds, max? Most people wiped out in first 15 seconds. It keeps the line moving.

[Buckeye State Cruisers]

We just got off the FOS on 9/20 and my son usually waited 30 min in-between rides. Not just kids ride it, adults do too. I have 2 tips for those who wish to ride flow rider... 1. Men-Tighten up your trunks you may even want to wear a shirt too. I saw MANY "wardrobe malfunctions" Women- I would definitely recommend wearing a shirt and shorts over your suit. It is hard to surf and adjust your top!. 2. Make sure you get a new wristband EACH day. On the 1st day a parent has to sign a waiver and you get the blue one that stays on all week. Then every day is a different color one that you need to get at the Wipe-Out bar by the Flow rider. My son didn't get one one day and had to get out of line and get one. We had a blast watching my son and others try this "surfing at sea".

[cubbielover]

We were on FOS at the end of March and surprised our kids with renting the flowrider while we were in port. We did not want to get off the ship in Ocho Rios so we were able to rent the flowrider from from 1pm-2pm...the cost was $300.00 and worth every penny. We had two employees helping and there were just me my DH,DS, and DD!! The kids and DH were so exhausted after the hour. We figured we would have spent money doing an excursion so we opted to go with the flowrider:)

[MICHLEV1974]

We were on FOS at the end of March and surprised our kids with renting the flowrider while we were in port. We did not want to get off the ship in Ocho Rios so we were able to rent the flowrider from from 1pm-2pm...the cost was $300.00 and worth every penny. We had two employees helping and there were just me my DH,DS, and DD!! The kids and DH were so exhausted after the hour. We figured we would have spent money doing an excursion so we opted to go with the flowrider:)

 

We are hoping to do this w/our kids too. We are not spending the excursion money either and thought this would be a great alternative.

 

question: Were there kids hanging out waiting (making your kids feel guilty) or anything like that? Is there a sign or something that says private lesson, come back at x:xx??

[Macfans]

Wear your bathing suit on the ship. I had the flow rider to my self for 45 minutes after check in.

[cruisegal40]

We are doing LOS in April. We have 4 days in a row that are port days. Do they open the flowrider up all day on the port days? Might beat going to a beach. Just sit on the ship and let the DS play on that and we can relax at the pool.

[marci22]

Were there kids hanging out waiting (making your kids feel guilty) or anything like that? Is there a sign or something that says private lesson, come back at x:xx??

 

People are allowed to sit and watch, but not many do.

 

Just know that there is a camera out there, and everyone can watch you in their cabin on the t.v. I think that is worse!