Bowling alley is latest cruise offering…roller coasters next?

Fast-growing Norwegian Cruise Line unveiled what it called the first bowling lanes at sea on the 2,394-passenger Pearl, which sails out of Miami.

The move led USA Today to ponder other more unusual offerings cruise ships are coming up these days, including:

• Royal Caribbean premiered the first boxing ring at sea in May when it launched the much-ballyhooed Freedom of the Seas, the world’s largest ship.

• The vessel also boasts the first “surfing pool” at sea — a pool with a constant, machine-made wave.

• Carnival recently just unveiled Water Wars, a water-balloon battle game complete with “battle stations” that’s popular at theme parks. It launched on two ships, the Imagination and Fascination, and will be fleet-wide by next summer.

• The line also has been adding its first miniature golf courses on ships (a concept pioneered by Royal Caribbean) and plans to roll that out fleet-wide, too.

What’s next? Industry watcher Mike Driscoll, editor of newsletter Cruiseweek, expects something big from Royal Caribbean when it launches a new, bigger class of ship in 2009. The $1.2 billion vessel will carry a record-setting 5,400 passengers.

“Don’t rule out a roller coaster,” Driscoll says, noting one possibility at the center of industry speculation. “Shipyard engineers have said this can be done on a cruise ship.”

Report by David Wilkening