Aqua Theater Boondoggle

[GK3]

I recently sailed on Symphony and was excited for the Aqua theater venue. The show, Hiro, used all its capabilities and was incredible. Other than that the aqua theater is barely used. If you walk to it anytime in the day it's a ghost town.  Have more shows, kids stuff in the day, have game shows where you fall in the water if you lose. Do something with it! This is the most unique venue on the seas and it isn't used. I don't get it. Such a missed opportunity.

[Sea Squirrel]

I always thought the same thing but I saw a documentary about Symphony the other night on the Smithsonian Channel. In the documentary, they highlighted the performers practicing during the day as well as what goes on beneath the water. Hydraulic platforms, air systems, etc. it was really informative. I guess since it goes way beyond a standard pool, they don’t give passengers access for both passengers and performers safety as well as protect all that expensive gear. If you get a chance, check it out. I believe the show was mighty cruise ships. 

[Moby Dick]

3 hours ago, GK3 said:

I recently sailed on Symphony and was excited for the Aqua theater venue. The show, Hiro, used all its capabilities and was incredible. Other than that the aqua theater is barely used. If you walk to it anytime in the day it's a ghost town.  Have more shows, kids stuff in the day, have game shows where you fall in the water if you lose. Do something with it! This is the most unique venue on the seas and it isn't used. I don't get it. Such a missed opportunity.

I don't disagree with your desire for the Aqua theater's full usage/utilization and provide an almost endless source of entertainment for young and old.  HOWEVER, I have to keep in mind that a ship has a finite of crew, crew support facilities/comforts, crew housing.  At present, when a ship is fully staffed, as I've been told, crew's quarters are maxed out, many crew members have more than one job/function, already and when they can, crew members, on their off duty time, work for extra money in un/under staffed venues.    I'd be willing to bet a dollar to a doughnut that Royal's management/executives are well aware of the Aqua theater's underutilization, but are between a rock and a hard place.  I don't think that it is possible with the current ship's (Oasis Class ships) configuration to add more crew for just about anything else, not without sacrificing something else.  JMHO

[WAAAYTOOO]

If I'm not mistaken, back when the Oasis was first launched, they did allow public swimming in the Aqua Theater pool, but I don't think that lasted very long.

[twangster]

I've seen belly flop contests in the aqua pool.  

[Rakaia]

We watched some of the practice for Aqua 80 on Oasis; it was actually pretty interesting watching the scuba divers that they utilize behind (under?) the scenes and the swimmers/divers learning new moves. 

It is a very under-utilized area though in general. And the shuffleboard is blocked off! 

[JC Pats]

I was recently on Oasis in a boardwalk cabin recently at the very end of the hall of Deck 9. I noticed that usually around 11am to around 4pmish, the Aqua cast was practicing/rehearsing, even on show days. I know they use the Aqua Theatre for Captains Corner and the C&A Top Tier event as well. Finally, they had a movie night on some of the non-show nights in the aqua theatre. So, it seemed as it was being used a lot of the time. I agree they could use it for more events, like the belly flop contest, especially on an Oasis class ship where it's hard to see the action at the pool. 

[TravisMA81]

I was on Oasis a couple years ago and they had a Journey cover band play a couple nights there.  It was amazing, like a real concert.  It would be awesome if they had real bands play a few shows there.  I know a lot of people would complain about the loud music, but it's a cool place to have a concert.  They do play NFL football games out there.  I booked a cruise on Harmony next year during the playoffs just to watch some games out there.