Cruise Ship

Life Floor in the Caribbean

Tired of the snowy Minnesota winter, the Life Floor team kicked off annual planning meetings in the Caribbean at the start of the year. We were excited to celebrate a successful 2022 as we sailed to two islands in the Bahamas featuring award-winning Life Floor installations. As an added bonus, our team was able to observe Life Floor onboard the ship.

We invite you to escape to the tropics as you explore our team's adventures on Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas as well as our excursions to Perfect Day at CocoCay and Baha Bay at Baha Mar on Nassau!

One of the reasons why we chose this ship for our planning meetings is because it features Life Floor in the Adventure Ocean kids area. Several cruise lines have chosen our Slate tiles as their preferred surfacing for indoor kids play spaces given its cushioning, cleanability, and IMO certification.

Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas also features a FlowRider that uses Life Floor for slip-resistance along the ramps. Our first day on board the ship was the best opportunity to see this area in action since the following days were filled with meetings, excursions, and fun with team members at sea.

On our second day, the ship docked at Perfect Day at CocoCay, Royal Caribbean’s private island. Immediately after the team got onto the island, we were greeted by our themed installation at Captain Jill's Galleon. 

We met with the operators of the island who gave us a tour that eventually led to another installation of ours, Splashaway Bay. This particular splash pad has won Aquatics International's Dream Design award. This project was designed in collaboration with Martin Aquatic

For our day at sea, most of the team's time was spent in annual planning meetings. Afterwards and over the course of the sailing, the group thoroughly enjoyed the amenities on board the ship as well as the ability to spend quality time together. 

Our final day was spent at Nassau, where the team was able to visit and tour Baha Bay at Baha Mar. This waterpark has won Aquatics International's Dream Design award as well as a Leading Edge award from WWA. Life Floor is installed in four different areas around the property.

At Stingray Cove, Aqua and Aviator swirls surface a splash pad featuring a giant play structure. 

At Turtle Beach, Life Floor surfaces the walls, steps, floor, and landing pads of the main pool as well as an adjacent splash pad and zero depth entry pool. 

Hexagon Life Floor tiles can also be found along the ramps of the waterpark's FlowCurl

The most unexpected application of Life Floor we got to see was in the flamingo pool! Concrete is too abrasive for flamingo feet and can cause a condition called Bumblefoot. Thankfully, Life Floor's soft tiles provide the perfect solution. 

Overall, Life Floor’s time spent in the Caribbean provided us with a productive planning week filled with team bonding, opportunities to see award-winning projects, and time spent with operators at all of these beautiful tropical locations.

Inspired by the Life Floor applications above? Our team would love to learn more about your project and walk you through our complimentary design process. Contact our team today to start the conversation.

ALL ABOARD! CRUISES FILLED WITH AQUATIC FUN

Guest experience is essential aboard any cruise ship to ensure a fun and unique vacation for passengers. Among the numerous amenities available, water features have become increasingly popular attractions. Flowriders by WhiteWater Industries, waterslides, splash pads, and beautiful pools have become staples for many vessels. As a result, patrons have come to expect bigger and brighter aquatic experiences as new vessels are built. 

LARGE AQUATIC PLAY STRUCTURES

Elevated structures such as multi-level interactive water play structures or waterslide towers create an immediate presence that cruisers are often amazed by. These types of amenities serve as a focal point for the ship as a whole and create lasting memories.

Carnival Cruise Lines

Surf machines such as Flowrider by WhiteWater Industries are compact attractions, but they have a large onboard impact. For many guests, exposure to surf machines like these might happen for the first time on a cruise. Some ships have chosen to reinforce branding alongside the surrounding walkways and reduce risk with Life Floor’s custom logos and safety surfacing benefits.

POOL DECKS

Pool decks are popular amenities on cruise ships. Having a comfortable pool deck where guests feel at ease improves guest experience at these amenity types. Because these features are central to recreation on the upper decks of ships, vibrant designs that match the ship’s theming have become increasingly popular.

Cruise Ship Pool Deck

Beyond the focus on great looking pool decks, it’s essential that these areas are designed with safety and cleanability in mind. Certain elements can provide visual signals to guests regarding critical elements such as a pool edge, step down, or depth of water. Slip resistance can help maintain guests’ footing in these wet areas especially when paired with motion at sea. Surfaces that resist the growth of harmful bacteria help to protect the health of guests, especially since ships are heavily occupied with little downtime between voyages. 

By keeping these elements in mind, the upper decks of cruise ships provide the ultimate zones for aquatic relaxation and fun for their guests as they voyage across the seas. 

SPLASH PADS

Splash pads have become a popular amenity onboard cruise ships for families with young children or guests looking for aquatic play outside a pool setting.

Splash pads provide a variety of play options from dump buckets to water spray features. Generally, free play is more widely available on splash pads due to play requiring a level of imagination and creativity. Encouraging free play by having a highly themed splash pad can help guests who may not know one another play with a similar theme in mind. For example, a pirate themed splash pad can lend a story arc option to guests and create memories that may not have otherwise happened. 

Including all aspects of a splash pad’s construction in theming allows for greater customization and control of the greater cruise experience. From water jets to surfacing, utilizing all the aspects of splash pad design can curate experiences for guests.

#choosefun Carnival Cruise

Image Credit: eatsleepcruise.com

KIDS’ PLAY AREAS

Kids’ play areas are perfect for onboard daycares and family zones. Both indoor and outdoor dry play areas on cruise ships often feature various playground equipment that require a fall attenuating, cushioned surface to protect against accidental falls when equipment is elevated. An IMO-certified surface like Life Floor has been popular in these applications. 

Fun, vibrant flooring designs can help brighten up a play area by incorporating colors and themes that complement the rest of the space. Inlaid designs can provide another layer of play engagement with surface games or scavenger hunts. Life Floor’s custom cutting capabilities can also reinforce branding with cruise line logos or iconography. 

See our standard Inlay Library here.

PRIVATE ISLANDS

Beyond all of the fun on board, cruise lines that stop at their own private islands allow for all-inclusive theming in a secluded locale. Building an island environment is incredibly complex and requires a wide scope of considerations which centers around guest experience and enjoyment. Aquatic amenities are often the main features on private islands as guests seek to cool off and enjoy warm weather.

Life Floor is featured at two splash pads that can be enjoyed whenever passengers spend a Perfect Day® at CocoCay® courtesy of Royal Caribbean. Guests can cool off, run and play, or relax on the sidelines at both Splashaway Bay designed by Martin Aquatic Design & Engineering or at Captain Jill’s Galleon designed by the Life Floor Studio. These two projects at CocoCay are quintessential examples of Life Floor’s ability to match any aquatic feature’s theming and support risk reduction. 

The graphic elements of these two installations extend the scope of theming to provide immersive engagement for guests.  At Splashaway Bay, the designs on the slide tower panels were integrated into the surface design. Similarly, Captain Jill’s Galleon features a massive vessel with the surfacing surrounding it designed to mimic a body of water. 

Guest experience at an island vista requires comprehensive planning and safety parameters to ensure a low-risk environment while providing ample options for adrenaline-pumping adventures mixed with relaxing opportunities. To minimize interruptions to play, reducing overall risk is critical. One way to reduce risk in aquatic features specifically is to invest in safety surfacing that has increased slip-resistance and cushioning to better protect guests. 


Life Floor’s IMO Certified safety surfacing is both lightweight and durable for all types of wet or dry amenities.

We have so much fun working on these projects and serving the unique needs of our cruise partners such as Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruise Lines, MSC, and Norwegian Cruise Lines among others. To specify Life Floor for your cruise ship, please contact Lindsay Fetzer here.