FlowRider Strategies for Maximum Enjoyment – Freedom

Hubby (47) was excited to try the FlowRider. He skis, water skis and plays hockey, but never snowboarded or surfed so opted for a lesson – well worth the price. Here are a couple of tips:

Just as everyone has already indicated, go EARLY! Bring your bathing suit on board and check out the FlowRider on the first day (we didn’t, but heard it was empty). When we got there the second day, there were about 18-20 people in line. At this point, each person’s turn took about 10 seconds before they fell, so the waiting wasn’t too bad, although if you wiped out right away, it was disappointing to go to the end of the line.

Hubby’s lesson was at 7am on the first sea day with 7 others. The staff were amazing, and hubby rated it as the highlight of his cruise. By the end of the hour, he was far more confident and was able to ride reasonably well. After going back in the afternoon during the stand-up surfing session (they also offer boogie boarding sessions), the staff showed him how to “self-start”, rather than counting on a sports deck staff member to hold his hand while he gained his balance.

The ability to self-start appeared to be the ticket to joining the “Advanced Flow Rider” sessions offered between 8am and 9am each day. From that point forward we spent the early mornings at the FlowRider and then had breakfast (I was reading or filming him). There were between 6 and 8 people riding during the Advanced sessions. While their turns lasted a minute or so each, it was amazing to watch and hubby got multiple options to practice during that hour, and enough rest in between to keep it fun. There were people of all ages and abilities enjoying the FlowRider… maybe I will try it next time!

I prefer boogie myself, but I agree with the advice you gave. I feel that pretty much anyone with any athletic ability should be able to self-start on standup after a lesson or certainly by the end of a week with no lessons. That is the biggest benefit on the stand-up side because that is the only requirement to being able to go during the "advanced" time. You get so much more time on the water when you can go during "advanced" so it really is helpful to be able to learn that early in the cruise.

IMO it makes no difference whether you have ever surfed or snowboarded before because they are completely different. Those with that experience simply have experience with balance and adjusting, but the foot placement and weight distribution is not the same, so you really are not at any disadvantage if you have no such experience. Now, once you get the hang of standup on the flowrider, then experience on snowboard or surfing in the ocean can come into play when it comes to doing tricks.

Oh great...another Flowrider junkie to make the lines even longer...:p

Glad he had a good time and caught the bug. The advanced stand-up is always my favorite time of the cruise, since it's usually the same people every day and there's a great sense of camaraderie with those people willing to get up early to have the extra time on the wave.

It's also the thing that annoys me most about the Navigator, since they don't do it. Granted I like the extra time with a small group, but Advanced Stand-up also motivates people to try to get better and at least start themselves, (as in your husband's case) so they can take part. On my two cruises on Navigator since they put in the Flowrider, everybody just seems content to have the staff load them on the wave for their 10 seconds holding the staff's hand and then the 2-5 seconds of terror until they wipe out.

Oh great...another Flowrider junkie to make the lines even longer...:p

You're totally right. I think we will only be able to cruise on Flowrider ships in the future...

Thanks for the advice from your experience. Glad your husband had fun.

I'm not sure l'll be brave enough and I've seen advice from others about going early on the cruise. My fear is that I'd wipe out badly at the start of the cruise (even on the boogie board) and be injured for the rest if the cruise...LOL 😁

You're totally right. I think we will only be able to cruise on Flowrider ships in the future...

Aw crapola, another person to share advanced stand-up time with, as MIL76 said.:D

The problem I had in 2013, on the Freedom was I had my swim shorts and rash gaurd and when I went to the 1pm to 3pm open flowrider session, there was nobody but me there. I am thinking how super awesome is this!!! Then the staff, handed me a boogie board, and I am how about a flow board, this is boogie boarding only. So, all by myself with a flowrider and I could only do boogie boarding....:rolleyes: So, I boogie boarded for about 15 or 20 minutes, did as much as I could stand. A couple of kids finally arrived and I have not boogie boarded since.

jc

I'm not sure l'll be brave enough and I've seen advice from others about going early on the cruise. My fear is that I'd wipe out badly at the start of the cruise (even on the boogie board) and be injured for the rest if the cruise...LOL 😁

I do have to share that early on in the cruise, a woman who was apparently an experienced surfer wound up injuring her foot (the rumor was that she broke it). I don't have any details, as I wasn't there at the time, but did see a woman on crutches a couple of days later watching her guy on the FlowRider... I am sure that totally stunk for both of them...

Oh great...another Flowrider junkie to make the lines even longer...:p

 

Glad he had a good time and caught the bug. The advanced stand-up is always my favorite time of the cruise, since it's usually the same people every day and there's a great sense of camaraderie with those people willing to get up early to have the extra time on the wave.

 

It's also the thing that annoys me most about the Navigator, since they don't do it. Granted I like the extra time with a small group, but Advanced Stand-up also motivates people to try to get better and at least start themselves, (as in your husband's case) so they can take part. On my two cruises on Navigator since they put in the Flowrider, everybody just seems content to have the staff load them on the wave for their 10 seconds holding the staff's hand and then the 2-5 seconds of terror until they wipe out.

Aw crapola, another person to share advanced stand-up time with, as MIL76 said.:D

 

The problem I had in 2013, on the Freedom was I had my swim shorts and rash gaurd and when I went to the 1pm to 3pm open flowrider session, there was nobody but me there. I am thinking how super awesome is this!!! Then the staff, handed me a boogie board, and I am how about a flow board, this is boogie boarding only. So, all by myself with a flowrider and I could only do boogie boarding....:rolleyes: So, I boogie boarded for about 15 or 20 minutes, did as much as I could stand. A couple of kids finally arrived and I have not boogie boarded since.

 

jc

Damn, the line up just got longer.;) It is nice to have another rider join the club.

OP, my wife would say to you, "Welcome to the Flowrider Widow Club". She has done it two times when we rented in just for us and she can do it. However, she'd rather sit by the pool.

You will start to notice soon, that you will cruise exclusively on ships that have a flowrider. After that it will revert to ships that only have two of them. A flowboard makes a great birthday, Christmas and Father's Day gift as well.:D

Damn, the line up just got longer.;) It is nice to have another rider join the club.

 

OP, my wife would say to you, "Welcome to the Flowrider Widow Club".

 

You will start to notice soon, that you will cruise exclusively on ships that have a flowrider.

You're so right! We were joking about having to build one in the backyard. There is an indoor surfing place near us... he may have to check it out. Given that hubby is an accountant, we spent lots of time laughing about the hot, buff, tan guys lined up bonding with the pasty-white geek. He held his own, though, so I'm eternally proud! :)

You're so right! We were joking about having to build one in the backyard. There is an indoor surfing place near us... he may have to check it out. Given that hubby is an accountant, we spent lots of time laughing about the hot, buff, tan guys lined up bonding with the pasty-white geek. He held his own, though, so I'm eternally proud! :)

I am 43, a father of one, a business owner and typically the oldest in the best of the best. I will be tanned, but I could stand to lose a bit from the middle.;) With such a variations of riders, in age alone, it is amazing the friendships that are made. It is easy though when you are standing in lines for hours a day together.

It is around a million for a double pump wave, so he better get creative at his auditing or run the numbers to see if you could open your own wave for business. :D If you do, expect to see us all come and visit.:p

We will be on the LOS soon. My 16 year old son will be very interested in flow rider. What do they charge for lessons? Also, is it just first come, first serve any reservation to ride?

Thanks

We will be on the LOS soon. My 16 year old son will be very interested in flow rider. What do they charge for lessons? Also, is it just first come, first serve any reservation to ride?

Thanks

First come, first served unless you have a lesson set up. Don't know the price.

How much is the lesson? I tried looking on my cruise planner for my Liberty cruise and I don't see flowrider lessons listed in the onboard activities.

Loralie

How much is the lesson? I tried looking on my cruise planner for my Liberty cruise and I don't see flowrider lessons listed in the onboard activities.

 

Loralie

Around $60 per person.

Around $60 per person.

I think we paid $69 for an hour lesson, 8 people max, minimum 4 needed. It was listed as an option under On Board Activities and we booked his preferred time slot a couple of weeks before sailing. Not sure how it works on other ships.

Around $60 per person.

I think we paid $69 for an hour lesson, 8 people max, minimum 4 needed. It was listed as an option under On Board Activities and we booked his preferred time slot a couple of weeks before sailing. Not sure how it works on other ships.

Thanks for the info😀

Loralie

Thanks

Mil,

We're on the Navigator in June. My 10 y.o. son (travel hockey, tourney baseball, club soccer) will, I think, be a good fit for the flowrider. There is one (or something similar) here in Dallas, and we have 2 lessons each for him and his big sister scheduled before we depart.

How does the flowrider on the Nav differ from the others? Why do you prefer the wave on the other ships instead? Just curious.

BTW, I loved your earlier post about it and I've read it out loud to both kids, and thanks in advance.

Mil,

We're on the Navigator in June. My 10 y.o. son (travel hockey, tourney baseball, club soccer) will, I think, be a good fit for the flowrider. There is one (or something similar) here in Dallas, and we have 2 lessons each for him and his big sister scheduled before we depart.

 

How does the flowrider on the Nav differ from the others? Why do you prefer the wave on the other ships instead? Just curious.

 

BTW, I loved your earlier post about it and I've read it out loud to both kids, and thanks in advance.

I think he was talking about oasis class ships which have 2 flowriders instead of only 1. Your kids will love that thing, you might even try it yourself it is fun!

Mil,

We're on the Navigator in June. My 10 y.o. son (travel hockey, tourney baseball, club soccer) will, I think, be a good fit for the flowrider. There is one (or something similar) here in Dallas, and we have 2 lessons each for him and his big sister scheduled before we depart.

 

How does the flowrider on the Nav differ from the others? Why do you prefer the wave on the other ships instead? Just curious.

 

BTW, I loved your earlier post about it and I've read it out loud to both kids, and thanks in advance.

You have to be a certain height to ride the flowrider doing stand-up. Boogie board is less, I can't remember the numbers, something like 50 inches tall for Boogie and maybe 54 for stand-up. Someone will answer that. I am sure athletically your son will be awesome, but it is not easy to do stand-up and being good at things and then flailing around then falling down and being whisked off the back is off puttiing for lots of folks. I am guessing 80% do it 1 to 4 times and never again. It is the small percentage that keeps doing it over and over....

Hi, my name is JC and I am a flowrider addict. I don't know any better than being tossed around by the pumps into a wall over and over again.

jc<---- next flowrider cruise is to Norway... I am an idiot.:D

You have to be a certain height to ride the flowrider doing stand-up. Boogie board is less, I can't remember the numbers, something like 50 inches tall for Boogie and maybe 54 for stand-up. Someone will answer that. I am sure athletically your son will be awesome, but it is not easy to do stand-up and being good at things and then flailing around then falling down and being whisked off the back is off puttiing for lots of folks. I am guessing 80% do it 1 to 4 times and never again. It is the small percentage that keeps doing it over and over....

 

Hi, my name is JC and I am a flowrider addict. I don't know any better than being tossed around by the pumps into a wall over and over again.

 

jc<---- next flowrider cruise is to Norway... I am an idiot.:D

Wifey says he's 57" (4'9"), so maybe that'll be OK. In truth, he may not care one bit about it, which is cool with me. But hearing about all the old guys (like me!) who are crazy about it, just got me thinking.

He's not going to care about the cuisine, or the exotic ports-of-call (though the rest of us will, for sure) but I'm hoping I can get him hooked on cruising. I bet he digs it, even if it's just boogie boarding. If not, I saw on a recent compass that there's a soccer (probably futsal) tournament. Plus, he's going to take his skates, so he'll feel cool no matter what.

By the way, this CC community is truly an amazing resource.

Thanks for your insights.

I think I may now encourage my DH to book a lesson on our upcoming Oasis cruise. He LOVES the Flowrider, and will not sail on a ship without one, but still doesn't quite have the hang of it consistently. Last cruise on Oasis, he spent nearly all his time there while I relaxed in the Solarium. ;)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wifey says he's 57" (4'9"), so maybe that'll be OK. In truth, he may not care one bit about it, which is cool with me. But hearing about all the old guys (like me!) who are crazy about it, just got me thinking.

He's not going to care about the cuisine, or the exotic ports-of-call (though the rest of us will, for sure) but I'm hoping I can get him hooked on cruising. I bet he digs it, even if it's just boogie boarding. If not, I saw on a recent compass that there's a soccer (probably futsal) tournament. Plus, he's going to take his skates, so he'll feel cool no matter what.

 

By the way, this CC community is truly an amazing resource.

 

Thanks for your insights.

I am not sure what the exact height sizes are, as it doesn't affect me. I do know a young kid about 13 was not allowed to ride even though he was a very good rider. He was unusually short, after a few days he convinced the staff to waive the requirements and was immediately one of the better stand-up surfers.

I have watched soccer games on the basketball court it didn't look good for the faint of heart. Flowrider looked safer!:eek::D

jc

I think I may now encourage my DH to book a lesson on our upcoming Oasis cruise. He LOVES the Flowrider, and will not sail on a ship without one, but still doesn't quite have the hang of it consistently. Last cruise on Oasis, he spent nearly all his time there while I relaxed in the Solarium. ;)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The key to stand-up is repetition, so lessons are good, he can, also, do a private non-lesson hour with a group from the line. The key is doing it over and over and then a light bulb will turn on, O, that is how you do that. O, that is how you do a 360. It helps to talk to the people in line, as they are very willing to help you. My experience is though that hearing and putting into action is hard for most people.:D Myself included.

jc

I posted my cruise compasses from Freedom Eastern 4/19 yesterday at this link if you want to see the times posted for the FlowRider... at least for Freedom:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2201998