Pickleball on NCL Ships?????

[Meemie]

Sailing on the Gem on 1/25/23 and notice that they have a tennis court.  There are several of us who would love to play Pickleball while on the ship. 

 

Is there anyway to have the ship lend paddles and balls and put time on the schedule for us. We heard that some of the Sun's activity crew purchased paddles and balls in a port and added Pickleball to the schedule right in the middle of the cruise.  Hat's off to them!!!!!!

 

There are a lot of cruisers who play Pickleball.  It should be available on all the ships that have a sports area, and it could be done very cheaply and without much effort.  That would make us Pickleball players VERY happy!!!!

[Karaboudjan]

1 hour ago, Meemie said:

Sailing on the Gem on 1/25/23 and notice that they have a tennis court.  There are several of us who would love to play Pickleball while on the ship. 

 

Is there anyway to have the ship lend paddles and balls and put time on the schedule for us. We heard that some of the Sun's activity crew purchased paddles and balls in a port and added Pickleball to the schedule right in the middle of the cruise.  Hat's off to them!!!!!!

 

There are a lot of cruisers who play Pickleball.  It should be available on all the ships that have a sports area, and it could be done very cheaply and without much effort.  That would make us Pickleball players VERY happy!!!!

 

You could always bring paddles and balls and invade the tennis court!  You might have to convince the staff to put up a net, though.  I don't know about the Gem, but when I visited the sports court on the Escape I don't recall seeing any net.  They might keep it clear for basketball since I'd guess that is more popular than tennis and has simpler logistics.

Edited January 4, 2023 by Karaboudjan

[2 Fun Guys]

For what it's worth, there is Pickleball on Prima & (planned) Viva.

[uneamie]

Isn't pickelball basically like "table tennis" without the table? 

[Karaboudjan]

11 minutes ago, uneamie said:

Isn't pickelball basically like "table tennis" without the table? 

 

Mock now if you will, but you will be assimilated.  😏

[SleeStack1]

16 hours ago, uneamie said:

Isn't pickelball basically like "table tennis" without the table? 

I've never seen someone faceplant playing TT.

 

Unfortunately, I cannot say the same thing about Pickleball.😱

 

And I have only played once!

[JGmf]

@SleeStack1 welcome to Cruise Critic.  Love your handle!

[SeaShark]

21 hours ago, Meemie said:

That would make us Pickleball players VERY happy!!!!

 

I'm guessing that ANY special interest group would be "VERY happy" if the cruise line catered to their particular special interest. However, I'm not sure that this is how it works.

[Karaboudjan]

1 hour ago, SleeStack1 said:

I've never seen someone faceplant playing TT.

 

Unfortunately, I cannot say the same thing about Pickleball.😱

 

And I have only played once!

 

So would 'table tennis standing on the table' seem closer to the mark for you?  😉

[SleeStack1]

48 minutes ago, Karaboudjan said:

 

So would 'table tennis standing on the table' seem closer to the mark for you?  😉

 

PB uses rules from both table tennis and regular tennis and then a unique one or two.  I'd certainly have to be reminded of them if/when I play again.  Admittedly, Its pretty fun...until you see someone smash their face into the deck.

 

It looks easy, and it is, but PB is not a table game.  Table games are nearly full-on stationary. 

 

I think PB could be a little deceiving to abject beginners who have never played racquet/court sports before....and/or for those that are relatively inactive.  In spite of the smallish court, there is still a decent amount of movement...you can trip and fall. 

 

I don't want to scare anybody away from trying it.  Just make a point of consciously staying pretty stationary and walking at first.  Let the ball go by (or drop) until you get used to the play.  And, for the love of cheesecake, have proper athletic shoes on before you play!

 

I'm a racquetball guy so I'm already used to moving around pretty quickly on a court.  My wife is not a racket player, so I made sure she was extra careful.  After she saw our opponent break her nose she took it to heart.

Edited January 5, 2023 by SleeStack1

[xrayjng]

I play PB. I was just on the Pearl which also has a tennis/basketball court. I brought my paddles and extra in case I found someone to play . It was much too windy and on the Pearl the court is pitched ( I guess to drain ). That being said I never played while cruising 😢

[Wedgie Wedgie]

22 hours ago, 2 Fun Guys said:

For what it's worth, there is Pickleball on Prima & (planned) Viva.

I was just on the Prima a few weeks ago. That "court" is a far cry from a bona fide pickleball court. It is half the size and tightly enclosed by a fence. More like Thunderdome. And the net dipped down way below regulation height. I brought 2 paddles and balls and left them in my backpack.

 

I play all over the state of FL and I have been on a Holland ship that had two temp nets they would put on the basketball court. But at least the courts were lined regulation size and they had wind screens. It was fun. NCL has a long way to go when it comes to pickleball.

[Birdnutty]

8 minutes ago, Wedgie Wedgie said:

NCL has a long way to go when it comes to pickleball.

But every journey begins with a single step.  We have to start somewhere.

[uneamie]

On 1/4/2023 at 8:17 PM, Karaboudjan said:

 

Mock now if you will, but you will be assimilated.  😏

Well...we can always count on that. ha! 

[arpie05]

Putting Pickleball paddles in my bag now

[9tee2Sea]

On 1/4/2023 at 1:07 PM, Meemie said:

Sailing on the Gem on 1/25/23 and notice that they have a tennis court.  There are several of us who would love to play Pickleball while on the ship. 

 

Is there anyway to have the ship lend paddles and balls and put time on the schedule for us. We heard that some of the Sun's activity crew purchased paddles and balls in a port and added Pickleball to the schedule right in the middle of the cruise.  Hat's off to them!!!!!!

 

There are a lot of cruisers who play Pickleball.  It should be available on all the ships that have a sports area, and it could be done very cheaply and without much effort.  That would make us Pickleball players VERY happy!!!!

on my last NCl cruise, there were some pickle ball players.  They( the pickle ball players) tapped off the correct areas ( to mark the courts i assume) and brought their own equipment.  They would get up to the tennis courts early and play.  they even started giving some lessons to people that were interested. they removed the tape they put down when they were done. 

[Mike09]

We just cruised on the NCL Sun.  We brought our own paddle and balls.  The ship had a volleyball net that we used on the sports court.  There were about 30 of us that played Pickleball almost everyday.  We were a bunch of happy cruisers.

 

We are going on the NCL Getaway in a couple of months but it doesn't look too promising for Pickleball on that ship.  Does anyone know about PB on the Getaway?

Edited March 9 by Mike09