Is Thrill Waterpark on CocoCay Worth It? Pricing at $161 Per Person Seen

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Tanner Callais
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Anyone who reads Cruzely knows that we are big fans of CocoCay.

The Royal Caribbean private island recently underwent a $250 million renovation (opening up as a revamped destination in 2019)  that took it from a sleepy spot in the Bahamas to a complete destination.

Entrance to Thrill Waterpark

Visit today and you’ll find everything from white sand beaches to the Caribbean’s largest pool to ziplines, restaurants, cabanas, and even private over-the-water villas.

But the crown jewel of the island (and the first thing you’ll see from the ship) is the Thrill Waterpark.

Rising high above the rest of the island, the waterslides at Thrill Waterpark include the Daredevil’s Peak, which is the tallest waterslide in North America.

In total there are eight different slides (some with multiple chutes) at Thrill Waterpark on CocoCay, but that’s just the start. The park features a wave pool, an obstacle course over the water, showers, lockers, food, cabanas, and more.

If you’re a fan of waterparks, it’s on par with anything you’d find on land. We’ve spent time there and rank it as some of the most fun we’ve had on a cruise. But with the high cost, there’s a big question of if Thrill Waterpark on CocoCay is worth the money.

Some Cruises to CocoCay Carry a Big Price Tag for the Waterpark

Unlike many spots on CocoCay, such as the beaches or the pool, there is a charge for guests who want to visit Thrill Waterpark. The admission fee applies to every person over three years old.

But while we’d love to tell you exactly how much it costs, we can’t. That’s because how much you pay depends on your specific cruise.

Royal Caribbean changes the price depending on the trip. As their website says regarding pricing, “Prices and pricing policies may vary by season and are subject to change without notice.”

When we first visited the waterpark on CocoCay in October 2019, the price in our cruise planner was quoted at $50.99 per person for admission. In other words, a family of four would pay $204 for a day at the waterpark.

That may sound high to some, but it’s actually in line with what you’d expect from a waterpark back home.

We looked up the regular prices of admission to some of the biggest and most well-known waterparks in the United States at the time of this article:

  • Raging Waters (Los Angeles, CA): $40 per day
  • Schlitterbahn New Braunfels (TX): $40 per day
  • Noah’s Ark (WI): $40 per day
  • Universal Volcano Bay (FL): $80 per day
  • Disney Blizzard Beach/Typhoon Lagoon (FL): $69 per day

But the price charged for Thrill Waterpark seems to have risen sharply.

For example, this cruise in April 2022 saw a price per person of $97.99 per person. That’s more than any of the major waterparks listed above:

Prices for Thrill waterpark vary, but a recent cruise showed a cost of $97.99 per person — or nearly $400 for a family of four to visit.

At that price, it means that a family of four would pay almost $400 to spend the day at the waterpark on CocoCay. But the prices can go even higher. 

In the comments of this article, there are reports of pricing at $149 per person and even up to $220 per person for cruises aboard Icon of the Seas that visit the island. The highest rate we’ve been able to confirm, however, is a price of $160.99 per person ($179 on the ship) sent to us by a reader:

A Cruzely reader sent us this pricing, showing a cost of $160.99 per person for admission to Thrill Waterpark.

Of course, this begs the question: Is Thrill Waterpark worth the money?

Is Thrill Waterpark Worth $161 a Day?

As we mentioned earlier, we love CocoCay and have had an amazing time visiting Thrill Waterpark on our cruises. We have paid for the experience, but also have been fortunate enough to be given complimentary passes from Royal Caribbean on media cruises.

After visiting, we’d have no problem paying the $51 per person admission to go again. We spent several hours riding slides, definitely getting our money’s worth. To us, it was comparable to the top waterparks in the U.S.; paying a similar price for the island’s waterpark seems fair. However, those prices have increased sharply.

At $161 per person ($644 for a family of four), we would save our money and just enjoy the free items on the island instead of paying that much.

For us, a $70 price tag is about the limit of how much we’d pay for admission. Any more than that, and we think it would be difficult to make the trip worth it.

Are There Ways to Save on Thrill Waterpark Admission?

If you’re having trouble stomaching the prices for your cruise, then there is a way to save some money.

On the cruise planner before your trip you can book everything from drink packages to wi-fi ahead of your cruise. This also includes purchasing admission to the waterpark.

If you buy through the cruise planner beforehand, there is typically a discount. We normally see it at 10% off the onboard price for our cruises.

Another time where you can save is with Black Friday. During one cruise, we saw a sharp 50% discount for admission during a Black Friday sale:

The best sale we’ve seen on admission came during Black Friday, when the cost was 50% off. However, the usual discount for booking early seems to be 10%.

But of course, the best way to save is just not to buy if it’s too much money for you. There’s no doubt that Thrill Waterpark is a highlight of CocoCay, but the island still offers a lot to do for free without having to pay that much money. Instead, you can spend a day hanging out on the beach or by the pool on CocoCay, and then visit a waterpark back home for only about half the price.

What’s your opinion? Let us know in the comments below.

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55 COMMENTS

  1. We are on the Icon in November 2024. Will the water slides etc. be operating on the ship when it is docked in Coco Cay?

  3. We will be heading on a RC cruise in September and were wondering if you have to pay if you’re not riding the waterpark rides, but enter that part of the park/island with your children? My 13, 11 and 8 year old are interested but would I have to pay/buy a ticket just to take pics of them and be in the area?

    • Not 100% sure, but I believe you would. The reason being that there is no real way to ensure people inside the gates aren’t actually using the rides if they were just visiting. As well, there is a minimum age for kids to be allowed in unsupervised, which I believe is 14 years old.

  4. We just booked for an off-peak time – Dec 11, 2023 sailing on Liberty of the Seas and the prices for everything are much cheaper. We got the waterpark for $43.99 per person. The prices definitely fluctuate by demand. This sailing is back to about the same price we paid for the waterpark in fall of 2020 when the cruises had just started operating again after Covid. I’ll email a screenshot of the deal and price.

    • Royal Caribbean also has a Black Friday deal with up to 50% off many things in CocoCay. Our upcoming cruise saw the price drop from $124 to $64.

  5. My 2 kids and I are going on a Christmas cruise on Allure of the Seas on December 2023, and the price for the Thrill Waterpark is $160.99, and that is with 10% OFF already. The non sale price is $179. I think I’ll have to pass, and just tell the kids to enjoy the free things on the island. If it goes on sale on Black Friday to $90 or less, I might reconsider.

  6. I am upset to find pricing after we booked our cruise. I wish RC was more upfront about it. We chose a cruise itinerary based on a stop at cococay. Now it is upsetting to find out after booking that they are charging $160 per person ‘on sale’ from $179!
    This is Freedom of the Seas March 2024 sailing.

    We have a family of 6 so spending $960 for one waterpark day is out of the question. Now it’s just going to be a sore spot of our trip instead of a day filled with family fun :/

  7. Showing as £154.96 for us in the U.K on Icon (August ’24).

    So over £600 (currently $800US).

    Not a chance I’ll be paying this even with the kids begging me! That’s the equivalent of a 3 night break in Rome, Madrid or Barcelona for us including flights and moderate level accommodation.

    Given the waterpark on the Icon, I can’t see many being tempted at these prices.

    Scandalous.

  8. I just booked 6/24/24 and I thought $169 pp (the discount price) was a misprint. Absurd is a great word to describe it. The cruise price is already overpriced, but this is just insult to injury.

    • For May 2024 they want $219.00 per person on Icon of the seas for the Thrill water park day pass, but worry not, you get a 5% discount for buying it now. It is just absurd!

  10. CAD 218.5! – with 10% off pre-cruise savings – Aug 27/23 – Wonder of the Seas!

    Insanely overpriced!

  12. We paid $58.99 x 4 for the Thrill Waterpark in April 2021 for a March 2022 cruise – my thought is this was still “pandemic rate”, trying to generate revenue while still NOT sailing. I was the only one of the 4 that did Daredevil’s Peak (twice), and there was a wait/reservation system. It was fun, but the climb almost killed me lol. Guessing if we had stayed in the waterpark, I would have been able to ride maybe 10 times throughout the full day, if I had wanted to. We stayed at the park for a couple hours, then moved on over to the free side. At $58.99/pp, we decided we would not do it again if we cruise again – I can’t imagine paying the going rate now!

  13. We don’t sail until 2024 so fingers crossed they have another Black Friday sale this year! Prices are currently only 5% off making it $140.99usd per person. We’ll be cruising on the Oasis of the Seas.

  15. I am toying with the idea of booking the waterpark. Right now, it is coming up as 97 per guest for our cruise.
    What are the wait times normally like for slides? I love a waterpark, but it isn’t worth the $400+ for the family, if we’re waiting 45 minutes for every slide.

    • In my experience, waits have been short. The one exception is that if there are two ships in port, it can be a reservation system for the tallest slide. You come up, put your name on the list and they ask you to come back at an assigned time. In the afternoon the reservation system goes away.

    • When we went in Sept 2023 for $100/person, it was not busy at all. Most of the people on the ship stayed on the free side of the island so lineups are short. I’m on a sailing in Feb 2024 and its $233/person (Canadian). I am not paying that for my family but expect there to be no lineups at this price.

    • Got it. Thank you! Will need to update this article as prices seem to continue climbing. I love the waterpark. It’s fantastic. I would not personally pay $170 but evidently people will.

    • That’s insane and just not very nice of Royal. There will be kids whose parents just can’t afford that and they will be sad to see the other kids enjoying their time at the waterpark on this waterpark island.
      So a good question is: has anyone seen a better sale come after the first ridiculous 10% off sale?

  18. my family is cruising Aug 2023 the thrill water park is priced at $149 per person! I got the black friday deal for my 2 teenagers for $73.99 each. Soo expensive!!!

  19. We are from the UK and this water park was going to be a hight light of our cruise but at £129 we are unfortunately probably going to have to pass as I just can’t justify £400 for a one day ticket for family of 3!! Its completely outrageous…. loads more than Volcano Bay.

  20. I just booked a cruise for March of this year (2022) and the current pricing is $97 USD per person. That is outrageous! So, we are spending $300 for a family of three. The worst part is, I feel like you’re almost forced to pay it if you’re taking kids on the cruise. How can you get off the boat and go on the island and tell your kids that they can’t go to the water park?! Obviously, you can do that, but it’s pure torture for the kids to have it right in front of them and not let them participate. I wish I had known that before booking the cruise (obviously my fault for not doing the research).

    • Sorry to hear that. I will say that your kids should have a blast (assuming they are over about 8 years old or so). The waterpark is a lot of fun. But the prices are pretty rich in my opinion.

    • I agree that the prices are steep and they continue to raise them. I am struggling to decide if it is a go or no. We are going on Oasis OTS on Feb 20, 22.

    • For our cruise next month on Oasis OTS the cost for Thrill Waterpark — Full Day Pass
      Day 2 – Perfect Day Cococay, Bahamas
      From

      $109.00 / per guest

    • thankfully our boys are teens and can do this park w/o us otherwise they wouldnt get to do it at all. Im not feeling the waterpark myself at any price.

  21. Just saw $79.99 per person for our cruise in May. We only paid $49 per person in Oct 2019. Wondering if prices will cont to drop? 🤷‍♀️ Or should we book now?

  22. My family is cruising on the Empress of the Sea March 1-7, 2020.
    Current offer for Thrill Water Park is $175 CND. Totally absurd!!!
    I sent you a screen shot directly…

  23. We are booked in July. Still debating on water park. The current water park admission is $106.99 that’s with the 10% pre-cruise discount.

  24. It’s currently priced at $84 for Harmony of the Seas in April 2020. One of my daughters can only get on half the rides. So we have to make a decision whether to pay for the whole family or only half the family. What would you suggest?

    • Well we are pretty frugal, so at $84, we’d pass. It’s a lot of fun, but that cost adds up. You could likely go to bigger waterparks in Orlando for less money.

  25. We booked a week ago for our April 2020 cruise and are getting the 83.99 offer, family of 5 so we are debating if only getting for the kids (oldest is 15 so they should be fine), has anyone encountered a drop in the price after the first “pre-cruise deal” is offered?

  27. Same here, just booked a cruise in July on the Harmony of the Seas and am also getting this absurd pre-cruise “offer”, USD 131.99 PER PERSON.

  29. I just booked a cruise in June and it’s $131.99 PER PERSON, same price for kids and adults. Kinda ridiculous in my opinion when my son is too small to ride half of the slides, but my daughter has her heart set on it. So I have to pay for all of us or split the family up for the day. Wasn’t expecting that high of a price point….

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