Lost Dunes – Royal Caribbean Cruises – Icon of the Seas
Submitted by: Royal Caribbean International
Lead Designers: Marissa Almanza and Josh Nakaya, Royal Caribbean Group
Completion Date: 27/01/2024
Adventure is par for the course at the totally reimagined post-hurricane desert island landscape of Lost Dunes. This revolutionary mini golf course doubles down on the imaginative Thrill Island theming and takes it to the next level with interactive play elements throughout the course. Lost Dunes takes a unique spin on the popular family past time, featuring a a 9-hole course filled with ‘artifacts’ of past adventure-seekers, whose ships, planes, submarines, and fallen palms have been washed up from the Cat 6 hurricane that passed through the island.
The course ranges in a variety of par levels the whole family can enjoy as well as interactive elements and varying topography levels to make this truly feel like dunes to get lost in. The experience begins before Hole 1 – at the putter and ball pick-up area. The ball pick-up experience requires players to pull a lever out of a submarine-hatched golf ball dispenser, while the putters are inside a life-size barrel.
Hole 1 is a series of stacked vintage trunks, where the ball shoots through. Hole 2 features fallen palm trees after the storm hit, and players are challenges to shoot through the palm tree trunk. Hole 3 features a broken plane wing, where the real challenge is getting the ball over and through the wing itself into the hole. Hole 4 features a peculiar washed-up plane, complete with the cockpit and propellor! Families and friends can add to the challenge by pulling the lever to move the propellor and block the ball. Hole 5 features the bow of an old explorers’ ship, named Anchored Adventurer, washed up on shore. Hole 6 is a 3-tier hole that reaches topography as high as 5 ft above the deck. Players shoot through the stern of the ship, passing through the anchor and ship’s helm with a surprising “chance” finish. Hole 7 features a life-size periscope with a surprise image of another eye looking back at you! Hole 7 is an uphill hole into half of a submarine, named the Rusty Mariner. Hole 8 has the other half of the sub, with an interactive submarine “fin” that other players can move up and down to throw off the game of the player by twisting the steering helm. Lastly, Hole 9 features a stack of old, dusty oil barrels holding up a surfboard that is used to launch the ball “uphill” and into the hole. Throughout the course, guests can lounge, sit, or sip their drink on other storm-washed items such as coffee bean and coconut crates to make it a comfortable mini golf experience in between holes.
