'Don't look down': How I swung over the edge of a cruise ship from 160 feet high

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My stomach dropped as my seat lurched backward, pointing me toward the shoreline. On the Cliffhanger swing attraction aboard MSC Cruises’ newest ship, MSC World America, there was just a T-shaped bar between me and the open air.

The four-minute ride started slowly, with a red machine resembling a claw lifting me up and out over the railing of Deck 20. Then the swings got bigger.

“Don’t look down,” a fellow rider said. I heeded that warning, keeping my eyes trained on the line’s private island in the Bahamas, Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve.

My racing heart slowed as I watched the sweeping view of aquamarine water and white-sand beaches on a sunny spring day, though I held the metal bars of the swing tight with both hands. In what felt like just a few seconds, the motion subsided, and my seat retreated to the deck.

I went again the next day.

“You don’t think about a swing as something that’s going to be thrilling,” William Monts de Oca Rivera, MSC’s head of guest experience innovation, said in a news briefing during a preview cruise in early April. “But when that is 160 feet above the water and the ship is in the middle of the ocean, you're going to feel something.”

Cliffhanger is one of several rides and other activities on the cruise line’s newest U.S. flagship, which set sail on its maiden voyage from Miami on April 12.

Who can ride Cliffhanger? 

Passengers must meet height and weight requirements to ride (they have to be at least 47.24 inches tall – just under 4 feet – for example). Minors need to be supervised by an accompanying adult.

A maximum of four people can ride at once.

How much does Cliffhanger cost? 

The ride costs $5 per person.

What other new activities does MSC World America have? 

Other new onboard activities include:

• The Harbour: World America boasts the first outdoor activity park of its kind in MSC’s fleet. In addition to Cliffhanger, guests can traverse the High Trail Ropes Course, where they can glide midair on two Sky Rail ziplines; climb into a shark’s head and drop 11 stories on the Jaw Drop @ The Spiral dry slide; choose from three water slides at the Harbour Aquapark; and ride bumper cars and more.
• LEGO activities: Parents and kids alike can show their construction skills in the LEGO Family Zone, a dedicated space for toy brick building. Passengers can put those abilities to the test at the LEGO Family Game Show – billed as a first at sea – where teams compete for Master Builder status. Dancing LEGO characters make their way through the ship once every sailing at a LEGO parade.
• ”Dirty Dancing in Concert”: Dancers, singers and other musicians perform songs from the beloved movie starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey during the roughly 45-minute show, complete with the iconic lift. Guests can get in on the dancing at a themed after-party. Longer matinee showings are performed alongside the film.

The reporter on this story received access to this event from MSC Cruises. Paste BN maintains editorial control of content.

Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for Paste BN based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com.