Eurodam: how do you stay busy on "at sea" days?

Just wondering what people do to keep themselves busy on "at sea" days? I've only cruised once in the past and found the at sea days beyond boring. I'm just wondering if I've missed something besides the obvious "sit on my balcony and read".

Read, move, gym, lecture, nap, tea time, and more.

Read' date=' move, gym, lecture, nap, tea time, and more.[/quote']

Agreed, with the caveat that "not busy" is also a good option after demanding port days, or just in general.

above plus demos (cooking, flower arranging, towel folding), Bingo, Trivia, movies, craft classes, casino, walking promenade, eating, drinking, shopping, wine tasting, Digital Workshops, e-mailing, galley or backstage tours, taking pictures around the ship to answer people's past or future questions. If all else fails (which is not often) editing photos on laptop in my room. Usually my problem is having two or more conflicting things that I want to do.

There are usually quite a few more activities scheduled on sea days. The key is to grab your daily program and highlight the things you want to do. You can do that the night before, or when you wake up. I'm not sure where you;re sailing, but if it's the Caribbean, here's a link to a full week's programs from the Eurodam in December.

http://www.evernote.com/l/AFgPakGyyK9GH7wV65Tr2ALg-q0TcZvQ_-U/

There were two sea days: Day 2 (labeled "At Sea") and Day 6 (" Sailing towards Half Moon Cay.")

Hope this helps. One note though: This was the week before Christmas 2016, so the movies were more in line with holiday classics and family friendly fare.

Best solution for you is to not sign up for cruises with at-sea days. Some have more than others- avoid the ones that do. If you have already found them boring to tears, there is not much to help you. Just avoid them.

Or find a livelier cruise line. People find Princess and Celebrity have more on-board activity going on at all times. HAL ships are known up front to be the more sedate of these three mainline cruise lines. Keep trying different cruise lines until you find just the right Goldilocks fit - some work better than others.

We had 8 straight sea days last cruise and the time flew by!

Our friends had only done a 7 day Caribbean cruise and absolutely loved it.

they got into cruise mode which is what a lot of sea days permits you to do. You can do as much or as little as you want.

I found a fabulous waiter at the Retreat and found myself there a few hours a day enjoying the view, trying to piddle on my ipad and chatting with folks.

We also participate in our roll calls which usually has a few activities planned and usually got them all. It's all in fun :)

I'd far rather cross the pond on a ship than a plane, but that's me.

Sea days take some adapting. You will always have one or two on most cruises, even the short ones.

Lots to do, if you like to do things. The ones with more sea days have more activities - lectures, specialty wine tastings, talks, get togethers, and all the things mentioned above. Take part in all, some or none at all - it's all your choice. :)

I am not certain what cruise line you sailed on before, but there are lots of activities besides sitting on the verandah and reading and sleeping.

Just look at all the items above from various people for things that are available.

Thank you, everyone. I feel a bit less nervous now. It has been a good 15-20 years since I cruised and then it was on a very small (450) Royal Caribbean ship that was half full and there really wasn't much to do. I'll be sure to check out the schedule every day. I'm sure I can find things to keep me busy. :D

... It has been a good 15-20 years since I cruised and then it was on a very small (450) Royal Caribbean ship that was half full and there really wasn't much to do.

There are probably that many people in the elevators at any given time on today's Royal Caribbean ships.

My favorite HAL on ship/at sea day activities were:

- Relaxing in the Thermal Suites and Hydro Pool (passes are sold at the spa daily if available and for the duration of your cruise, which is what I always choose).

- Swimming in the pool, or relaxing pool side.

- Going to the cooking demos (my ship had America's Test Kitchen, and it was great)

- Walking the promenade deck all the way around this ship, something many ships don't offer.

- Our last cruise had local "showcases" usually out by the pools that were interesting and entertaining. One was a singer, the other dancers.

- Triva!

Those were my favorites and with the leisurely/slowed down meals, my days were very full.

Just wondering what people do to keep themselves busy on "at sea" days? I've only cruised once in the past and found the at sea days beyond boring. I'm just wondering if I've missed something besides the obvious "sit on my balcony and read".

Best solution for you is to not sign up for cruises with at-sea days. Some have more than others- avoid the ones that do. If you have already found them boring to tears, there is not much to help you. Just avoid them.

 

Or find a livelier cruise line. People find Princess and Celebrity have more on-board activity going on at all times. HAL ships are known up front to be the more sedate of these three mainline cruise lines. Keep trying different cruise lines until you find just the right Goldilocks fit - some work better than others.

Is there such a thing as a cruise with no at sea days ;)?

Have coffee delivered when you think you will wake up.

Workout at the gym.

Breakfast at the LIDO.

Read the New York Times. Paper or on the Navigator.

Download email in the internet café.

Lunch in the MDR

Relax and Read.

Nap.

Happy Hour at the Crows Nest.

Dinner at the MDR or a Specialty restaurant.

Show in the Theatre.

After dinner drink at the Crows nest. Normally happy hour around 10?

I, too, am not a huge fan of sea days...1 or 2 spread out through the cruise is ample for me. At home, I don't have a "go, go, go" life, so I don't need all that "down" time. I don't mind reading a book and sitting around the pool for a bit...but 2 sea days in a row makes me nuts!

Book cruises without extended sea days.

Is there such a thing as a cruise with no at sea days ;)?

Looks like the Eurodam runs about 2 at sea days per 7 day segments in Alaska and Caribbean. So that might be manageable for someone worried about being bored with at-sea days - they are spaced apart.

However, there are a lot more at-sea days running several days in a row when the Eurodam does the Panama Canal. Those Eurodam cruises would not be a good recommendation for those who already know up front they have not liked at-sea days in the past.

I love sea days! Since I work, sea days feel like Saturdays. I like to take my book and go looking for the best sit and read spot. And I like to explore the ship at leisure, taking pictures of interesting things. If an activity interests me, I'll go and check it out.

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There are usually quite a few more activities scheduled on sea days. The key is to grab your daily program and highlight the things you want to do. You can do that the night before, or when you wake up. I'm not sure where you;re sailing, but if it's the Caribbean, here's a link to a full week's programs from the Eurodam in December.

 

http://www.evernote.com/l/AFgPakGyyK9GH7wV65Tr2ALg-q0TcZvQ_-U/

 

There were two sea days: Day 2 (labeled "At Sea") and Day 6 (" Sailing towards Half Moon Cay.")

 

Hope this helps. One note though: This was the week before Christmas 2016, so the movies were more in line with holiday classics and family friendly fare.

Thanks for this great info. We'll be taking Eurodam Dec. 24-31 on a similar itinerary and I'm sure the holiday period will mean some changes, but for getting our family to get an idea of what activities are normally scheduled, this is fantastic.

I wonder what people who have a hard time enjoying sea days do when at home and not at work: shop at the mall, ,go to the supermarket, get an oil change or a hair cut?

If they are really unable to take advantage of what, free time, the ship - and so many fellow passengers - have to offer, then they should stay home and do the above --- oh , wait!!!! I forgot about all that great daytime TV programming they can't get on a ship.

My problem it that I usually have too much to do on sea days. We enjoy the longer itineraries mostly because of more sea days. I look forward to hearing the enrichment lecturers, sometimes there are 2 onboard running different sets of topics. Then there are the port talks which I usually learn something from even if I'm not signing up for ship excursions. I get an early seat for the presentation by the Captain or his engineering staff. I try to make it to team trivia daily where I always learn how much I don't know :) but I enjoy meeting up with the group and finding out what kinds of things others are doing.

I try to walk, swim or use the gym's bicycles for at least a short time every day. If I can squeeze in a computer class, that's a bonus but it rarely happens. I like to write a bit in my journal, and I often bring a book to the Lower Promenade deck to read in a deck chair (not usually cruising in a balcony) but I find that it's more fascinating to watch the sea go by, often with flying fish, shorelines to watch through binoculars, birds chasing us, some waters have dolphins or even whales, or other ships... oh lots of interesting things to see that I can't see at home in the mountains, but I can read a book there! I might browse the shopping tables for their daily special sales. If the ship has access to see the nautical charts I go check them out for interesting features, ocean trenches, lighthouses, other vessels or islands. I like to check-out the iPods with the art tour of the ship's art collection once per cruise, now I think the front desk has them - they're aobut 45 minutes and I can usually squeeze it in. And movies are fun for me too, but I usually don't have that much time :(

Things I don't do, but I'm very glad others do because these things make money for the cruise line which keeps my price down, and if folks enjoy them, good for everybody: art auctions, bingo, casino, expensive jewelry presentations, wellness specialty offerings of teeth whitening, isothermic something or other fat reduction, different kinds of healing, aligning, and generally buying the advice of some quasi-expert.

DH takes lots of pictures and works on stitching panoramas on seas days; he listens to classes that he brings on his computer that he hasn't got time to listen to at home (anybody else addicted to the Great Courses?), and sometimes I find him pouring over jigsaw puzzles... just one more piece!

The nice thing for us about cruising is that we can each do our own thing on board, especially on sea days, often not seeing each other until dinner time, which is kind of healthy for a retired couple who usually spends 24/7 together at home.

Next cruise has 2 transatlantic crossings! Lots and lots of sea days for me!! Ahhhh time. m--

HAL ships have fewer organized activities than some other cruise lines, such as Royal Caribbean and Princess. HAL has really cut back on the number members on the cruise director's staff in the past few years. That said, we always found plenty to do since we're capable of entertaining ourselves. I would take long walks before breakfast, have breakfast in the dining room, play the morning trivia, eat lunch in the dining room, walk again with DH, read a bit, play a game of Scrabble with DH, play the afternoon trivia, go for a swim, etc.

Sea days are what you make of them. Some take it easy, relax by the pool or on the promenade, others stay busy with all the activities mentioned. For us, we usually feel like we are rushing from one thing to another on sea days and have to consciously set aside some down time. Here is a typical sea day for us on the 2017 WC (which had around 55 of them).

7:000 - walk two miles on promenade

8:30 - breakfast in Lido

9:30 - Good Morning Amsterdam show

11:00 - enrichment speaker or cooking show

11:45 - team trivia

12:300 - lunch

2:00 - either relax on promenade or enrichment speaker

4:00 - happy hour

5:00 - Clean up for dinner

6;30 - dinner

8:00 - early show

9:30 - sleep

Repeat, repeat, repeat.....

What I don't do on sea days - worry about what time I can get off the ship or worry about what time I need to be back on the ship.

I work so sea days are like Saturdays. (someone else already said that - it was worth repeating)

Someone else is driving so I can imbibe.

Beyond that I'm not sure what exactly I do, but the time doesn't last long enough...

We enjoy each day as a gift 🎁!

No worries, relax or be active!!!

The only thing we make sure we do

Is walk the promenade 3-4 times around and take the rest of the day as it comes.

So enjoy your time!

Smooth Sailings

Denise:)

We enjoy each day as a gift 🎁!

No worries, relax or be active!!!

The only thing we make sure we do

Is walk the promenade 3-4 times around and take the rest of the day as it comes.

So enjoy your time!

Smooth Sailings

Denise:)

Denise, hoping you revisit this thread. I posted a question on the Future Cruise Listing to you. Could you take a look please? It's one of the first posts on that thread after the Future Cruise Listing.

Apologies for the thread drift.

For me, a sea day is an end in itself. One should listen to the water for a while before getting over involved in activities.

There are plenty of ships that cater to the activity-hungry.