Why I love "Sea Days"

[Rasa Sayang]

The recent great topic from The Fox about are we cruising for cruisings sake prompted some great replies.

 

My main love of cruising is just being there - at sea, and I thought I would share the following with the group.

 

On a voyage to SE Asia on the Oriana earlier this year we were fortunate to transit the Samarai Channel on the SE tip of Papua New Guinea.

 

It was an incredible warm, tropical day - surrounded by islands, calm seas and tropical rain squalls.

 

The local New Guinea pilot was on board and he gave a running commentary from the bridge as we passed through the very long channel.

 

I found myself out of breath at times from ducking from port to starboard to catch all the action as we passed.

 

We passed close by to some very interesting mainland scenery on the port side with the brooding mountains of the high country in the background.

 

 

Tropical squalls dotted the area most of the afternoon.

 

 

The Promenade Deck "couch potatos" had good views of all the passing scenery.

 

 

Tiny remote island communities and tropical beaches dotted the starboard side of the channel.

 

 

Even some friendly natives to wave to us as we passed by.

 

 

Finally we passed by the SE tip of Milne Bay before dropping the pilot and heading for clear water.

 

 

After several quiet moments reflecting on the sacrifice of the Aussies who stopped the Japanese at Milne Bay [the first land victory against Japan in WWll], I took an enjoyable pull on my frosty ale and thought: "it doesn't get any better than this."

 

I'd love to hear some thoughts [and pics] from others about their enjoyable "sea days"

[MargnGrah]

Hi Dennis,

 

 

Wow... what wonderful photos.We too love the sea days, and I guess our 'favourite' day was way back in the days when the ships sailed through the Boulari Havannah Passage in daylight... It was just fantastic. Just to see those beautiful mountains reach out of the water and the colours of the red soil up againt the lush green grass were amazing.

It is such a shame that it is not a feature on cruises any more.

 

On our last cruise we were unfortunate enough to miss Mystery Island, and while some passengers were annoyed and loudly complaining, we thought great, a sea day. Don't get me wrong it would have been lovely to go there, but it was out of the captains controll, so why not make the most of the extra day at sea.

[CountryCruiseAddict]

I love sea days as they're so relaxing.. you're not on any sort of time schedule.. You dont have to wait for tenders.. make sure you're at tours on time.. etc.. You can just laze around and not even wear a watch those days..

[fishtaco]

If you love sea days then you must experience a balcony cabin cruise!

 

I was shocked at the amount we missed with a standard window compared to a balcony on similar cruises.

 

I know we cant always afford a balcony(me included) but if you get the chance its well worth it! You just see so much more.

 

 

Den

[Pip and Alan]

fabulous photos thank you for sharing :)

[Brossy]

Hi Dennis

 

Love the photos...simply beautiful.

 

On our last sea day we saw dolphins :). It was a wonderful sight to see.

[AuzzieCruiser]

I love sea days. No need to get up early to get prepared to head ashore. You are on your own time. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the beautiful ocean vistas.:)

We have 6 sea days in a row on our next cruise, then 4 port days, then 4 sea days to recover before hitting Hawaii.

I've also discovered, that if the cruise is port intensive, time goes soooo much faster.:rolleyes:

[mrssoexcited]

I agree, sea days are wonderfully relaxing. However, our next cruise is to New Zealand which is very port intensive. What happens on board ship on a port day, if you choose to stay on board? Do they still have all the activities?:confused:

[karmac]

Hi Dennis,

 

 

Wow... what wonderful photos.We too love the sea days, and I guess our 'favourite' day was way back in the days when the ships sailed through the Boulari Havannah Passage in daylight... It was just fantastic. Just to see those beautiful mountains reach out of the water and the colours of the red soil up againt the lush green grass were amazing.

 

Dennis also has some fabulous photos when he sailed through the Boulari-Havannah Passage a couple of years ago. Maybe you should post them again ,Dennis:)

 

 

Dennis, this may sound like a silly question but as those pics are taken in the Samarai Channel, are any of them Samarai Island? I went there on my Fairstar cruise back in 1986. I've recently checked it out on google earth & it still ooks the same:)

 

 

I also love the sea days the best. Sitting by the pool (I never actually go in) chatting with friends, sipping on a cocktail & taking part in "name that tune" (gee I hope they still do that in 2 weeks time).

[Kinkacruiser]

Hi Dennis,

Many thanks for putting us in cruise mode. Beaut photos...No 2 is my very favourite.

I must be one of the few who don't find enough to do on sea days.

Cheers,

Anna

[Lestel]

Dennis, Those photo's are just stunning, thanks so much for sharing. I love sea days as well mainly from the freedom & relaxation point of view. I think I would be happy with all sea days if I were sailing through the location you were! Our limited sea days so far have really just been ocean and much as I just love looking at the sea it would be nice to have something else going on. Lucky Rose to get dolphins, that would be great!

 

Our next Qld coastal cruise has more sea days and fingers crossed if we have good conditions I'm hopeful for good scenic pictures as well.

 

Lesley :)

 

Mrssoexcited - generally on port days when you stay on board there is not as much going on but certainly some activities and the bonus of fewer passengers on board. The spa's run good specials on those days as well.

[Rasa Sayang]

Some neat replies - thanks for the compliments on the pics - I just like taking photos of what I see around me. ;)

 

I guess lots of cruisers love their sea days just like me - good 'onya. :)

 

MargnGrah: Yes, I love that passage as well. We were fortunate to transit through there in daylight twice in one voyage.

 

Fishtaco: I agree Den, balcony is the way to go - waking up to scenes like this on the PD.

 

 

Brossy: Yeah, dolphins are great. I've sailed "up close and personal" in company with dolphins many times on my friends schooner.

 

Karmac: I remember the post you refer to Karen but can't locate it. If anyone is interested, all those photos are contained in this album of the PD Christmas Cruise '07

 

http://picasaweb.google.com.au/NickosPix/ChristmasAtSea

 

Also, I am not sure if any of the islands shown in my post above are actually Samarai Island iteslf. from memory it is a reasonable size island.

 

A beautiful isolated part of the world.

[Gold Coast Cruisers]

Absolutely beautiful photos Dennis.

 

We had 5 sea days in a row on Celebrity Mercury and it was just bliss as we cruised south across the equator. I'm never bored on sea days, I can sit for hours just gazing out to sea.....ahhhhhh!

Let me check, how many sleeps have I got to go until my next cruise? ;)

 

Jillybean:)

[thied]

thank you all for the great photos