What to do on a Sea Day?

[Mr. Bungle]

No matter what you decide... DON'T fall into the trap of: What do you want to do.. i don't know, what do you want to do... doesn't matter to me, what do you want to do... whatever is fine, you decide... how about this... nah, what about that...???

 

That right there will kill and hour and add stress that no one wants.

 

S.

[MagnoliaFly]

• Breakfast
  
• Read through the funtimes and circle things that might catch my interest
  
• Hit a trivia show or two
  
• Relax in the shade, read a book
  
• Enjoy the hot tub
  
• Graze at the Lido deck
  
• Take a nap
  
• Afternoon tea if awake in time
  
• Afternoon movie
  
• Play a card or board game
  
• Get ready for dinner
  
• Get some drinks out on deck after dinner with friends
  

[McDebbie]

I have that motion sleeping problem, after half an hour in the car I'm falling asleep. It's really bad on the ship on sea days so we try to get up early and get in lots of walking or pool time or activities then. Once I have lunch I'm out of it for about 2 hours.

 

Like someone else mentioned, a sea day is a good time to go around and get pictures of everything too. There's never time on a port day it seems.

[tashiba]

Spend time drinking heavily with all your new friends by the pool/in a lounge/in the MDR :D

 

Also, because I am vitamin D deficient: sun myself while reading for hours and hours under the protection of sunscreen. Ahhhh... bliss!

[eddyedward]

Yeah i do agree.. cruising and relaxing makes a great match. No doubt its one of the best time to enjoy and its out of this world.

[GerryW80]

Crusie management provides indoor and outdoor activities to keep passengers entertained on Sea days, besides that you could play games, listen to music, watch movies or enjoy a good book:)

[Snorkel Dawg]

Go to pool.

 

Jump in pool, get out of pool, sit on pool edge, order a beer, drink a beer, jump in pool.

 

Repeat often.

 

 

 

A recipe for a great day!

[deladypilot]

On our last cruise, sea days seemed to be busier than port days. I wore myself out going from one activity to the next.

 

Im an early riser, no matter what time I went to bed. So I get up, get the coffee going and sit out on the balcony. I love the sound of the ocean waves. It is so calming. When daylight comes around, I check out the daily and see what happening are interesting. After breakfast the fun begins.

 

It is all up to you. You can be as busy as you like or as laid back as you like.

 

Have fun

[Cruise Wolly]

I love sea days! Our last cruise was a transatlantic from Puerto Rico to Malaga, Spain with the Adventure of the Seas, there were some sea days, it was so amazing, almost one week only the ocean! And no minute boring.

 

I was in the gym, reading, relaxing, go to the yoga-class, watching the ocean, eating, doing inline skating for the first time, ice skating, mini-golf, doing several crafting workshops (I´m a big scrapbook fan), lost 11 $ in the casino, made a lot of photos, crown&anchor events, shows, sleeping in the shade, had some cocktails, enjoy operas on my Ipod, making plans about the next (and the next, and the one for 2014) cruise, so many things to do on sea days :D

[penny0904]

I will stay at the pool ,take a sun bath and read a good book

[LuckyZ]

Other important questions to ask about what you can do on sea days:

 

do i carry my*high-school diploma around?

what do you do with your hair?

what happens if there’s inclement weather?

can you wash clothes*in the dishwasher?

[pdmlynek]

I know that I am in the distinct minority here, but I would like to give an opposing view on sea days.

 

We experienced our first cruise earlier this summer, and we fell in love with cruising. It was much better than we ever imagined. We’ve loved it, and we are looking forward to many more cruises. Although we enjoyed ourselves during sea days, we preferred port days much more.

 

Based on postings on CC and other sources, I believe that our sea days were representative of sea days on other ships and itineraries. I am NOT complaining about the cruise line, or the ship that we were on. In view of our experience, as well as what others posted on CC, I am confident that when we are picking our next cruise, we will give a strong preference to cruises that have more port days over those with more sea days.

 

This posting is not intended to be judgmental of others who like sea days. I respect the views of other on why they like sea days. I understand that the more that person cruises, the more the person is likely to prefer sea days. This post is simply to present a view on sea days from a person who likes to travel, in hopes that this post might be helpful to First Time Cruisers who are wondering about sea days.

 

(1) Traveling on a vacation for our family is about seeing new places and experiencing new things. During the sea days we are not in different place; we are on the same cruise ship. Every port is different, every port has lots of things to do. In every port there are many different places to go to, and may potentially wonder many miles or dozens of miles away from the ship. However, during sea days we are constricted to only a few acres of deckspace on a cruise ship. After a few hours of exploring the ship, we pretty much saw the whole ship. Granted that staying on the ship is nice, but the ship cannot compete with ports in the area of new places and new experiences.

 

(2) Vacation time is too precious just to veg out. As numerous other posters have stated, the best use of sea days is to relax. And I wholly agree that sea days are perfect for just relaxing. Although I love to relax as much as the next person, to me that is not the best use of our limited time and budget. Just like most working stiffs, we have limited number of days and limited budget to use on our vacation. We need to make the most out of our vacation time. The reason that I do not like to just relax during our vacation is because I can hang around a pool, or read a good book, or catch a good movie, at home just as well as on the ship. Reading a book or catching a movie or hanging around a pool can be done at home during the weekend, or even after work. It makes little sense to me spend my precious time and money to do these activities on a vacation, when I can do them any time that I wish at home.

 

(3) Many, if not most, sea day activities can be done during port days. On port day, after spending a portion of a day in port, the passengers get back on the ship and sail away. The day does not end when the gangplank goes up; there is usually additional time that can be spent enjoying the ship. Alternatively, or in addition, there is also additional time prior to docking in the morning. Thus, most of the things that one can enjoy during sea days, can be done during the port days as well. On board activities do not replace the port activities, but supplement them.

 

(4) The onboard activities during sea days tend to be rather simplistic, rudimentary, amateurish, and too much of a brain fluff. For example, there were various classes on computers, such as using Windows, transferring photos, using photoediting software; all such classes were on a very elementary level. Or, for example, the beer tasting class was lead by what looked like a recent college graduate who looked up information on brewing on Wikipedia earlier that day; I expected to learn something about beers, and not to have beer tasting as an excuse to drink. Or, for another example, during a presentation on our upcoming ports, the guide was telling us elementary things that could be easily learned by reading a guidebook; I expected someone with a much deeper knowledge of the ports to give a presentation and to answer our questions.

 

 

Yes, for a number of reasons we enjoyed sea days -- spending uninterrupted time with my family, experiencing wonderful food, enjoying time with my wife, finally renting (for free!) several of those movies that I have been meaning to watch but I never had time for, catching up on sleep, etc. -- but we enjoyed the port days more.

[sjcruiser]

Hit some of the onboard activities such as bingo, port/shopping talks, art auctions, ice carving demo, trivia, play cards/games with other passengers, or read a book somewhere quiet, on deck or my balcony.

[marilyn71]

I have an Ipad, so I always have something to do...read, watch a movie, play games, (I love Role playing games), listen to music.

 

I am also a crafter...I just started a cross stitch Christmas stocking for my new granddaughter, so my upcoming 29 days on the Carnival Spirit repo to Australia, with lots of sea days, this will keep me busy.

 

I do not gamble, and I'm only good with about an hour or 2 by the pool, but luckily, pretty much the things I enjoy at home, I can enjoy on the ship...now, if I could just bring my gardening with me...LOL!

 

Debbie

 

Your upcoming cruises look amazing. My husband and I hope to do something like this, maybe one of thses years well be able, after retirement. Have a wonderful time.

[paul929207]

Your upcoming cruises look amazing. My husband and I hope to do something like this, maybe one of thses years well be able, after retirement. Have a wonderful time.

Retirement can be wonderful if you have planned for it. We are having a great time.

[LuckyZ]

I know that I am in the distinct minority here, but I would like to give an opposing view on sea days.

 

We experienced our first cruise earlier this summer, and we fell in love with cruising. It was much better than we ever imagined. We’ve loved it, and we are looking forward to many more cruises. Although we enjoyed ourselves during sea days, we preferred port days much more.

 

Based on postings on CC and other sources, I believe that our sea days were representative of sea days on other ships and itineraries. I am NOT complaining about the cruise line, or the ship that we were on. In view of our experience, as well as what others posted on CC, I am confident that when we are picking our next cruise, we will give a strong preference to cruises that have more port days over those with more sea days.

 

This posting is not intended to be judgmental of others who like sea days. I respect the views of other on why they like sea days. I understand that the more that person cruises, the more the person is likely to prefer sea days. This post is simply to present a view on sea days from a person who likes to travel, in hopes that this post might be helpful to First Time Cruisers who are wondering about sea days.

 

(1) Traveling on a vacation for our family is about seeing new places and experiencing new things. During the sea days we are not in different place; we are on the same cruise ship. Every port is different, every port has lots of things to do. In every port there are many different places to go to, and may potentially wonder many miles or dozens of miles away from the ship. However, during sea days we are constricted to only a few acres of deckspace on a cruise ship. After a few hours of exploring the ship, we pretty much saw the whole ship. Granted that staying on the ship is nice, but the ship cannot compete with ports in the area of new places and new experiences.

 

(2) Vacation time is too precious just to veg out. As numerous other posters have stated, the best use of sea days is to relax. And I wholly agree that sea days are perfect for just relaxing. Although I love to relax as much as the next person, to me that is not the best use of our limited time and budget. Just like most working stiffs, we have limited number of days and limited budget to use on our vacation. We need to make the most out of our vacation time. The reason that I do not like to just relax during our vacation is because I can hang around a pool, or read a good book, or catch a good movie, at home just as well as on the ship. Reading a book or catching a movie or hanging around a pool can be done at home during the weekend, or even after work. It makes little sense to me spend my precious time and money to do these activities on a vacation, when I can do them any time that I wish at home.

 

(3) Many, if not most, sea day activities can be done during port days. On port day, after spending a portion of a day in port, the passengers get back on the ship and sail away. The day does not end when the gangplank goes up; there is usually additional time that can be spent enjoying the ship. Alternatively, or in addition, there is also additional time prior to docking in the morning. Thus, most of the things that one can enjoy during sea days, can be done during the port days as well. On board activities do not replace the port activities, but supplement them.

 

(4) The onboard activities during sea days tend to be rather simplistic, rudimentary, amateurish, and too much of a brain fluff. For example, there were various classes on computers, such as using Windows, transferring photos, using photoediting software; all such classes were on a very elementary level. Or, for example, the beer tasting class was lead by what looked like a recent college graduate who looked up information on brewing on Wikipedia earlier that day; I expected to learn something about beers, and not to have beer tasting as an excuse to drink. Or, for another example, during a presentation on our upcoming ports, the guide was telling us elementary things that could be easily learned by reading a guidebook; I expected someone with a much deeper knowledge of the ports to give a presentation and to answer our questions.

 

 

Yes, for a number of reasons we enjoyed sea days -- spending uninterrupted time with my family, experiencing wonderful food, enjoying time with my wife, finally renting (for free!) several of those movies that I have been meaning to watch but I never had time for, catching up on sleep, etc. -- but we enjoyed the port days more.

 

I respect your opinion. I personally love sea days, but understand your point of view. Perhaps you may consider going on the Southern Carribean itinerary where you get 5 great ports and only 1 sea day.

[Hlitner]

We absolutely love sea days. On a recent cruise we had 21 sea days including, at one point, 9 sea days in a row. For us it was like being in heaven. We normally spend a lot of time reading (at the pool in good weather) and also enjoy socializing with other passengers. Sometimes we might go to an activity (such as wine tasting, culinary presentations, etc) but most of the time we enjoy relaxing and reading.

 

Hank

[RikkuCat]

What does everyone do during sea days if the weather is bad?

 

We went on our first cruise in Oct - to Bermuda out of NYC - and had two sea days on the way there and one on the way back. The weather was nice the morning of the first sea day, but turned overcast after lunch. The second sea day was overcast in the morning and rainy in the afternoon. The last sea day, on the way back from Bermuda, was pretty mediocre weather all day as well. A lot of sections of the ship were closed due to high winds - including the pool.

 

I know there is always a lot going on, but we were bored on these sea days! We were expecting that we'd spend the sea days hanging out outdoors (sun or shade) with a good book or people-watching, take a dip in the pool, take a nap, and participate in some of the awesome activities that we'd heard about.

 

With the weather being mediocre during our sea days and the pool closed, we couldn't spend as much time outside as we expected. There's only so much napping I can do - took one the first day, and then I was too well-rested to nap again the entire cruise. Very few of the scheduled activities appealed to us - maybe it's our ages or interests - and the ones that did appeal to us were offered at inconvenient times. I thought it was weird that none of the pub crawls or wine/martini tastings on our ship were held during the evening - they were all during the afternoon, generally a little earlier in the day than we want to drink too heavily. The gym killed an hour or two. We went to the spa a couple times, but that would be a pricey way to spend too much time! Sitting inside reading or playing board games just didn't seem relaxing to me - I wanted to be outdoors relaxing.

 

Any suggestions? We really wanted to enjoy cruising and will give it another shot, probably choosing an itinerary with fewer sea days at a different time of year.

[Mr. Bungle]

...Eat, drink, nap... Repeat...

[NoobCruise]

We explore the ship, eat, check out activities and entertainment, but mostly we veg out on our balcony maybe with a book or maybe just chatting and dozing off. For us, sea days are the days to completely relax and completely recharge.

[bestofXs]

The Longer you Cruise, the More you Appreciate Sea Days. When you first cruise you want to see and do everything. When you have a few cruises under your belt, the down time is really more important and an essential part of your vacation! Even, when you are retired!

 

Go to an Art Auction and get the free champagne! Visit the ship stores and perhaps find a bargain! If your ship has a movie theater, enjoy the popcorn! Find the game room and play a round of cards, chess or checkers. Play mini golf, enter a game of trivia and win a key ring, do a cooking or vineyard class, do a galley tour, book your next cruise, find out where the sushi is served mid afternoon, grab an ice cream cone. One of our greatest thrills is watching people! Bottom line is: HAVE FUN!!!