Cruise Ship Sea Days

Before going farther, let me be perfectly clear: I LOVE SEA DAYS. So, if you're looking for unbiased reporting, you might not get it here. But you will find out why sea days are a wonderful part of the cruising experience.

Newer cruisers tend to book "port intensive" cruises, because they may think of Sea Days as nothing more than "travel days" - getting there, if you will.

On the other hand, seasoned cruisers often look for itineraries having more sea days than port days. They may even treat port days as extra sea days, staying aboard when the ship calls at a port they have been to before. They've learned what sea days are all about.

I love the feeling of being at sea, and revel in the beauty of the water, the colors of the wake, the smell of the salt air, and the feel of sea spray in my face.

I'm mostly a relaxer and enjoyer on Sea Days. Here are some of my favorite things to do when the ship is at sea or when I stay on board on a port day:

Get up early and watch a sunrise at sea from my balcony, or from the very top deck of the ship.

Take a swim in the pool on a port day after the crowds have all gone to explore on land. (Sometimes I have it to myself!)

Enjoy a leisurely lunch in one of the many ship's dining venues, without having to worry about rushing back to work.

Sit at a table by the pool, or one by a window in the piano lounge, and enjoy the company of shipmates. (Especially when sailing with favorite friends!)

Explore the ship, and view the artwork hung all around it.

Peruse the selections in the ship's library.

Stroll through the shops on board.

Take a nap. (Yes, really! it's a luxury)

Stand on the aft when the ship is underway and watch the wake.

The beauty of the sea, captured on three different mousepads, to bring sweet memories of a sea day to your workspace.

(Click on any photo to see the product in its gallery setting or to buy one for yourself.)

There are workshops, seminars, classes, and demonstrations a-plenty on sea days. Topics will vary wildly from ship to ship and line to line. Some example topics, though, include: Finance, photography, politics, regional culture for ports visited, baseball, scrapbooking, arts and crafts, line dancing, filmmaking, even zoology.

Certain special cruises have famous guest speakers, such as a famous author, a baseball hall of famer, or a well known political commentator or film director.

Certain things are pretty routinely offered on most ships, such as dance classes, wine tasting seminars, gourmet cooking classes, and ice carving demonstrations.

Pampering spa services at sea are available for individuals and couples. Some lines have services desugned especially for men and/or teens. The spas at sea are usually by leading providers, such as Steiner and Canyon Ranch, who are contracted by the cruise lines. These exremely popular spa and salon services, which are not included in your cruise fare, are extremely popular. In fact, if you want one of the exotic specialty services, it's wise to book your appointment as soon as you board. (If you are sdailing with Celebrity Cruises, you can book your spa appointment online ahead of time.)

See your cruise line's website for a description of the different services offered. In addition to the expected massages and couples messages, you're likely to find things like seaweed wraps, detox offerings, hot stone therapy treatments, facials with exotic ingredients, even things ike Celebrity's "Exotic Hand Ritual with Manacure," which involves flower petals, aromatherapy oils and milk. along with a manicure. Sounds delightful!

On most ships there is also a fitness area in or near the spa, where the exeercise equipment has a view of the sea, so that you can watch the waves while you tread or cycle.

photo of seaweed is a morgueFile free photo

MUSIC
You'll find entertainment of different kinds all over the ship. including lots of musicmm from light classical to pop to country to raggae to caribbean steel drums, and more. Consult your cruise daily for times and venues.

My favorites are the Rosario Strings on Royal Caribbean, and the fine piano music (light classical and modern classics) on Princes Cruises, but there's definately something for everyone. The livlier varieties of music are usually found on the Lido Deck and in the discos or latin themed club venues

OTHER ENTERTAINMENT - board games and open play games
On most cruise ships, there are board games available for loan fron the ship's library or activity center.

Some ships have table tennis and, a court for pick-up basketball games, miniature golf that you can play during open hours. At right is a photo of part of the 9 hole mini golf area on the Serenade of the Seas.

The Lido Deck is usuallyh a very busy place on sea days, with lots of games and activities conducted by the Cruise Director and staff.

Depending on the line, there may be belly flop contests, hairy leg contests, and assorted other pool games.
And Bingo... some lucky cruisers win. Sometimes there's even "Win a Cruise" Bingo... yes, the big winner gets a free cruise!

You can also participate in trivia contests throughout your cruise, but there's sure to be at least one or two on a sea day. These are normally held in one of the inside venues. Check your cruise daily for time and place.

A friend and her husband are avid trivia players, and are always coming home from a cruise with a medal or other prize that they won for giving the most correct answers. These prizes are usually something like an 'authentic plastic medal on an authentic ribbon," or maybe a cruise line logo items, like a keychain, pen, or even a cap.

If you are really an activity addict, you'll find plenty of things to try on Royal Caribbean's ships, especially the newer and larger ones. some examples:

All Royal Caribbean ships have rock climbing walls.

On Voyager Class ships, there are ice skating rinks.

The Flowrider surfing simulator made its sea-going debut on the Freedom class ships.

The new Oasis class ships have onboard zip lines which allow you to zip over the ship.

Surfed at Sea Magnet by CruiseReady

There are so many wonderful things about Sea Days, that I'm not sure how long this would be if I wrote in detail about each and every possibility. In fact, I'm not even sure I COULD!

I have, however tried to give you a smattering of each of the different kinds of passive and active things that can keep you busy and happy while you are miles and nautical miles from land. I hope it has let you glimpse how extrordinarily varied a sea day experience can be.

It truly is there for you to make what you want of it, and that's one of the things that's so special about cruising. So, go - Cruise! And make of your Sea Days exactly what you want them to be!

Oh- and if you STILL think you might be bored, or if you're concerned about the kids, keep reading... there's more!

A WORD OF CAUTION
It's imoprtant to note that cruising with family means a vacation WITH your kids, not a vacation FROM your kids. Not only is it extremely bad cruising ettiquite to allow them the run of the ship on their own, it's very unwise and potentially unsafe for them! But, read on for some interesting news for both you and your offspring.

NOW FOR THE GOOD STUFF
That said, most of the larger cruise lines have wonderful children's programs for preschool age through teens. All of the programs are supervised, and supervised activities that are age appropriate. They'll enjoy meeting others their own age and have a ball on sea days.

Most kids enjoy the special kids areas so much that they tend to be strangely absent from the general ship population on many cruises. I remember one such voyage with Celebrity Cruises. For the first few days, I was convinced there were only a handful of children aboard... less than half a dozen. Then, at dinner on "Pirate Night," about 50 of them suddenly appeared! They marched through the dining room, dressed in little pirate costumes, and reciting a pirate poem they had learned. So cute! Everyone loved it, and they got lots of applause. (This little performance is a staple of the younger kids' program on many ships.)