Sea Days

It strikes me that sea days are not universally desired. Indeed, I've read many threads where contributors clearly don't really like sea days and this got me to wondering if OH and I are a bit weird (well, yes, we probably are for many reasons but bear with). You see, we like the sea days; we find that the ports can sometimes be a bit of an intrusion into the rhythm of the voyage.

The first thing we look for on an intinerary is that at least 50% of the days are at sea, better still that the itinerary should have several consecutive sea days.

So are we a bit unusual in this regard? Or are we taking the motto ''it is better to travel than to arrive'' a bit too far?

If you're unusual, then count me in too. I very much enjoy sea days.

I'm with you too, give me sea days all in a row, I'm happy.

My ideal cruise would probably be about five sea days, then one port day (and a port where we dock close to an interesting small town good for wandering around on foot) - repeated three or four times, possibly five.

Love sea days. I think an absolutely ideal cruise for me would entail overnights alternating with 2-3 sea days. No rushing on and off the ship every day and the ability to experience each port much more holisticly and branch further out into the surrounding areas. For me, the ship is the destination and interesting ports just icing on the cake.

Bechi

Most of our trips are port intensive because DH always needs something new with different angles and shapes and lighting to photograph, (that is the main reason why he travels), once he has photographed the ship and the various sunrises and sunsets from the ship multiple times.

He is most distressed when sea days mean the internet is not working well or is superslow, e.g., on Silver Cloud near Cape Horn on gray days 3 years ago, , or on Europa 2 near South Africa last year, because many are hanging on it saying hello to little Ashley and Trevor on Facetime back home because they are bored, or playing internet-consuming online games with a lot of graphics, and then he cannot connect to work to catch up on emails easily ( and of course there is also no cellular backup option off the iphone either when out at sea). He also does not like that because the ship is full, meal service declines, or is more crowded.

I usually enjoy sea days if the ship has good food, good service, internet, some interesting talks, concerts, and there is not too much wobbling so I avoid seasickness. I can also sit and sit, under a blanket on my veranda, just watching the waves, mile after mile, fantasizing that as long as you keep moving, things will never end. I did many transatlantic basic transportation crossings with my mom when I was a child and have fond memories.

We enjoy sea days, but prefer them interspersed between a wide variety of ports. Hitting 2-3 ports followed by 1 sea day to relax is ideal for us.

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We rarely leave the ship. Too busy relaxing! I like to consider days in port as sea days where the ship isn't moving. DW manages to drag me off the ship in Key West and St. Thomas but that's about it.

 

My ideal cruise would probably be about five sea days, then one port day (and a port where we dock close to an interesting small town good for wandering around on foot) - repeated three or four times, possibly five.

That would be my ideal too.

I, too, prefer sea days! I love relaxing, exploring, and just enjoying everything about the ship!

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We love sea days...just time on the water.

So relaxing!

Port intensive cruises are exhausting for us after awhile.

We cruise to unwind and not worry about being somewhere at a certain time or accomplishing a task from the never ending to do list.

We also love to see new places and have new experiences. This causes a conflict and we often feel compelled to go off the ship. There have only been a few instances where we regretted the excursion choices we made.

I agree with jollyjones, lots of sea days interspersed with a wonderful port to amble about!

Love, love days at sea! Have done three trans Atlantics (1 SS, 2 SB)...among very best trips ever in 50+ years of travel.

Phew.

So either we aren't that weird after all or there are plenty of other weirdies with the same outlook!

In April this year we did a transatlantic (SB) with 11 sea days between Ft Lauderdale and Madeira. Loved it, loved it, loved it. So peaceful and relaxing.

Phew.

 

So either we aren't that weird after all or there are plenty of other weirdies with the same outlook!

Pretty weird, but we are with you all the way. Sea days are bliss.

Love sea days. I think an absolutely ideal cruise for me would entail overnights alternating with 2-3 sea days. No rushing on and off the ship every day and the ability to experience each port much more holisticly and branch further out into the surrounding areas. For me, the ship is the destination and interesting ports just icing on the cake.

 

Bechi

We could not agree more! Unfortunately, very few cruises are like that.

Phew.

 

So either we aren't that weird after all or there are plenty of other weirdies with the same outlook!

Well a lot of people think I am weird and I like sea days too so it looks like the second option.

We recently did back to back cruises on the Whisper.The first sector was 7 days with only the last full day as a sea day.We were exhausted and really didn't get into our usual cruising routine.

The second was 12 days with 3 sea days-counting transiting the Kiel Canal as one.It was much more our style and we got into a regular routine.Much more enjoyable.

Our next cruise is the Explorer Cape to Cape and one reason is there are plenty of sea days.

We love sea days. Looking forward to a trans-Atlantic in a few weeks with lots of sea days. Too many port days is a turn off, even in a non-trans-oceanic cruise.

We just did a river cruise for the first time. We liked it a lot, but at one point, my husband just looked at me and said "I need a sea day". We opted out of the afternoon activities and just hung out on the top deck. River cruises don't have sea days since each day is a new port, so this will not be something we do often. Just love those sea days.....

Phew.

 

So either we aren't that weird after all or there are plenty of other weirdies with the same outlook!

I'm happy to be weird. On this at least.

Sea day, port day, nice place for lunch. Sea day, port day. Lunch. Sea day, repeat above...and I am a happy sailor![emoji4][emoji568]

we're sea days people too!

Frankly I would love to simply sail (assuming calm seas) around the Carribean with absolutely no port calls for ten days for a change......for me, the ship is the destination sometimes!

Well we are the ones that go against the trend - don't like sea days. We like port intensive itineraries probably because we like to visit ports and we don't play bridge, trivia or lie in the sun around the pool. Each to their own.

Well we are the ones that go against the trend - don't like sea days. We like port intensive itineraries probably because we like to visit ports and we don't play bridge, trivia or lie in the sun around the pool. Each to their own.

It seems that you are not alone in this. When I started the thread I honestly thought that most people were destination-driven and that such as ourselves who find the ship the desirable destination were few and far between. We might well be but it's a bigger minority than I thought - at least judging by the replies.

The first thing we look at in the release of a year's cruising calendar is the repositioning cruises. We've only done one so far - a TA on the Spirit last year - but have booked the Wind for 2017 and will be booking the Whisper's TA (Oct '18) later today. We also wanted to try Cunard, largely because we feel it's a must-do, and, you've guessed it, have gone for a TA.

Our very first cruise was on the Spirit to the South Pacific, the first 8 days were sea days and something like 20 of the 31 days were sea days. We loved it. The second cruise was 2 weeks in the Caribbean with a new port each day. It was a great cruise (on Seabourn Spirit) but reinforced our outlook that we liked the days at sea.

I think there are 2 reasons for our outlook:

1. Sea days are just so relaxing and on a good line such a SS or SB wonderfully pampering.

2. We have lived in several different countries (9 in total) and find the 8 hours ashore of limited, if any, value in seeing a new country (I would except St Petersburg and Tokyo from that as they are stand-alone destinations that we feel compelled to revisit from our taster on cruises).

But isn't that the wonderful thing about each of us - we all have a different outloook and have different needs? It's just reassuring to hear that others feel similarly.

We're not sea day people. We travel and cruise to go and see so like port intensive cruises. I will admit that there have been a couple of times on our very port intensive Med cruises a break here or then would have been nice but no more than one every four and five ports. Pure torture to us would be a trans-Atlantic cruise with the typical six and seven sea days.

Should say we live in a relatively mild, actually downright hot environment during the summer, and spend a lot of time outside by our pool, easily close to ten months a year. Winter here is maybe five or six weeks long and more than two or three days of freezing weather is rare. It's been 30 years since it has officially snowed and accumulated on the ground. Point is just being outside and relaxing is really kind of a norm for us, a cruise is not an escape from bad weather.

To unwind at sea is wonderful. The only worry in the world is to figure out if the albatross will follow us all the way to the next port.