How Do You Make The Most on Sea Days?

I Know it's itinerary specific but how do you make the most of sea days?

For me it's a walk on the track in the am then a Bloody Mary followed by a sit down breakfast then a quiet spot on the Lido by the pool for a nap. Followed by an afternoon drink watching the blue ocean and hanging with my girl friend.

Then its decompression mode for the balance of the day.

I just relax - typically by the adult pool / Solarium.

I like to watch the ocean or chill out in the pool. Sometimes I will read to dry off.

When not water related I like to do trivia and go to talks/food demos/drink tastings.

We also try and have a more leisurely meal time and take our time....especially if we have met new friends.

Trivia & Bridge with reading in between

Lectures, choir, arts & crafts, a new film and a show... depending on how many days in a row there are- last year it was 10 days before a port.

For us, sea days are usually a mix of different things. We start by looking at the different activities listed for the day in the ship's news letter to see if there's anything that interests us. Then, in no particular order, we might do some people watching on the Lido deck, go to the Atrium to see what the live entertainment is, browse through the ship's gift shops, go sit on our balcony for a while and watch the ocean go by, or go find a couple of lounge chairs in a shady spot in the Lido area and do nothing but relax.

We have a nice, long breakfast in the mdr and then walk rounds on the promenade deck for a couple of hours. Sit around a bit before lunch, again in the mdr. Afternoon might be anything. Sometimes there's something going on that we're interested in. If not, we never get tired of those promenade deck rounds looking at the ocean.

I just sit and read. Or else I attend enrichment lectures in the unlikely chance that they are intellectually interesting and not sales pitches for products, future cruises or port destinations. There is absolutely nothing else to do on sea days.

DON

Watch the ocean and read.

There will be publications of activities. Get off your butt and engage. Our first cruise we kept waiting to be asked to join, we wasted the first 4 days.

Breakfast. Then lounge by the pool. Have a few drinks. Watch the activities. Maybe even participate.

Have lunch. Lounge by the pool. Have a few drinks. Maybe hit the cabin for a nap or .....

Dinner, then show, maybe some casino time.

Once I walk 3 - 5 miles on deck, the day is mine to relax quietly. I avoid loud venues so I find a quiet, shady spot to read and enjoy the sea breeze. I'll seek out healthful meals then, if available, I might attend an educational lecture, see a film or check out an adult pool. I sometimes head back to our interior cabin for a nap - heavenly.

Neither of us like production shows or singers so we skip those but will check out comedians.

DH is in the gym by 6 AM while I catch up on my notes.

Then we have breakfast -- no drinking early in the day.

Depending what activities are listed, depends on what we do. So during the day we may be participating in activities, sitting on our verandah watching the ocean or reading or napping.

Sometimes we go to Happy Hour at 4 PM or just have cocktails on our verandah.

5:30 -- off to dinner. Afterwards we may go to a show or just sit out on our verandah with an after dinner cordial.

Once we discovered sea days after port intensive cruises, we found we really enjoy sea days. Sleep in, if up in time, breakfast in the MDR or if too late, the WJ. Wander around the ship then relax in the hot tub. If pool isn't too crowded then we get in to cool off then people watch. Later get a quick bite to eat, go back to the cabin to take a nap or lounge on balcony. Go back to the hot tub then get ready for dinner. After dinner, go see the show then head back to the cabin for a sip of wine on the deck. Relax, relax, relax.

Breakfast in buffet, then go pool side to catch some sun and people watch, lunch at buffet, more sun with Bahama mama's or rum and coke to listen to deck music or my music. browsing the ship and workout then more sun and reading or people watching. Unwinding on our balcony with white Russians

Dinner in MDR, lounging with more rum and coke or wine, dancing, shows, lectures if there is one, and casino.

Also, lots of just enjoying the ocean or river and sky.

As much as I like MDR breakfast, when I wake up on Carnival, there's two spots that beat it. The fresh-made omelet station, or a breakfast burrito from Blue Iguana. After that, I will look for a spot to relax after some usually hectic port days. If I can get a good spot in the Serenity area, that is the first choice. I will have a rum and coke and/or beer while I relax and look at the ocean. Probably will go in the hot tub or pool for a bit. Then grab lunch which will usually be a Guy's Burger or Blue Iguana tacos. Then relax some more until it is dinner time. That is the cutoff between a port day and sea day for me.

Then it's time to get ready for dinner. Will almost always hit the MDR. After that, comedy show is #1 priority if there is one. If there isn't, I will look for a dive-in movie or see what other activities are going on. Will usually check out a few bars and then maybe have a cigar in the smoking area.

Love sea days , we try to wake up early enough for suite breakfast , possibly with some champagne, then get some sun, possibly trivia or casino later , some wine with lunch , nap before dinner , then dinner with more wine , then see a show or listen to music somewhere, then casino again before bed.

Sleep, eat something at some point, sleep some more, check plans for the next port, have dinner, relax in the evening, sleep. We might go sit in a hot tub or relax on the balcony.

On the NCL Epic we found we really enjoyed the spa.

We (by that I mean myself, my wife and my sister) usually peruse the ship's dallies the night before and if one of us sees anything approaching interesting we might do it after breakfast. They both LOVE the pool so will try too apprehend a errant deck lounge till we meet for lunch. Me, I'm not a 'pool' person so I love just walking both the entire inside and outside of the ship. Especially the outside, watching the vastness of the blue ocean rush by. Then I'll go back to the cabin and sit out on the balcony and ponder life and enjoy both ocean AND sun.:D Then, after lunch we usually spend the remainder of the afternoon just enjoying the thrill of being onboard a cruise ship. Life seems soooo much easier when you haven't a care in the world (like cleaning OR cooking). Wish life ashore could be so easy ! LOL ! Sadly. the days seem to FLY by !:mad:

Mac

I make the most of sea days by doing very little. Sleep in, a late breakfast, some reading and watching the world go by on the balcony, maybe a lecture, lunch, a nap, more reading, work out, dinner, movie or reading or sitting on the balcony listening to the ship crash through the waves, then bed. We love our slothful, relaxing sea days.

Watch the ocean and read.

This is what I do if it is just DH and myself sailing. We will enjoy a leisurely breakfast and/or lunch, possibly do a little mini golf or some bingo depending on what we feel like doing. Get a few drinks and I will relax on our balcony reading a book (stare at the ocean) while DH lets the ocean lull him into an afternoon nap in our room. We then have dinner and see shows/comedy club/piano bar for the evening.

There will be publications of activities. Get off your butt and engage. Our first cruise we kept waiting to be asked to join, we wasted the first 4 days.

I do more of this when we sail with our adult kids, but if it is just DH and myself, we find we usually don't have the desire to "get off our butt and engage" and I personally find pure relaxation mode to not be a waste of my time. Especially when I can come back to work thoroughly relaxed and de-stressed. To each his own.

On our first cruises we tried to do too much, especially when the kids were younger. We felt like we had to try to fit everything in. We have now been on enough cruises to have been there and done that on most activities offered. Our idea of a great cruise is just relaxing and enjoying the ride. If we want to do something great. If not that's ok too. We can do it on the next cruise...if we feel like it.

There will be publications of activities. Get off your butt and engage. Our first cruise we kept waiting to be asked to join, we wasted the first 4 days.

That only works if there are things that you want to do on board during your sea days.

For me, I travel for the destinations, not the hotel. Days spent at sea are a nice chance for DW and I to spend some time together, relax, and enjoy each other's company.

If we are not traveling as part of a group, meeting people is what it is.

Breakfast in bed, walk an hour around the ship's perimeter. Read a book in the sun/shade, dip in the pool if warm enough, cocktails on deck, dinner, sunset on deck. Visit to the bridge, in-room DVD and room service popcorn.

Most cruise lines have the MDR open for lunch on AtSea days. We always enjoy being able to do that. Also, there are more day time activities offered by the ship on AtSea days. :D

We are not "full-time" working folks anymore...so sitting around, doing nothing isn't big on my list of "must do's". I do enjoy reading, and can read a good book in an afternoon at the pool.....but once that's completed, I want to DO something! Sea days don't thrill me. Hubby hates them. Oh well.

We try to book cruises with the least amount of sea days.