What is there to do.....

[FourAces]

Ok, my wife and I will be going on our first cruise next week, :):):D:D and she asked me today "What is there to do aboard the ship", Apparently she missed the part about this being my First cruise also LOL. I told her I would come here and ask you fine folks.

We will be on the Sapphire going to Alaska. She is wanting to know what we can do when at sea and even in port if we are back on the ship.

Thanks folks

D

[ActiveTraveler]

I am surprised you booked a cruise without knowing what there is to do on the ship. :confused:

Check out www.princess.com for information about the Sapphire and onboard activities she offers. But even without ever taking a cruise in my life, I do know one thing to do on board is let yourself be spoiled by your server while eating great food because my older sister and BIL said those were their favorite two things about the Grand Princess during their Eastern Caribbean honeymoon.

Have fun on your cruise, and don't forget to take hundreds of pictures both on your ship and in every port.

[FourAces]

Thanks Andrea, I will check Princess' website. As I stated its our First cruise. This is primarally a break from three kids after 17 years. We planned on taking in the sites in Alaska, but didnt bother looking at what we would be doing on the ship.

Thanks again,

D

[woollybugger314]

Ok, my wife and I will be going on our first cruise next week, :):):D:D and she asked me today "What is there to do aboard the ship", Apparently she missed the part about this being my First cruise also LOL. I told her I would come here and ask you fine folks.

We will be on the Sapphire going to Alaska. She is wanting to know what we can do when at sea and even in port if we are back on the ship.

Thanks folks

D

 

Right now, before you leave for your cruise, you should sign up for shore excursions in each port you visit. It's more expensive than wandering around on your own, but you get what you pay for. There is a wide variety of excursions to choose from. The shore excursions will take up your time in port.

 

For the days at sea, there are plenty of alternatives, which are announced in the daily newsletter delivered to your door. You don't need to worry about this, but you should give some thought now to those shore excursions.

[Whimsy]

Ok, my wife and I will be going on our first cruise next week, :):):D:D and she asked me today "What is there to do aboard the ship", Apparently she missed the part about this being my First cruise also LOL. I told her I would come here and ask you fine folks.

We will be on the Sapphire going to Alaska. She is wanting to know what we can do when at sea and even in port if we are back on the ship.

Thanks folks

D

 

Your wife sounds like my husband. We are somewhere for the first time and he will ask me things like I have been there before. :rolleyes:

 

My typical sea day.

 

I start my day with room service coffee, juice, croissants or pastries. After I get moving and ready we usually run up to the buffet and bring breakfast back down to the balcony.

 

We usually look at the Patters the night before and find some activity we would like to do and then fill in the rest of the time with relaxing by the pool, watching a movie, etc. The things we like that we find in the Patters are game shows, demonstrations, horse races, bingo, etc. Sometimes we drop a little money in the casino, sometimes we just spend the whole day around the pool.

 

We eat lunch sometimes in the dining room and other times we just grab something from the grill or buffet and have lunch in our chairs by the pool.

 

Afternoons we usually do more of the same of the morning activities. :D

 

There are many things to do, have a drink in the bar, some olives to go with your drink, shop in the cruise ships stores, pass time on deck watching the seas go by, visiting the exercise room......

 

Be as busy or a lazy as you want.

[Shelly97060]

The number one thing to do on an Alaska cruise is enjoy breath taking scenery

Make sure you bring binoculars watch for dolphins, whales and schools of fish swimming along side the ship and those spots in the trees that look like golf balls...look closer and see they are bald eagles.

 

Each day you will get the Patters newsletter to advise you of shipboard activites like bingo, dance classes, computer classes, lectures,movies, shows, exercise classes, wine tasting, art auctions,culinary demonstrations... To name a few. There are plenty of things to do :)

 

For things to do in ports, check out the ports of call boards or the excursions listed for your ports... If all else fails it is fun just to walk around the towns.

[grandbanksguy]

Ok, my wife and I will be going on our first cruise next week, :):):D:D and she asked me today "What is there to do aboard the ship", Apparently she missed the part about this being my First cruise also LOL. I told her I would come here and ask you fine folks.

We will be on the Sapphire going to Alaska. She is wanting to know what we can do when at sea and even in port if we are back on the ship.

Thanks folks

D

 

You may want to follow-up with the poster following below. They have copies of the Princess Patters and photos from their recent cruise to Alaska on the Golden.

 

Just returned on Saturday night from our cruise on the Golden Princess to Alaksa. I just submitted my review, so that will take a few days I think to get approved, but for now, if anyone has any questions, I'll be happy to try and answer them. We had a wonderful time and unusually beautiful weather all week! We didn't have any children with us (there were 8 adults ages 19 - 80), so I can't answer any questions about the kids' programs.

 

I've scanned the patters into PDFs so e-mail me at dallamls@pbrc.edu if you'd like me to send them to you. Please send me an e-mail address that can handle larger files. I've got 8 PDFs...one for each day of the patter, and one with a few extra papers that might be of interest.

 

You can also view my photos here:

 

http://travel.webshots.com/album/577825871MhulCC?vhost=travel

[CrusinAgain]

They generally have trivia games during the day and on sea days, some other types of games like passenger feud; jeopardy; name that tune; name that movie; name that star; and in the evening of course is the main show and they generally have a 2nd show of some sorts in the Explorer's Lounge and in another part of the ship they often have a game show or Princess Idol things like that. It all depends on the cruise director. Also we have been on cruises where they show movies in the theater during the afternoon and at night but generally at least once a day a just released movie in the theater as well as about 3 channels of current movies for those times you want to veg out in your cabin. We have never been bored on a Princess cruise and we are not book lovers or pool lovers so that has to tell you there is generally always an activity to keep us busy. They also generally have cards and games in the library.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Right now, before you leave for your cruise, you should sign up for shore excursions in each port you visit. It's more expensive than wandering around on your own, but you get what you pay for. There is a wide variety of excursions to choose from. The shore excursions will take up your time in port.

 

For the days at sea, there are plenty of alternatives, which are announced in the daily newsletter delivered to your door. You don't need to worry about this, but you should give some thought now to those shore excursions.

 

First of all, don't assume you HAVE to do something in every port. From the way you worded your original post, it sounds like your wife was asking what one could do while on board during a port day. If that was her question, let her know there is still plenty to do (there will be some people staying onboard for whatever reason). Often the spa will often port-day specials. You'll have an easier time finding an available treadmill in the gym. Less demand for the washers and dryers. There are movies and other shows running on the in-cabin TV and there may be a movie showed on a bigger screen.

 

You can leave the ship while in port as long as you return before sailaway (take your Patters with you to be sure and check your watch against the ship's time). But you can return at any time before that. You can book ship's excursions (we prefer this over the ones you book at the pier), but most of the time, we just go sightseeing and shopping on our own. The Alaskan ports are pretty easy to look around in, and some you can walk from where the ship is docked. I would read the guidebooks and go on the websites for the various ports and find tons of info. But I'm not into active excursions so tours and shopping are enough for me.

 

During sea days, there's so much to do on Princess ships. Not kidding. Every night, you'll get the next day's Patters and you can read off the various activities to your wife (or vice versa) and decide what you want to do.

We were on the Sapphire on our Alaskan cruise and there's a pool under a retractable roof so you can go for a swim even if the weather if iffy.

[Cruisin' Chick]

something else to think about: don't overschedule your time in port. If there's a couple of excursions you see on the Princess website for the same port, make sure there's time in between them to relax or eat something. You don't want to be breathless from running around, trying to do everything.

[billie5]

What do you do at home on a lazy rainy day? (I add the rain in case your response would have been to work out in the garden :)) Read, knit, work crosswords, write in a diary? If it is possible, bring along what you need to carry out your favorite project (for those times the ship activities are not your cup of tea).

 

Bill

[mtaylor04]

You should plan to go to Tea at least one day on the ship, it is a wonderful experience that I think everyone should do at least once :) just my opinion

 

Did you book a balcony room? If you did, watching the glaciers from your balcony with something warm to drink will be amazing.

 

There are board games and cards in the library that you can check out.

 

Trivia, dance lessons, fruit carving, martini demo's, piano bar, musicals, comedians, bingo and many other things to do on board.

 

As someone else suggested - email and get those patters - they will give you a great idea of what to expect. Take a highlighter on the ship with you, so you can highlight the things you want to do on the patter.

 

Welcome to cruising

[wizard-of-roz]

You can do as little or as much as you want. No one will judge you on the fact that you chose to sit in "Crooners", having martini's everyday.

[caribill]

Also we have been on cruises where they show movies in the theater during the afternoon and at night but generally at least once a day a just released movie in the theater as well as about 3 channels of current movies for those times you want to veg out in your cabin.

 

The newest movies shown are ones which are about to be or have just been released on DVD. They are not what would be currently in theaters back home.

[CrusinAgain]

The newest movies shown are ones which are about to be or have just been released on DVD. They are not what would be currently in theaters back home.

 

Yeah, that is what I said "just released" shown in the theater on Princess. If you ever been on the other cruiselines just released means alot to the few years old ones they show. I think you misread and thought I said currently being shown in the movie theaters but we don't normally call movies shown in the theaters "just released".:)

[Kruising Katt]

There is a lot to do on board, as others have said, check you Patter each

evening. For Alaska sea days there is often spectacular scenery to watch

from on deck or your balconey (if you have one). There's a casino, trivia,

several shows each evening, many lounges to relax with a drink, shops to

browse in, music in the atrium, movies shown somewhere on board, and

much more. Enjoy!

[BobT172]

We always have some ideas of what we want to do but definitely check the Princess Patter delivered to your room each evening. You will be surprised of all the things there are to do.

 

And, since it is an Alaskan cruise, don't be surprised if all you want to do is sit back and soak in the breathtaking scenery and wildlife...

[LoriPhil]

Trivia is one of our favorite ship-board activities - one game in the morning and one usually 4-ish in the afternoon (times, locations will be in the Patter each day - remember to bring a yellow highlighter to help tag those things you'd like to do). DH is rather shy and it's been a great way to meet people in a comfortable and fun setting.

 

During the day head up to Skywalkers lounge - we think it's one of the best places to watch the passing scene so we usually take a book or one of the cribbage boards from the card room, play and relax.

 

Don't worry about not knowing a great deal about the daily activities before you arrive - we originally picked Alaska as our first cruise without a clue of what happens on the ship. The discovery process was fun!

 

Have a wonderful cruise!

[Essiesmom]

There will be port talks about excursions and shopping. There should be a naturalist onboard, and he will give a couple of sea day lectures about wildlife. He will also be on the bridge looking for whales, bears, etc. and pointing them out. EM

[Cruisin' Chick]

You should plan to go to Tea at least one day on the ship, it is a wonderful experience that I think everyone should do at least once :) just my opinion

 

Did you book a balcony room? If you did, watching the glaciers from your balcony with something warm to drink will be amazing.

 

There are board games and cards in the library that you can check out.

 

Trivia, dance lessons, fruit carving, martini demo's, piano bar, musicals, comedians, bingo and many other things to do on board.

 

As someone else suggested - email and get those patters - they will give you a great idea of what to expect. Take a highlighter on the ship with you, so you can highlight the things you want to do on the patter.

 

Welcome to cruising

 

I wouldn't worry about trying to obtain the Patters ahead of time. Just look each one over when you get 'em.

[texastravelers]

One of my favorite memories of our Alaska cruise was going to all the Naturalists' lectures with my mom while my husband took a nap. We all got to do what we wanted, and I had a lot of background knowledge about things that I didn't know before.

[Pam in CA]

There are usually several choices of what to do almost every hour on the ship from morning to late at night, with a wide variety of activities. I have never been bored on a cruise, even my 31-day cruise with 19 sea days.

[wizard-of-roz]

One of my favorite memories of our Alaska cruise was going to all the Naturalists' lectures with my mom while my husband took a nap. We all got to do what we wanted, and I had a lot of background knowledge about things that I didn't know before.

 

Onboard the Golden we had the most amazing Naturalist who kept my interest and had a fabulous slide show. I would recommend that everyone who has the opportunity not to miss this time.

Also, we had Libby Riddles, the woman who won the Iditerod Dog Sled Race. She was remarkable. She also brought slides and books to buy, of which she would hand sign. I could have listened to her for days. The room had standing-room-only. It was packed.

If you keep your eye on the Patters, that is delivered each night there will be times and places to see and hear everything.

If someone is "bored" on a cruise........it's their fault not the cruiselines. The cruiselines do everything they can to bring interesting "stuff" onboard for you to enjoy or not!