What to do on sea days - first time with so many!

[bertrande]

We are sailing on the Connie in a month's time and ours is a 14-night sailing with 6 sea days. This will be our longest cruise yet. Am looking for recommendations as to what to do during sea days - any hidden gems to explore? Does Celebrity give destination talks (not with an excursions / shopping focus) or lectures? My husband and I are easy travellers and with two kids in tow I'm sure we will find plenty to occupy ourselves. I am asking more on behalf of my in-laws. They do the occasional slot machines but don't do bingo. My FIL can understand simple English but might find some difficulty conversing in the language - MIL is more fluent. They have cruised before - on Star Cruises, RCL and Costa, never on Celebrity and never with 6 sea days as their cruises are usually 3-5 nights in length with many port stops peppered in. Any suggestions will be gratefully received. Many thanks in advance!

[khalubear]

They always have things to do or watch in the daily news letter. The kids should be good to go but I don, t see an age? Also how young/old for the in laws. We did 5 days at sea straight ans enjoyed it. You will be busy in port so may need a few liesure days. There is the gym and the spa. Go over the daily news each night to see whats up the next day.Take it with you. Read a book in cafe el bacio. Have lunch in a sit down restaurant. Look for ship tours of the kitchen or behind the theatre. Walk the track around the pool area. Because you are 3 generations you don't have to be glued to each other on sea days. You are on vacation so nothing is as important as taking sometime for yourself. At the same time I understand the need to doing something as a group. Balance is the key. There are the pools and that big sun in the sky to enjoy. So emjoy the sea days and don't spend a ton of time scheduling.

 

Sent from my GT-N8013 using Forums mobile app

[khalubear]

Oh and we have done 7, 10, 11 and 14 days .. they all fly by. My wife likes to check out the library first day when we cruise alone. Enjoy

 

Sent from my GT-N8013 using Forums mobile app

[cruisestitch]

Time for cross generational bonding......play card games, make up a scavenger hunt, do a jigsaw puzzle (ship often has them or pack your own and leave it behind for the next passengers), have FIL teach the kids some of his language, make and illustrate flash cards, enjoy the family time

[ECCruise]

After hundreds of sea days we've found more and more that you need to make your own activities to be happy. It used to be that there were numerous activities onboard to occupy your time. Lately, especially on Celebrity, if your interests do not run to overpriced handbags, jewelry and watches, or booze (all marketing "activities") then you will be bored relying on their activities. We find that fully 60% of all "activities" are marketing. And of the other 40%, about half of that is trivia, which is cheap and easy to administer (and likely not your FIL's cup of tea).

 

Load up your Kindles or tablets with books, movies (plus there will be movies on the stateroom TV--both free and pretty expensive). Play cards if that interests you. Just relax and watch the sea go by. You really do not have to spend money to enjoy yourself. Honestly, over those hundreds of sea days over the years, I can honestly say we have been "bored" on but a handful of occasions.

[NanaChar]

For the kids, depending on the ages, Fun Factory will keep them busy. There is always something going on depending on your interests.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Jim_Iain]

We have done many TA's with up to 7 sea days and have to tell you we love them.

 

How often in life do you have to do as little or as much as you choose. There are multiple things planned for each hour or you can just relax and read a book.

 

On almost all long sea day cruises they have a couple of lecturers on board that give almost daily lectures. They also have tours of the ship from backstage, kitchen tours to Bridge tours. If you are more energetic there is a great gym on board, walking track or a spa for your personal pampering.

 

I have to admit that I have never gotten bored. Trust me you will become addicted to the long sea days.

[El Crucero]

We find that fully 60% of all "activities" are marketing. And of the other 40%, about half of that is trivia, which is cheap and easy to administer (and likely not your FIL's cup of tea).

 

We don't find that to be true at all. We love sea days and search for itineraries that have a lot of them. The more the better! Often times, my wife and I go our separate ways and do what appeals to us. We agree to meet back at a certain spot at a certain time. In fact, there are so many things to do, that we are disappointed we can't do them all!

 

Here are just some of the activities on sea days and by no means all of them: guest destination lectures (two different per sea day), movies in the theater, trivia, contests (dancing, karaoke, paper airplanes, water bottle ships, etc.) (they are fun to watch even if you don't want to participate), craft classes (scrapbooks, water colors, lei making), complimentary gym classes, complimentary ships tours (kitchen, backstage, etc.), card games, ships library, leisurely cup of tea watching the ocean go by in Al Bacio, bocce ball on the lawn (S class ships only), complimentary ice cream at the ice cream bar and take it out to the Sunset bar, two swimming pools, several jacuzzis, walking track, lots of outside lounge chairs to lay in the sun and take a nap, and more. We have found that we never go to the promotional activities - perfume, alcohol, watches, cameras, art auction, etc. - even if we wanted to because we are so busy doing other things. Also the casino is open all day and way into the night on sea days. It is not open at all on port days.

 

We were warned by friends when we first started cruising that sea days are boring and we would want to get off the ship asap. We have found it to be just the opposite. We have a cruise coming up in March with 11 sea days (5 days and then 6 days). We are so looking forward to this. It is our idea of what a cruise is all about.

[Knolmom]

Have a leisurely breakfast in the Oceanview Cafe. Go back to your room and grab one of the bottles of wine you brought on and head up to the Sky Lounge with like- minded people. Break out a deck of cards or a board game and play till you're either sleepy or silly. Go back to to your cabin for a nap, or head to the Martini Bar for more fun or trouble.

[mailmama]

Drop by the library every morning. There is usually a crossword puzzle, trivia challenge or word search. Then relax somewhere near a window and do them! Just sit and talk with family or new friends onboard. Much of the world today doesn't communicate by just talking!

[Hlitner]

Sea days are an interesting thing because it seems like cruisers either love em or hate em...with few folks undecided. For DW and moi, we love sea days and have taken cruises with more then 20 sea days....for just that reason. We love to spend a lot of time in a deck chair just reading (our Kindles are loaded with over 100 books) and will go to lectures...if the lecturer is decent. And probably the most fun on sea days is just meeting new folks and socializing. For those that must always be busy there are usually enough going on to keep their interest.

 

Hank

[bertrande]

Thanks for all the replies. Gives me hope that my in laws will enjoy themselves at sea! Will check out the suggestions all of you have given.

[chemmo]

Thanks for all the replies. Gives me hope that my in laws will enjoy themselves at sea! Will check out the suggestions all of you have given.

 

May also be an idea to post on the roll call if your in laws have any special interests then they can pre arrange meeting like minded others for specific activities. We have seen people set up cribbage, poker, mahjong and chess tournaments...

[4774Papa]

You didn't mention what cruise you were on.

We like a cruise with a lot of port days, but on a British Isles cruise we had 8 straight days of ports and would have preferred a sea day in there to break it up.

 

Unless you are doing a transatlantic cruise, you are likely to have a good mix of port and sea days.

On sea days, I usually go to the fitness center for a good workout in the morning. DW and I are not big pool people, but we may spend a little time at the pool if the weather is good.

 

Wine tasting events are great activities. Also, the speakers that give talks about the ports are sometimes good.

 

On TA cruises our roll call usually organizes some activities like a cabin crawl, gift exchange, murder mystery, slot pull, etc.

 

DW and I always take throwaway paperbacks to read on the TA.

Sometime I find a book to read in the library. I usually donate the books that I read.

[Banjo]

On TA sea days, I always enjoyed the enrichment lectures. I am kind of a history & a natural science buff. Also I like the lectures presented by the ship's officers on the operation of the ship. My last 2 TAs they had several which ate up the morning. Also the enrichment lectures have nothing to do with marketing.

Edited January 7, 2017 by Banjo

[MVPinBoynton]

We did a TA on the Silhouette in November. We had lots of excellent enrichment lectures. Normally around 3 per day. Here is a link to the dailies for the 7 sea days while crossing the Atlantic. It should give you an idea of the ships activities. http://thepreismans.com/silhouette_ta_16_dailies.htm

[Aunt Tina]

We have really enjoyed our sea days on transatlantic cruises. Check your cruise thread to see what has been organized. If you have special interests put it out on the thread to see if others want to get together. Many times we have seen game/card players get together daily. On one cruise there was a needlework get together every morning at 10 in the sky lounge organized by one cruise critic avid crafter - she offered to assist others interested in learning or needing help. We often arrange /join private tours and arrange to have lunch with people who will be joining us on those tours so we know each other before getting off the ship for the tour. Definitely join the cabin crawl if one is being organized - best way to see other rooms on the ship- especially the suites. We have been entertained in the penthouse twice in cabin crawls - and offered to move in with them! We have had really great guest speakers on the sea days - there are usually several per cruise. The cruise director's staff will hold many more activities on the sea days - we often have trouble deciding which one to go to!

[bertrande]

May also be an idea to post on the roll call if your in laws have any special interests then they can pre arrange meeting like minded others for specific activities. We have seen people set up cribbage, poker, mahjong and chess tournaments...

 

 

That's a great idea - they like mahjong. Are playing sets available on board?

 

You didn't mention what cruise you were on.

We like a cruise with a lot of port days, but on a British Isles cruise we had 8 straight days of ports and would have preferred a sea day in there to break it up.

 

 

We are on a 14 night Asian cruise onboard the Connie. After every port there is a sea day scheduled except for two days in different ports of the Philippines. I am hoping that there will be some Chinese reading materials in the library as FIL is almost illiterate in written English. Will get him to try the fitness centre or something most of the sea days - he likes to keep fit. Might also introduce them to bingo as I think they may find it fun.

 

On TA sea days, I always enjoyed the enrichment lectures. I am kind of a history & a natural science buff. Also I like the lectures presented by the ship's officers on the operation of the ship. My last 2 TAs they had several which ate up the morning. Also the enrichment lectures have nothing to do with marketing.

 

 

Great to know - will look out for them (more for DH and myself than for the inlaws).

 

We did a TA on the Silhouette in November. We had lots of excellent enrichment lectures. Normally around 3 per day. Here is a link to the dailies for the 7 sea days while crossing the Atlantic. It should give you an idea of the ships activities. http://thepreismans.com/silhouette_ta_16_dailies.htm

 

 

Great resource thanks!!!

 

We have really enjoyed our sea days on transatlantic cruises. Check your cruise thread to see what has been organized. If you have special interests put it out on the thread to see if others want to get together. Many times we have seen game/card players get together daily. On one cruise there was a needlework get together every morning at 10 in the sky lounge organized by one cruise critic avid crafter - she offered to assist others interested in learning or needing help. We often arrange /join private tours and arrange to have lunch with people who will be joining us on those tours so we know each other before getting off the ship for the tour. Definitely join the cabin crawl if one is being organized - best way to see other rooms on the ship- especially the suites. We have been entertained in the penthouse twice in cabin crawls - and offered to move in with them! We have had really great guest speakers on the sea days - there are usually several per cruise. The cruise director's staff will hold many more activities on the sea days - we often have trouble deciding which one to go to!

 

 

We are signed up for the meet and mingle so we will go there and play by ear :) Cabin crawl would be interesting!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[tweetylori]

The joy of sea days is being able to do as much or as little as you want. By the time we would leisurely get up, watch a little Top Chef ;), go eat breakfast, go to a lecture, walk the decks, decide where to go for lunch, play a few slots or blackjack, shop a little, eat lunch, read on our balcony, go do trivia, have a drink in one lounge, another in another lounge, get dressed for dinner, have a nice dinner, go to a show, karaoke, a lounge for some live music, hit the buffet for late piece of pizza...the days literally FLEW by!