Cruise Activities

[denmarks]

How about a thread about different cruise activities that are free or have a small charge. For example Lei making on Hawaiian cruises.

[BarbinMich]

Are you asking about cruise activities on Hawaiian cruises or cruises in general?  If the latter, there are hardly any activities on board on port days.  But on sea days there are always lots of daytime activities such as trivia, bingo (a charge for cards), lectures (on longer cruises, not on cruises in the Caribbean which are usually 7-days, sometime 10 or 11-days), etc.

[geoherb]

I posted the Patters from my Island Princess cruise here:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2677308-patters-from-southbound-island-princess-cruise-june-26-july-3/

 

There were lots of activities: trivias every morning and afternoon, fruit and vegetable carving demonstration, martini demonstration (with tasting for the lucky ones chosen to participate), paper plane contest, escape room, egg drop, sports activities, arts and crafts, etc.

[denmarks]

The activities are mainly for my Hawaiian cruise but I will like to see others as long as it indicates it may not be on my cruise.

So far I have:

trivia every morning and afternoon

fruit and vegetable carving demonstration

martini demonstration (with tasting for the lucky ones chosen to participate)

paper plane contest

escape room

egg drop

 

I will add:

paper boat contest that will hold six pack of beer

fashion show

flower lei making

paper necklace making

ukulele lessons

 

Edited July 15, 2019 by denmarks

[BarbinMich]

Just to clarify denmarks very complete list of possible shipboard activities:  most are offered only once on a cruise, even on those with lots of sea days like Hawaii and transatlantics (and I assume transpacifics, Tahiti, etc).  Typically on a sea day there will be 2-3 activities in the piazza.

[denmarks]

11 minutes ago, BarbinMich said:

Just to clarify denmarks very complete list of possible shipboard activities:  most are offered only once on a cruise, even on those with lots of sea days like Hawaii and transatlantics (and I assume transpacifics, Tahiti, etc).  Typically on a sea day there will be 2-3 activities in the piazza.

 

Maybe a list like this is not practical.

[Cruisencatlady]

Free/nominal fee cruise activities I’ve also done:

progressive watercolor painting

MUTS

mini golf 

board games in the library 

afternoon tea

karaoke

line dancing

Zumba

the Voice at Sea or choir group

yes no game

majority rules

newlywed/he said-she said game 

ice carving(just watching, no chainsaw skills needed) 

cooking demonstration with tour of kitchens after

cruise critic meet & greet

elevator roulette

photography classes

ring toss

Dice horse racing

slot tournament(about $25 buy in)

free mini massages(they will ask you to sign up, but just “think about it” if you don’t want to)

 

and best of all NAPS!

 

 

[skynight]

Zumba

 

[Silverspringcruiser]

Steel drum classes w/recital in the Piazza

Lip sync competition

High Seas Heist

arts and crafts

Ocean Medallion games

dance classes (line, salsa, merengue, etc.)

[BarbinMich]

Some of the activities like steel drum classes are just on itineraries in the Caribbean.  Per Wikipedia, steel drums originated in Trinidad and Tobago.  Ironically, I don't believe Princess has sailed to Trinidad for some time.  We stopped there in 2010 on the Grand's "Circle the Caribbean" itinerary and it's a lovely island with beautiful beaches and amazing birds.  I believe there is more crime now than there used to be.  We also had a bad experience with our private tour driver when he had tried to shake us down for more $$ than had been quoted to us online.  Up to that point, he had been a very good driver/guide.

[neverbeenhere]

Bad Comedy 

 

Dave: “After 50 cruises, what’s the best deal you ever got?”

 

Carl: “A diamond flush”

[neverbeenhere]

Really bad comedy

 

Dave: “Why is the Muster drill  like church?”

 

Carl: “First of all, it happens once a week, and secondly, no one practices what they preach.” 

Edited July 16, 2019 by neverbeenhere

[LSGDRG]

I thought that there was also a book club?  I am hoping that it will be available on my upcoming cruise in October.  I know that I am in the minority but I get tired of trivia.

[cruisenfreak]

What is “progressive water color painting”?

[Rusty10]

https://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/onboard-experience/activities/book-club/

 

Book club for 2019. On the Regal in February, the ship had 10 copies available in the library. 

Edited July 17, 2019 by Rusty10

[WALKER1313]

People watching

Escape room

Princess Choir

Champagne Tower

[BarbinMich]

17 hours ago, LSGDRG said:

I thought that there was also a book club?  I am hoping that it will be available on my upcoming cruise in October.  I know that I am in the minority but I get tired of trivia.

 

14 hours ago, Rusty10 said:

https://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/onboard-experience/activities/book-club/

 

Book club for 2019. On the Regal in February, the ship had 10 copies available in the library. 

I thought book club was only offered on longer cruises like Trans-Atlantics when there are a lot sea days.  Curious as to what Caribbean itinerary they offer book club.  Thanks.

[WALKER1313]

Things Princess Lists

 

Meet Alaskan lumberjacks with North to Alaska and Puppies

Hula dancing and ukulele lessons in Hawaii

Street pan drum lessons in the Caribbean

Mariachis on deck in Mexico

Traditional Maori performance in New Zealand

Brazilian samba dancers in South America

Local dishes served in our main dining room

Basketball sports court

Ping Pong

Miniature golf putting course

Golf Driving Range

Shuffleboard

[Liz_B]

9 hours ago, BarbinMich said:

 

I thought book club was only offered on longer cruises like Trans-Atlantics when there are a lot sea days.  Curious as to what Caribbean itinerary they offer book club.  Thanks.

I am interested too and will report back. I read The Tatooist of Auschwitz and thought it was very poorly written, so I won't participate...hating on a book is fine (and even fun) with my book club at home, but doesn't seem fair to strangers who don't know me. The other book is not available at my library for 5 weeks (and 14.99 on kindle! Highway robbery! ), so I will wait to see if I can snag a copy from the ship's library. I'm a fast reader, so as long as the meeting is not the first or second day I'll be fine.

 

I love that they give the titles early and I hope the club is available for my cruise!

 

I also read The Huntress (for September and October) and thought it was fabulous. Too bad my timing is off!

[BarbinMich]

I wonder how many participants the book clubs attract.  I'm in several clubs here at home and they're both around 10-12 when everyone shows up.  IMHO, that's about the maximum so that everyone gets a chance to talk about the book.  Our Cruise Critic group on one of our last TAs had a book club which read The Nightingale, set in France during WW II and "stars" a very brave young woman (dubbed the nightingale) who helps Jewish folks escape to Spain (going over the Pyrenees).  Her own village, which was near the border with Germany was occupied by the Nazis and terrible things happened to the locals as a result.

[janina]

On 7/17/2019 at 2:21 PM, WALKER1313 said:

Things Princess Lists

 

Meet Alaskan lumberjacks with North to Alaska and Puppies

Hula dancing and ukulele lessons in Hawaii

Street pan drum lessons in the Caribbean

Mariachis on deck in Mexico

Traditional Maori performance in New Zealand

Brazilian samba dancers in South America

Local dishes served in our main dining room

Basketball sports court

Ping Pong

Miniature golf putting course

Golf Driving Range

Shuffleboard

pickleball

 

[PurpleHays]

On 7/16/2019 at 10:14 PM, Rusty10 said:

https://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/onboard-experience/activities/book-club/

 

Book club for 2019. On the Regal in February, the ship had 10 copies available in the library. 

Oooh, book club! As if I need a reason to read a (non-grad school book). Now if they'd just put January's up. I participated once before. It was a best-seller that everyone else loved and I hated. These look better--Tatooist is already on my to-read list and I'd thought about Crawdad.

[Cruisencatlady]

On 7/16/2019 at 6:51 PM, cruisenfreak said:

What is “progressive water color painting”?

In the piazza, about 8 easels with water colors are set up by the cruise fun staff.  Teams of about 4-5 people volunteer from the crowd.  A topic, such as the Jungle, is set by the cruise staff, and them 1 person per tam has about 1 minute to start painting.  Then the teams rotate to the next easel, and another person starts to paint on the different canvas, keeping with the theme.  The teams keep rotating to the next easel, in about 1 minute intervals, until back to their original easel.   It's interesting to see the painting evolve and the final results.  It really is fun too.

[Roatanfans]

For Christmas cruises they have a gingerbread house contest, also seen all kinds of arts and craft projects including origami, also seen napkin folding.

[cruisenfreak]

On 7/20/2019 at 6:21 PM, Cruisencatlady said:

In the piazza, about 8 easels with water colors are set up by the cruise fun staff.  Teams of about 4-5 people volunteer from the crowd.  A topic, such as the Jungle, is set by the cruise staff, and them 1 person per tam has about 1 minute to start painting.  Then the teams rotate to the next easel, and another person starts to paint on the different canvas, keeping with the theme.  The teams keep rotating to the next easel, in about 1 minute intervals, until back to their original easel.   It's interesting to see the painting evolve and the final results.  It really is fun too.

Thank you.  I’ve never seen that done.  Sounds like fun.