I woke up on the last morning of a cruise last month with big plans to do nothing.
The ship, Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Venezia, was making its return to New York from Bermuda and I was staring down an entire day at sea. I found the ship’s remote position in the North Atlantic Ocean made a great excuse to be lazy.
After several early mornings in a row with jam-packed daily agendas, I slept in late, lounged on my stateroom balcony and caught up on my reading. Surrounded by water, the restless impulse that would have prompted me to run errands or do chores at home eased, too, even with a long list of available activities on the ship’s daily schedule.
“There’s plenty of stuff to do on a sea day as far as I’m concerned,” said Valerie Dorsey, a franchise owner and travel adviser at Cruise Planners. “And there’s nothing to do if that’s what you want.”
Unlike some other kinds of travel, cruises can be as much about the journey as their destinations, and sea days are different from port days. Here’s how to make the most of them.
Check the ship’s sea day schedule
Cruise ships can feel relatively quiet on port days when guests disembark to explore. “But on a sea day, you’re going to have everybody occupying every available space and doing many more activities,” Dorsey said. To meet that demand, cruise lines generally offer more programming.
On my cruise, Carnival’s Hub app showed various kinds of trivia, volleyball and dodgeball tournaments, an art auction, a seminar on improving posture, karaoke and more on the docket.
Cruise lines may also offer sales at onboard shops during sea days, Dorsey said, and she even took a mixology class on a recent Antarctica cruise with Celebrity Cruises.
Kevin and Frank Cefalu-McNamara have a strategy for narrowing so many options down. The couple, who have been on more than 30 cruises and make cruise content under the name Cruising With Wheels, mark up the daily program cruise lines distribute with different colored highlighters over breakfast.
Frank might have a yellow highlighter, for instance, while Kevin has blue, which the Rochester, New York, pair use to note agenda items that look appealing. “And yellow and blue make green, so all the green things we know we’re going to do,” said Kevin, 48, who also works as a hairdresser.
Mother Nature can also dictate what the ship offers. In bad weather, cruise lines often cancel activities on outside decks and replace them with others inside, Kevin said.
Watch out for crowds
More guests on the ship also mean more crowds. On sea days, cruise passengers may find themselves scouring the pool for open lounge chairs or waiting in longer lines for food.
Many passengers try to sleep in on those days, according to Dorsey. “But if the pool is your destination, getting there and claiming a seat right away is important,” she said. However, travelers should note that cruise lines ask guests not to save seats they aren’t using.
Dorsey recommended exploring the ship after boarding, which can help passengers find quieter areas to sunbathe. “I would say scope out where you want to go and keep it in mind for the day that you know you’re going to be at sea,” she said.
The very back of the ship often provides a reprieve from congestion elsewhere on board.
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The Cefalu-McNamaras also avoid certain parts of the ship at certain times. “We don’t go to the buffet for breakfast, and we don’t go to the buffet for lunch because it is going to be the most crowded area during those times,” Kevin said. Instead, they might start the day at a sit-down restaurant, which tends to be less packed.
Dorsey said “timing is everything.” If lunch opens at 11 a.m., for instance, the rush may have died down by 1 or 2 p.m.
As alternatives, the main dining room is usually open for lunch, as are some specialty restaurants, according to Dorsey – though the latter comes with an extra charge. There may also be small venues around the ship “nobody thinks of,” she said.
“So, you kind of need to scout around,” she said. “If you’re not set on what you want to eat, and the buffet looks crowded, start walking.”
For extroverted travelers, though, sea days can present an opportunity. “If you don’t mind the crowds, it’s a good day for meeting people,” Dorsey said.
Seize the opportunity to chill
Just because a ship stacks its schedule doesn’t mean you have to partake, though. Guests may find the days between ports of call provide a chance to get the rest many travelers seek on vacation.
“There’s a lot to be said for finding quiet spots to read on a sea day,” Dorsey said. “If you’ve got a balcony, you’re more likely to sit out there and put your feet up and maybe take a nap, because that is something that you don’t get to do when you’re working every day.”
Some trips may also lend themselves to chilling on board more than others. On a Mediterranean cruise, Frank said his days in port were “go go go go go, and on the ship (during) sea days, it is mostly drinking and relaxing.”
Caribbean cruise port days, on the other hand, may be more relaxed, leaving guests extra energy for when they get back on the ship.
Even in the face of so much to do, consider giving yourself permission to relax. “We’re so trained to be alert and aware and ever vigilant that sometimes just resting is an activity,” Dorsey said.
Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com.
