7 sea days on Panama Canal cruise....too much free time?

[SheriNtexas]

My friend and I are booking the Century for our Jan 2014 Panama Canal cruise....this is a 15 day cruise...the longest i've ever been on was an 8 day Carnival Miracle cruise with 4 sea days....what all is there to DO during all these sea days? We both love to read, so of course we will be doing a lot of that...hanging around the pool....i'm not much of a spa person on ships, so won't be spending time or money doing any of THAT....just curious as to what others who have been on long cruises with lots of sea days DO with all that free time!:confused::D Thanks so much! We are so excited!

[Fblack]

I am sure others will disagree, but on my 16 Panama Canal cruise back to my home in San Diego we were ready to get off. Part of the problem was that in addition to all the sea days, the last few stops were in Mexico that we had done numerous times. And it was not the total length of the cruise. We have done several b2b cruises that totaled over 21 days. But they had more interesting stops. Just bring a few books and prepare to relax.

[Denny01]

You picked a good one! What to do on extended cruises with sea days? These cruises will have additional lectures that we always went to. Probably lectures on the Canal and so on. Very interesting. These Are Not 'what to do and what to buy in the next port' lectures given by the crew, these are lectures given by professinals who are experts on many subjects.

 

We had a series of lectures from a PhD from the Smithsonian on world architecture on a TA; we had Marlin Fitzwater speak on working in the White House on another. On our recent Baltic cruise, we had a PhD speaking on the Baltic history, the Romanovs, Sweden, etc. And another speaker on the same cruise talking on the Baltic and North Sea.

 

We join friends and play cards and socialize. We jump in the pool (usually the indoor ones), we relax, read, meet new friends.

 

We sit and watch the ship cut through the water, timing the flying fish. I got a book on the Sea Birds and spent time identifying the ones flying around the ship. On a Canal transverse, you will see Pacific and Atlantic/Caribbean sea birds....heck I saw a Blue-Footed Booby...my wife insisted I was making it up so I could just say the word 'Booby' in public!

 

We ended up missing half the things we planned to do each day, because there were too many things and just enjoyed it all. But you Are listening (well, reading) to a person who loves sea days. We've taken two TAs and have another planned. our last Caribbean was three ports and 4 days at sea, we took the 14day Baltic on the Eclipse out of Southampton instead of the 11 day Baltic on the Connie out of Amsterdam, just fore more sea days.

 

So I am Biased.

 

Den

[Idahobaker]

My wife and I did the San Diego to Miami run through the Canal. The only ports we enjoyed were Puerto Vallarta and Colon (and Colon only because we rode a train back and forth to Panama City). We did package tours to those two ports. We also did a package tour in Cartegena which we didn't care much for.

 

We usually slept in and had a late breakfast, sat on the balcony reading and enjoying the breezes, visiting several cocktail lounges where we had gotten to be good friends with the bartenders who were happy to discuss their home countries, walking on the deck, pretty mundane stuff. There was a lot of activity during sea days, but most of it we didn't attend.

 

But I will agree with another post that 15 days was a bit long, but going through the Canal made it worth it.

 

Hope you enjoy your trip!:D

[Azulann]

I am so looking forward to my 15 day Panama Cruise with the sea days.

Have only done Med cruises of 10 and 11 days with only two sea days and at least 3 precurise days in Italy and Spain . I was exhausted when I got on board and tired when I got home. Don't get me wrong I love European cruises. Will book my next one while on board.

 

But this one will be different. It is from FL to San Diego. Two sea days right off the bat. I plan on using the first 24 hours to just get into vacation mode. Will have a massage, explore every nook and cranny of the ship, sit by the pool, and stay up late.

Other sea days I will join in the activites such as the outstanding lectures, play silly games, even go to entertainment at night. I have never seen a show on a ship!! Will have breakfast on the balcony, use the fitness center, read, enjoy other passengers, attend wine tastings, any tours of the ship that are offered... even take a nap.:)

I have been doing research on the ports. Reading about the building of the canal, history of Columbus last vovage to the New World where he discovered Portobelo Panama, history of the pirate Henry Morgan, Spanish colonial history. Having been to Central America and Mexico on land trips I know there are lots of port tour options. Visit colonial towns, coffee plantations, rain forests, volcanos, whale watching, lots of wild life in Costa Rica. I will be well rested for the port days and will to make the most of them. Can't wait to revisit PV, one of my favorite towns in Mexico.

 

15 days sound like paradise to me for a cruise vacation.:D

I will be well rested when I reutrn to work

[eandj]

You'll find people like my dh who LOVES every minute of a good book in a chair or taking in a lecture every day. I like sleeping in in the mornings, reading at the pool, taking in a movie...but after 3 of those in a row I start getting bored.

It's all up to you as far as what you will need to keep occupied. There ARE choices for sure, and most everyone seems to find their niche.

[patty1955]

I meant to get a lot of reading done on our Panama Canal cruse, but I didn't have the time. They had so much scheduled for the at sea days, that we just didn't have time to spend the hours reading that I thought I'd have.

[CRUZBUDS]

I am sure others will disagree, but on my 16 Panama Canal cruise back to my home in San Diego we were ready to get off. Part of the problem was that in addition to all the sea days, the last few stops were in Mexico that we had done numerous times. And it was not the total length of the cruise. We have done several b2b cruises that totaled over 21 days. But they had more interesting stops. Just bring a few books and prepare to relax.

 

We wish Celebrity had better itineraries for their canal cruises. We did an 18 day on HAL this spring also ending in our home town of San Diego. We had a fantastic time and were not ready to get off. I think HAL puts a little more thought into there itineraries - It seems Celebrity just wants to get the ship from point A to point B.

 

A lot of how good a cruise is, is the people you meet. We made a ton of new friends and had one of our best Critic Roll calls. :)

 

ps - we love the sea days -- that's why our favorite cruise is R/T Hawaii -- there are a bunch of sea days :D

[sunshine nana]

We loved our first Celebrity cruise this year in the Med, but for Panama Canal, we are going back to Princess for the 10 day partial out of Ft. L. DH does not like too many sea days and we do not want to go to Mexico. We took NCL around Hawaii for the same reason. We did not want to have mnay sea days in a row. Don't be afraid to try another line. Read all you can and choose a good cabin. For NCL, a suite and specialty dinners will make it nice for Hawaii.

[boogs]

We did a 14 day South America/Panama cruise a couple of years ago with 6 sea days. It was great! The schedule was one port day, one sea day, followed by another port day, and another sea day, etc. It was a perfect blend of port and sea days. After each busy port day, we had a day to sleep in and relax before enjoying another busy port day.

 

If your cruise is scheduled this way, consider it a blessing! :D

[4774Papa]

We did the Panama Canal on Infinity in December 2011 on our repo from FLL to Santiago, Chile. That was a great cruise. The canal is special.

 

Be sure you read the book "Path Between the Seas."

 

On the sea days, we had several on our cruise. Take plenty of reading material. Also, we visited the fitness center every sea day, that way you won't gain weight on the cruise.

[softail]

You picked a good one! What to do on extended cruises with sea days? These cruises will have additional lectures that we always went to. Probably lectures on the Canal and so on. Very interesting. These Are Not 'what to do and what to buy in the next port' lectures given by the crew, these are lectures given by professinals who are experts on many subjects.

 

We had a series of lectures from a PhD from the Smithsonian on world architecture on a TA; we had Marlin Fitzwater speak on working in the White House on another. On our recent Baltic cruise, we had a PhD speaking on the Baltic history, the Romanovs, Sweden, etc. And another speaker on the same cruise talking on the Baltic and North Sea.

 

We join friends and play cards and socialize. We jump in the pool (usually the indoor ones), we relax, read, meet new friends.

 

We sit and watch the ship cut through the water, timing the flying fish. I got a book on the Sea Birds and spent time identifying the ones flying around the ship. On a Canal transverse, you will see Pacific and Atlantic/Caribbean sea birds....heck I saw a Blue-Footed Booby...my wife insisted I was making it up so I could just say the word 'Booby' in public!

 

We ended up missing half the things we planned to do each day, because there were too many things and just enjoyed it all. But you Are listening (well, reading) to a person who loves sea days. We've taken two TAs and have another planned. our last Caribbean was three ports and 4 days at sea, we took the 14day Baltic on the Eclipse out of Southampton instead of the 11 day Baltic on the Connie out of Amsterdam, just fore more sea days.

 

So I am Biased.

 

Den

 

I agree with your assesment. We just came of the 15 night on the Millennium on May 27th and they had so much going on. And the lectures we great. Nothing ive seen on any other cruise line.

[Clearwater123]

Room service on the balcony, then off to Micheal's club for a coffee. Walk the track, use the fitness center and spa. Maybe an early lunch. Find a spot near the pool or back deck to read or relax. A snack , drink or ice cream. Go to an event, lecture then maybe a nap. Use the Persain Gardens then off to cocktail hour. Maybe a show before late dinner setting and then of course hit the penny machines in the casino. That's my favorite sea day.

[navyrotorhead]

My friend and I are booking the Century for our Jan 2014 Panama Canal cruise....this is a 15 day cruise...the longest i've ever been on was an 8 day Carnival Miracle cruise with 4 sea days....what all is there to DO during all these sea days? We both love to read, so of course we will be doing a lot of that...hanging around the pool....i'm not much of a spa person on ships, so won't be spending time or money doing any of THAT....just curious as to what others who have been on long cruises with lots of sea days DO with all that free time!:confused::D Thanks so much! We are so excited!

 

And thought about your concerns. Just replace "beach" with "cruiseship"!

 

Just did my first transatlantic a couple months ago and it had SIX CONSECUTIVE sea days between Ft Lauderdale and the Canary Islands. To quote one of my "favorite":rolleyes: 80's Bands, (Loverboy:p) "Lovin' every minute of it!" HAVE FUN!!!

[Cruise Arizona]

Here's a list of a few things we've enjoyed on Sea Days

 

Pool Band

Watching Pool Olympics

Ship Builders Floatilla

Dance Lessons

Classical Concert

Wild Life Lectures

Party games

trivial

Wine tasting

Jazz Concerts

Piano Concert

String quartet concert

Starring at the ocean

Looking for other vessels

Basket ball

shuffle board

In room movies like Transformers and GI Joe and the Hang Over

swimming

napping

reading

blogging

photo editing

Walking

working out in the gym

chatting with friends

bridge tour

Helipad tour

word games

Ice sculpting demonstrations

fruit carving demonstrations

cooking demonstrations

Relaxing on deck

people watching

relaxing on balcony

Q&A with comedian

volcano lecture

whale watching

glass show

 

 

Obviously the last three were destination or ship specific, but sea days are the best part of cruising as far as we are concerned.

 

We've done a lot of cruises that have many sea days. The RT Hawaii cruise had 9, and the TA's had around 10 total sea days with 6 in a row.

[2theship]

We've done transatlantics with both Princess and Celebrity and Celebrity easily wins with their shipboard activities on sea days, particularly the lecturers. They get really good people through a partnership with the Smithsonian and not only do they know their subject matter, they're very entertaining speakers. In these days of multi-media, they use good looking visual support for their presentations. Even if you think you're not interested in a subject, give one a try, you might be surprised.

 

Also, join your roll call to see if anyone has any activities planned - a group lunch, a slot pull, a cabin crawl, whatever.

[hmorrow]

We love the sea days. If we're cruising to places we've been before, we don't even get off the ship.

I usually pick an itinerary looking for as many sea days as possible-ie TA, Panama Canal.

It's not for everyone, but that's what makes the world go round! Helaine

[JoePDX]

We've done transatlantics with both Princess and Celebrity and Celebrity easily wins with their shipboard activities on sea days, particularly the lecturers. They get really good people through a partnership with the Smithsonian and not only do they know their subject matter, they're very entertaining speakers. In these days of multi-media, they use good looking visual support for their presentations. Even if you think you're not interested in a subject, give one a try, you might be surprised.

 

Also, join your roll call to see if anyone has any activities planned - a group lunch, a slot pull, a cabin crawl, whatever.

 

I second Pam's comments on the lecturers on Celebrity. They really are top notch, professional and engaging. They present on a wide range of subjects. On the Equinox Fall TA my favorite one was the "History of Brothels". It was a hoot and full of interesting info!

 

I also LOVE sea days. My first cruise I thought I would feel trapped. Now I covet sea days and prefer an itinerary that is about 1/2 port days and 1/2 sea days. I find them incredibly relaxing...and I have never once been bored....usually the opposite, more I want to do than I have time to do. But at least I'm not running through a port and full throttle thinking I need to "see everything"...

 

Joe

 

P.S. Hi Pam! :)

[LOP]

Keep in mind that you (OP) are on the Century, the smallest of Celebrity's fleet and that is quite a few sea days on that ship IMO...enjoy the opportunity to relax and I agree with other posters on this thread that Celebrity will have many activities planned for those sea days...question will be: Will those activities interest you?

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[2theship]

Joe

 

P.S. Hi Pam! :)

 

Hi Joe! You've got mail!

 

Pam