What are some good tips for making the week as much fun as possible?

[KrakedMask]

My fiancee and I are leaving on Sunrise this November 2-7 with 14 of our close friends. Only two of us out of the whole group have cruised before and last time I went I was 16 back in 2004. Back then I made friends with a bunch of kids my age and had a blast just roaming around the ship doing teenager stuff. We all plan on getting the drink package so that will make things more fun but what other fun things can we still get away with doing? 

 

One of my friends suggested adult hide and seek, or some sort of scavenger hunt on the day at sea or at a port we don't want to get off at. 

 

What have you guys done to keep yourself entertained? 

[asalligo]

I never have this problem on a cruise ship. My issue is not getting to all of the things in the Fun times that I wanted to do by the end of the week. I have never found the need to entertain myself on my own. You will find that the ship will have a couple of events like you are describing. There will be a week long mystery clue game on most ships and at least one day an adult scavenger hunt. Do not miss "The Quest" which will happen late one evening and is an adult only scavenger hunt style game. 

[drgonzogoo]

Plan a pub crawl, and/or a cabin crawl. Another thing, plan a themed evening or day. Decide as a group what you want, 70's, or one-piece panjamas, then everyone bring their outfit and just hang out. People will wonder why youre doing it, and will be a lot of fun! 

[Bahbert]

Trivia, poolside contests (such as the hairy chest and drink-mixing contests), shows, dancing... there's plenty to do. You'll have a big enough group that you'll probably end up breaking into smaller groups to do different things. 

 

And if nothing else, the drink package + a deck chair = a full day of relaxation.

[Crazy4Camping]

I agree that you will find plenty to do and I would suggest excursions galore to take advantage of port time.  Also, it's easy to slide things under the doors so feel free to plan your own mystery or other game to get the whole group in on something even if you tend to split up for other things.

[Hotdog 52]

With 16 people in the group, not everyone will want to do something at the same time.  It's ok if they don't.  I'm sure with 14 not cruising before that they will be interested at different things at different times than others. 

[Anyislandwilldo]

1 hour ago, drgonzogoo said:

Plan a pub crawl, and/or a cabin crawl. Another thing, plan a themed evening or day. Decide as a group what you want, 70's, or one-piece panjamas, then everyone bring their outfit and just hang out. People will wonder why youre doing it, and will be a lot of fun! 

On our last cruise there were a group of 6 women who showed up for dinner in Pirate attire.

[LuckyStar]

5 hours ago, KrakedMask said:

My fiancee and I are leaving on Sunrise this November 2-7 with 14 of our close friends. Only two of us out of the whole group have cruised before and last time I went I was 16 back in 2004. Back then I made friends with a bunch of kids my age and had a blast just roaming around the ship doing teenager stuff. We all plan on getting the drink package so that will make things more fun but what other fun things can we still get away with doing? 

 

One of my friends suggested adult hide and seek, or some sort of scavenger hunt on the day at sea or at a port we don't want to get off at. 

 

What have you guys done to keep yourself entertained? 

I do everything!  I get very engaged since I'm usually alone.  My sister and I cruise together but unless we are on an excursion, we have different interests.  I'm bored sitting by the pool all day.  I can last about an hour, then I want to do something else.  So we do our thing and meet up for meals. Keep that in mind for your large group.  Plan on a meeting up at set times.  I plan on us having the Carnival hub app features loaded this trip so we can communicate better.  

Edited February 27, 2019 by LuckyStar
Punctuation

[xostacylee]

9 hours ago, drgonzogoo said:

Plan a pub crawl, and/or a cabin crawl. Another thing, plan a themed evening or day. Decide as a group what you want, 70's, or one-piece panjamas, then everyone bring their outfit and just hang out. People will wonder why youre doing it, and will be a lot of fun! 

 

I LOVE THIS!! The pub crawl sounds so fun lol

[efuzz]

We'v cruised with groups several times (family and friends). One of the things we always do ahead of time is have a conversation addressing that we all acknowledge that we have different interests. Since we all agree with that we encourage everyone to plan whatever excursions or activities they want with the expectation that we won't all do/enjoy the same things. We agree to all meet at dinner to be sure we spend time together but that conversation seems to take the pressure off and let everybody enjoy the cruise in the style that fits them best. 

Other than that, find a favorite bartender and take care of them. They'll take care of you.

[mexicobob]

42 minutes ago, efuzz said:

We'v cruised with groups several times (family and friends). One of the things we always do ahead of time is have a conversation addressing that we all acknowledge that we have different interests. Since we all agree with that we encourage everyone to plan whatever excursions or activities they want with the expectation that we won't all do/enjoy the same things. We agree to all meet at dinner to be sure we spend time together but that conversation seems to take the pressure off and let everybody enjoy the cruise in the style that fits them best. 

Other than that, find a favorite bartender and take care of them. They'll take care of you.

Have also cruised with groups.  The above will be the best advice you will get.  

[Joebucks]

Kind of a broad question, and you are going to get bombarded with a million things. I'll do my best to keep it simple

 

STAY OUT OF THE ROOM. Look at the fun times. Go to things that sound interesting to you. Go to things that you aren't sure if you would like or not. Try a bunch of stuff out! There is so much going on. We have tried new things on every cruise, and have always had a blast.

[xostacylee]

16 hours ago, Joebucks said:

Kind of a broad question, and you are going to get bombarded with a million things. I'll do my best to keep it simple

 

STAY OUT OF THE ROOM. Look at the fun times. Go to things that sound interesting to you. Go to things that you aren't sure if you would like or not. Try a bunch of stuff out! There is so much going on. We have tried new things on every cruise, and have always had a blast.

 

I second this - try all the new things! Don't be afraid to get silly. Dance all the dances, get out and be silly, get involved. I always regretted the trips where I let myself get into my head. I didn't want to look silly or to have people judge me... but we're all there to have fun!! Who cares if you're being judged? The only people you should care about are the ones with you :) 

[pacruise804]

Don't be afraid to try new things, but don't feel you have to try everything either.  Allow some down time to just do nothing.

[PlanoDebbie]

Bring a highlighter to mark all of the activities in the Fun Times that sound interesting to you.

 

On the last Sea Day (usually), be sure to go to the Love and Marriage show.  Sometimes they do it in the afternoon, and other times it's been held in the evening.  They ask the same corny questions on every cruise, but the answers are usually pretty funny.

 

Do at least one or two of the Trivia games.  They're usually pretty fun.

 

Relax in the hot tubs when you have time.

 

 

 

 

[hotsauce126]

I agree with the person that said don't try to do everything together. You'll have way more fun doing things in groups of 3-4 than trying to coordinate activities for 16 people together

[louanne93]

18 hours ago, xostacylee said:

 

I second this - try all the new things! Don't be afraid to get silly. Dance all the dances, get out and be silly, get involved. I always regretted the trips where I let myself get into my head. I didn't want to look silly or to have people judge me... but we're all there to have fun!! Who cares if you're being judged? The only people you should care about are the ones with you 🙂

 

This is exactly right!! Get out of your own head! That's what I have to do! My husband and I participate in everything! It took me awhile to realize that I am NEVER gonna see these people again. Until the time we ran into about 10 neighbors that we all had no idea we were going to be on the same cruise (this was crazy) Lol!

[30scruiser]

Pay the $5 a person for the text option on the hub app so you can text each other and don’t have to run around the ship to find someone. That way on sea days you can do your own thing but text to find each other quickly. Also, with that many people unless you want to break into different groups each night you’re probably better off with assigned dining.

[brookeq]

One of our cruises was with 20 of our family members.  We planned some activities to keep all the kids and teens entertained.   

 

If there is a Red Frog we had a foosball tournament.   You can also play cornhole. 

 

There are plenty of scavenger hunt lists online.   

 

Not sure what ship you are on but if they had a toilet bowl type slide we had a contest to see who could go around the most times.   

 

We also enjoyed shuffleboard.

 

On our last day we had an ugly cruise shirt contest.  We each bought a button type shirt from thrift store with floral/beachy prints.  Then asked someone to judge.   Or you could do an 80's contest for the 80's glow party.

Edited March 3, 2019 by brookeq
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[Butterbean1000]

Don't sweat the small stuff and it's all small stuff.  You re on vacation, just enjoy.

[cruisinwithdad]

All good suggestions.  But I love that you are wanting to get creative and do your own thing.  Maybe you can combine some stuff.  Like the scavenger hunt could be for the entire cruise and include things that would get folks involved in the normal ship activities.  Extra points for winning a ship on a stick(do they still give those out?)  something tells me you all will have a great time and probably make it fun for others on the ship too!