Tips for a transatlantic cruise?

[chrismch]

Never had more than 2 sea days in a row and now we've booked a transatlantic crossing. So, what are some ideas to pass the time on all those sea days?

[arzz]

1 - form a trivia team

2 - bring a lot of good books and find your "favorite spot" on board

3 - get a pass to the thermal pool area of the spa

4 - go to the Explorations Cafe with friends and play some games

5 - go to the Explorations Cafe and work on the jigsaw puzzle

6 - check out the daily movies

7 - check out all of the daily activities

8 - go to the gym for a daily workout

9 - the casino is always there

 

You will have more than enough to do and you may also just get into the routine of moving slowly and becoming one with the sea -- enjoy!

[MightyQuinn]

3 - get a pass to the thermal pool area of the spa

We love longer cruises & really enjoy sea days. I'm curious about the thermal spa - specifically if you purchase a thermal spa pass, how difficult is it to get a bed on a sea day? I realize this will vary by ship & pax, but I'd appreciate your general observations.

[Susie51]

Try Trivia which is a fun team game. I went to Hawaii and loved 4 1/2 sea days in a row. You'll get a chance to really enjoy the ships amenities.

[DKNYC]

I love sea days. Earlier this year we had 10 sea days and I always had something to do. Actually did not have time to do all that I wanted to. I had a 3 day pass to the thermal pool and did not use it once.

[RlrCstr]

sea days are the greatest!

 

relax, enjoy.

 

for me, the best thing is that you don't Have to do Anything.

find a lounge chair, recline, read, or watch the waves.

 

nothing can beat it.

[takemewithyou]

We love longer cruises & really enjoy sea days. I'm curious about the thermal spa - specifically if you purchase a thermal spa pass, how difficult is it to get a bed on a sea day? I realize this will vary by ship & pax, but I'd appreciate your general observations.

 

Used the thermal spa on a Volendam 15 day Panama canal cruise and on a 7 day Alaska Westerdam cruise - never had to wait for a thermal lounger. Not once! Loved it - can't say enough about it! :D

 

I would NOT buy the thermal spa pass on a very port intensive cruise where I thought I might be too busy to get my money's worth - like maybe Europe. You just have to weigh your options at the beginning of the cruise, but it usually not a problem getting a lounger.

[Taxguy7]

We Have cruised about 10 times and half have been TA's. Check your daily activities list, and decide. DW and I havesome similar likes and some different, so would each make a basic plan but keep it flexible!. We might meet for trivia (we always play on the same team), or lunch, or just happen to go to the pool at the same time.

 

"we always play on the same team" Except once on a TA. They announced that in addition to the regular trivia games, they would have a 4-day 'Gals vs Guys' game, no limit on the number of players on each team! The male cruise directors asked the questions to the Gals team, and viceversa.

The last day it got REALLY wild, with everyone trying to think what their spouse would NOT know! The room was packed as word had gotten around that some of us were laughing all afternoon.:p

[DrTee]

I wouldn't care if we never went to ports. I love love love sea days.

 

Reading, watching movies, playing trivia, gambling in the casino, working jigsaw puzzles in the library with people you haven't met yet, watching the water. Heaven.

[mikjr]

Never had more than 2 sea days in a row and now we've booked a transatlantic crossing. So, what are some ideas to pass the time on all those sea days?

 

We have taken several trans pacific to Hawaii... I take my Sony PSP and Ninendo DS... and a bunch of various video games; poker, cards, brain challenge, crossword, etc...

 

I find a lounge chair by the pool... face the ocean... I wear my headsets... and sit there for five days and relax!! Sitting and doing nothing for five days might drive some crazy... but I love it!

[DKNYC]

Hi Taxguy7

I singlehandedly won a battle of the sexes trivia quiz on Queen Victoria. I ignored my team mates and surprisingly came up with the correct answer. Even I did not know I knew it! That was fun:)

[seaproponent]

Crossed the Southern Atlantic on the Rotterdam a few years back. Take another look at the post from "arzz" above -- he or she has it Exactly right. Sea days are a great time if you approach them correctly - one of the few times in life that you can do lots or nothing -- without any regrets at the end of the day either way. Enjoy.

[Taxguy7]

Hi Taxguy7

I singlehandedly won a battle of the sexes trivia quiz on Queen Victoria. I ignored my team mates and surprisingly came up with the correct answer. Even I did not know I knew it! That was fun:)

Congratulations!:D

Wish I could say that, but I helped....lose:eek: (The questions were biased:p )

[grannynurse]

Never had more than 2 sea days in a row and now we've booked a transatlantic crossing. So, what are some ideas to pass the time on all those sea days?

 

Please tell us which transatlantic cruise that you have booked.

We are booked on our 4th TA next April on Eurodam (18 days) which has 6 at-sea days up front and others spaced nicely between ports. We really enjoy our days at sea but have never had 6 in a row. From previous experience, we have found that these days do NOT drag for us, AMOF, we run out of free time. There is so much ship to explore and frequently, even on longer cruises, we do not see it all. We especially like the team trivia, the wine tastings, DH's Bingo at times, and really just not having a schedule. HAL does not push activities on people, has very few PA announcements, (except the "From the Bridge" update on sea days around 1pm, which we liik forward to).

We would never book an itinerary that had fewer than 3 sea days.

GN

[2bout2c]

Mostly I like to do nothing then rest afterward.

[cruzilove]

I am not sure that there is anything better than days at sea...you can have your ports....I just wanna cruise.......:D

[kazu]

If your roll call is active, they might have some activities planned as well. We had some great photo, ipad and even river cruising meetings.

 

Cabin crawls, etc. are also done when there are lots of sea days.

 

TA's can be a lot of fun:D

[doublebzz]

1 - form a trivia team

2 - bring a lot of good books and find your "favorite spot" on board

3 - get a pass to the thermal pool area of the spa

4 - go to the Explorations Cafe with friends and play some games

5 - go to the Explorations Cafe and work on the jigsaw puzzle

6 - check out the daily movies

7 - check out all of the daily activities

8 - go to the gym for a daily workout

9 - the casino is always there

 

You will have more than enough to do and you may also just get into the routine of moving slowly and becoming one with the sea -- enjoy!

 

10. Order a dozen bottles of vodka from room service.

[sppunk]

Holy 5.5 year old thread bump ... a record maybe?!

[POA1]

Mostly I like to do nothing then rest afterward.

 

:thumbup::D

[kazu]

Holy 5.5 year old thread bump ... a record maybe?!

 

Oh my heavens - I missed that too - talk about a RESURRECTION!!

[debijaynes]

And just as we booked our Trans-Atlantic yesterday.........

[Aussiepair]

Very old thread but for anyone making their first Transatlantic crossing my advice would be to steer clear of the buffet and use the MDR when possible.

 

Cabins for a TA crossing usually sell for give away prices due to the many sea days. My wife and I made the crossing in 2012 after doing a 14 day Mediterranean cruise first. The difference in the passengers on the TA section was very noticeable, I am very rough around the edges but the behavior of some passengers at the buffet surprised me, it was disgusting. The MDR was a much nicer place to eat.

[donswife]

Holy 5.5 year old thread bump ... a record maybe?!

 

No wonder I didn't recognize any of the authors on the first page!:p

[RetiredMustang]

No wonder I didn't recognize any of the authors on the first page!:p

 

When I read your post, I went back to the top, and realized that I did recognize many of them, but have not seen them for quite a while. I wonder if they are still on CC?

 

Dave