At Sea Days

One of the most relaxing days during a cruise for us is the “at-sea” days. These are days during which the ship is traveling without any port stop during the day. With no day trip preparation or rushing to exit the ship at a particular time for a day excursion, you instead start the day without any real activity plan. For example, this morning, I got up and weighed the various alternatives of an early breakfast, a trip to the gym for a stationary bicycle and elliptical workout, a bit of reading, a shower or, perhaps, a visit to the on-board Laundromat to refresh five days of travel clothes.  The “at-sea” days can be a day without much structure if you choose. Of course, there are plenty of scheduled activities on board should you wish to be entertained. The on-board shops can provide another interesting distraction but with several cruises under our belts, there’s little that we need to purchase. Regardless of how you decide to spend your “at-sea” day, the time does seem to go by quickly.

Our “at-sea” day included some gym time, an 11am meeting with a group of fellow cruisers from “Cruisecritic” in one of the many ship lounges. There we traded information about ourselves and met fellow cruisers from throughout the US and Canada that have been communicating over the web before embarking on the cruise. In fact, we met a couple of travelers that were fellow passengers with us on a past international cruise trip to the Baltics.

Attending a tour discussion for our next port followed lunch in one of the main dining rooms. We did a quick stop for a dessert and coffee after the port talk before heading back to our cabin for reading and wireless Internet access.

All in all, a great and relaxing day at sea.