Our Favorite Sea Day Activities

We love cruising. We’re sure that we’ve made that pretty obvious in our past posts, and if you’ve spoken to us before in person you know that we love to talk about cruises that we have taken and that we have planned for the future whenever we get the chance! With that said, we love cruises of any length, but we really prefer cruises that are at least seven nights. We love visiting new ports, or experiencing new things in ports that we have stopped in before. The best part of longer cruises, though? Spending days at sea! We’re sure your wondering, is there really enough to keep you from being bored with two, three, or even eight sea days? The answer is, YES!

Even the Disney Magic and Disney Wonder, which are smaller than the Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy have so much to offer for guests to do while on board for full days at sea! The two smaller ships are the ones that generally do longer sailings, too! The Magic crosses from North America to Europe and then back again each year, and the Wonder sails through the Panama Canal twice a year as well. Each of these sailings are quite long, and the Panama Canal sailing has seven sea days as well as the day that the ship passes through the Canal which does not count as a day in port. We are set to sail from New Orleans through the Panama Canal in February 2021 and we have our fingers crossed that this sailing still gets to happen. We are looking forward to being back on the ship, and we’re all really looking forward to so many sea days! 

So, what is there to do while the ship is at sea?! What do we like to do on sea days?  

Sleep in – If you know me, then you know that I love to run. Most days on the ship I get up early, we’re talking 5am, to go for a run on deck 4 before the rest of the family wakes up, and before the jogging path gets busy. While not the case on every sea day, I do occasionally sleep in a bit before heading out for my run. Sea days offer the opportunity to sleep in, if you wish, because they are more relaxed days. There is no rush to get off the ship, or meet up for a shore excursion.

Breakfast – Breakfast is an important way to start the day every day of the cruise, but on sea days because we’re more relaxed we give ourselves more options on sea days. On our most recent cruise we opted to eat breakfast at Triton’s on the last sea day and we enjoyed the experience. While we were on the Dream, we enjoyed breakfast at Enchanted Garden on the one day that it was open for breakfast. This was mostly to check it out, and we enjoyed the mix of buffet and sit-down experience. Enchanted Garden is also open one day, normally the last sea day, for breakfast on the Fantasy as well. Sit-down breakfast is a once a cruise experience for us, but it is nice to relax for that one time. Cabanas, and on the smaller ships Daisy’s, is still available for breakfast and we still prefer this option on most days. 

Pool – We like to go to the pool on sea days, but we try to make sure that we only in the morning. Why? On days that we’re docked at a port we like to go to the pool in the afternoon after we get back on the ship because there are less people on the ship and at the pool. (We also like to go to the pool at night for the smaller number of people there.) On sea days, though, everyone is on the ship and everyone has the same idea. On days at sea, or days when the ship can’t dock at Castaway Cay, the pools are incredibly busy. This is true of the family pools and the adult-only pools as well. So, we like to go to the pool in the morning on these days, shortly after it opens so that the kids can play in the water while there is less of a crowd. 

Open House – The youth clubs around the ship have open house on each day, at different times, throughout the cruise. We take advantage of them on port days, but we also like to go on sea days so that Bella has the chance to play in the Oceaneer Club and Lab since she’s not old enough to go during secure programming yet. It also gives us a chance to see what all Christian likes to do while he’s there each night, and to check out the clubs that he’s not old enough for yet. These open houses are open for everyone, even those that don’t have children, so that they can see all of these cool places.  

Meet Characters – We love to meet characters on every day of the cruise, but sea says give us the chance to meet them at a more relaxed pace. 

Relax – I personally am not very good at this one, but sea days offer the opportunity to relax! You can take your day at your own pace. There a lot of things to do listed on the Personal Navigators, you can try to do activities all day long, or you can just sit back and relax. It’s up to you! 

Lunch in a Dining Room – Cabanas or the quick service locations are our normal lunch choices, but it is nice every once in a while, to enjoy a sit-down lunch in the main dining room. 

Room Service – If you’re really looking to relax, what’s better than ordering room service!?! We ordered room service for lunch on the last sea day on our most recent cruise. We had quite a few items on the room service menu that we wanted to try, and a sea day lunch was the perfect opportunity to do so! 

Activities Around the Ship – As we mentioned, there is a lot to do around the ship throughout the day on both days in port and days at sea. Some activities include trivia, crafts, game shows, animation classes, bingo, scavenger hunts, character meet and greets, the diaper dash, the Mickey 200, and more! 

Walk on Deck 4 – One of our favorite things to do after dinner on most days of the cruise is to go for a walk around Deck 4. Occasionally, on days at sea we like to walk around in the afternoons as well. 

Goofy Golf – When we’re on the bigger ships we, especially Christian, like to head up the sports deck for a game of Goofy Golf! The course is cute, and because it was built by Goofy, it is a bit silly. It’s a lot of fun. 

Midship Detective Agency – The Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy offer guests the chance to solve Disney mysteries. It’s a fun, interactive experience that the whole family enjoys. It involves walking around the ship, so it takes time and this is why we like to do it on a sea day. 

Star Wars Day at Sea – Lastly, when we find ourselves on a Star Wars Day at Sea sailing, we love to do Star Wars activities! We love to meet Star Wars characters, go to Star Wars trivia, eat Star Wars food, watch Star Wars movies – just everything Star Wars! 

We love a day at sea! What’s your favorite thing to do while at sea?!

The current situation in the world will eventually come to an end, and when it does, and you’re ready to travel again I’d be happy to help you plan and book your next magical vacation. For your FREE quote and to get started contact me at miriyawhitaker@worldofmagictravel.com. For more Disney and travel information follow me on Facebook!