What Shall We Do Today at Sea?

Day 9, Grand Asia 2018

Monday, Oct. 8, 2018, At Sea:

Many of my friends think the many sea days on a long cruise would be a showstopper. What will you do just sitting there on a ship all day?

Our day ashore in Dutch Harbor last week interrupted a long string of sea days at the beginning of this cruise. We have just two ports in the first 14 days. The attraction of this cruise for many passengers is seeing Asia and the South Pacific without flying there. That means a lot of sea days.

I love sea days. In the 1990s, I took repositioning cruises that only had sea days. After 14 days at sea with not much to do, we finally docked, got off the ship and flew home. I can be so good at doing nothing on sea days that I have written about it twice before – in 2013 and again in 2017. But if you want something to do on sea days, the ship delivers.

The When & Where, our daily program, lists several organized events every hour on sea days. For its Grand cruises, Holland America brings experts onboard. This cruise we have instructors in tai chi, watercolor, bridge, and arts and crafts. The schedule also includes sea day informal gatherings: sit and knit (or crochet, cross-stitch, quilt, etc.), Bible study, mahjong, etc.

Starting at 7 a.m. with morning stretch, sea days include a number of free workout and exercise classes, such as abs class, sit and be fit, aqua aerobics, stretch and release, walk-a-mile and a popular afternoon dance class. If you want more, you can take yoga and spinning at $12 a session.

Due to its promotional partnerships with Microsoft and America’s Test Kitchen, Holland America features computer classes and cooking demonstrations on every cruise – not just grand voyages. Microsoft techies and ATK chefs lead the sessions,

The twice-daily team trivia contests can be the most competitive 30 minutes of the day. The cruise staff also hosts daily coffee chats with various guest entertainers and staff members. The EXC (excursion) staff holds talks on each port to cover history, geography and options for tours and exploring on your own. The casino staff schedules poker tournaments, slot competitions and complementary gaming lessons. Members of the spa staff give talks about rejuvenation, acupuncture and other services they offer. If you like jewelry or designer accessories, you can attend short talks led by the staff of the shops on board.

Some of the most popular activities are the guest lectures. Right now we have two guest speakers on board. Dan Benedict talks about astronomy and Michael Hicks talks about the Pacific Ocean and the countries we are visiting, mostly from a geopolitical perspective.

At 3, 6 and 9 p.m., you can watch the daily movie in the theater. They aren’t the latest releases, but movies that were released within the last year or so. On our first day at sea, the show was Adrift, about a couple lost at sea during a hurricane. Some passengers thought it wasn’t a good way to start out. Other recent examples include Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom, Ocean’s 8 and The Bookshop. These movies are repeated the following day on the in-cabin TV channel. Or you can check out any of a few hundred DVDs to watch in your cabin.

One of my favorite sea day activities is late-afternoon happy hour in the Crow’s Nest. It’s a fun time to chat with fellow passengers and watch the ocean pass by.

Of course, you can do your own thing, which for many means reading, napping and relaxing by the pool. The large library is full of passengers by mid morning. Some are reading, others are using the computers or working on the large jigsaw puzzles. And, truth be told, a few are dozing off. I haven’t read my e-books or kept up with the daily New York Timescrossword. I haven’t touched projects I brought along, such as my intention to clean out email, which I thought would be easy to tackle during these early sea days.

That being said, of course I occasionally find myself bored with the options before me. That’s when I remind myself that I get bored sometimes at home, too. I can report that I prefer to be bored on the high seas.

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Since leaving Dutch Harbor, our Internet service via satellite has worsened to the point that I’m only able to sometimes check email and never get to the web. So you may notice that my blog posts are delayed or several are showing up at one time. I hope the situation will improve by the time we get to Japan.