How to spend a day at sea on a cruise

On my recent cruise, we had two days at sea - I love sea days, because it gives you the chance to really explore the ship. Ours were at the beginning and end of the cruise, which was also really nice to ease us into the holiday and then give us a day of relaxation after 4 days of crazy exploration. I thought I'd share some of my favourite things to do during a day at sea on a Marella cruise particularly!

Eat and drink

One of the best things about a Marella cruise is that you're all inclusive - so you can eat and drink to your heart's content during a day at sea. The marketplace buffet is open at breakfast, lunch and dinner times but it also offers afternoon tea during the afternoon, which we took advantage of on our second sea day: scones, little sandwiches, tiny cakes etc. The dream! You can also chill out in the coffee shop, drink cocktails on the pool deck, or head to the on board pub for a couple of pints. The pool deck offers food all day, too, and then of course at specified meal times you can eat even more.

Talks and events

On our first sea day there was a talk with with our captain, Steve, which was really interesting - it was an interview style, led by our cruise director Liam, and we really enjoyed it. Some of the audience questions were definitely a bit strange, but people will be people... On our second sea day there was a similar talk, an interview with the show cast who were all absolutely wonderful. I loved both of these events and would definitely recommend seeing what's on during your sea days on a cruise.

Entertainment

There are plenty of other forms of entertainment happening on your days at sea; from quizzes on deck and in the pub (my favourite way to spend the afternoon) to line dancing lessons, water volleyball to bingo... take your pick - you certainly won't be bored! There is also the onboard cinema, which was showing some really new releases as well as some older films while we were cruising. I didn't see any films, but my aunty did. Of course, in the evening of your sea days there will be shows in the theatre too - so don't have too many cocktails or you'll fall asleep and miss it all...

Sunbathing/relaxing

I'm actually not much of a sunbather at all, and I didn't sunbathe on deck - but we had a balcony, and I did spend the odd hour lying on our hammock with my book. We were so lucky with the weather during our cruise, and this was just lush. There are plenty of sunbeds, loungers, comfy seating areas and hammocks on deck, too, so if you do want to chill out in the sun then you absolutely can! You need your comfiest clothing (women's activewear like yoga pants or cycling shorts with a baggy t-shirt, a floaty dress, even your slippers...) for a sea day.

 

Of course, how you spend your day at sea is up to you - but these are some of my favourite things to do while you're sailing. If you have kids, the kids' club is excellent (I remember it from my first ever cruise, nearly 20 years ago) and if you want to spend the whole day napping in your cabin then you do you.