It is almost impossible to be bored on a cruise. Although in a sense you are contained to a limited space, cruises today are geared to entertaining passengers morning, noon and night. On days in port, most passengers go ashore, either to stretch their legs or to see more of the local area. Some guests get together with new friends and share a taxi to the nearest town, beach or luxury hotel resort for lunch. Others will book one of the many shore excursions offered by the cruise lines. Even in the most remote ports such as Cape Verde or the Falkland Isles, cruise directors somehow manage to organize guided tours on foot or by coach, sports events, watersports or cultural experiences to make the most of the few hours in port.
On board, cruise ships produce a daily bulletin of events which include everything from bridge lessons to scrabble tournaments. Take a highlighter pen with you so you can organize your preferred daily activities. Out on deck by the pool there is usually live music with karaoke, beauty contests and other more challenging competitions. Participate or spectate, it’s up to you. Quieter areas can be found around the ship in the library, where there is a choice of books on an honor loan system or in the computer room. A daily crossword and sudoku is usually printed out and can be collected from the library, along with the solutions.
Sun loungers can be found beneath the lifeboat deck for those who want a peaceful snooze. Individual armchairs are often placed in nooks by the elevators, in public lounges or in the coffee shop for watching the world go by whilst reading the complimentary ship’s newspaper, usually printed in several languages. Speaking of languages, cruises around South America offer daily Spanish lessons to help guests acquire a basic knowledge of the language when exploring ashore. Dance lessons from the tango to line dancing are also offered and always seem very popular. For the less hands-on, demonstrations are often advertised for beauty treatments, hair advice, flower arranging and napkin folding. Some brave chefs even do cookery demonstrations as well as offering guided tours of the galley and talking about the amazing logistics of feeding several thousand guests and crew without a corner shop in sight. Work off some of those calories in the well-equipped gym or walk a mile or two around the upper deck.
Cruising is one of the easiest ways to vacation alone, as there are always social events for singles, starting with an introductory get-together the first day. You may not meet your partner for life, but you will be mixing with travelers you have a lot in common with and it is more fun to go ashore with a new friend than spend the day exploring alone. Friends of Bill W, named after the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, are AA meetings for cruisers and Friends of Dorothy organizes social get-togethers for gay and lesbian guests.
These are just some of the things to do on a cruise. With other events such as ice-skating, wall climbing, golf practice, walking and jogging tracks, shopping, quizzes and at least 4 meals a day, there’s hardly any time left for sleeping, which is why the size of your cabin is one of the least important things to consider when booking a cruise.
