Cruises can take you to amazing places, including bucket-list destinations like the Galápagos or Greenland and tried-and-true favorites like the Caribbean and the Med. But so much of the fun comes from being on the ship itself. Here, we’ve expanded on our long-running column Onboard Obsessions, spotlighting all the little things we’ve loved while cruising lately. From an unexpected plein-air performance and chic libraries to possibly the most unique New Year’s party of all time, these are the kinds of moments, big and small, that turn mere passengers into cruisers for life.
Sea days are the best days
Die-hard cruiserati will tell you that sea days can be as exciting or relaxing as you make them. You can go wild and get inked at a tattoo parlor (now a thing, thanks to Virgin Voyages) or take care of your body with a satisfying hour-long run on a treadmill that seems to be floating on water aboard Norwegian Cruise Line’s Viva. I finally grasped the freedom of a sea day during a 15-day Oceania Sirena sailing in Asia. There were five of them. What was I to do? A ton, apparently. Cooking demos, painting classes, bridge lessons, Battle of the Sexes trivia, afternoon tea, ABBA dance parties, and karaoke powered by plenty of liquid courage. I joined oiled-up sexagenarians for sweaty laps around the top deck and nearly fainted during a reflexology session in the onboard spa when a soft-spoken sadist crunched my feet like Cheetos. Earlier this year, three port cancellations on Viking Venus’s sailing through the British Isles gave me time to sing sea chanteys with the chipper Scottish cruise director and line-dance on the pool deck.
Sea days, like cruises themselves, are about spinning a fantasy—of being someone I’m not, of being free. I can convince myself as I roll from one all-you-can-eat buffet to the next that I will never gain a pound. I imagine myself running off with the ship’s dashing Ukrainian pianist, exploring new ports of call and stealing private moments in pockets where the security cameras cannot reach. (Would his wife mind? Would my husband?) The reverie collapses, of course, when I actually talk to the crew. They tell me about the businesses they want to start back home and the side hustles they run to make ends meet, about the children whose birthdays they celebrate over WhatsApp. The Indonesian housekeepers, Zimbabwean massage therapists, Filipino bartenders, Bulgarian nose flutists, and humble Burmese waiters—they’re the real heroes of the sea day. Getting to know them as multi-dimensional people, I’ve come to realize, is more enriching than any shore excursion. – Ashlea Halpern
