Tuesday, April 14, 2020

How We "Cruise Like a Davis"- Early Sea Day

A Typical Early Sea Day

Most cruises have at least 2 sea days as it usually takes 1 sea day, or longer, to get to the paradise location and destination. This first sea day, or early as we are going to call it, for us is spent continuing to explore the ship and do ALL that it has to offer. 

Morning 
With the previous day having been long and busy, we are usually tired and sleep pretty well, especially in a completely dark inside stateroom. We usually wake up and get ready and then immediately go to our balcony or an upper deck to see the beautiful open ocean and Gulf Waters. There is NOTHING better than waking up to a gorgeous blue, open ocean and hearing the waves crash upon the ship! It is the best feeling in the world! I usually spend the first 20 minutes or so just taking it all in and doing my quiet time/ prayer time and getting closer to Jesus on the open waters. It is just perfect and to this day (as I sit in quarantine for the COVID-19 disaster) I miss it dearly! After this early morning quiet time we head off to our first breakfast at sea!

This... THIS is why I cruise! I love waking up to this!
Carnival Conquest 2013

Early morning Balcony prayer to Jesus from the middle of nowhere! 
Carnival Conquest- 2013

Early morning dolphin spotting. 
Carnival Conquest 2013

In our recent cruises, we have opted to go to the sit-down breakfast in the Main Dining Room for this first breakfast at seas because once again, it is still a hidden gem and most passengers are at the Lido Buffet. However, most cruise lines only have this MDR breakfast option open for a few hours. Be sure to check your daily newsletter for times. 

Breakfast in the Aft Buffet area on Serenade of the Seas- 2015

The rest of the morning is spent exploring anything and everything the ship has to offer. Depending on the size of the ship, the time of year sailing (Summer and Spring Break cruises are usually very kid-heavy) and weather will determine which activities are open but we try to get as many in this first sea day as we can. As mentioned in the Embarkation Day post, the longer you wait into the cruise to do some of the fun and exciting things, such as the water park or Rope Course, the more crowded and longer lines you will endure. We try to "check off" each and every one of these things early in the voyage to avoid these crazy long lines. 
You MUST check out the helicopter pad on most Royal Caribbean ships. 
Passengers don't know it's there this early in the cruise! It is AWESOME! 
Serenade of the Seas- 2015

Waterworks slides on Carnival Magic- 2015

Waterworks on Carnival Breeze- 2017

Early morning EMPTY hot tubs and whirlpools on NCL Breakaway- 2018

Afternoon 
Depending on the cruise line and cruise ship, we try to eat this Sea Day lunch in the Main Dining Room or at another "less crowded" dining option as once again the majority of the passengers will be eating lunch at the Lido Buffet (have you noticed the trend yet?). 

Carnival's Guy's Burgers is usually now a well known lunch option (THE BEST BURGERS AT SEA) but Blue Iguana is still not as busy. Some Carnival ships offer Guy's BBQ on Deck 5 and it is RARELY busy at all on THIS sea day (Later sea days this will not be the case). RCCL Cafe Promenade or Sorrento's Pizza are still well hidden and widely unknown to the cruisers at this time in the voyage. These are our go-to's for this sea day since over the next few days, these venues will become popular knowledge and will no longer have the short lines.

Guy's BBQ on Carnival Dream (Lanai Deck 5) 

After lunch we usually change clothes and spend the rest of our afternoon in the pools and hot tubs because once again they are less busy earlier in the voyage. Depending on the ship you are sailing, this can be spent at the adults only Serenity Deck or the aft pool and hot tubs. Our favorite hidden jewels in this department is the RCCL Solarium Whirlpools on Freedom and Oasis class that hang over the side of the ship and the Carnival Dream and Vista class ships that have whirlpools on the side of the Lanai Deck 5. These are all fairly unpopular at this stage of the cruise.

Empty Aft Pool on Carnival Magic- 2015
(Now keep in mind this was during Tropical Storm Bill but it WAS empty)

Whirlpools on the Lanai Deck of the Carnival Dream 
Most people do not realize these are here until about Day 3 of the cruise! Get to these EARLY! 

The MEGA whirlpool in the Adults Only Solarium on Liberty of the Seas 


Evening 
Usually this is FORMAL Night and we like to get dressed up (albeit, even a little) for this dinner. This is the best time to get pictures taken by the cruise line's professional photographers. We have grown out of this a little but it is a great way to show off your cruise!


This is a classic CHRIS DAVIS Picture! 
Carnival Conquest- 2013

Formal Night on the Serenade of the Seas- 2015
The BEST Formal picture EVER! Luke wanted absolutely NO part of this! Funny thing is, he stopped throwing a fit completely once he got out of this formal attire! Ahh, the memories! 
Carnival Triumph- 2015

As we have continued to cruise we have grown weary of this, but we used to really enjoy the Captain's Celebration and other activities on this formal night. RCCL and Princess went all out and had free champagne and other special things during this time. Over our years we have met many captains and cruise directors during this time! It is really neat and, while we do not do this as often anymore, I highly recommend you try this at least once! 

 OUR CAPTAIN PICTURES! 
Carnival Conquest- 2013

Navigator of the Seas- 2014
(This Captain was ahead of the curve... he said "Oh no I don't shake hands or touch passengers. I do not want to get sick".) 

Serenade of the Seas- 2015

Carnival Magic- 2015
Chris "forgot" his formal clothes and THIS is where we turned the corner on the formal attire! 

Carnival Triumph- 2015
Again, Luke wanted none of this! 

Caribbean Princess- 2016
THEY DID THIS RIGHT! IT WAS INCREDIBLE! 

Carnival Legend- 2016

GIRLS CRUISE Carnival Valor- 2017

Carnival Dream- 2019

We ALWAYS have dinner in the Main Dining Room or Specialty Restaurant ($) on formal night but be forewarned that the service is MUCH slower as 90% of passengers will have the same thought. This has never really bothered us but we knew going into this dinner, it was going to be slow! This is usually the best menu of the entire cruise and most cruise lines still offer LOBSTER on this night! Don't forget, you may order multiple entree's (Chris's record is 2 Prime Ribs and 4 Lobsters). 
FORMAL NIGHT Dinner... It doesn't get much better than this! 
Navigator of the Seas- 2014


After dinner we meander down the main Promenade for more of the Captain's Celebration and just enjoy each others' company as the sun sets. We love to walk outside along the Promenade deck and take in the sunsets. This is one of my FAVORITE things about a cruise and we have been very lucky to have some GREAT sunsets over the years.

The best part of a cruise evening is catching a sunset as good as these! 
This formal night is usually where the cruise lines places their best entertainer or their best show so we make an effort to always attend this night's show in the Main Theater. Be sure to plan your dining around this and remember that this night is usually a 2 hour dining experience. 
Royal Caribbean's Ice Show on Freedom and Oasis class ships!
This is a MUST SEE show and it is available EARLY in the cruise ONLY! 

After this late night show, we change clothes before spending the rest of the night at the whirlpools or just sitting in the aft of the ship, or on our own balconies. We like to start and end this day in serenity and quietness. 

This first sea day is usually another fairly busy day of exploring but does have a mixture of rest and relaxation as well. I personally LOVE sea days and could easy go on a "cruise to nowhere". That might very well be the case in a few months if this COVID-19 situation doesn't improve and ports do not start to open. But you know what... I would be OK with that! Give me the open seas and the blue waters and my heart is happy! 

Stay tuned for PORT DAYS and how we select and choose excursions! Plus tips and tricks for popular Western Caribbean ports such as Cozumel and Jamaica! Thanks for following along! 

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