Unlike conventional cruises where you arrive at an exciting new port every couple of days, repositioning cruises often have many days at sea. In fact, on transatlantic repositioning cruises, it’s not uncommon to spend a week or more at sea.
Depending on your personality, this can either sound boring or like a dream come true. But on modern cruise ships, no one ever has to be bored. There are so many things to do that you may arrive at your disembarkation port before you cross everything off your list.
Royal Caribbean has lots of fun things for active cruisers to do. One of the most popular is the WaveRider surf simulating machine. You can can sign up for a lesson, or trying surfing and boogie boarding on your own. If you’ve never scaled a rock wall you can do that too, as well as ice skate, spar a couple rounds in the boxing ring, or play a round of mini golf.
Like to bowl? You’ll find an alley with full-size lanes on Norwegian Pearl and Norwegian Gem. Want to play some of the world’s best golf courses? Try the golf simulators on Queen Mary 2. With sport courts, jogging tracks, ice rinks, Grand Prix simulators, and lap pools, there’s almost no sport that you can’t enjoy at sea.
Most cruise lines have enrichment programs and seminars, especially during days at sea. And we’re not talking about bridge lessons or chess tips. On Celebrity Solstice, you can take glass-blowing lessons from the Corning Museum of Glass artists. On Holland America ships, cooking instruction and wine tasting are taught in the Culinary Arts Center sponsored by Food & Wine magazine. On Norwegian Epic, you can even take a comedy workshop with the gang from The Second City. You can learn to play the piano, speak a foreign language, or be a deejay.
There are plenty of ways to stay in shape on repositioning cruises. In fact, some of the fitness centers rival those on land with all the latest cardio and resistance equipment, including Kinesis walls and stationary bikes with video displays that let you virtually compete in the Tour de France. Plus, a wide variety of fitness and exercise classes are offered daily.
With so many fun activities, your time at sea will probably go more quickly than you’d like.