My Year Away: World Cruise Edition.

First, I went on Sabbatical. Then I Retired. And, now I'm on my first Cruise Around the World!

Monthly Archives: January 2025


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What Happens During Sea Days on a World Cruise?

We left Easter Island a few days ago, which is really, really, really far away from absolutely anything. We are over 2,000 nautical miles from the mainland. Now, we head toward French Polynesia, which is also miles and miles away from anything.

The reality is, if you go on a World Cruise, you have a lot of sea days. If you don’t love being out in the middle of nowhere, think twice before you sign up for a World Cruise! So, what in the world does a person do on a typical day at sea when you’re traveling around the world?

First, there are all the “official” activities. Using a recent day as an example, you can get up early and do yoga, or Tai Chi. You can play pickleball (which we, of course, do!). You can take a watercolor class, or a Bridge lesson, go to a wine tasting, listen to a lecture about the importance of the year 1969 or Chaos Theory (different lectures!). You can go to a creative writing class, or participate in an Egg Walk Challenge. (I have no idea what that is, but it’s a thing.) You can attend an English Afternoon Tea, or go to the Casino Royale Game Night. And these are just a snippet of the official activities offered on a typical sea day. Phew.

But, of course, there are all sorts of “unofficial” things to do on a sea day as well. I’ve seen lots of people knitting and crocheting. (Some are really fast. We’ve been on the cruise for just a few weeks and I’ve seen at least two fairly large blanket things emerging from knitting bags.) I’ve seen a couple sit at the same table every day out by the pool, coloring in those fancy adult coloring books. They have the whole set up, including a big box of colored pencils and lights that sit on the table.

I’ve seen lots of people reading as well as some sleeping hard by the pool with open books on their bellies. I’ve seen a random woman teaching a group of other random women water aerobics every morning (and sometimes multiple times a day.) Apparently there is even a passenger offering ukulele lessons. (Thankfully, I have not heard any evidence of this yet!)

During sea days, I don’t worry about keeping busy!

So what do we do on a typical sea day? We play pickleball, of course! It’s crazy how much fun this has been. First, the court is way up on the top deck so the views of the ocean are phenomenal. Second, we are playing with a really great group of about 20 “regulars.” Some are highly skilled, and all are super nice. While we wait for our turn to play, we share our life stories, talk pickleball, and laugh. A lot. Third, Dario is our pickleball instructor/coach on board and he is amazing. We are all learning so much from him. He is equally helpful to new players as well as highly skilled players. Dario is up there on the courts with us for every sea day. We really appreciate the opportunity to work on our game in such a beautiful environment.

No filter here!

This is what the ocean looks like from our balcony.

If I’m not playing pickleball, I’m reading, solving Wordle (or other puzzles), working on my Italian, writing, or just plain relaxing.

The days are leisurely, but they also seem to fly by. A World Cruise is certainly not for everybody, but for us, right now, it’s pretty great. You’ll have to excuse me now, for my balcony and the ocean is calling!


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Getting Organized On a Cruise

It’s obvious that going on a World Cruise takes preparation. Deciding which clothes to bring, for example, is obvious. But figuring out how to stuff everything into available suitcases is more of a challenge. Sure, you can bring everything, but where would you put it? A cruise ship cabin is notoriously small so organization is key.

Here’s our cabin. It’s small, but everything fits!

But for all the organizing we did before we left for the cruise, getting organized on the cruise is a whole different situation. So, here is a partial list of some of the organizing we’ve done since we boarded the Zuiderdam one week ago.

Food Organization.

You can basically eat throughout the day on a cruise, but if you plan to do anything else (now or in the future!), I don’t recommend it. So, where to eat, when to eat, and how to eat takes organization. We try to get to the Lido (the main buffet area) by 8 a.m. for breakfast. Fewer crowds; maximum time until lunch; letting the food settle before activities (ie Pickleball). We try to eat lunch on the short side of noon. Fewer crowds (although not yesterday for some reason); maximum time until dinner; and we’re hungry after playing Pickleball. We have “fixed dining” at 5 p.m. in the dining room (known as the MDR). We want to make sure we have an appetite by then so the challenge is eating enough for lunch, but not too much even if we’re hungry.

Activity Organization.

This is still a work in progress but we have over 100 days left to get the rhythm right! Playing Pickleball is the clear priority, which means finding the right time to play with the right people. With the wind, the rocking ship, and the high temperatures, we can’t play as long as we do with our Pickleball friends in Paducah, but we’re starting to figure it out. So far, playing in the morning after breakfast but before Pickleball instruction begins seems like it might work. But afternoon Pickleball has been fun, too. We’re meeting some nice people who happen to also play pretty good Pickleball. We haven’t yet figured out the pool or whirlpools, but we will (or we won’t and who cares, really?). Meanwhile, we are only using the stairs so we do get a bit of exercise besides time on the court.

Crew Organization.

Most interesting to me is realizing that we’re not the only ones who are trying to get organized during this cruise. We’ve been on quite a few cruises in the past but the majority have been in the Caribbean and the longest has been 42 days. This World Cruise seems a lot different, particularly from what is happening on the ship. The other day, for example, we turned over our passports (Why not at embarkation? Who knows?). Supposedly we’ll get them back on February 8. The library opened several days after we set sail. I guess someone had to get the books organized. (We discovered the Sports Director putting books away the other night. Interesting.) There must have been over 100 people at the “grand opening.” It’s good to know we’re among fellow readers. We also keep hearing phrases from the crew like “we don’t know; we’ll figure it out.”

Things might still need a tad organization, but I love that the crew has found time to set fresh flowers around the ship….even at poolside like this arrangement!

And, also interesting and seemingly unique to a World Cruise, the kitchen staff comes out into the dining room at dinner while we’re finishing dessert, and spreads out among the lingering guests to chat and ask what we think. I’m not totally sure what we are supposed to say (make more zucchini soup?), but I think it’s interesting that they drop by and ask. A few nights ago, we met one of the bakers and the guy “in charge” of the fish. We mentioned to the baker, Mike, that we haven’t seen any almond croissants in the Lido at breakfast. He made a note. Say what? Almond croissants showed up at breakfast this morning! We’re one week into our cruise and it seems like we are falling into a rhythm even while we are still getting organized. We have our library books. We’re playing pickleball. We go to church on Sundays. (Yes, they have church services with a retired chaplain Over 100 people attended this morning.) We’re meeting people (but not too many!). We’re sleeping well. We’re staying out of cold weather. Things could be a whole lot worse, that is for sure!