By Dawn Gilbertson
NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN -- The water aerobics instructor on Anthem of the Seas spotted a few slackers in the pool and playfully called them out.
"I can see your legs, you know," he said.
It was 8:30 a.m., and most of the ship's 4,000 passengers were still snoozing or filling their plates at the breakfast buffet. It was the fourth of five sea days on the way from Honolulu to Vancouver, British Columbia, and I was in the pool with a dozen other early risers.
Some of them bolted for the hot tub after class, but I had places to be.
Sea days present two choices for cruisers: utter relaxation or your choice of nonstop activities. The intro to Royal Caribbean's daily planner, called the Cruise Compass, practically challenged me to try it all on a Thursday in early May.
"Today is a day at sea and we hope you had a good night's sleep because with everything you can do onboard, you're going to need it."
Challenge accepted.
My day began in the fitness center on Deck 16 at 7 a.m. and ended with a 7 p.m. "Name That Tune" contest in a bar on Deck 5. I tried a mix of activities, a couple of which turned out to be thinly veiled sales pitches. Much of it was forced fun -- not my thing -- so the day dragged. But I did get a little exercise, a few laughs and made my own sushi lunch. All but two of the activities were free.
7 a.m.
There's something soothing about a "stretch and release" class with sea views just after sunrise. About 20 other passengers had the same idea and grabbed a mat.
The instructor started with some trivia: "What's the most used equipment in the gym?"
"Treadmill?" Nope. "Elliptical?" Nope.
It's the scale, he said.
After guiding us through a variety of stretches, he said everyone who came to class "deserves" a complimentary footprint analysis. Translation: a pitch for orthotics. I passed.
8 a.m.
I rushed to the outdoor deck for the royal walk-club meetup, but the track was closed due to winds of more than 30 miles an hour. We were about 640 miles west of the California-Oregon border. It was 55 degrees outside but felt colder.
8:30 a.m.
Water aerobics was thankfully in the indoor pool, but it was chilly getting out of the water. Morning mass might have been a better choice in this time slot.
9 a.m.
"You've got plans," an alert on Royal Caribbean's app reminded me. I changed out of my swimsuit and headed to a dance fitness class near my favorite grab-and-go restaurant on Deck 5.
The place was packed. Passengers were shimmying in practically every nook and cranny in the auditorium. Restaurant goers got breakfast and a show.
The class ended with Jennifer Lopez's "Let's Get Loud" and the cool down was ABBA's "Dancing Queen."
It was good, corny fun and boosted my step count.
I dashed to the ship's music hall for the 9:30 word-search challenge. The topic: '70s songs. I circled "Freebird," "Night Moves," "Waterloo" and "Delta Dawn" in quick succession.
11 a.m.
I skipped cringey events like "Guess the weight of the sculpture" and an "inch of gold" sale in favor of a $45 sushi-making class at Izumi, the cruise line's Japanese restaurant. Guests pay extra to eat there, so I figured this would double as an activity and lunch since we got to eat our creations.
The women next to me had clearly attempted this at home. I'm no Nobu regular and rarely cook, so I was the class newbie by a long shot.
Still, it was the most fun and educational session I attended. We learned which side of the nori to put the rice on so it sticks (place the shiny side down on your bamboo mat) and nigiri etiquette (dip the fish, not the rice, into the soy sauce.)
There were also plenty of cheesy comments, of course. The chef joked that the green stuff on our plate was avocado paste. It was wasabi. He also told us how to shape the roll so it didn't become a panini.
Noon
I popped by three events after lunch. The spa was offering a massage sampler. I got a delightful 10-minute head and neck massage. The goal, of course: to push spa bookings and products. The attendant tried to reel me in with the classic, "Don't tell my manager I offered you this rate" line, but I resisted. (The only time I used the spa was for a desperately needed mani-pedi.)
The ship's officers traded barbs in a Q&A with passengers, then I paired up with another cruiser in a lively music-bingo session. The theme song from "Titanic" wasn't on anyone's bingo card, but the employee running the game played a snippet and joked, "That's all we're allowed to pay on a cruise ship for safety reasons."
We didn't win. All we lost out on were some Royal Caribbean highlighters, anyway.
3 p.m.
It wouldn't be a cruise without real bingo, one of the most popular activities on mainstream cruise lines like Royal. Cards go on sale hours before the event (I paid $59) and those who show up late find few available seats.
I arrived an hour early -- and ran smack into a crowded flash-mob dance class.
4:30 p.m.
After bingo (which I didn't win), there was another dance class. The theme: '70s disco.
Luckily this coincided with happy hour. So after a martini I was happy to embarrass myself dancing to "Staying Alive" as the instructor guided us through the moves ("Roll it. Roll it. Comb your hair.")
7 p.m.
The next-to-last item on my agenda was a '70s "Name That Tune" contest. (Getting a sense of the demographics on this cruise?!)
My contest partner and I only missed a couple songs but still didn't win. Cruisers are a competitive bunch.
10 p.m.
The Royal Caribbean app alerted me to a coming "Disco Inferno" party to show off those dance-class tricks. I forgot I had signed up for it. I was already in bed and stayed there.
The next day, the last day of the cruise, I participated in nothing -- my favorite sort of sea-day activity.
Write to Dawn Gilbertson at dawn.gilbertson@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
The employee running music-bingo said of the "Titanic" theme song: "That's all we're allowed to play on a cruise ship for safety reasons." "I Survived 12 Hours of Corny, Sea-Day Cruise Activities," at 9 p.m. ET on June 2, incorrectly said "pay" instead of "play."
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 03, 2026 12:22 ET (16:22 GMT)
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