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This is a list of things to do on many Carnival cruise ships, and activities listed here will be about what you can find on a Carnival cruise. Each ship is different, so offerings will vary, but in general, you can expect to find many of these activities!
If you’re cruising on another cruise line, there’s a chance that similar activities will be offered on your cruise as well, so have a look!
Listed below are ideas for what to do when you’re at sea.
For ideas on what to do when you’re at different cruise ports, have a look at these best activities at Caribbean cruise ports!
Take a look at the daily activity schedule
Each day there is a printed schedule of onboard activities.
The exact daily schedule of your cruise ship’s entertainment activities will be delivered to your stateroom by the morning of each day. (Most likely the night before!)
There are also activity schedules available throughout the ship for your taking so you can always know what’s going on!
You can also download this schedule to your phone each day.
Just log on to Carnival’s wi-fi and this should be available to download for free.
It’s also a good idea to take the day’s schedule with you out on shore because if it’s a port day, the schedule will also have a local emergency contact listed in case you get into any trouble when you’re in port.
what to wear on a cruise – what NOT to bring on a cruise – how to prevent seasickness
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Activities on a Carnival cruise for an evening at sea
After a long day at sea or out and about at a cruise port, you may feel like it’s time to rest up in your stateroom for the next fabulous day at sea or port!
But after dinner, there’s still plenty for you to do! And, you don’t have to pay anything extra for all that’s listed below!
A note on formal night
Speaking of dinner, depending on the length of your cruise, you will likely have one or two elegant evenings or formal nights that take place in the dining room.
For dinner in the dining room, dressing up is usually required.
Even if what you wear is not enforced, you will feel out of place if you aren’t dressed up, because pretty much everyone does dress up to go to the dining room.
So if you’re wondering what to wear on formal night and if you really do need to be dressed up for dinner in the dining room, then yes, dress up!
Many people will change out of their formal night clothes immediately after dinner, but you’ll find plenty of people dressed up for the rest of the night.
It’s definitely worth it to partake in the elegant evening festivities for at least one night of your cruise just for the experience. (Well, this mainly means dinner!)
For longer cruises when there is more than one elegant evening, if you’ve had enough of dressing up for a single week, you can choose to opt out of the dining room, and eat at the buffet instead.
You don’t need to be dressed up to go to the normal buffet even if it’s elegant evening.
The buffet applies to any night of the cruise. If you’d rather have freedom in the timing of your evening meals instead of your assigned time every night, you can always opt for the buffet instead of the dining room.
Hypnosis show
Not every cruise has a hypnotist on board, but if you look at your FunTimes schedule (that’s the name of your daily Carnival activity schedule) and see an evening hypnosis show, YOU MUST GO.
If you are a skeptic, it’s an even better reason for you to go!
Cruisers from the audience volunteer to be a part of the show, so you can volunteer and hope to get picked!
These volunteers are then brought on stage.
There’s a little “test” that’s done to see who among the picked will be effectively hypnotized, and not everyone passes this test. Once it’s determined who has passed the test, it’s the fun part!
Most hypnosis shows are just really funny.
The hypnotist can really make people do things.
And if you talk to these people afterwards, some will have no recollection of the crazy things they did at the direction of the hypnotist.
They will watch videos of themselves after the show (what are friends for?) and be in disbelief that they actually did those things.
But for the audience, it makes for a darn good show!
Note that some hypnotists have the show so that even if you aren’t on stage, you can participate in the hypnosis part from the audience seating.
Meaning, if you are someone who is able to be effectively hypnotized, you will be following the commands of the hypnotist with the possibility of not remembering after the show!
Live stage production show
Depending on the length of your cruise, you will likely have 2-3 production shows with live singers and dancers.
Even if you don’t consider yourself to be much of a theater person, you may find yourself enjoying the shows.
If you’re not keen to attend every production show that’s offered during the cruise, but are open to attending at least one, ask a social host or someone from the entertainment staff for their opinions on the shows.
Most cruise ship employees will probably be honest with you if there is one show that’s better than the others, instead of generally telling you that they are all good… which could be true! 😉
Ask what their favorite show is, and ask a few different people so you can better determine which show is going to be the show that’s lucky enough to be treated with your presence. 😉
If you have kids that are a part of the onboard youth program, many of the youth staff have probably also seen the shows, so they would be good people to ask too.
Staff at the guest services desk have also probably seen a show or two.
These cruise production shows typically have a 15-minute pre-show which are usually worth attending, and the show itself is around 45 minutes.
Deck party
Different cruise directors have different styles and different activities planned for deck parties.
But if it’s your first time on a cruise, you’ll want to check out a deck party!
Once again, how many deck parties there are on your cruise will depend on the length of your cruise, but you can expect at least one, possibly two.
And also once again, even if you think that deck parties “aren’t your thing,” give it a try!
You’re on a cruise after all!
It’s not every day that you get a chance to go to a party in the middle of the ocean under the stars!
You should totally get in on the action, but if you still just don’t want to, at the very least go as a spectator to see what it’s all about! These usually last about an hour.
Movie under the stars
What’s another thing that you don’t get to do often in the middle of the ocean under the stars?
Watch a movie on the big screen!
Popcorn is also usually served, so grab some popcorn and a deck chair and lounge out for that movie!
A light jacket might be useful in case it’s a breezy night.
Photo sessions
From the moment you step on board, you will probably come across a photographer sooner rather than later.
Some cruisers get annoyed by these photographers asking for pictures what seems like all the time, but have fun with it!
The photographers have a quota to fill on the number of pictures they need to take each night.
That’s why you’ll find them asking you for a photo when you pass by them.
If you’re feeling nice, stop for 30 seconds to snap the pic. 😉
If you want to make an evening activity out of it, start at one end of the promenade, and go down the line at each of the different backgrounds (no two backgrounds are alike!), and take your picture at every single background. 😉
Don’t forget to check if there are photographers in the lobby area too!
Having your picture taken is free, but you will have to pay if you want a copy of the picture.
With the variety of backgrounds available each night, you just might find a picture you like! You can also make an activity out of searching for all your pictures at the photo gallery!
Or if you just want to find your pictures quickly, you could ask one of the photographers to help you find your picture.
They will likely know which area of the gallery to look based on the background and the time the picture was taken.
Comedy show
Truthfully, comedy shows are hit and miss in terms of how funny they are.
If you’re not engrossed in a poker game at the casino, then it’s worth sparing half an hour of your time to go and check it out though. Although you’ll want to show up early if you want to get a decent seat.
Typically on a comedy night there will be an earlier family friendly show and a later adult show. Some of the adult shows result in long lines to get in to the comedy club lounge.
The family friendly show and adult show happen back-to-back which is part of the reason for the long line.
The line for the later show can be forming as the earlier show is finishing up.
Even if you’re interested in attending both shows, the room from the earlier show usually needs to be emptied. So typically you can’t just stick around in your same seat for the next show to begin.
If you don’t want to be a target of the comedian’s jokes, don’t sit in the front or near the stage! If you do want to have a chance at being a target… well, sit in the front! 🙂
The length of a comedy show on a cruise is usually around 30 minutes.
Evening activities for teens
All of the above listed activities can be fun for teens, but sometimes it’s tough to convince them that there’s a chance they will actually like it, right? 😉
Well, you probably won’t find a cruise line that shows more dedication to the teen age group than Carnival!
Many cruise lines that have youth programs will group all teens together.
It’s different on a Carnival cruise.
Carnival has a teen club for the 12-14 age group, and another teen club for the 15-17 age group. Not only that, there is a dedicated program leader for each of these age groups.
This means that unlike some other cruise lines, your older teen club won’t be run by someone who just spent the entire previous cruise interacting with 5-year-olds.
With Carnival’s teen clubs you’ll get someone who interacts with teens cruise after cruise and has a sense of what teens like and want!
And teens who have been on multiple cruise lines will consistently say that they have the most fun on a Carnival cruise. So if you have teens, encourage them to check out the teen club for their age group.
It’s recommended to show up on the first day when everyone’s on the same page and not knowing anyone!
But of course, even if they don’t show up on the first day, it’s worth checking out later in the cruise too.
The only down side of having this split into narrow age groups is that if you’re taking a cruise during a time that most of America doesn’t have school vacation, it leads to not having a lot of teens on board.
But there are still plenty of other activities to be done and fun to be had onboard!
Still, if the teen programs are one of your primary factors in choosing Carnival, try to cruise at a time that teens across the country will be on break.
And most importantly…
Don’t forget to catch the sunset on the open deck!
No two sunsets are alike!
HAPPY CRUISING!
More cruise tips:
– Cruise insurance: Should you get travel insurance before your cruise?
– What NOT to bring on a cruise
– Prevent your cruise luggage from getting lost on the cruise ship
– Cruise port things to do: Nassau near port | San Juan near port | Cozumel Mayan ruins | Stingray City Grand Cayman
– Tips for flying Southwest: A budget airline flying to many U.S. cruise ports
– How to prevent seasickness
Cruise tips on Pinterest: Follow the Cruise Travel board!
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