Sometimes people gather by the railing to watch the scenery go by

What is there to do on a cruise ship? A lot. All the large cruise ships of the major lines are like floating resorts with all sorts of things to keep passengers entertained when they aren’t off roaming around at port stops.

the dining room serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner

First of all there’s food. Food in the dining room, food in the buffet, food in the specialty restaurants, coffee shops, outside grills, and a variety of other places on any given ship where food might be found. For a really fun meal on Celebrity try their very unique Qsine.

drinks on ice

And if that’s not enough there’s always room service. Of course the ships all have bars. Inside bars, outside bars, poolside bars. If you want drinks on board you don’t have to look too hard or go too far to find them. The major ships all have pools, hot tubs and casinos too.

chicken crepe at Bistro on Five where crepes were the specialty and you could watch them get made

And food. Did I mention food? Eating is a big part of cruising for many of the passengers on board. Want to go shopping? The onboard shops open every day when ships aren’t in port. How about a trip to the spa? The spa stays open even in port. Cruise ship spas offer a variety of things from massages to facials, haircuts, manicures, and even acupuncture and other treatments.

pools and loungers on the Lido deck

Celebrity Infinity has lots of deck chairs all around the outer decks. Whether you like sun or shade, a place where you can people watch in the center of things or a quiet corner for relaxing or reading, you can find a deck chair that suits your needs.

Infinity has a free indoor spa-type pool

Want a deck chair that’s not outside? Infinity has those too, all around the thalassotherapy pool in the adults only solarium. Speaking of that pool, besides being inside it has racks to sit on over bubble jets and water fountains – things often found only in spa pools people pay extra to use, but on the Infinity the thalassotherapy pool is free. The solarium also contains the AquqSpa cafe which serves healthy alternatives to breakfast and lunch and always has jugs of lemon, lime, or orange water available.

free texas hold’em poker tournament final table

Besides all the usual casino games, the Infinity’s smoke free casino offered both poker and blackjack tournaments for free during the course of our cruise. Passengers competed through several rounds to make the final table and finalists played a passenger vs officer round where bystanders could bet on whether a guest or officer would win. A ticket drawn from the winning side’s bucket netted a lucky passenger an awesome prize. Better in fact than what the tournament winner got, even if that winner was a passenger. All players who made the final table got t-shirts too.

theater on Celebrity Infinity

Each night brought shows to the theater. They had some Las Vegas style production shows with the onboard cast, but many nights guest entertainers put on spectacular shows above and beyond the expected cruise ship entertainment. They also had resident aerialists who put on quite a show whenever they performed – usually as a small portion of some of the nighttime shows, but one afternoon they had a show of their own. The theater is a great source of entertainment in the daytime too with guest speakers and other presentations.

one night Infinity had ice carving

Other lounges and meeting rooms about the ship also play host to a variety of seminars or activities. Whether it’s dancing, fitness, health, music, technology, or wine you’ll probably find an event or activity to suit. Like most ships there’s also art auctions, which with the right auctioneer can be pretty entertaining even if you have no intention of buying any art. Besides the daily activities, during the course of the cruise they sometimes have special events.

Infinity’s own game show with audience participation

Checking the daily newsletter, Infinity Today, shows a full schedule of activities where each hour brings more options than any one person could ever attend. Fun and games come in choices from the more sedate trivia or bingo to active games like beanbag toss.

watching the ship go under the Golden Gate bridge in the setting sun

While there are plenty of scheduled events to keep passengers entertained all day, people can also entertain themselves quite easily on a cruise ship.

odd or ugly statues seem to be a requirement of cruise ship decor

If you’re easily amused sometimes it’s fun to wander about on a cruise ship and wonder what they were thinking when they chose their art.

see where all the food comes from on the galley tour

Get a peek at what goes on behind the scenes on Celebrity’s free galley tour.

rooftop terrace photo from Celebrity’s website

New since our cruise, the Infinity now has a rooftop terrace with outdoor movies and snacks.

Top Chef on Celebrity Infinity

One day on our cruise the Infinity had a Top Chef competition – with passengers selected from the audience to do the cooking and the judging.

Some onboard activities are pretty standard throughout the cruise ship industry, but others vary from line to line, ship to ship, or even day to day. One thing is for sure though, when on board a cruise ship there is always something fun to do.

Copyright My Cruise Stories 2017