MJonTravel is the local BoardingArea cruising expert. In fact, if you are considering your first cruise and haven’t seen his recent “Tips for the First Time Cruiser” series you should give it a read.

But what I didn’t see among Marshall’s tips was any advice as to what time you should get up and about when on a cruise. No worries though, the cruisers over at CruiseCritic have me covered.

Then again, many aren’t offering suggestions so much as good reasons to get up early – in spite of your being on vacation and sailing the open seas.

I’m usually out of the cabin by 5 AM. I like to pick up a cup of coffee and take a walk around the ship and out on deck. … Mostly you have the ship to yourself. It is so peacefull and great to watch the sunrise or the approach to a port of call. If I ever slept in and missed a morning I’d be really disappointed with myself. ~Ocean Boy

There is nothing better than seeing the sunrise aboard a ship. ~dacsmom

On our Oasis cruise, we were up at 4:30 a.m. and went to the solarium and watched us creep into Port Everglades. It was cool, wish we had brought jackets and we were going so SLOW like gliding on ice. There was only one other passenger in the Solarium. It was fantastic ~EbayCruiser

What really struck me though when reading this thread was how many people are so good about getting up early to workout.

I like to walk a mile before breakfast…. sunrise from the running track is wonderful and cooler than when the sun gets up too high. ~NorbertsNiece

I’m up at 5am, eat a banana, get dressed, run, then come back to the cabin for a shower ~rilco33647

I get up around 5:40 am or so, have a quick swallow of juice and then head up to the gym. I can’t workout with a full stomach so I exercise first then grab coffees on the way back to the cabin. And donuts. For him. Really. ~Langley Cruisers

It’s impressive enough to get up and workout before breakfast when you are at home, much less when you are on vacation cruising around the Caribbean, Mediterranean, or where have you. Then again there are probably always a few who are having a bit too much fun for their own good.

Whenever the Bartender decides to close up the bar & wakes me up ~NavyCruiser

Lest people get the wrong idea, many of the very early risers who posted in this thread do admit to catching up on their sleep in the form of an afternoon nap – often enjoyed in a cozy lounge chair on the deck and/or poolside. These siestaers (siestaistas?) made me realize that poolside lounges are, along with airplanes, another one of the relatively few places where we allow ourselves to fall asleep in public – as I wrote about in a recent post.

I’m now thinking there are probably more acceptable public rest areas than I might have previously thought. If you can think of others, please post them in the comments section below.

Read the thread in its entirety: What time do you wake up?