Vancouver, BC to Alaska
July 10th to July 17th
on Royal Caribbean’s
Serenade of the Seas
Thanks to all the great gamers who joined us on our Gaming Vacation! We had a wonderful time hosting and were gratified by how much everyone enjoyed themselves. Between the gaming, shore excursions, dining, and on-board fun, it was a top-notch vacation. Be sure to visit our Instagram (@GamingBySea) and Facebook pages for pictures of the fun!
Our Summer 2024 Gaming Vacation is planned and ready to book. We hope to see you onboard! Go to Summer 2024 for more information.
You are intrigued by Summer 2024, but curious as to how Summer 2022 went? Well, we surveyed our guests and asked them to rank us from “1 (Not so much)” to “10 (Loved it!)”. Hard to be sure, but we think we had almost 100% participation in the survey (OK, we may have given away Lindt Chocolates for every survey submitted – regardless of the score!) and they gave us a:
9.6 out of 10!
Here are just a few of the nice things they said…
The communication before the cruise – amazing. All the care taken with the whole gaming experience. The swag, the reading glasses, all the little details were so thoughtful. Doug and Lisa were such warm and welcoming hosts. Awesome game selection. Great DM for roleplaying.
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Cruise is fun and inclusive, opportunity to hang out with other players like a game convention. Gaming by Sea was fantastically run and the Best part of the cruise for me.
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Great group, well organized, wonderful variety of games!
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Fantastic idea and so much fun!
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Everyone was super nice! The selection of games was great. The space was great for the group size. 10/10 would recommend to friends & would be/will be coming again!
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Great selection of games. Good mix of interests and very well organized
Visit Royal Caribbean’s “Where is the Port of Vancouver” for information on directions, parking, and transportation options.
Deck Plans
Stateroom
Summer 2022 Gaming Pass
For only $95, you get…
An Entire Week of Board Gaming Fun
Scheduled Gaming
Role-playing Games – Seeking Volunteers to GM
Open Gaming
Access to our Game Library
Access to our Private Gaming Area
Reserved Gaming Seats
…and more!
A Gaming Pass is only required for the Gamer(s) in your family or group of friends. Everyone else you know and love is welcome to come along just to enjoy a great vacation! Each Gaming Pass must be associated with a Stateroom.
See the Event and Rooms tabs for more information on this cruise!
We love vacationing and love playing all types of tabletop games, including longer and/or more complex games. However, with everything going on in our lives, we often find it hard to make the time to play the longer games (especially since some might require multiple nights of gaming). So, we thought, “Let’s get everyone on board a cruise ship, have a fun vacation, and play some board games with a group of (soon-to-be) friends!” Thus was born Gaming By Sea, our tabletop and board gaming cruise vacation.
An Entire Week of Board Gaming Fun: That’s right. This cruise is for seven (7) nights! Not only will you be able to enjoy great shore excursions, free food, and all the fun things to do onboard a cruise, but a week of gaming. Also, each cruise has full days at sea, which means – full, uninterrupted days of gaming!
Scheduled Gaming: We will be scheduling times and tables in our Private Gaming Area for you to play games like…
| Here I Stand | 18xx | Terraforming Mars | Civilization |
| Diplomacy | GMT COIN | Through the Ages | Roll for the Galaxy |
| Game of Thrones | Brass: Birmingham | Cataclysm | Dominant Species |
| Twilight Imperium | Dominion | Gaia Project | Caverna |
| Le Havre | Puerto Rico | Eclipse | Wingspan |
| Great Western Trail | Food Chain Magnate | Scythe | and More! |
Sample Gaming Schedule
The scheduled gaming will ensure that players interested in the longer and more complex games will know when and where those will be happening and can reserve their seats. However, we will also set aside times for numerous popular (light, medium, and family friendly) game sessions, so gamers will know when they can stop in for a round or two of their favorites.
Just a few of the popular & family games requested by our gamers for the 2020 cruises included:
| Pandemic | Lords of Waterdeep | 7 Wonders | Ticket to Ride |
| Race for the Galaxy | Settlers of Catan | Tiny Epic Galaxies | Pandemic: Fall of Rome |
| Terra Mystica | Carcassonne | Apples to Apples | Onward to Venus |
Be sure to let us know what you want to play when you register to ensure your favorites are on the Schedule and in the Game Library.
Role-playing Games: A NEW addition to the cruise offerings (part of our “and more”), in our “long” games category! Some of our great gamers have offered to host role-playing games for past events. Past offerings have included: Dungeons & Dragons, Firefly, Star Trek, and Demon Hunters. They often offer options for seasoned and newbie players and players are able to play through a number of sessions or stop in for just one.
These games will be included in the Scheduled Games to ensure you can reserve your spot for the adventure you most desire. More details, including the systems to be used, will be available closer to the cruise. Let us know if any of these are of interest to you when you register!
We are always seeking volunteers to GM games and we will announce games as they come available.
Open Gaming: For those who would prefer to do more open gaming, we will have a full Game Library! Check-out games from our Library and/or BYOG. We will help you find players, wherever they are on the ship, and there will be room in the Private Gaming Area for Open Gaming, also!
Access to our Game Library: Not only will we be bringing all of the games that will be on the Gaming Schedule, but stacks of other games – of all types – that you can enjoy. Your Gaming Pass allows you access to games from our Game Library. Once all the votes are counted, we will distribute a Game Library list (approximately two months before the cruise). Anyone interested in adding games to the Game Library is welcome to do so, or feel free to BYOG to host a game yourself.
Access to our Private Gaming Area: Don’t worry about trying to find a free table between dining hours in some corner of the ship. Your Gaming Pass gives you access to our Private Gaming Area and the number of Gaming Passes has been limited to ensure that everyone with a Gaming Pass has a seat at the (game) table.
Open Gaming space will be available in the Private Gaming Area, also.
Reserved Gaming Seats: Your Gaming Pass lets you reserve a seat at the table for your favorite games – no wondering what you will have a chance to play or wandering around to find enough gamers ready to play it. When you register, you can let us know the games you want to play to ensure your top choice is on the Gaming Schedule.
Approximately a month before the cruise, we will send an e-mail with a link to a site that will allow you to reserve a seat for the game you want to play in each session. Each person’s first choice will be reserved in advance and you will know you can play the games you want to play, when you want to play them!
Of course, you are welcome to do a combination of Scheduled Gaming, Open Gaming, or Vacationing. This is your vacation and you decide how you want to spend it.
…and more: We are always working to make this an even better vacation for our guests and will add details here once we confirm availability of more great things to do. Email and let us know what could make this an even better experience for you.
Of course, you will need to be on the cruise to enjoy all the fun, so go to the Event and Rooms tabs for more details on the cruise.
Included on Royal Caribbean International
- Well appointed staterooms including TV, shower/bath, hair dryer and more
- MyTime or Traditional fine dining in the main restaurants, casual fare, bars, lounges and more
- Broadway musicals, ice skating shows, guest entertainers, parties and parades and RCI original productions (on select ships)
- Entertainment venues including the Adventure Ocean Youth Program, mini golf, rock climbing, table tennis, inline skating, ice skating, Zipline and FlowRider (on select ships)
- Access to the fitness center, fitness classes, sports court, boxing ring, jogging track and swimming pools
- Duty Free shops and boutiques
Also available onboard are specialty restaurants. User fees may apply to some services.
