Tracking a Walk on a Cruise Ship? Don’t Make This Big Mistake

Lots of cruisers like to track their steps or log walks during their holiday.

Cruise ships are great places to get steps in, with endless flights of stairs, promenades, and jogging tracks.

If you have a tracker with built-in GPS, that can lead to some hilarious – and very wrong results!

Walking on a Cruise Ship

There are plenty of places on cruise ships where you can walk. Outdoor jogging tracks, promenade decks and even long inside corridors that stretch far out in front of you.

Lots of guests use fitness trackers, smartwatches, or apps to keep track of the distance they have walked over the course of the day.

I always try never to use the lifts/elevators as well. Then I get in lots of extra steps on the stairs, and leave the lifts free for guests who really need them.

How Fitness Trackers Work

Many apps use GPS or accelerometers.

GPS assumes you’re walking on solid ground, not on a ship sailing the oceans.

If your tracker is set to “outdoor walk/run,” the watch or app reads the ship’s movement as your own.

The Mistake People Make

If you track an “outdoor walk,” your device will add the ship’s speed to your walk.

For example, it may claim you walked 12 miles in 5 seconds, simply because the ship is sailing at 20 knots!.

This happened to me when I was sailing on Norwegian Star, to Norway, Svalbard and Iceland. My Apple watch thought that I had managed to walk 12 km in two minutes! Of course, I hadn’t….

Find out more about that amazing cruise with a fantastic itinerary here:

The Right Way to Track a Walk at Sea

When walking on a cruise ship, select either “indoor walk” or “treadmill” mode.

This way, the tracker relies on your steps, not your GPS location.

This is more accurate for counting steps, calories, and distance, and you will actually know how far you have walked, instead of how far the ship has travelled.

Why It Matters

Well, let’s face it – it doesn’t really!

Some people take their health, and making sure they make their target number of steps every day, very seriously.

I do like to get my steps in when I cruise, but I don’t take it seriously at all!

Before You Go

If you’d like to stay fit while on your cruise, you may want to visit the cruise ship’s gym. Find out more about gyms on cruise ships here:

This is What You’ll Find Inside Cruise Ship Gyms (Waivers, Age Restrictions & More)

Find out why cruising is beneficial for your body and brain here:

5 Ways Taking a Cruise Benefits Your Body and Brain!