Where and what are the secret spots on cruise ships? They are the hidden aft decks tucked behind the jogging track, the Lanai deck on Carnival's Dream-class ships, the upper level of Viking's Explorers' Lounge, the ship's library, the main dining room at lunchtime, out-of-the-way hot tubs on forward sun decks, the bridge and bow areas, and others that are occasionally open to guests.
Every one of these places is hiding in plain sight on the ship you have already paid to sail, and most passengers walk straight past them for an entire week without realizing what they are missing.
This information is more important now than it has ever been before. The total number of people who went on a cruise was at an all-time high of 37.2 million in 2025, as per CLIA's 2026 State of the Cruise Industry report, and it is expected that around 38 million more will go on a cruise in 2026 through 325 cruise ships in the ocean.
The biggest ships can have 7,000 passengers at full occupancy. With that many people on one ship acting as a floating hotel, there are few places left on the pool deck, and travelers who know about the quieter areas of the ship get a completely different experience than others. It's an adventure on its own!
Why Cruise Ships Have Secret Spots at All
Cruise ships are carefully designed to have way more room to accommodate passengers than each individual would need alone. The purposeful placement of lounges, terraces, and other venues on up to fifteen decks or even more is done to ensure that there is no feeling of being part of a large crowd for thousands of people at once.
Add in the fact that most passengers never study a deck plan — they follow the signs to the pool, the buffet, and the theater, then stop exploring after day one — and you have the perfect conditions for hidden gems.
The secret spots we discuss below are consistent favorites among experienced cruisers, and a version of nearly every one of them exists on almost any large ship afloat today.
1. The Hidden Aft Deck Behind the Jogging Track
On Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas and Symphony of the Seas, a portion of deck space is located very far aft on Deck 5 below the AquaTheater and accessible by way of the jogging deck.
This area tends to remain relatively unnoticed by most guests since it is usually passed by while jogging. However, the few who spend any time here are rewarded with fantastic views of the ocean wake behind the ship and the comforting sound of the water splashing.
Similar pockets of forgotten deck space exist across many fleets, usually low and aft, where designers ran the promenade or track past an area too small for a branded venue.
Try this one at sunrise with a coffee in hand, or during sail-away when everyone else is fighting for rail space fifteen decks above you. It is one of the best free upgrades at sea, and it costs nothing more than the walk to find it.
2. The Lanai Deck on Carnival's Dream-Class Ships
Each Carnival ship comes with a free Serenity area that is only for adults, but the flaw of the popular area is the crowds it sees during busy sea days.
The better place to hide out on Carnival Breeze, Carnival Dream, and Carnival Magic is the Lanai, which is an outdoor promenade that wraps halfway around the top deck.
What makes it so appealing is a series of hot tubs that jut out over the ocean. Deck chairs line the space, foot traffic stays light, and on Breeze and Magic the RedFrog Pub is only steps away for drinks and snacks.
Visit during the first day or two of your sailing. Like most good secrets on a cruise ship, the Lanai gets slowly discovered as the week goes on, so the early cruiser gets the hot tub.
3. The Upper Level of Viking's Explorers' Lounge
Viking ocean cruise ships sport beautiful double-decked lounges located at the front of the ships and are referred to as the Explorers' Lounge.
The bar, the live musicians, and virtually all social activity happen on the lower decks, creating quietude that transforms the top decks into idyllic retreats.
Take your book up to the top deck, and chances are high that you will find an unobstructed view of the ocean and some comfortable seating arrangements all by yourself.
On Viking Orion and Viking Jupiter, part of that upper level houses a planetarium, so the space draws a crowd around show times and lectures. Outside those scheduled windows, however, passengers tend to forget it exists as a place to simply sit and relax — and forgetting is exactly what keeps it wonderful.
4. The Ship's Library
Simply walk around on the deck and see how many people don't know that there is a library aboard their vessel.
This element of surprise makes libraries one of the most reliable sources of peace on ships: comfortable chairs, views of the ocean, and a non-verbal agreement not to speak a word.
In general, the better the cruise line, the better the library will be. Oceania, Regent Seven Seas, and Explora Journeys are the companies that have invested heavily in their library, whereas Cunard's Queen Mary 2 boasts the largest library on the ocean, containing about 10,000 books.
Most ship libraries operate on an honor system, so you can borrow a novel for the entire voyage without paperwork.
Mid-afternoon, when the daily activity program peaks elsewhere on the ship, is typically when you will have the shelves — and the armchairs — entirely to yourself.
5. The Main Dining Room at Lunchtime
Here's a secret lurking in the most obvious places on board the ship: in many cases, the main dining room actually opens for lunch and is virtually deserted, since the common perception is that it serves only dinners.
This is true of cruise lines such as Cunard, Royal Caribbean, and Princess. While the buffet upstairs is overwhelmed by all the activity taking place on sea days, the dining room provides full table service, a quieter atmosphere, and no extra cost beyond the cost of your cruise.
Check your ship's daily program each morning to confirm which restaurants are open for breakfast and lunch, since schedules can shift between port days and sea days.
As a general pattern, the buffet is the single busiest venue onboard at breakfast, which makes the main dining room the calm alternative at both of the day's first two meals.
6. Forward Sun Decks and Out-of-the-Way Hot Tubs
Nearly every ship hides at least one hot tub or sun terrace away from the main pool corridor, usually placed forward, high up, or low and aft where casual foot traffic never wanders.
Seabourn Encore offers a perfect example: a forward hot tub and sun deck on Deck 6 that guests routinely overlook for days, even though it sits in plain view below the Observation Bar's outer deck.
Cruisers who find spots like this often report having them entirely to themselves for the first half of a voyage.
The trick is to hunt early. Walk the outer decks from bottom to top on embarkation afternoon, note every tub and lounger cluster that is not beside a main pool, and return to your favorite the next morning before the rest of the ship wakes up.
A quiet soak with an open horizon is worth ten minutes of scouting.
7. The Wraparound Promenade Deck Everyone Rides Past
A few decks below the crowded swimming pool areas, nearly all cruise ships maintain a part of ocean liner history: a teak wood promenade that runs around the whole ship.
Due to the fact that elevators deliver guests directly from their rooms to the restaurant and the upper deck, thousands of people spend a whole week on board without even spotting it.
Holland America uses traditional wooden deck chairs for its Lower Promenade, while Disney cruises provide plush seating areas on its peaceful Deck 4 promenade.
Come here at sunrise with a coffee, or during sailaway when everyone else is fighting for rail space up top.
You are closer to the waterline, so you actually hear the hull moving through the sea — a sound the upper decks never get. It is the closest a modern cruise comes to the golden age of ocean travel.
8. The Top Deck After Dark
As the sun sets hours before dusk, and the pool area has vacated to head for the theater and pub, the highest open-air decks become the best free show at sea.
Out in the middle of the ocean, light pollution is not an issue within hundreds of miles, and when viewed from a pitch-black boat on a moonless night, the sky above could easily match anything seen in a desert observatory.
Some notable lines include Cunard's Queen Mary 2, which comes equipped with Illuminations, a planetarium at sea; Viking Orion, which has its own Explorers' Dome and has even hosted resident astronomers; and Princess, which has dimmed top-deck lights for guided stargazing.
No program is required, though. Grab a blanket, walk forward past the last lit bar, and find a lounger away from the glow of the funnel.
Ten minutes is all your eyes need to adjust — and the Milky Way stretched over open water is a view no shore excursion can sell you.
9. The Bridge and the Bow — When They Open
The most restricted guest-related areas on cruise ships are always the bridge and the bow. It is exactly why access to these areas is so special.
Many cruise companies offer guided tours with visits to the bridge, and many expedition ships have an open-bridge policy so that guests can observe the officers' work while exploring remote locations like the Arctic and Antarctica.
Windstar, which is a small-ship line, even takes it to another level by allowing its guests to visit the bridge anytime.
Bow access is rarer, typically reserved for special sail-aways, onboard events, or top loyalty tiers, and always under crew supervision.
If either opportunity appears in your daily program, take it without hesitation. Standing at the very front of a moving ship, with nothing but open ocean ahead of you, is the kind of memory that outlasts the cruise itself.
Your Secret Spot Cheat Sheet
Save this table before you board. It condenses all spots into one quick reference you can check from your cabin.
| Secret Spot | Where to Find It | Best Time to Go |
|---|---|---|
| Hidden aft deck | Deck 5 aft on Harmony of the Seas and Symphony of the Seas | Sunrise and sail-away |
| The Lanai | Deck 5 on Carnival Breeze, Dream, and Magic | First two days of the cruise |
| Explorers' Lounge, upper level | Decks 7 and 8 on Viking Ocean ships | Daytime, outside event hours |
| Ship's library | Varies by ship; check the deck plan | Mid-afternoon |
| Main dining room at lunch | Midship or aft on most large ships | Sea-day lunchtimes |
| Hidden hot tubs and sun decks | Forward and upper decks, for example, Deck 6 on Seabourn Encore | Early morning |
| Wraparound Promenade Deck | Few decks below swimming pool areas on Holland America and Disney Cruises | Sunrise |
| The Top Deck | Cunard's Queen Mary 2, Viking Orion's Explorers' Dome, and Princess's top-deck stargazing areas | Sunset and night |
| Bridge and bow | Behind-the-scenes tours or open-bridge cruise lines | As scheduled onboard |
The Secret Spots You Will Never See
There is a second category of secret spots on every cruise ship: the ones passengers are never allowed to visit.
A service corridor nicknamed the I-95 runs the full length of many vessels below the guest decks, functioning as the ship's hidden highway for crew, supplies, and laundry.
Crew members also enjoy their own bar, their own mess halls, and often a private pool tucked into the bow — the mystery pool many guests spot from above without ever finding an entrance.
Two additional areas exist for practical purposes. Every big ship will have a brig, which is basically a jail, but this is only used under special circumstances in case there is any problem with one of the passengers, until proper authorities can take care of the situation when the ship arrives at the next port.
Furthermore, since ships sail through the ocean for several days with thousands of people on board, they will also have a refrigerated morgue, located on the bottom floor. A proof that a cruise ship is a fully functioning city at sea.
How to Find Secret Spots on Any Ship
Each ship has its own unique locations that are similar to those mentioned earlier, and locating them is something that you can learn within an afternoon.
Take note of all the lounges, terraces, and stair landings that are not directly connected to a must-see location prior to getting on the ship by going through the deck plans.
Go through all parts of the ship from top to bottom during the time when most of the passengers are having their breakfast in the buffet area.
After you get on the ship, make sure that you go through the daily schedule of activities, since the timing of the venues will help you find quiet moments, which are overlooked by the majority of people.
Go against the flow of people — spend time in the open decks during the shows and the enclosed lounge during the busiest swimming time.
Lastly, make friends with the crew members. Bartenders, librarians, and stewards know all about the nooks and crannies that have room for another person, and they are usually happy to help you out.
Final Thoughts
The cruise ship appreciates the curious. The guests who roam, study the deck maps, and venture off the marked trails experience a smoother and more enjoyable journey compared to the ones who stay within the boundaries of the pool deck throughout their trip, even aboard the same ship and paying the same amount of money.
Get your own quiet aft deck, your private Jacuzzi, or your own library early on in the voyage, and it's yours for the duration of the trip.
And when you're ready to apply this expertise to your next cruise, the newest itineraries and offers await you at CruiseBooking.com.
