Sea Days - How Many Is Too Many?

[nycruise]

We love cruising, but have never been on an itinerary with more than 2 sea days in a row. We generally find that after 2 sea days we are ready to get off the ship and visit a port.:)

 

Was wondering how others feel, particularly those that have sailed transatlantic which is 5 or 6 sea days in succession or those who have sailed to Hawaii from the west coast.

 

We think we would go stir crazy by day 3 but would like to hear what others think.:confused:

[AndrewD65]

I have never been on a cruise before our first will be in January, but we have three sea days out of the seven days we are on the boat. From reading theses forums, and seeing the activity's the ships has to offer I can see that there is lots to do.

 

Just my option.

[G'ma]

For me personally, the ship could cruise into warm waters and do "figure 8's" for a week and I'd be happy. The more, the better.

 

I cruise for the sea...and don't give a hoot what the ports are.:D I've been known to not get off at ports at all - or just get off long enough to have lunch at a favorite restaurant or pick up a quick souvenier at a favorite art gallery.

 

So, I'll take as many sea days as I can.

[gone_cruisin]

Just off the Freedom and we had 2 loooooong sea days coming back to Port Everglades. I can tell you, the kids were the ones ready to get off the ship. They were bouncing off the walls from the constant intake of ice cream and chocolate.

 

I like ports - in particular multiple ports in exotic places!

[cruiserbryce]

I actually really enjoy sea days. In the ports I still feel the need to get up early so I dont miss any of my time there. The sea days are a great time to sleep in and just relax with my wife on board. In a couple weeks we are on a 10 day cruise that has 5 ports and 5 sea days. I think this is going to be the best balance we have had yet

[MrPete]

We have sailed from Ensenada to Hawaii. Gave us 5.5 sea days. Wife was a little leary, as she was 5 months pregnant, and she figured she'd get bored. Me? Never.

 

Well, it was the most relaxing 5.5 days we ever had, enjoying every minute of it, and DW even said she wouldn't mind another 5.5 days to take us back to the mainland.

 

Unfortunately, they threw us off the ship in Honolulu.

[Froufie]

No such thing as too many sea days - well at least I have not yet experienced it (and would love to - my goal is to actually take a cruise and be ready and happy to get off - hasn't happened yet!).

 

I agree that after 2 sea days I am ready to visit a port - but only because I am excited to see something new and do something fun - not because I don't like the sea days (so relaxing!)

 

I would love to try a transatlantic with 5 or 6 days at sea to see if that 'satisfies' me!

 

jb

[vacruizer]

No such thing as too many sea days for me. I'd be happy with a week long cruise to nowhere. We did basically that on our last cruise. It was a six day cruise and we left the ship for about 30 minutes in one port and that was it. It turned out to be the most relaxing cruise I've taken because we weren't out touring and taking excursions.

[aggieastrosfan]

We survived 6 sea days on the swine flu cruise. Didn't mind it too much, though we were definitely ready for a few hours on land, even if it was cold and rainy. :rolleyes: If I had been prepared for it and knew it was coming, it would've been a lot easier to handle! I'd do it again, hopefully planned next time. ;)

[Kurbanfan]

one day is good for me.......2 days in a row is not good for me:D My next cruise has only one day in the beginning and one at the end...perfect.....

[cruzeluver]

Love sea days. Love, love love them! Next cruise has five of them (two at the beginning and three at the end). Sooooo relaxing. Don't even care of there are planned activities. We make our own! :D

[tiggerman101]

The more I cruise the more I begin to appreciate Sea Days. I still prefer Port Days more though. I was a bit apprehensive of our four sea days on our Freedom cruise in October. However, when all was said and done, I really could have used another one. We stayed busy during the sea days and I never came close to getting tired of them. It helped that we had a very good roll call and were always meeting up with somebody. I think you will find that they actually go by pretty quick. Before that cruise I would have been nervous about a Transatlantic cruise. Now I would love to do one.

[Traveler353]

"Sea Days - How Many Is Too Many?"

 

I do not cruise for the ports. I cruise to be at sea. So on a 7 day cruise, 7 days sounds just about right for the number of sea days. If going to a specific port or loacation is important take a plane. :D

[Max Circus]

"Sea Days - How Many Is Too Many?"

 

I do not cruise for the ports. I cruise to be at sea. So on a 7 day cruise, 7 days sounds just about right for the number of sea days. If going to a specific port or loacation is important take a plane. :D

 

Well said. A sea day is much more relaxing then a port day. Of course, on our Valor cruise, we treated each port day like a sea day. It was nice to sit on our balcony and watch everyone scrambling on the Nassau pier, trying to find their excursion leader while we had our room service continental breakfast. Nothing more relaxing!! :)

[nycruise]

I agree with all of you that sea days are great! We had 4 sea days on our 10 day cruise to Mexico and California but they were interspersed with ports.

 

It's the consecutive sea days that begin to wear on us. We just got off the 8 day sailing of the Dream and had 2 sea days up front and 2 sea days at the end and that was plenty, we were ready for Nassau and New York when we arrived.

[Kurbanfan]

It's the consecutive sea days that begin to wear on us. We just got off the 8 day sailing of the Dream and had 2 sea days up front and 2 sea days at the end and that was plenty, we were ready for Nassau and New York when we arrived.

 

I agree! And for the life of me I don't understand the rush and stress of a port day either:confused: I find myself just as relaxed on either day......just get bored on the consecutive sea days.......

[dan40]

We've done 6 straight sea days and in a storm the whole time. Got to meet most people on the ship.

I suspect that 365 straight sea days might be too many, but maybe not.

[cruisin' again]

For me personally' date=' the ship could cruise into warm waters and do "figure 8's" for a week and I'd be happy. The more, the better.

 

I cruise for the sea...and don't give a hoot what the ports are.:D I've been known to not get off at ports at all - or just get off long enough to have lunch at a favorite restaurant or pick up a quick souvenier at a favorite art gallery.

 

So, I'll take as many sea days as I can.[/quote']

 

 

I'm right there with you G'ma!!!! The more the better!

[Sailor2Cruiser]

Ahem... Back when I was in the Navy.... I once did...:D

 

I was underway for 45 straight days. We left San Diego, participated in some Allied exercises and then 45 days later pulled into Hong Kong. Hong Kong harbor was a welcome site. So for me 46 days would be too long at sea.

 

Ah who am I kidding? I have salt in my blood. 365 days for everyone!!!

 

I love the sea. The calm waters of the Indian Ocean, the storm off eastern Australia, hurricanes crossing our bow in the Atlantic. I'll take it all and say thank you, may I have another.

 

No 2 days at sea are the same. My DW knows the sea is my mistress. I can't look at the ocean and not say "I wish I was out there." One day, recently, I was with my 83 year old dad overlooking the New York Harbor and he said "I wish I was out there." So it's hereditary.;)

[mathgeek1978]

I enjoy sea days a lot more than port days. To be at sea is the main reason that I cruise. If I want to visit a particular city/country, I would fly there and spend a few days to a week there.

[scraphappylady]

Wow! I guess we're in the minority here! My husband and I quickly came to realize that we absolutely LOVE port days . . . we're cruising now for the chance to see bits of other cultures/new experiences, etc. That way, too, if we like someplace, we know we can come back for an extended stay in the future. We must have been explorers in a past life! :p However, we're fairly new to cruising, too, so the excitement might wear off in the future.

 

This doesn't mean we don't like the relaxation of sea days. I can be quite the slug when I want to be. But by the end of one sea day, I'm getting antsy to start touring again.

 

Of course, this could all change after our Victory cruise in January. As much as we love ports, I'm a little nervous that seven in a row (I'm counting San Juan, too) might be too much for even us! We'll let you know! :D

[socalhal]

The most sea days consecutive my wife and I have had so far is 2. I think I want more.

 

I've been kicking around in my head that upon retirement, I'd like to do a full world cruise (or at minimum a leg of about 60 days). Before making such a commitment I'd like to try a "training cruise". The most likely candidate I've come across so far is the Ensenada to Hawaii mentioned previously with 5 straight sea days. This is also a relatively cheap cruise as it is a re-positioning.

[Penny S.]

My husband and I did a repositioning cruise from Vancouver to Hawaii--six days at sea. My husband was very leery, but in the end he absolutely loved the rest and relaxation.

 

What kind of vacation do you need? When we did the Mediterranean, it was very port intensive. That was great because we got to sample a number of countries to see where we wanted to return. An active vacation.

 

When we want to chill, relax and read a lot of books, we look for a cruise with more sea days, or ports that we've been to and don't need to revisit (Jamaica).

 

The decision depends on what you are looking for.

[buckirj1]

I really like Carnival's 5 day Canada itinerary: NY, a day up, Saint John, Halifax, a day back, and NY. To me that's the perfect balance of sea and port days. The 7 night itinerary is a little too frantic, but I'll give it another try one of these days.

[denisey]

I enjoy the ports and we always have fun on our tours/excursions.

 

But we absolutely loved our TranAtlantic cruise - 14 days, 4 ports - 5 days across the Atlantic. It was completely relaxing. We took tons of books and sat in the sun and read. When I got antsy, I wandered off and did an activity.

 

I was really ready to see Madeira when we got there, but not stir crazy before hand.

 

I think the biggest thing though, is being ready mentally. We had such a frantic time before the cruise, that the sea days were paradise to us!

 

I'd go on another in a minute!