Is a 9-day too long? What was your experience?

[Cruising Latitude]

DH and I are currently booked on a 9-day cruise on Navigator in March 2012. DH's longest cruise so far was a 5-day and it had no consecutive sea days. I am a little worried 9 days might be too long for him?

 

I could switch to a similar 8-day itinerary (it is almost exactly the same except it skips St Thomas) and save $400 total. How much difference does one day make?

 

What is everyone's experience when going for a longer cruise for the first time? Did you get a little cabin stirred? :p

[johneeo]

DH and I are currently booked on a 9-day cruise on Navigator in March 2012. DH's longest cruise so far was a 5-day and it had no consecutive sea days. I am a little worried 9 days might be too long for him?

 

I could switch to a similar 8-day itinerary (it is almost exactly the same except it skips St Thomas) and save $400 total. How much difference does one day make?

 

What is everyone's experience when going for a longer cruise for the first time? Did you get a little cabin stirred? :p

 

I have done both 7 and 9 day cruises. Could not imagine doing 7 days. Those extra two days are so nice, specifically, EOS out of Bayonne, those two sea days coming back were so relaxing ....... AAAAAAAH, so nice.

[funNsun4me]

DH and I are currently booked on a 9-day cruise on Navigator in March 2012. DH's longest cruise so far was a 5-day and it had no consecutive sea days. I am a little worried 9 days might be too long for him?

 

I could switch to a similar 8-day itinerary (it is almost exactly the same except it skips St Thomas) and save $400 total. How much difference does one day make?

 

What is everyone's experience when going for a longer cruise for the first time? Did you get a little cabin stirred? :p

 

9 days is not long enough:eek:. We love the longer cruises. My DH is not a sit still sort of guy and even he prefers the longer cruises.

[welshrich]

For me, any amount of days on a cruise is not long enough, we have done from 4 to 15 nights (Bahamas - Transatlantic), the longer the cruise the more you tend to relax. In your situation, I would be tempted to take the 8 nighter and with the $400 you save you can then take a shorter cruise.

 

Hope this helps.

[negc]

DH and I are currently booked on a 9-day cruise on Navigator in March 2012. DH's longest cruise so far was a 5-day and it had no consecutive sea days. I am a little worried 9 days might be too long for him?

 

I could switch to a similar 8-day itinerary (it is almost exactly the same except it skips St Thomas) and save $400 total. How much difference does one day make?

 

What is everyone's experience when going for a longer cruise for the first time? Did you get a little cabin stirred? :p

 

Not at all, and we now find that anything less than 7 to 10 days is usually too brief. Last year we combined a 7 night Canada/New England cruise with a 13 night repositioning cruise. At the end of the twenty days I was still resistant to the idea of getting off the ship and only the fact that we were joining our son and his family for a 7 night cruise two days later made debarkation bearable. Then again we enjoy days at sea and are never at a loss for things to do on those days. After a port intensive first few days we use those sea days to rest up and recover in anticipation of the next ports of call. Only you can determine whether an extra day and an extra port are worth $400, but if it were my decision, I would definitely opt for the longer cruise.:)

[Trumpeter]

My first 7+ day cruise was a 14 night Baltic Sea trip. Loved every day! Hard to be bored when you're visiting one geat European city after another.

 

My longest cruise to date was a back-to-back... 9 day Med and 15 day Transatlantic. It was also the first cruise I ever did without a balcony (outside cabin). We had lots of sea days (5 in a row once). It was still a great time on a great ship (Brilliance). Read several books, got on everyone's stateroom TV via the talent show, and I was free to visit the gym so often that I actually did enough regular physio work to heal chronic knee tendon problems I'd been suffering with for years.

 

The nice thing about a longer cruise is that you have time to really get into the ship lifestyle and relax. With 7 days or less, you're watching the countdown clock from day one and rushing around trying to make the most of your time.

 

My next voyage is another back-to-back on Allure.... one month to go :D

[Sequim88]

Our first RCI cruise was 12nt TA and it was great. Much more relaxing that our prior port intensive Alaska cruise with HAL. Then the 7nt So. Caribbean we did seemed far too hectic and port intensive. The final day being a sea day was so relaxing it convinced us we needed another TA. Still plenty to do on sea days - even things we would not do on port days like watch movie in theater.

 

So in May we do a 15nt TA that starts with seven consecutive at sea. After Canary Is. there are another two sea days. I don't think this cruise will be too long at all except that our daily photos of the day of week on theelevator floors (to keep photos straight) may get confusing when they repeat. ;)

[shrek]

The most beautiful thing about a 9 day cruise is that on day 7 instead of getting off, you are looking forward to two more days.:)

[craigers]

DH and I are currently booked on a 9-day cruise on Navigator in March 2012. DH's longest cruise so far was a 5-day and it had no consecutive sea days. I am a little worried 9 days might be too long for him?

 

I could switch to a similar 8-day itinerary (it is almost exactly the same except it skips St Thomas) and save $400 total. How much difference does one day make?

 

What is everyone's experience when going for a longer cruise for the first time? Did you get a little cabin stirred? :p

You know your husband better then we do.If he is the kind of person that can't sit still or has to be entertained all of the time then it could be a long cruise for everyone.

[rafinmd]

The most beautiful thing about a 9 day cruise is that on day 7 instead of getting off, you are looking forward to two more days.:)

 

My sentiments exactly! Of course nothing is quite as nice as a B2B.

 

Roy

[hazeleyez3]

I am with the others...9 days is not too many (at least for us). Our longest was a 13nt TA which was absolutely wonderful...if my vacation time allowed it, we would certainly do more 2 week cruises.

 

We have already given into the fact that, once we hit our retirement age, we'll be doing cruises that are 15+ nights.

 

The most beautiful thing about a 9 day cruise is that on day 7 instead of getting off, you are looking forward to two more days.:)

 

Oh so true...

 

My sentiments exactly! Of course nothing is quite as nice as a B2B.

 

 

 

Roy

 

 

While I have never done one, I am thinking a B2B2B is nicer. ;)

[superduper123]

My very first cruise was a 9 day, and I loved it! Not too long in my opinion, although by day 7 my daughter was ready to go.

[RoofingPrincess]

It really depends on the people involved. Only you & your hubby can know if cruises with multiple sea days work for you.

I did a 14 day transatlantic repositioning cruise. As planned, it never had more than 2 sea days in a row; however, weather forced us to reroute and miss one port, resulting in 4 days in a row. There weren't a lot of activities planned, so by the end of that fourth day, I was ready to get off of the ship for a while. Which makes me think that one of those repo cruises that cross the southern Atlantic, with 6 or more consecutive sea days, may not be for me.

My most recent cruise was an 8 day, with two full sea days, 3 days of port stops, and then another two full sea days - much like my 9 or 10 night cruise to the Caribbean from Bayonne. What I liked about both of these was that the first set of sea days helped me relax and get into vacation mode, then I had a few days of running around in the islands having fun, then a few days to relax after the running around.

[Icruzthere4Iam]

I combined a 5 night and a 4 night cruise this year on Navigator for a 9 night cruise. It was wonderful and I would do it again in a heartbeat!!! I am also of the opinion that there is no such thing as too many sea days.......love, love love watching nothing but ocean go by. Enjoy your cruise, Jim

[golfer1966]

I have done the 9 nighter and although I like sea days, I like them in the middle of the cruise to break up the port days. The first one heading back to Bayonne is cool, but the second one I knew we had to get off the next morning and still had to pack, fly home...etc...... boooo. So, by the afternoon I just wanted to be home and bypass getting off the ship and flying home. ...lol Overall, the 9 night is great.

[Cruising Latitude]

Thank you everyone for your perspective! :) I am just like all of you, a cruise addict. For me a 9-day is better than an 8-day which is better than a 7-day.

 

My DH however, is more of a camping, backpacking kind of guy. He likes cruising but doesn't love it. He is hoping I am just going through a "cruising phase", :eek: and I promptly "booed" him when he said it. Rightfully so of course! :D

 

Anyway, he leaves all the planning to me and will go on any cruise I book. But I want to be very sensitive about not over doing it, making sure he has fun and is not bored.

 

My specific worries are, the 5 ports on this cruise are one after another and all new to him. I wonder it that might be a little over tiring? And the two sea days are at the beginning instead of at the end of the cruise, so would that feel boring instead of relaxing?

[hazeleyez3]

Thank you everyone for your perspective! :) I am just like all of you, a cruise addict. For me a 9-day is better than an 8-day which is better than a 7-day.

 

My DH however, is more of a camping, backpacking kind of guy. He likes cruising but doesn't love it. He is hoping I am just going through a "cruising phase", :eek: and I promptly "booed" him when he said it. Rightfully so of course! :D

 

Anyway, he leaves all the planning to me and will go on any cruise I book. But I want to be very sensitive about not over doing it, making sure he has fun and is not bored.

 

My specific worries are, the 5 ports on this cruise are one after another and all new to him. I wonder it that might be a little over tiring? And the two sea days are at the beginning instead of at the end of the cruise, so would that feel boring instead of relaxing?

 

 

I think that is another thing that depends on the person. We like at least two sea days. One before the ports and one after all the ports. That allows us to get aquainted with the ship, and settle into the full vacation/relaxed mood. It also allows us to not be in a rush that last day to see a port...which means we can take our time relaxing, and getting things ready so we can leave the next morning.

 

2nd favorite would be the last days at sea.

 

Would your hubby rather jump right into the ports or would he like a day or two to just do nothing? Port after port can be tiring but you can always 1) skip one or 2) not rush off the ship and then spend only a little time in port.

[kleo30]

We've only been on one cruise, and it was 10 nights with 5 sea days. We loved it and can't wait to go on another one, and would love a longer one. I'm not evening looking at anything shorter than that, although we are considering a back to back.

[Spock's Brain]

For us anything over 7 days on a ship is gravy to the vacation. We go aboard with the normal 7 day mindset and when day 7 arrives we celebrate the fact that we have still got some more time aboard the ship. Those extra days are the most relaxing of the whole cruise!

 

Have done 5 - 12 days and the 12 was the best of them all.

[BillOh]

How do you feel about missing St Thomas? I've never been on a 9 day and I've been to St Thomas twice so I probably wouldn't miss it, but saving $400 is good and if you find out 8 days it great, you can try 9 days next time.

[CarefreeCruising]

I've done a 7 night cruise with 4 sea days (2 sea days, 3 port days, 2 sea days) and would jump at the chance to do a 9 night cruise. As others have said, I think it all comes down to your personal preferences and what you like to do on vacation. For my husband and I, we love days spent sleeping in, getting in a good workout, reading by the pool and enjoying the physical activities (rock climbing wall, mini golf, ice skating, etc). With that said, bring on the sea days - I look forward to them! But, for some people that doesn't sound fun. You just have to think about what you enjoy!

[LeeBe]

Have not been on one too long yet! So far the longest was a 13 day coupled with a B2B 7 day and was not really ready for it to end. The longest single cruise has been 15 days and to me it was just getting started:). On the other hand we have a friend that can only tolerate a 5 day.

[franl24fan]

I think this question comes down to personal preference. I have a friend who hates a 4 day cruise, gets bored, wonders what's going on at home, is he missing out on something in home town, constantly checking email etc.

 

For myself I would stay on board for a month or more if I could afford it. Actually looked into cost of cruising for a month versus a retirement community:). Only issue on a longer cruise is how to pack only what you can handle yourself. If the ship had a do it yourself laundry it would be better, I hate to pay $8 to get a pair of slacks washed and pressed.I did a 10 day repo cruise, after being on the road 10 days ahead of that. In the last port I asked a local at the pier where a laudromat was, dropped off my bag of laundry, went shopping and had lunch, picked up my washed & folded laundry and only paid $10. I have a 16 day transatlantic coming up next year where I will have to drastically curtail my suitcases due to airline charges and having to handle my own luggage from Heathrow to tube. I plan on wearing the same outfits several times each and run a clothesline in my cabin:)

[jackinav]

I was the first to cruise and was hooked. I had to talk DH into it so we went for a 6-nighter with 1 sea day to get his feet "wet". He loved it enough to keep cruising. After 3,5,6 and 7 -night trips, we took a 12-night cruise on the Enchantment last January. There were 2 sea days to start and 3 on the return.

For me- 12 nights was wonderful and I'd go for more in a heartbeat. I love having the time to really get to know the ship, the crew and fellow travellers. At the end of the vacation, I didn't feel as if it was over too soon. We had an outside cabin and neither of us got cabin fever... too much to do! Three sea days in a row was no problem for me either. DH felt that 2 was great but by the 3rd sea day, he was ready to walk on land again. Some people get "antsy" on consecutive sea days.

That being said, it wasn't enough to put him off as we're going on EOS for a 12-night cruise again soon.

I think you'll both enjoy 9 nights. That's 9 nights of not doing dishes... laundry.. cooking......:)

[TJM001]

We have done several 10 day cruises on Princess and find that length perfect. We are booked on a nine day cruise in March so it may seem a tad short if anything. Seven days is too short IMHO.