Enjoy your experiences even on a short cruise.

[trinaM]

Each to their own.

Some people say a short cruise of 1 to 5 days is "not a Cruise experience"

 

I say Each to their own. Maybe you have next to no vacation from work.

Maybe you are new to cruising and don't know if it is for you.

You can have fun, have a nice meal, see some entertaining shows, comedians, and enjoy the ship with a one, two or three day cruise.

 

 

anyway, Enjoy your experiences cruising.

[aquilegia]

I don't think people say you shouldn't go on a 1 or 3 day cruise but it is a fact that these very short cruises are often not representative of most cruise experiences. They frequently attract more of a party crowd. If you like that sort of atmosphere, that is fine. As you say, each to his own. But when people come on here for advice because they don't know if cruising is for them, I bet the majority of them have in mind a 7 or 14 day vacation. If they are encouraged to go on a very short cruise to see if they like it, they could possibly conclude that cruising is not for them when, in fact, the atmosphere of a longer cruise might suit them ideally.

 

By all means go and enjoy yourself on a short cruise but don't conclude anything from it about cruising as a whole. It's apples and pears. It's like the difference between an ocean cruise and a river cruise. They are both enjoyable, but in their own way, and just because you like/dislike one it doesn't follow that you're going to like/dislike the other.

[klfrodo]

Our very first cruise was a short 3 day cruise

Why?

First was that we wanted to incorporate a Disney World vacation.

Second,,, we wanted to test the waters to see if we would even enjoy a cruise.

The first few days were the cruise, followed by 4 days at Disney.

 

Holy bajolie were we a tired group of people. The cruise was so amazing (Carnival Fantasy) that we were dead dog tired by the time we got to Disney.

 

12 cruises later,,, we're still at it.

[Cruisin' Chick]

When my hubby and I just started dating, he had taken his first cruise. I wasn't sure if I would like going on a cruise (prior experience was more like going to Catalina Island, 22 miles away, and evening cruises around a marina) so he suggested we go on an cruise which went from San Diego to Ensenada and back for the day. A gambler's special for many people (instead on going on a long bus trip to Vegas, I guess). After that, we booked a 7-day cruise. Since then, just about any vacation that was longer than a couple of days involved a cruise, except for our Hawaiian honeymoon.

 

We did a few 3 or 4 day Baja cruises, one to introduce our daughter to cruising (she was 23 months of age and we combined that with a stay in San Diego afterwards) and the other two because we wanted to fit in a quick vacay.

 

Our last three cruises were two-week ones which seem to be the right length for us. That way we don't feel that we spend a day getting on the ship/getting to know it and just a few days later, we're already about to end the cruise.

 

And yes, at least one of those short cruises was a party cruise as it fell during spring break for the local colleges.

[OCruisers]

Guess it's no different than doing a 3 day get-away to the beach or something.

Think most people are saying it's hard to know what a cruise is actually like in only three days.

LuLu

[Langley Cruisers]

I would agree with you if and only if the embarkation process is quick and smooth and doesn't eat into my time onboard the ship. On a one-night cruise when you have a mere 18 or 20 hours on a ship, you want to make the most of it, right? ;) We have decided that one-nighters are not for us; we would prefer a long weekend in a nice hotel somewhere as opposed to a cruise. We'll not do anything less than a 7 night cruise ever again, and in fact, we prefer even longer or B2B.

 

To each his own, as you said. Thanks for always being so positive. :)

.

[cruisead]

You also have to take into consideration the location of the cruisers. When you're paying $900 airfare from Fargo to Miami, taking a 3 or 4 day cruise is economically unwise.

[navybankerteacher]

If you live in or near the port, it can make sense. But, if you have to fly and perhaps spend a night at a motel, the miscellaneous related costs outweigh the cost of the cruise. Additionally, the travel time and half lost day embarking represents too great a percentage of the total time.

 

Unless if is a one time test to see if cruising is OK for you, 7 days is really the logical minimum.

[donaldsc]

We have to fly to the start of any cruise we take. Based on this factor and the cost of flying, I do not think that it is worth taking any cruise that is less than 14 days (maybe 10 days minimum).

 

DON