11 days in the Caribbean - too long?

[jabrown40]

I've never been on a cruise greater than 7 days, and have booked for a 7 day in March. But....saw an 11 day itinerary on the Equinox in April that appeals to me because I've never been to Panama or Columbia - This itinerary has 4 days at sea throughout the trip. Does anyone ever get bored with all of the sea days? I've never taken two consecutive weeks off of work either!! Just don't know what to do. I'm ok with the increase in cost.

[WestLakeGirl]

Do it, then next time try the 14 day trips on Eclipse which are even nicer

[hughdm]

Did a ten day Hawaii round trip with six sea days. Would do it again in a heartbeat! Talk about decompressing...:cool:

[Chazteach1]

Relax on sea days, spa, pool, a tasting, lots to do.

[bachcruise]

It's a great length and itinerary. I wouldn't hesitate to book it. I recently took a 7 day cruise after a few 10 and 11 night cruises and found it to be too short. I'm spoiled now.

 

 

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Edited August 12, 2015 by bachcruise

[Project_gal]

No, 11 days is far too short. Would never consider less that 14.

[Phxazzcruisers]

Don't even think about it, just do it !!! The longer the cruise, the better. A vacation is not really a vacation unless it is at the very least 2 weeks. Enjoy

[gw2fll]

You will enjoy it. Our first cruise longer than 7 days was a 10 day cruise. It felt wonderful on that 7th day when you "normally" would start packing and getting the "end of cruise blues", that I realized I still have 3 more days to go. To me 10 / 11 day's is the perfect balance. (Our 14 day B2B was a little long, could have been the itinerary on the 2nd week, so we will not let that stop us giving it another try.)

 

Not sure when your sea days are, but ours was 2 days at the front and 2 days at the back which were perfect. The front 2 sea days gave us a chance to unwind and relax to get in vacation mode and really enjoy the islands we were about to visit. The 2 sea days at the end helped us relax from all the sightseeing, start to pull things together, and generally "decompress" before returning to work.

 

By the way - our first 10 day was on Equinox - Eastern / Southern Caribbean. I think you will have a wonderful time. Wishing you safe and happy, relaxing, travels.

[wieslaw]

.... Just don't know what to do. I'm ok with the increase in cost.

 

Hi, enjoy the cruise - which ever you take.

 

If I was doing the choosing and the price was ok, I would take the 11day.

Seems that you are in Indiana, so probably air is to be booked ...... all the hustle of flying, getting to the airport, inspections, X-ray and waiting ...... a longer cruise would be nicer for all the hustle involved with flying..... and I like 11 day, not too long and not too short ...... for me just right..... and the amount of luggage is about the same as for 7 day.

Edited August 12, 2015 by wieslaw

[Mr. California]

For us...the sea days are the best part of a cruise. We've taken two trans-atlantics so far, with usually seven straight days at sea, just for that reason.

We just enjoy the peacefulness, of not being in port, no excursions to take, no nothing really, just relaxing.

 

But sea days may not be for you ...so do whatever pleases you most as the old saying goes "whatever floats your boat".

[yorkyred]

11 days is too short for us, we usually do 14 days, always surprises me how Americans seem to do 7 night holidays rather than 14. Out of interest do you receive less annual leave or just prefer more shorter ones ?

[villauk]

I've never been on a cruise greater than 7 days, and have booked for a 7 day in March. But....saw an 11 day itinerary on the Equinox in April that appeals to me because I've never been to Panama or Columbia - This itinerary has 4 days at sea throughout the trip. Does anyone ever get bored with all of the sea days? I've never taken two consecutive weeks off of work either!! Just don't know what to do. I'm ok with the increase in cost.

 

Did the same itinerary this past April and loved it - the longer the better (we actually tagged on some days pre cruise too) :). Regarding the sea days, you'll be glad of the rest in between seeing the great sights on this itinerary. They are not consecutive sea days so no worries there, and I say this from experience as my DH was going stir crazy on our NZ sailing after 3 days at sea without a port break ;).

[Olive1950]

Once you've taken that 11-day Caribbean cruise and found out that it ISN'T too long, try out a 14-day cruise. Or, maybe a westbound transAtlantic cruise, where you will have at least 5 sea days in succession.

 

I hope you come back and tell us what you thought of that 11-day cruise....

[Grandmaanne7]

11 days of cruising is far better than 7 days of cruising anytime, anywhere, anyhow!! :) Enjoy!!

[Fouremco]

No, 11 days is too short! :)

 

We normally book a minimum of 14 days and prefer 21 days. Last year we could only take a week away and it just wasn't long enough.

[Tommy3putts]

We did an 11 night in the med last year. We loved it! Can't wait to do a transatlantic and/or B2B. 7 nights now seem too short.

[wallie5446]

I've never been on a cruise greater than 7 days, and have booked for a 7 day in March. But....saw an 11 day itinerary on the Equinox in April that appeals to me because I've never been to Panama or Columbia - This itinerary has 4 days at sea throughout the trip. Does anyone ever get bored with all of the sea days? I've never taken two consecutive weeks off of work either!! Just don't know what to do. I'm ok with the increase in cost.

 

We did that route last Nov on the Equinox, it was our first cruise over 7 days.

Simply WONDERFUL! We are back on the Equinox for the 10 day route this Nov.

 

It is going to be very hard to go back to a 7 day sailing!:D

EW

[4774Papa]

I've never been on a cruise greater than 7 days, and have booked for a 7 day in March. But....saw an 11 day itinerary on the Equinox in April that appeals to me because I've never been to Panama or Columbia - This itinerary has 4 days at sea throughout the trip. Does anyone ever get bored with all of the sea days? I've never taken two consecutive weeks off of work either!! Just don't know what to do. I'm ok with the increase in cost.

We have been on 13 cruises and only one was 7 days. Most of the others were 14 days.

We have found that the longer cruises are better, since if you pay to get to the port, make the most of it.

Having a sea day breaks up the pace of shore days and gives you a chance to relax. We did a great Connie cruise that covered the Eastern and Southern Caribbean. It was excellent.

Here is my review

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=99934

 

[redjetz]

11 days is too short for us, we usually do 14 days, always surprises me how Americans seem to do 7 night holidays rather than 14. Out of interest do you receive less annual leave or just prefer more shorter ones ?

 

It might surprise you to learn that the U.S. Is the only major western nation that does not have mandated vacation. While much of Europe requires employers to provide 30-40 days off per year, the requirement is zero here. That said, 2-3 weeks is the norm so many people don't want to spend their vacations on one trip.

 

Others of us get 4 or 5 weeks, like me, but that is usually only at non-profits or large corporations. We envy those with longer paid time off!

[redjetz]

Forgot to say we did that Equinox cruise in March and it was one of the best we've taken! But then, we like sea days as well as port days, and the longer the cruise the better :)

[CruisingChick]

I've never been on a cruise greater than 7 days, and have booked for a 7 day in March. But....saw an 11 day itinerary on the Equinox in April that appeals to me because I've never been to Panama or Columbia - This itinerary has 4 days at sea throughout the trip. Does anyone ever get bored with all of the sea days? I've never taken two consecutive weeks off of work either!! Just don't know what to do. I'm ok with the increase in cost.

 

That was one of our favorite Caribbean cruises and would love to do it again.

 

11 days on a cruise ship is almost perfect. 7 is too short.

 

We never get bored on sea days because it gives us a chance to rest up for the days in port.

 

BOOK IT!

Edited August 12, 2015 by CruisingChick

[dabear]

If you are from the north, not too long in the winter time!

[A Sixth?]

We're two months in the Caribbean this Dec-March this coming winter, 7 weeks of it on the Summit... that may be cutting it a bit thin as far as i'm concerned. :p

[Blanq]

jabrown, I have been on the 11 day Equinox that you are contemplating. DH and I went a couple of years ago, and it was our first cruise that exceeded the one week cruises and other vacations we had taken previously. We added a couple of days pre-cruise in Fort Lauderdale, and called it a 2 week vacation.That trip ranks up there as being one of our favorite trips (land or sea) we have ever done. It was also the turning point for me on vacation length. Once you have a two week vacation you will never want to go back to one week! In fact, since that trip we have had a three 2-week land trips and we are booked on a 10 night Equinox sail (St Maarten, St Thomas, Barbados, St Kitts and Dominica) for December of this year. We are also in the beginning stages of planning a 2+ week trip to Southeast Asia (Bali, Phuket Thailand and Singapore) for next March. A two week vacation really allows you to unwind and forget about real life, and I just cannot imagine ever getting bored.

 

The itinerary you are contemplating is a wonderful one. We loved all of the ports and the sea days. The number of sea days was perfect, and I loved the mix of being busy in ports sprinkled with days of sun, reading and down time. We enjoyed a cooking class and lunch at Murano one sea day. Our port stop in Belize is what prompted us to return to that country for a long land vacation this past winter. Do not hesitate to book this cruise!!

Edited August 12, 2015 by Blanq

[jabrown40]

Of course, there was an advertisement for my seven day cruise, reducing the prices ! I could go Aqua class for seven days, less than the balcony for 11. Now what?!!!