Cruise Newbie question... How many nights is too much?

[miched]

Our first cruise was 21 days on a Hawaiian cruise repositioning cruise.   I did not know anything about ships being repositioned, we thought it was a normal Hawaiian cruise   It started in Hawaii and sailed around 4 islands and then a trans pacific.    Many sea days.  
 

It was on a very small ship, Carnival Jubilee.   We loved it and have been on  close to 50 cruises since.  
 

11 days is not too long and if you are in Quebec you will be dong some overnights there.   There are  not many sea days on those cruises as the ports are very close to each other.   Look at it as staying in a luxury hotel.  

 

NE cruises are very nice.   It won’t be a beach cruise and depending on the time of year not much laying around on the pool deck.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

Edited January 28, 2022 by miched

[NCHPcruiser]

The longer cruise for sure!  I was skeptical of cruising and was talked into a seven day Caribbean cruise by my sister and mom (11 years ago).  I think it takes a few days to really relax and for me by the fourth or fifth day of that first cruise I was really hating the thought of packing and having to disembark.  Definitely the 11 days (and not Disney either, Celebrity is much better IMHO!) 

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

You couldn't pay me to go on a Disney cruise.  We were parked next to a Disney ship once in port.  NOISY!  Tons of kids.

 

The Canada/New England itinerary on Celebrity used to be 14 nights.  I thought that cruise had a good balance between ports and sea days.

 

My knees aren't what they used to be either, but I manage to get around a bit.  To save them on the ship, get a cabin near the elevators.

[LGW59]

8 minutes ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

You couldn't pay me to go on a Disney cruise.  We were parked next to a Disney ship once in port.  NOISY!  Tons of kids.

 

The Canada/New England itinerary on Celebrity used to be 14 nights.  I thought that cruise had a good balance between ports and sea days.

 

My knees aren't what they used to be either, but I manage to get around a bit.  To save them on the ship, get a cabin near the elevators.

It's a Small World After All, over and over and over, NO THANKS!!!!!

[bEwAbG]

I did a 5 night cruise as my first.  Long enough to determine whether I liked it (I did) but not so long that I had to worry about suffering if I hated it.  The problem with short cruises (especially from Florida) is that they tend to attract the partiers, so that would be a consideration if you're concerned about it.

 

Based on your choices of Disney vs Celebrity for a New England cruise in a normal year, I'd go with Celebrity based on the overall product.  I want to do a Disney cruise to try it sometime, but I'd only do one in the Caribbean where seeing the ports is less important to me. 

 

In the current climate, the only hesitation I'd have about an 11-night cruise is being quarantined should COVID strike.  That is a possibility for any trip, of course, but I'd probably go a little stir crazy if I was confined to a single room on a ship for more than a few days.

[LisaDee]

11 hours ago, Hawkstar33 said:

This March we do a 9 night Equinox, get off that ship, and get on Edge which will be in port,  and go for 7 days with Capt Kate.

 

Hawkstar, you will have a wonderful cruise on Edge but just FYI Captain Kate has moved to the Beyond.

[Laurab23]

3 hours ago, Covepointcruiser said:

The number of days you will enjoy will depend on how well you get along with your friend.   I have been on longer cruises with my spouse and it was fine.   Sharing a stateroom and a bathroom with a friend could get trying after a number of days.

A very true statement. I am very lucky and cruise with a friend that I get along with and we do anything from 7 to 14 days. But until you share a cabin with someone you don't really know how will it will work out. I would start out with a 7 day, which is what I did to begin with.

 

Laura

[Shadow9612]

The only reasons I would consider the shorter cruise would be if I was worried about (i) how long I could share a room with my friend or (ii) about getting seasick.

 

Otherwise, 6 days is too short in my opinion.

 

 

[Islandhop9]

This is hard with just two choices. I'd recommend a 5-7 day cruise on Celebrity, Royal or maybe NCL to a new cruiser. 

 

We've done 4-9 days and found 9 days had a few more sea days than we cared for, but this depends a lot on itinerary. If you are content doing things on the ship you'll be fine. Especially if you have plenty of vacation or are retired. I'd do Celebrity over Disney unless Disney is cheaper that might help you afford excursions/a scooter. Consider renting a scooter. 

Review the excursion prices, they aren't always super expensive. Also you can often do the same things on your own cheaper, especially if your friend wants to do the same things/split a cab. Stick to a mid-ship cabin if possible in case you run into rough seas. 

 

 

[davy jones]

Our first cruise was a seven night cruise many years ago.  Other than a one night cruise to nowhere from NYC (an all night party for most.  Not recommended) and a 5 night Canada/NE quick trip, all have been 7 to 14 mights.  

 

For us the ideal sailing is somewhere between 7 and 14 days.  Seven day cruises seem to end too soon and we begin to crave being home around day 12 on our 14 day cruise.  To be fair, the 14 day cruise was returning to NYC during the winter, so outdoor access was limited.

 

Personally, we are reluctant to do a B2B because many of the shows and activities would repeat on the second leg.  We also do not have interest in going through the turnaround day.

 

[TeeRick]

21 hours ago, davekathy said:

What month and year? 

Hopefully not January or February.😎

[Homosassa]

As a new cruiser, keep in mind that each cruise line target a certain market demographic and tries to offer a certain type of on board experience.

 

You may have to cruise around to find the line that offers the on board experience that appeals to you.

 

As far as cruise length, a seven night cruise is a good length for a newbie to start with as it is long enough to settle in to the experience, but not so long that you are thinking about swimming for shore because that particular line is not for you. 

[davekathy]

12 hours ago, LGW59 said:

It's a Small World After All, over and over and over, NO THANKS!!!!!

Thanks. Now I've got that stupid song stuck in my head!

[Turtles06]

12 hours ago, LGW59 said:

It's a Small World After All, over and over and over, NO THANKS!!!!!

 

29 minutes ago, davekathy said:

Thanks. Now I've got that stupid song stuck in my head!

 

Some years ago, when my wife and I were visiting Disney World, we were on the "It's a Small World" ride when the ride got STUCK just as we were in the middle of it.  The cars could not move, BUT the music kept playing.  And playing.  And playing.  For the entire time we were stuck there in the cars.  Maybe half an hour or so.  Talk about not being able to get that song out of our heads. I think it took days. 😂

[bEwAbG]

1 hour ago, Turtles06 said:

Some years ago, when my wife and I were visiting Disney World, we were on the "It's a Small World" ride when the ride got STUCK just as we were in the middle of it.  The cars could not move, BUT the music kept playing.  And playing.  And playing.  For the entire time we were stuck there in the cars.  Maybe half an hour or so.  Talk about not being able to get that song out of our heads. I think it took days. 😂

 

Same happened to me!  They even turned on all the overhead lights for awhile.  It was a good 15 minutes of hearing that song and watching the same set of characters.  Memorable, but not in a good way.

[Turtles06]

2 hours ago, bEwAbG said:

 

Same happened to me!  They even turned on all the overhead lights for awhile.  It was a good 15 minutes of hearing that song and watching the same set of characters.  Memorable, but not in a good way.

 

Yes, the lights were turned on for us too.  Maybe we were there at the same time.  😂

[Sha-Sha221]

Thank you everyone for your input. I chose Disney because both my friend and I are Disney fans. I haven't done anything Disney in almost 28 years and thought it might be fun.

 

Celebrity appeals to me for many reasons. I never have a reason to dress up and have wanted to dress up for dinner on a cruise for a while(nothing too dressy just maxi dresses and skirts with nice tops). The ports on this particular cruise appeal to me and there are 2 sea days. The shows look entertaining. I hear the food is very, very good. The rooms are very nice and have more room than a accessible room similar to what I was looking at on Disney. I need a shower no tub because of mobility issues and so does my friend. So Celebrity checks the box on that one. The ship I want to sail on looks gorgeous inside. I like the idea of having food made for me and not have to worry about cleaning up and it all being in one place. I love that you unpack once and visit so many different places. 

 

I have never gotten motion sickness in my life. I've been on ferry's in Boston harbor and other places and have loved being on them. I love the ocean. I grew up going to Massachusetts and Maine beaches and love looking around the towns near them. I am going to look into excursions for me and my friend and myself alone. I will have some extra money in my budget to do a few excursions. I would love to explore and would love to look around the ship on the 2 sea days. My friend and I are going to Universal Orlando in November and we will both have scooters, so I will look into a place where I can rent one to take on the cruise if the new knee braces I'm getting next month will be helpful or not.

 

Both my friend and I are very laid back even though I'm outgoing I 'm an easy person to be with. I'm the planner of the two of us so that's why I'm looking for a cruise 2 years ahead of time in October. I know the 2024 cruises aren't out yet but I have been looking at how much they would cost in 2023 and added a good amount onto the 2023 cruises to project how much they would possibly cost. I keep budgets for all my vacations. They are very detailed. LOL

 

I am disabled due to a Neurological Disorder that I have and can't work so I have all the time in the world. My mom is almost 89 and when I'm away I have 2 of my 4 sisters to look in on her and I'm getting an international plan on my cell phone to be able to talk to her when we're in port. She wears a emergency bracelet and can call for help if needed. By the time I go away I'm going to ask 2 of my sisters to stay with her splitting up the time between them while I'm gone. I have no kids or pets.

 

I have traveled a lot in my life so I'm not afraid to travel to different places. My friend and I will see how we get along on the Universal Orlando trip to see how we would do on a longer trip. When my friend and I talk on the phone we can talk up to 5+ hours and realize how late it is and get off still wanting to talk. 2024 will be a milestone year for my friend and I. I am turning 50 in February and she is turning 70 in June of 2024. We want to do something fun and special to commemorate the year.

 

I know our ages are 20 years apart, but most of my friends are much older than me. I get along better with older people because for the first 8 years of my life I was the only child in my family and get along better with people older than me and don't really get along with my peers. I was bullied a lot in school and could relate to the teachers better than the students.

 

I do love kids. I have 6 nephews, 2 nieces, 1 great nephew and 1 great niece and I volunteered in daycare's for a few years when my Neurological Disorder was doing better than it had been in years. That being said I don't have to be around kids to have fun. I love the company of adults also.  The Celebrity cruise to me sounds fun, relaxing and enjoyable. I have been wanting to do a cruise since 2013 and never had anyone to cruise with until I talked with my friend and she said we should do a cruise together.  I'm going to talk to her and see what she wants to do. I have a feeling she will like the Celebrity cruise more than the Disney cruise. She likes to cruise on long cruises.

 

Sorry this is so long. I thank you all for your advice and wisdom in answering my question. I will return and let you know what we decide. I hope you all have great cruises in your future and you enjoy them very much. 🛳️

 

Shauna 🙂

[the penguins]

2 hours ago, Sha-Sha221 said:

Thank you everyone for your input. I chose Disney because both my friend and I are Disney fans. I haven't done anything Disney in almost 28 years and thought it might be fun.

 

Celebrity appeals to me for many reasons. I never have a reason to dress up and have wanted to dress up for dinner on a cruise for a while(nothing too dressy just maxi dresses and skirts with nice tops). The ports on this particular cruise appeal to me and there are 2 sea days. The shows look entertaining. I hear the food is very, very good. The rooms are very nice and have more room than a accessible room similar to what I was looking at on Disney. I need a shower no tub because of mobility issues and so does my friend. So Celebrity checks the box on that one. The ship I want to sail on looks gorgeous inside. I like the idea of having food made for me and not have to worry about cleaning up and it all being in one place. I love that you unpack once and visit so many different places. 

 

I have never gotten motion sickness in my life. I've been on ferry's in Boston harbor and other places and have loved being on them. I love the ocean. I grew up going to Massachusetts and Maine beaches and love looking around the towns near them. I am going to look into excursions for me and my friend and myself alone. I will have some extra money in my budget to do a few excursions. I would love to explore and would love to look around the ship on the 2 sea days. My friend and I are going to Universal Orlando in November and we will both have scooters, so I will look into a place where I can rent one to take on the cruise if the new knee braces I'm getting next month will be helpful or not.

 

Both my friend and I are very laid back even though I'm outgoing I 'm an easy person to be with. I'm the planner of the two of us so that's why I'm looking for a cruise 2 years ahead of time in October. I know the 2024 cruises aren't out yet but I have been looking at how much they would cost in 2023 and added a good amount onto the 2023 cruises to project how much they would possibly cost. I keep budgets for all my vacations. They are very detailed. LOL

 

I am disabled due to a Neurological Disorder that I have and can't work so I have all the time in the world. My mom is almost 89 and when I'm away I have 2 of my 4 sisters to look in on her and I'm getting an international plan on my cell phone to be able to talk to her when we're in port. She wears a emergency bracelet and can call for help if needed. By the time I go away I'm going to ask 2 of my sisters to stay with her splitting up the time between them while I'm gone. I have no kids or pets.

 

I have traveled a lot in my life so I'm not afraid to travel to different places. My friend and I will see how we get along on the Universal Orlando trip to see how we would do on a longer trip. When my friend and I talk on the phone we can talk up to 5+ hours and realize how late it is and get off still wanting to talk. 2024 will be a milestone year for my friend and I. I am turning 50 in February and she is turning 70 in June of 2024. We want to do something fun and special to commemorate the year.

 

I know our ages are 20 years apart, but most of my friends are much older than me. I get along better with older people because for the first 8 years of my life I was the only child in my family and get along better with people older than me and don't really get along with my peers. I was bullied a lot in school and could relate to the teachers better than the students.

 

I do love kids. I have 6 nephews, 2 nieces, 1 great nephew and 1 great niece and I volunteered in daycare's for a few years when my Neurological Disorder was doing better than it had been in years. That being said I don't have to be around kids to have fun. I love the company of adults also.  The Celebrity cruise to me sounds fun, relaxing and enjoyable. I have been wanting to do a cruise since 2013 and never had anyone to cruise with until I talked with my friend and she said we should do a cruise together.  I'm going to talk to her and see what she wants to do. I have a feeling she will like the Celebrity cruise more than the Disney cruise. She likes to cruise on long cruises.

 

Sorry this is so long. I thank you all for your advice and wisdom in answering my question. I will return and let you know what we decide. I hope you all have great cruises in your future and you enjoy them very much. 🛳️

 

Shauna 🙂

Hi Shauna,

Please drop me an email, our Hints and Tips cover so much including booking private tours, cabin choices, etc. The boss (Anita ) has mobiity issues and uses a 4 wheel walker - bright red and called Molly. Our email is: geoffanita at hotmail dot com - sorry it's written that way it stops the robots - just type it as usual. Geoff.

[TeeRick]

8 hours ago, Sha-Sha221 said:

Thank you everyone for your input. I chose Disney because both my friend and I are Disney fans. I haven't done anything Disney in almost 28 years and thought it might be fun.

 

Celebrity appeals to me for many reasons. I never have a reason to dress up and have wanted to dress up for dinner on a cruise for a while(nothing too dressy just maxi dresses and skirts with nice tops). The ports on this particular cruise appeal to me and there are 2 sea days. The shows look entertaining. I hear the food is very, very good. The rooms are very nice and have more room than a accessible room similar to what I was looking at on Disney. I need a shower no tub because of mobility issues and so does my friend. So Celebrity checks the box on that one. The ship I want to sail on looks gorgeous inside. I like the idea of having food made for me and not have to worry about cleaning up and it all being in one place. I love that you unpack once and visit so many different places. 

 

I have never gotten motion sickness in my life. I've been on ferry's in Boston harbor and other places and have loved being on them. I love the ocean. I grew up going to Massachusetts and Maine beaches and love looking around the towns near them. I am going to look into excursions for me and my friend and myself alone. I will have some extra money in my budget to do a few excursions. I would love to explore and would love to look around the ship on the 2 sea days. My friend and I are going to Universal Orlando in November and we will both have scooters, so I will look into a place where I can rent one to take on the cruise if the new knee braces I'm getting next month will be helpful or not.

 

Both my friend and I are very laid back even though I'm outgoing I 'm an easy person to be with. I'm the planner of the two of us so that's why I'm looking for a cruise 2 years ahead of time in October. I know the 2024 cruises aren't out yet but I have been looking at how much they would cost in 2023 and added a good amount onto the 2023 cruises to project how much they would possibly cost. I keep budgets for all my vacations. They are very detailed. LOL

 

I am disabled due to a Neurological Disorder that I have and can't work so I have all the time in the world. My mom is almost 89 and when I'm away I have 2 of my 4 sisters to look in on her and I'm getting an international plan on my cell phone to be able to talk to her when we're in port. She wears a emergency bracelet and can call for help if needed. By the time I go away I'm going to ask 2 of my sisters to stay with her splitting up the time between them while I'm gone. I have no kids or pets.

 

I have traveled a lot in my life so I'm not afraid to travel to different places. My friend and I will see how we get along on the Universal Orlando trip to see how we would do on a longer trip. When my friend and I talk on the phone we can talk up to 5+ hours and realize how late it is and get off still wanting to talk. 2024 will be a milestone year for my friend and I. I am turning 50 in February and she is turning 70 in June of 2024. We want to do something fun and special to commemorate the year.

 

I know our ages are 20 years apart, but most of my friends are much older than me. I get along better with older people because for the first 8 years of my life I was the only child in my family and get along better with people older than me and don't really get along with my peers. I was bullied a lot in school and could relate to the teachers better than the students.

 

I do love kids. I have 6 nephews, 2 nieces, 1 great nephew and 1 great niece and I volunteered in daycare's for a few years when my Neurological Disorder was doing better than it had been in years. That being said I don't have to be around kids to have fun. I love the company of adults also.  The Celebrity cruise to me sounds fun, relaxing and enjoyable. I have been wanting to do a cruise since 2013 and never had anyone to cruise with until I talked with my friend and she said we should do a cruise together.  I'm going to talk to her and see what she wants to do. I have a feeling she will like the Celebrity cruise more than the Disney cruise. She likes to cruise on long cruises.

 

Sorry this is so long. I thank you all for your advice and wisdom in answering my question. I will return and let you know what we decide. I hope you all have great cruises in your future and you enjoy them very much. 🛳️

 

Shauna 🙂

Have a wonderful cruise on Disney!!

[grest]

We prefer 7 to 12 days, and any shorter is not desirable to us any more.   You'll know better what's right for you after your first voyage.  Have fun.

[canderson]

Unless you cruise regularly, it's going to take a few days to get settled in and into some sort of rhythm.  After that period of time, which varies for everyone, the best part of the vacation really begins.

 

Our first 'restart' cruise was on a ship we'd sailed many times before, so it was all familiar enough, giving us a definite advantage.  And still...

 

We booked a 5+10 back to back.  After the first five nights, we finally felt really at home again, and enjoyed the last ten nights much more.

 

Another consideration is that we are 'landlocked' here, so it's a whole day just getting to the embarkation city, regardless of where it is.  If we're going to go through all of the planning and packing (not an inconsequential amount of time involved) and travel, we want to get the most from that effort, which would be the same for a 7nt or 15nt cruise. 

 

So with all of that, we take only 11+ night cruises or even longer B2B itineraries to a) get full value from the pre-cruise effort that goes into just getting to the port and back, and b) to allow time to really settle in to our 'floating home' for however long we will be aboard.

[cachouonacruise]

Hi Shauna,

 

A few additional ingredients to consider for your cruise.

 

But first, in answer to your question, our first cruise was a 7 day cruise in the Eastern Caribbean and both my wife and I disembarked with the feeling of wanting more. Therefore, I will join the club of people, who voted for the 10-14 nights cruises.

 

Second, time of the year and climate. I live in the greater Montreal are and I have a daughter, living in Quebec.  So, these days....we're freezing our b... off...
 

Québec itself, and the cruising on the St-Lawrence river tends to be cool to cold in the spring and fall and much warmer of course in the summer. When we did the cruise in the summer from Montreal to Boston, we hit a bit of a rougher seas patch between Charlottetown, P.E.I, Sydney, NS and Halifax. I would expect your risk for rougher seas to be greater in the early spring or late fall.

 

The St-Lawrence River cruising from Montreal to Charlottetown tends to be calmer, and in the fall, you should be able to sea colourful foliage.

 

This said, the St-Lawrence River, Estuary and Atlantic Ocean remain quite cold, even in the summer. Swimming in these waters is reserved... to likes of polar bears... (we don't actually have polar bears, just a figure of speech). But, depending on the time of year, whales can often be seen. Be prepared to wear a light jacket, at night, to sit on deck.

 

Québec, in my opinion, is one of the nicest Canadian cities, for its geography, its culture, its food, boutiques and art galleries. The good part, you could be lucky and be docked right in the old lower side of the town. Right, under the Château Frontenac. So to experience Québec, you don't necessarily need a ship excursion. However, I am concerned for your knees due to the cobblestones and the hill. A funicular is available to bring you from the lower town up to the Château Frontenac and Terrasse Dufferin. If you explore more of the area, you will likely have slopes or steps to cope with. But, the experience is really worth it!

 

In Sydney and Charlottetown, the ship is also docked "downtown", so of course, there are excursion to choose from, but you can easily just decide to explore on your own. People in these areas were so friendly and helpful when we went. Always felt safe.

 

So a lot to consider, good luck for your decision and Enjoy your cruise! 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sha-Sha221]

13 hours ago, TeeRick said:

Have a wonderful cruise on Disney!!

Hi,

 

I haven't decided yet. I think I used the wrong wording when I said I chose Disney. My meaning in chose I meant I them as my favorite cruise in my profile. I am heavily leaning toward Celebrity. My friend and I can always do a short cruise on the Disney Wish the ship coming out this summer in the future to experience a Disney Cruise. So no decision yet.

 

@the penguins I will send you an email tonight. I appreciate your help. 😊

 

Shauna 🙂

[RichYak]

On 1/28/2022 at 11:07 AM, Turtles06 said:

 

 

Some years ago, when my wife and I were visiting Disney World, we were on the "It's a Small World" ride when the ride got STUCK just as we were in the middle of it.  The cars could not move, BUT the music kept playing.  And playing.  And playing.  For the entire time we were stuck there in the cars.  Maybe half an hour or so.  Talk about not being able to get that song out of our heads. I think it took days. 😂

Got stuck on Space Mountain once. It's pretty amazing how benign that ride looks with the lights on.

[TeeRick]

10 hours ago, Sha-Sha221 said:

Hi,

 

I haven't decided yet. I think I used the wrong wording when I said I chose Disney. My meaning in chose I meant I them as my favorite cruise in my profile. I am heavily leaning toward Celebrity. My friend and I can always do a short cruise on the Disney Wish the ship coming out this summer in the future to experience a Disney Cruise. So no decision yet.

 

@the penguins I will send you an email tonight. I appreciate your help. 😊

 

Shauna 🙂

OK best of luck.