Longer or Shorter?

So we're planning a trip for Sept this year. I've narrowed it down to NCL Sky 4 day to Bahamas or the MSC Divina 7 day.

This will be my first cruise and my travel partner's second. She says I should do the 4 night because I don't even know if I will like it. It's a floating buffet idk how I couldn't like it.

So I would like your opinions on the ships and the length of the cruise for a first timer? I'm one who doesn't like to waste vacation days and traveling for 4 nights while leaving the other 3 day's to apparently sit at home and do nothing doesn't sit overly well with me. But it is cheaper.

I also would prefer some sea days since I am not even sure I'll get off at port or not and the Sky has 3 port days and none at sea. But idk that it's a deal breaker or not.

This has been discussed many times here. Everyone is different. We started with a 4 day, followed by a 3 day. Now, after 16 cruises, we can't conceive of anything less than 14 days. Many others started with 7 day. There is no right answer.

If your travel partner is worried about 7 days not working for him/her, I wouldn't suggest pushing it. That doesn't seem like a considerate thing to do.

This has been discussed many times here. Everyone is different. We started with a 4 day, followed by a 3 day. Now, after 16 cruises, we can't conceive of anything less than 14 days. Many others started with 7 day. There is no right answer.

 

If your travel partner is worried about 7 days not working for him/her, I wouldn't suggest pushing it. That doesn't seem like a considerate thing to do.

Correction....She's concerned that I will not like cruising and 7 days would be too long for me. Not for her since she has already been on one before.

I would say go with seven days. By the time you get settled, find your way around the ship and start to relax, a 4 day cruise would be over. We started with a seven and now find even 10 days not enough - we prefer 14 days. Hoping someday soon we can do even longer (hurry up retirement!)

I agree...7 nights is perfect. The shorter cruises have a different "feel" than a week long cruise, so you're still not getting the "experience"....

JMO -- but I would go with the 7 day cruise.

On a 4 day cruise, you barely get settled in when all of a sudden it is time to pack and leave the ship.

The 7 Day would give you a much better idea of what cruising is actually like. :)

LuLu

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The shorter the cruise the more of a party hardy atmosphere. The itinerary also affects the nature of the cruise.

My first cruise, with some trepidation as to whether I would even like it, was 14 days transatlantic reposition. I had a lot of travel experience under my belt both good and bad and had no question that even if I didn't care for it, I would survive and learn something.

I loved it and have not since taken less than a 10 day cruise, a couple of 21 days, and don't really look seriously at even 7 days, let alone 3 or 4. Your mention of being attracted to sea days is a good sign of your mind set and I doubt that you would have a problem.

So...I vote for the longer the better. Edit: Although I comment on shorter cruises being party ships, that is just word of mouth. A party cruise is not a bad thing and maybe I need to try a shorter cruise.

7 night.

The purpose of a vacation is to get away from the realities of life for as long as you're able. ;)

After 4 days, you'll be disappointed it's over so soon. Go with the 7 day cruise.

Another vote for 7 days. Anything less is too short! :D

Another vote for 7 nights, also most of the ships doing the 3 and 4 days cruises are much older. I also perfer MSC over NCL

Our first several cruises were 3-4 nighters. Yes they were on older ships, but who knew, who cared? We thought they were wonderful. At first we weren't sure if/how much we would enjoy cruising, so they were good warm ups. We have of course moved to longer cruises as we really enjoy the experience. You are going to get very biased responses here because we all love to cruise. Having said all this, if you are not apprehensive about being on a ship, go for 7; if you are go for 3-4. There is definitely a different, more relaxed feel for a longer cruise. :cool:

Hi-

We faced the same dilemma when we started cruising as well. On the one hand, when you're unsure, a shorter trip seems to make sense. But the more we looked into it, the more we gravitated to the seven-day. Here's why:

* We didn't see any price advantage to going on a shorter trip

* Shorter trips have a reputation of being more party-oriented. We're an older couple, so this wasn't appealing and we didn't want to get turned off cruising completely by getting the wrong impression

So, for our first trip, we opted for seven days. I'm convinced we made the right choice. We're going on #15 next month. - Diana, Musing About Cruising

Another vote for 7 nights, also most of the ships doing the 3 and 4 days cruises are much older. I also perfer MSC over NCL

Thanks for mentioning the companies. I know the Divina has some less than stellar reviews but I still think I will go enjoy myself.

We did end up booking the 7 night. Now to read a few reviews to know what I'm in for and research some ports. :)

Thanks all for your input.

Thanks for mentioning the companies. I know the Divina has some less than stellar reviews but I still think I will go enjoy myself.

 

We did end up booking the 7 night. Now to read a few reviews to know what I'm in for and research some ports. :)

 

Thanks all for your input.

Check out the MSC sub-forum for more info - there is a lot on the Divina there. You are going to have a fabulous trip!

Just to pile on, 7 NIGHTS.

Our first cruise was a 4 day on the Sky. We loved it, by the second day we were like, we definitely have to do this again! We took the 4 day because we really weren't sure if we'd like it or not, and the 4 day is very port intensive, so no sea days. Sea days worried me would I be board, *** do you do all day? Now, I start pouting on a 7 day by day 6 cruise because I want it to be longer!!

The perk of a 4 day is if you truly HATE it, you can do anything for 4 days.

Find a 7 day cruise with lots of ports. That way if you do not enjoy sailing there will be a new port to explore each day.

Check out the RCL Adventure of The Seas that sails out of Puerto Rico. There are many ports on its itinerary and the ship is large enough to give the flavor of cruising.