Short cruise. What is different?

i have just booked a 3 night from Sydney to Melbourne on Golden Princess. Sea days only. How is this likely to be different from the longer cruises i have done before?

Average age will be younger and there will be more people partying late. :D

Potentially a bit of party cruise.

One issue I find with these two-four nighters is as everyone tries to fit as much in as they possibly can, lines and waits can be longer.

As prior posters have noted, younger demographic, party/booze cruise, more "new" cruisers, definitely a very different experience than a two week or longer cruise on the same line.

I was on the Golden 3 nighter last week and the service was hit and miss.

I’ve been on quite a few 2-5 day cruises on Princess. Didn’t find them more of a party or booze cruise. I noticed more family groups. It might be different in Australia but out of LA or Vancouver, I didn’t see much of a difference.

One thing you might find is that the short cruises are tough on the crew. Turn around days are very long for them so when they have frequent turnaround days, they’re tired. It’s also hard for passengers and crew to get into a rhythm. Your steward and wait staff doesn’t get to know you.

No port calls will mean the ship is full all the time. I like it when everyone else goes ashore.

I’ve been on quite a few 2-5 day cruises on Princess. Didn’t find them more of a party or booze cruise. I noticed more family groups. It might be different in Australia but out of LA or Vancouver, I didn’t see much of a difference.

Yes, different demographic. Can't compare to the west coast of the US.

May tend to see a different crowd. When we have done these in US you will find more drinking and more of a party atmosphere. Obviously not the crowd that is driven by the port itinerary.

On the 3 & 4 day cruises I’ve sailed from LA there was no formal night (did have a dress to impress night) and no Captain’s Circle party & instead a free drink voucher.

Folks do try to fit in a weeks worth of "fun" into a shorter time.

If you are thinking of dining in a specialty restuarant, pre-reserve if offered, or book as soon as you board. My experience on 4 day Caribbean cruises has been that there isn't enough dining capacity over the span on the short cruise to accommodate those guests that wish to dine in the specialty restaurants, so they quickly sell out.

The lower cost of shorter cruises make it an attractive cruise option for those who otherwise would be priced out of the market of an expensive 7+ days cruise. There can be a noticeable difference in the clientele and how they "enjoy" their cruise.

On the California cruises we have found the variety of food is different.

the 4-5 day cruises out of FLL/PE worked very well for us - especially since we can drive to the port the morning of, and back on disembarkation day...

Thursday thru Monday worked really well for us as my wife could work her 3 12's both before and after the cruise, not having to use PTO unless she just wanted to...

Never really noticed much difference between the short days and even the couple of 10 days we went on...Princess is not a party till you puke cruiseline...

only one 4 day scheduled out of FLL/PE for all of 2019, and the 3 day SKY 'inaugural' on 12/4/19 - which is still showing as "SOLD OUT"

meh:confused:

We did a 3 day Vancouver to LA cruise a few years ago and there were quite a few Canadians sailing down the coast and then going to Vegas after the cruise. They enjoyed the 3 days.

That short cruise was our 15th (elite qualifying) cruise after two weeks B2B in Alaska. There were plenty of activities on board.

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We always take a 4 day quick break cruise out of LA around Feb or March (longer cruises in the fall months when kids are all in school). More people have the drink package so service takes a little longer especially the first day. We eat once at Crown Grill, once or twice at Salty Dog and once or twice in Vines and avoid the MDR - lots of first time cruisers who really do not know the drill