Short Cruise—Worth it?

The shortest cruise I’ve been on is a 5 nighter. Looking to hear from people who have done 3-4 nights(or 2... if those exist), do you think the shorter cruises are worth the travel time and money?

The shortest cruise I’ve been on is a 5 nighter. Looking to hear from people who have done 3-4 nights(or 2... if those exist), do you think the shorter cruises are worth the travel time and money?

Only you know if it's worth it to you. Though we have done it in the past, I would not like to fly for a 3-night cruise. I'd rather do a B2B and make it longer.

For me, a cruise shorter then 10 days is not worth the hassle...and we prefer cruises longer then a month. But for you, perhaps its perfect. My point is that this is about you (the OP) and what fits your schedule, budget, and personal likes.

Hank

We like longer cruises. 30+. Can’t wait to do 100+ world cruise.

However have done two nights it was a great weekend away.

We like longer cruises. 30+. Can’t wait to do 100+ world cruise.

 

 

 

However have done two nights it was a great weekend away.

Wow. I can’t even imagine a 30+ night cruise. Longest I’ve done is 9. My husband is only a year and a half into a new job and currently only has a week of vacation time. He took unpaid time off for our last cruise, but we could only afford that because my parents paid for the cruise.

I’m a teacher so we have very limited times we can cruise. And of course, it’s all the times when the ships are crawling with kids. I can’t wait to retire in about 30 years and cruise whenever we want [emoji23]

If you have to fly, no, unless it is a unique itinerary. 4 day cruise with any sort of travel usually is Monday-Friday. At that point may as well look at 6-8 day cruises and go weekend to weekend, usually not any more time off work.

I did a three night cruise once. Never again. Because it was so inexpensive the crowd on the ship was pretty sketchy. Gang bangers and such. Also, since it’s so short, you don’t really get a chance to relax because you are trying to cram in as much activity as possible. The least I would do now is 7days, but I prefer longer.

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We did a one night CTN once. We had a small cruise forum and the members who lived in the northeast decided to do it to meet face to face. We accomplished that, but it was just a booze cruise. Did a 3 night once, in June. It was full of large family groups with matching t-shirts, who swarmed through the ship like schools of fish, pushing all out of their way. Would not choose to do it again. EM

Wow. I can’t even imagine a 30+ night cruise. Longest I’ve done is 9. My husband is only a year and a half into a new job and currently only has a week of vacation time. He took unpaid time off for our last cruise, but we could only afford that because my parents paid for the cruise.

 

I’m a teacher so we have very limited times we can cruise. And of course, it’s all the times when the ships are crawling with kids. I can’t wait to retire in about 30 years and cruise whenever we want [emoji23]

Next up is 35 nights Sydney-Hawaii return, unless I can find something this year too.

Mrs Gut is also a teacher so we are limited to when we can cruise unless we use some of her Long Service Leave, which must be rationed it I’d go through it all at once.

We did have a reservation on the 77 night Circle Pacific, but had to cancel due to some healt( issues, Hawaii was the consolation prize.

I did a three night cruise once. Never again. Because it was so inexpensive the crowd on the ship was pretty sketchy. Gang bangers and such. Also, since it’s so short, you don’t really get a chance to relax because you are trying to cram in as much activity as possible. The least I would do now is 7days, but I prefer longer.

 

 

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Short cruises can tend to become “Booze cruises”. Our two nighter had about 8 groups on hens parties, maybe four or five on bucks parties, and numerous ‘special” birthdays at times it seemed all anyone wanted to do was see how much they could drink.

The shortest cruise I’ve been on is a 5 nighter. Looking to hear from people who have done 3-4 nights(or 2... if those exist), do you think the shorter cruises are worth the travel time and money?

Under ten days is a "boat ride" - not a cruise.

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It is a personal opinion.

Our first cruise was three days. Went very fast but gave the family (I had cruised as a youngster) a feel for cruising.

We have taken a lot of cruises since then most very long.

A couple of years ago we took a five day cruise right before a dry dock. We still had a nice time.

Keith

The shortest cruise I’ve been on is a 5 nighter. Looking to hear from people who have done 3-4 nights(or 2... if those exist), do you think the shorter cruises are worth the travel time and money?

Would have to agree, just note that they can be booze cruises, personally I don't mind as it frees up other areas where the boozers do not go.

A great way to sample a ship or line or even for first time cruisers testing how they would go at sea. Just note, the caveats that the crowd and cruise is really a lot different than a longer cruise.

Most of my cruises have been 3-4 days and they were all fine. I am a 51 year old working class person from the Midwest who lived in Florida for 16 years and shops at Walmart. Clearly a lot of cruisers prefer a more upper crust group of fellow passengers. Especially during school breaks you get people like me and our rowdy kids. You also get people enjoying their alcohol (that’s why they sell the drinks packages, it’s hardly a secret). If you can live with that, and it’s a quick easy cheap journey to the embarkation port, then a short cruise can be a great option and a great value.

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The shortest cruise we have ever done is 14 days.

It is not worth all the hassle of flying for anything shorter for us. Especially since we don't direct flights and don;t live near an airport.

Our first cruise was a 2 night cruise to nowhere that we drove to just to try a taste to see if cruising was for us. Our next two cruises were 4 day cruises out of Miami that we drove to because it was the only way we could afford to take our 5 boys on a cruise with the time and money we had available. We enjoyed all three cruises but a 7 day cruise is much better. Now that the kids are grown we would only consider a short cruise if we were doing something else in the area and as an add on (for instance we are planning a trip to Universal Studios next year instead of a cruise and if I can find a 3 day cruise that is affordable we might take it).

Our first cruise was a Disney Dream 4 Day cruise with the kids. Sailed out of PC on Jan 2nd 2013 and combined that with a Few days on Orlando doing theme parks. Flying out of Eastern Canada to get to a port makes it expensive for such short cruises. But my Wife is also in the schools so we have to work around her schedule. In 2015 we were able to do a 4 day cruise just the 2 of us, out of FLL on Liberty during the Easter Break. The ship did not seem rowdy nor was it overrun but gangs. We did pay more for our flights than the actual cruise. We had a pleasant cruise but we did tell ourselves that we would book longer cruises after that one. Last Spring we did a group 7 day Anthem. We did not even fly, we chartered a motor coach. Next cruise is a 12 day Baltic. Anxious to see how 12 days on a ship feels like.

If I lived within driving distance from a port, I would definitely do many 4 or 5 day cruises, but flying makes it prohibitive.

dp

I have done a 1 night "cruise."

Technically a ferry from Helsinki to Stockholm, but really a cruise ship with a car deck. Most people did not drive on/off.

It was nice, but way to short.

I plan on trying a 5 day to see how that is. So far have only done 9 day, and have a 12 day booked.

I've done shorties twice, for two reasons. One, to sample a ship to see if I'd be happy on it for a much longer (and thus much more expensive) cruise. Two, to "book" a lengthy, expensive cruise on lines that offer on-board booking discounts. In both instances, the discount on the later cruise more than paid for the shorty in addition to making the longer cruise a bit less expensive.

Both involved relatively short, easy, and inexpensive flights or train rides.

ive done a few short cruises but not recently. Enjoy the ones that are 10 to 14 days. With that said im bookinh a NYE cruise to Cuba and key West for 5 nights

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First cruise we did with small kids was 4 nights and that was plenty long enough to get a feel if we liked it or not.

Since I have done 5 and 7 day cruises. I have an 8 scheduled now. Honestly the last 7 I took I would’ve been OK going home probably at 5. I’ll see how I like the 8 nights ....I can’t even imagine being on there for a month.

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I did a four day once - from a port less than an hour from home. Even then too large a percentage of total time was eaten up by getting to/from port and boarding/debarking hassle - sort of wiping out first and last days: not worth it - particularly because your fellow passengers are likely to be "bottom feeders".

I did a four day once - from a port less than an hour from home. Even then too large a percentage of total time was eaten up by getting to/from port and boarding/debarking hassle - sort of wiping out first and last days: not worth it - particularly because your fellow passengers are likely to be "bottom feeders".

Yes, or as we would say the hooligan or bogan element luckily though they tend to congregate in differing areas of the ship to what we do so no real interaction apart from the occasional sighting or more likely hearing them.

I've done shorties twice, for two reasons. One, to sample a ship to see if I'd be happy on it for a much longer (and thus much more expensive) cruise. Two, to "book" a lengthy, expensive cruise on lines that offer on-board booking discounts. In both instances, the discount on the later cruise more than paid for the shorty in addition to making the longer cruise a bit less expensive.

 

Both involved relatively short, easy, and inexpensive flights or train rides.

Not a bad ploy, especially as I know several people who have done a small cruise so that their loyalty status will tick them over to the next level (Elite with Princess) and thus make the benefits for their next cruise (a long one, so laundry, drinks and such) worth the cost of the small cruise to get them.