Difference between 7-day vs. 3-5 day cruises

[manmtnmike]

Just wondering what can we expect if used to 7-8 day cruises,

and now taking a B2B- 3 and 4 day cruise instead?

 

For instance...

Re. Formal nights, schedule changes, past guest and captain's gatherings and other offerings, comedy club, brunch, mdr's, special events, etc?

Changes in Dining venues?

Does the crew act the same since the guests are only on board for a few days?

Port fees overnight at Nassau with concert series?

 

What about VIP/Platinum differences when it's a shorter cruise?

 

Anything else you can think of that we should expect to be different?

 

FYI: for OV 6E cabin for both cruises totaled just under $1100 .

 

Thanks!

 

Mike

[Mutumbojimbo]

I've only done one longer cruise, but for my money, I've received better service on the shorter sailings.

 

The Gold, Platinum, and Diamond party is only held on sailings of 5 or more nights.

 

A 3 to 5 night sailing will only have one Cruise Elegant night, but participation seemed to be about the same, a few don't dress up, a few wear tuxedos, and most are in the range of dress shirt and tie up to a nice suit.

[Pine Bluff]

They tend to cram everything into a shorter period. But every cruise has an elegant night, even the 2 day CTN's.

 

We just find the short short cruises are the most expensive.

[kingoftheicedragons]

Biggest difference I would note is that the 3-5 day cruises seem to short...something you don't need to worry about if doing a BTB. Also, like has been mentioned, past guest party is only on cruises 5 days or longer, and the cost-per-night on shorter cruises tends to be more.

[Surfwench]

Just an observation based on a single cruise.... there is a marked difference in the passenger demographics. The short inexpensive Carnival cruises tend to have a way higher percentage of "woohoo" people. Some inebriated fool threw up on my shoes in the MDR first night on the Fantasy. And it went down from there. I've taken a short RCCL cruise too and the passenger mix was only 2%-3% "woohoo." I cruise Carnival almost exclusively, but I don't book less than 7 days. Now, I might have been unlucky with that one cruise. It was not during Spring Break.

[manmtnmike]

Biggest difference I would note is that the 3-5 day cruises seem to short...something you don't need to worry about if doing a BTB.

 

Also, like has been mentioned, past guest party is only on cruises 5 days or longer, and the cost-per-night on shorter cruises tends to be more.

 

I just checked prices on my B2B and the price for OV are $37-$40!!

 

Right now the Caribbean cruises are a buyers market...the news is that Carnival has overloaded that market with too many ships, hence, lower prices. They really hate not sailing without 100% capacity.:)

 

Mike

[irishnyc]

I've done both short and long cruises, and much prefer longer ones. I'd rather do a single 7 or 8 day than short B2Bs. Longer cruises have a slower pace to me. Short cruises seem more chaotic.

[AdGuyMG]

Right now the Caribbean cruises are a buyers market...the news is that Carnival has overloaded that market with too many ships, hence, lower prices. They really hate not sailing without 100% capacity.:)

Mike

 

The summer / early fall Caribbean market is definitely overloaded. But Carnival didn't overload the market. They have the same number of ships sailing out of Miami and Port Everglades (Ft Laud) as it did last year and the year before.

 

The overload is from other ships in the South Florida ports that were not there last year. In Pt Everglades you have the Caribbean Princess and RCL Vision of the Seas adding about 5000 berths per week and in Miami, the Norwegian Getaway and MSC Divina combine for about 7000 additional berth per week that were not there last year.

[manmtnmike]

The summer / early fall Caribbean market is definitely overloaded. But Carnival didn't overload the market. They have the same number of ships sailing out of Miami and Port Everglades (Ft Laud) as it did last year and the year before.

 

The overload is from other ships in the South Florida ports that were not there last year. In Pt Everglades you have the Caribbean Princess and RCL Vision of the Seas adding about 5000 berths per week and in Miami, the Norwegian Getaway and MSC Divina combine for about 7000 additional berth per week that were not there last year.

 

Thanks for the clarification. I should have said CCL corp which own the following cruise lines:

AIDA Cruises, Germany

Carnival Cruise Lines, United States

Costa Cruises, Italy

Cunard Line, United Kingdom

Holland America Line, United States

Ibero Cruises, Spain

P&O Cruises, United Kingdom

P&O Cruises Australia, Australia

Princess Cruises, United States

Seabourn Cruise Line, United States

 

Anyway, acc. to CC news link...

The total ships are in the Caribbean/Bahamas is 235 in 2014 up from 212 in 2011, 2015's forecast for for even more ships on the east coast.

Let's not forget the orders for new ships as well!!!

See link:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=5957

Check for the deals!!:)

 

Mike

[tkportersat]

I have done both quite a few times and have enjoyed them all. Obviously I would love to do 7 days all the time, but sometimes that isn't possible.

 

I would agree that sometimes the short ones are more party and the long ones are more family. There was only one 4 day I went on that got slightly crazy and it was early May before kids were out of school. Some girls were flashing on Lido deck and conga lines, etc. The rest were pretty low key.

[lego7191]

If you are Platinum (and from looking at your signature block, you are! :D ) you can expect to receive TWO Platinum gifts - one for each sailing.

[Carnival_Brides]

We usually do longer (7 day cruises), but we also enjoy the 4 and 5 days cruises to Canada (and make them b2b).

 

As someone else noted, only cruises 5 days and longer have the VIFP party.

You will get 2 Platinum gifts if you do a b2b (which was nice when they were the tumblers)

The menus may (most likely will) be the same for both legs of your b2b. We figured out which night was a plonker on the first cruise and went to the steakhouse for the second leg.

You will get some kind of gift for a b2b (champagne and chocolate covered strawberries)

I'm not sure about the crew, but if you keep the same server you'll get more personalized service the second leg of the b2b since they know what you like that night (drinks and the like).

The crowd on the 3-4 day cruises (especially over weekends) can get a bit rowdier since they're inexpensive and are used for bachelor/ette parties, reunions, and quick getaways.

 

I can't speak to the overnight taxes, but you can price check those as part of a mock booking. I think the LIVE tickets are somewhere around $20, unless you want the VIP tickets.

 

I prefer the longer (6 days or more) cruises now that VIFP is counting by days and not cruises.

Edited August 22, 2014 by Carnival_Brides

[Rogueperson]

Another point you might want to consider.

 

On a b2b cruise, you run the risk of having repeats. When ships run 3 and 4 night cruises, they tend to repeat the performances, or meals, or entertainment. Do you really want to see two hairy chest contests? They assume a totally different passenger composition.

 

You will still get 2 formal nights, doing back to back, but you might get the same menu on both the 2 formal nights where a single 7 or 8 night cruise would have two separate menus for the formal night.

[SkyMaster]

I've done a few B2B short cruises, and have found that YES, you do get more respect and recognition from the crew when they realize you're still aboard. I haven't noticed a BIG difference in the number of drunks, and college Ya-Hoo's aboard the short cruises, except on spring break cruises. I've always enjoyed doing B2B's, and especially on the embarkation/debarkation day between the cruises. It's GREAT to be able to stay aboard, and kick back, and enjoy the ship all to yourself for a few hours. Try to get the same cabin for both cruises, and it's even better.

 

"SKY"

[lido deck larry]

Short cruise = better party

Long cruise = better tan

 

:D

[gelli8112]

Biggest difference is that everything is rushed. The crowd is also a little different. short cruises have younger cruisers and more singles. The longer cruises have more couples and the crowd is a little older.