No Sea Days

[okiedrifters]

We just booked a September cruise and for the first time ever (from our experiences) there are NO sea days! The original itinerary I saw had 2, but recently must have changed to zero. I LOVE sea days, hubby, not so much. I will miss them....
 

I am assuming perhaps no sea day’s will allow them to make up for lost revenue (while shutdown) with excursions, etc. That being said, on sea days the bars, bingo, and casino are raking in the cash! 

 

I am thinking that this could change again....if by September this epidemic has passed and things are back to or closer to “business as usual” (and ports are allowing ships to dock).

 

Has anyone ever cruised with NO sea days? Just curious....

[shipgeeks]

No, and personally, I would not choose to do so!  I'm curious, though, how many days the cruise is, what the ports are, etc.  I wonder if the current itinerary is a hedge against one or two of those ports cancelling?

Interestingly, I posted a question on the MSC board re the appeal of a 7-night cruise with only Ocean Cay (private island) and one other port.  Not only did people like the idea, several said they'd prefer a cruise with just Ocean Cay and 6 sea days.

[Starry Eyes]

Maybe on a Southern Caribbean cruise years ago we had ports every day.  

 

Since you did not share the ship and sailing date, none of us can guess the odds of itinerary changes.

 

I do like  sea days.  I also like staying on board while in port (or going on shore for a short time, spending much of the day on ship).  The ship is less crowded and atmosphere often seems more relaxed.  So, perhaps skip a port and just enjoy relaxing on the ship.  That would be my attitude.

Edited March 26, 2020 by Starry Eyes

[Ourusualbeach]

1 hour ago, okiedrifters said:

I am assuming perhaps no sea day’s will allow them to make up for lost revenue (while shutdown) with excursions,

These changed in January or February, prior to the mess that we are in 

[bouhunter]

IF it sails in September and anyone on board sees the doctor with a cold or flu you may have plenty of sea days.

[Homosassa]

Yes, I have sailed where there were no sea days.

 

It was pretty much the standard in my early days of cruising (1970s).  

 

I was in my twenties and had the stamina to do a port a day.

 

I was on an Viking Oceans cruise last summer that also had a port call every day. Forty plus years after those early cruises, I was exhausted at night.

[okiedrifters]

19 minutes ago, Starry Eyes said:

Maybe on a Southern Caribbean cruise years ago we had ports every day.  

 

Since you did not share the ship and sailing date, none of us can guess the odds of itinerary changes.

 

I do like  sea days.  I also like staying on board while in port (or going on shore for a short time, spending much of the day on ship).  The ship is less crowded and atmosphere often seems more relaxed.  So, perhaps skip a port and just enjoy relaxing on the ship.  That would be my attitude.

It is a southern Carib, and we have been to all of the ports except Barbados several times. Not once on any of our Caribbean cruises have we had ports everyday. I love sea days, and would do a cruise to “nowhere” any time!  
 

We will definitely stay onboard for some of the ports, and for others, shop with local merchants we have gotten to know on our previous voyages. Barbados is the one port we have missed in the Caribbean and it is the only reason we decided to book this cruise.  That being said, I am well aware that ports can, and often do, change. It’s always an adventure! 
 

Thanks for the response Starry Eyes, I was just curious to know if I had just never noticed a “ no sea day” cruise before. I am hoping it will change to add at least one sea day, but if not, it’s OK. 

[okiedrifters]

27 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

These changed in January or February, prior to the mess that we are in 

And, I am hoping they change again!  😅 I am praying the world will have recovered enough that we can sail...to anywhere!  

 

Thanks for the response, we always can rely on your expertise info and advice! 

 

 

 

[okiedrifters]

28 minutes ago, bouhunter said:

IF it sails in September and anyone on board sees the doctor with a cold or flu you may have plenty of sea days.

I agree!   Thanks for the response! 

[davekathy]

1 hour ago, okiedrifters said:

Has anyone ever cruised with NO sea days? Just curious....

No but sounds good to us. We aren't huge sea day fans. That's one reason why we like to leave from San Juan. Those itineraries usually only have one sea day. 

[gerif]

I love sea days. I do remember a cruise about 30 years ago that seemed like we were on a different island every day (it was out of San Juan so might have been no sea days). After four days of visiting islands that all started to look alike, I decided to just stay on the ship for a day. It was wonderful. No crowds, pool to myself, truly a perfect day. I no longer feel guilty staying onboard if I’ve been to a port several times before or have no great interest in seeing a place. 

[Tree_skier]

4 hours ago, okiedrifters said:

 

 

Has anyone ever cruised with NO sea days? Just curious....

 

We had this on a Med cruise a few years ago.  It was exhausting.  If I had it to do again I'd do it differently and just stay on the ship a couple of days.

[ONECRUISER]

Nothing new, not related to CV. Do only 10+ niters with 4-7 Sea Days, my favorite type Cruise. Yrs ago when Voyager Class came out they'd do 3 stops at most on 7niter Eastern and Western, within 2 yrs started doing 4 stops. In 1999 did a 5 nite Bahama would have 2 Sea Days as we putted around. Last yr was booking my first 5nite in 20yrs and within 2 months was changed from a Mexico/GC 2 stop-2 Sea Day to a Bahama/KWCoco Cay no Sea Day, Canceled. 

[Merion_Mom]

4 hours ago, okiedrifters said:

It is a southern Carib, and we have been to all of the ports except Barbados several times. Not once on any of our Caribbean cruises have we had ports everyday. I love sea days, and would do a cruise to “nowhere” any time!  
 

We will definitely stay onboard for some of the ports, and for others, shop with local merchants we have gotten to know on our previous voyages. Barbados is the one port we have missed in the Caribbean and it is the only reason we decided to book this cruise.  That being said, I am well aware that ports can, and often do, change. It’s always an adventure! 
 

Thanks for the response Starry Eyes, I was just curious to know if I had just never noticed a “ no sea day” cruise before. I am hoping it will change to add at least one sea day, but if not, it’s OK. 

 

I L.O.V.E. Barbados!!!!  

 

I hope that you get there.  

 

I would do an all-port-days-cruise, but I do enjoy my sea days.

 

If you have done all of those other ports multiple times, then you probably know which ones you would most be ok with skipping.  (I can tell you mine, if you ask)

 

🙂 

[2chiefs]

Cruises out of Puerto Rico are typically port-intensive. Not sure about no sea days any more but many itineraries have only one sea day. Like others have indicated on this thread, we also like to stay on board or just get off for a short time on port days to enjoy the relaxed atmosphere of the ship. We've cruised extensively in the Caribbean so there are many ports that simply do not interest us anymore. The ship is nice on port days. We have a B2B scheduled for December on the Harmony and the only time we plan to leave the ship is on Coco Cay since we've never been there.

T

[bonsai3s]

As 2chiefs stated, our sailings out of San Juan, Puerto Rico had 5 and 6 ports...two sea days and one sea day...both of which are considered port intensive.

Love the ABC islands and Barbados.  But no, we've never been on a cruise with "no sea day".

[Sunshine3601]

5 hours ago, okiedrifters said:

It is a southern Carib, and we have been to all of the ports except Barbados several times. Not once on any of our Caribbean cruises have we had ports everyday. I love sea days, and would do a cruise to “nowhere” any time!  
 

We will definitely stay onboard for some of the ports, and for others, shop with local merchants we have gotten to know on our previous voyages. Barbados is the one port we have missed in the Caribbean and it is the only reason we decided to book this cruise.  That being said, I am well aware that ports can, and often do, change. It’s always an adventure! 

We absolutely love Barbados.    We always have so much fun on this beautiful island.    Great snorkeling too!    Last year we did the pirate ship excursion thru RCL and had an awesome day.     Stopped at 2 snorkel spots and saw lots of sea turtles.   I had a baby sea turtle that kept following me around while I snorkled .    One of the pirates then gave me some food to feed the baby - it was too cute.       We have done lots on this island.   You will love it too!    

 

[LXA350]

THe only cruises without Sea Days I could think of are the 3 night Bahamas cruises from Florida which stop at Coco Cay and Nassau otherwise all cruises have sea days.

[okiedrifters]

3 hours ago, LXA350 said:

THe only cruises without Sea Days I could think of are the 3 night Bahamas cruises from Florida which stop at Coco Cay and Nassau otherwise all cruises have sea days.

This 7 night Sept sailing to Barbados from SJU has NO sea days. I am hoping it will change, but if not, we will simply stay onboard as for the other ports we have been to multiple times. 

Edited March 29, 2020 by okiedrifters

[John&LaLa]

3 minutes ago, okiedrifters said:

This 7 night Sept sailing to Barbados from SJU has NO sea days. I am hoping it will change, but if not, we will simply stay onboard as for the other ports we have been to multiple times. 

 

FWIW, a true sea day, and staying onboard at a port are vastly different 

[John&LaLa]

3 hours ago, LXA350 said:

THe only cruises without Sea Days I could think of are the 3 night Bahamas cruises from Florida which stop at Coco Cay and Nassau otherwise all cruises have sea days.

 

Yep, and even some 4 days that are 2 days in Perfect Day at CC

[okiedrifters]

15 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

FWIW, a true sea day, and staying onboard at a port are vastly different 

Agreed!  I love seas days and would do a “cruise to nowhere” in a heartbeat!

[shipgeeks]

3 hours ago, okiedrifters said:

Agreed!  I love seas days and would do a “cruise to nowhere” in a heartbeat!

Me too!

[Jingerwoppy]

We went on a cruise that had 1 sea day at the front, then 5 Caribbean stops, then 1 last sea day. On the morning of the 4th stop, I stood on the balcony and asked my wife if she was sure we changed ports because it looked exactly so similar. Stops are funs, but so are sea days.  

[Doug S]

The San Juan departure with only one sea day was not our favorite. Port stops were nice, but that one sea day was extremely congested on the pool deck. Everyone hitting the pool and loungers for that one chance they had. Nothing at all like a day staying on board in port when you can have the ship to yourself.