Thoughts on Sea Days?

[Daruma]

Hello, folks. 

 

Being a Neophyte cruiser I'm torn between 2 cruises. 

 

Ship not really withstanding, what are your thoughts on Sea Days? 

 

I know that there will be differing opinions, but I'm hoping to gather information in order to decide. 

 

I can book a 3 day to the Bahamas on NCL Getaway for $856, ($285/day):

Depart

Port

Port 

Disembark 

 

Or a 5 day on Carnival Paradise for $1138, ($281 more, but 2 more days, so $228/day... $57 less per day) :

Depart 

Sea Day

Port 

Port

Sea Day

Disembark 

 

Same number of ports, just that the Carnival one has 2x Sea Days... so I'm hoping to get thoughts and opinions on Sea Days. 

 

Thank you. 

[Ilovesailaway]

I just did 9 connsecutive sea days on a crossing. I will be leaning toward a port intensive itinnerary for my next cruise. But this was a bit extreme. 

Gennerally I prefer port days. I don't gamble and seldom shop so those being closed doesn't effect me. If it's a port I don't care to visit at the moment I enjoy a less crowded ship. Good time for sunbathing, hot tub, gym...

[mamiamjo]

Personally I love sea days. Unless there’s a cruise stopping in certain port that I really want to visit, I’d prefer more sea days, plus more cruise days in general. From what you described you have the same number of port days on either cruise, so I’d take the 5 day . 😎

Edited May 11 by mamiamjo

[we b cruzin]

I prefer sea days over port days. There is something about sailing on the open sea that appeals to me. I am not a gambler so the casino being open does not factor in the equation. I just like sitting on our balcony or on an upper deck and watching the water go by.

[deelightfull]

If you asked my hubby and I we'd have two different answers to this question. He's not a fan of sea days, I am. 

 

On a land based vacation, his general vacation style is up early, 3 museums, and a walking tour before lunch, and 15k steps in a day.  He doesn't go on vacations, he goes on adventures! 

 

I prefer to sleep in on vacation, and wander through one museum after brunch (viewing almost everything!) and then have a leisurely dinner before doing a city night tour. 

 

We didn't really gamble or drink either, but if we're on a ship with a thermal spa, he will pay to enjoy that on a sea day. 

 

I understand the longer cruise would be cheaper per day, but it's still more $$ overall.  What would you do with the difference?  Enjoy some extra time in your port city?  Especially if you're like my hubby, having a city to explore before and/or after could be totally worth the shorter cruise. 

 

If you're more like me, it's better to spend time in the all inclusive environment of the ship. 😁

[edspec]

I love sea days. I’m a reader so love the uninterrupted time to immerse myself in good books. 

[LatinaInTexas]

I dislike sea days. I don't cruise to relax, I relax plenty at home lol. I want to be occupied every day with seeing and experiencing new things. I want as many ports as possible to do this.

[DnD_Cruisin]

We love the sea days. We enjoy everything being open and tend to use those days to relax, read, shop and gamble.

 

However more than 2 or 3 in a row gets repetitive as we found out on a HI cruise with 5 x2.

Edited May 11 by DnD_Cruisin

[pcvtmom]

We cruise solely to relax! Sea days are a perfect time to read, relax, and refresh.  We aren't gamblers, so the casino isn't a draw for us.  Port days are nice, but I like sea days equally.

[Essiesmom]

Short cruises are notable for being party cruises.  The shorter one will be more frantic, people trying to cram as much ‘fun’ into three days as possible.  The 5 day is still short, a party cruise, but not as frantic.  If the 3 day is over a weekend, it may be a booze cruise.  People have to take more time off to do a five day…EM

[Daruma]

9 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

Short cruises are notable for being party cruises.  The shorter one will be more frantic, people trying to cram as much ‘fun’ into three days as possible.  The 5 day is still short, a party cruise, but not as frantic.  If the 3 day is over a weekend, it may be a booze cruise.  People have to take more time off to do a five day…EM

 

This has been a dilemma for me. 

 

I don't drink and I'm not a partier, though I've asked on these forums and the overwhelming response has been that it's pretty easy to avoid those crowds, and not allow it to ruin my time. 

 

Also, for a hair more money I can take two shorter, (3, 4, 5 day), cruises for relatively the same cost as one 7/8 day cruise 🤷

[Essiesmom]

8 minutes ago, Daruma said:

 

This has been a dilemma for me. 

 

I don't drink and I'm not a partier, though I've asked on these forums and the overwhelming response has been that it's pretty easy to avoid those crowds, and not allow it to ruin my time. 

 

Also, for a hair more money I can take two shorter, (3, 4, 5 day), cruises for relatively the same cost as one 7/8 day cruise 🤷

This is true, but the longer cruises can go further afield, whereas the very short cruises stay close to home.  You will get tired of Nassau, Freeport, Princess Cays, Bimini…

 

EM

[Daruma]

2 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

This is true, but the longer cruises can go further afield, whereas the very short cruises stay close to home.  You will get tired of Nassau, Freeport, Princess Cays, Bimini…

 

EM

 

Thank you. 

 

Haven't been to any of them yet... so a problem for my next round of cruises, lol. 

 

My current Itineraries, across Virgin, NCL, and Carnival, from 9/24 - 3/26, take me to:

 

Nassau, (a couple of times)

Celebration Key

Bimini, (a couple of times... once to Virgin's private beach club) 

Cozumel 

Costa Maya 

Roatan

 

So, I've got a ways to go before hitting everything Caribbean 🤣

[Cruising_Addict]

I love sea days and I would never book a cruise without them, personally. Part of being on vacation is resting and I love being able to sleep in on sea days rather than having to set an alarm to go do an excursion. Occasionally I won’t plan an excursion for one port of the cruise if there is not enough sea days. 

[edspec]

3 minutes ago, Daruma said:

 

Thank you. 

 

Haven't been to any of them yet... so a problem for my next round of cruises, lol. 

 

My current Itineraries, across Virgin, NCL, and Carnival, from 9/24 - 3/26, take me to:

 

Nassau, (a couple of times)

Celebration Key

Bimini, (a couple of times... once to Virgin's private beach club) 

Cozumel 

Costa Maya 

Roatan

 

So, I've got a ways to go before hitting everything Caribbean 🤣

One thing to consider is that a 7 day will most likely give you a newer, better maintained ship with more amenities. Our first cruise was a 4 day out of Long Beach on one of Carnival’s older ships. We had a good time but it wasn’t an experience I felt I needed to repeat. I did however want to take our son on a Disney cruise. At that time, 2003, they were only sailing out of Port Canaveral. No way we’re flying from Sacramento to Florida for a 3 or 4 day cruise on the Wonder. Took a 7 day on the DCL Magic and discovered I LOVED cruising! DCL isn’t my cruise line of choice any longer, I’m more a Princess or Cunard customer, but I’m thankful for that first 7 day cruise. 
I always tell people to do a 7 day over 3-5…better ship, ports, activities and a much better idea of what cruising is really like.

[Bubbeh]

3 hours ago, we b cruzin said:

I prefer sea days over port days. There is something about sailing on the open sea that appeals to me. I am not a gambler so the casino being open does not factor in the equation. I just like sitting on our balcony or on an upper deck and watching the water go by.

Also not a gambler and don't bother with the pool or the bars much, equally happy to sit and read on the balcony and watch the world go by.  Just love sea days and would be happy to take a very long cruise that never went into a Port at all.

[tidecat]

When your cruise is can affect your answer.

 

It was cold and windy on both sea days on my Elation sailing in February, especially on the first sea day, so it made it hard to enjoy the ship's mostly outdoor amenities. Paradise and Elation are the same class of ship, so if I wouldn't want to do a winter sailing on either again. If you're big into gambling or trivia, though, Paradise will have you covered even if the weather is less than ideal.

[Butterbean1000]

I love seas days.  The ship does a good job with activities. I like the down time. I also like staying on the ship on some port days.

[BlerkOne]

If you don't like sea days, you might as well do a land vacation.

[salty dingo]

I'd go for the Paradise. The 3 day will be a nonstop deck party.

[Daruma]

Thank you all for replying... so this begs the question... is there such a thing as an all Sea Day cruise? 

[Essiesmom]

8 minutes ago, Daruma said:

Thank you all for replying... so this begs the question... is there such a thing as an all Sea Day cruise? 

Not any more.  There used to be 1-2 day cruises to nowhere, booze cruises…but CBP ruled that on that type of voyage the crew were actually working in/from the US and would need a different (harder to get) visa.  So the CTN went away.  I think at least ten years ago.  That said, you can find long cruises without intermediate ports.   Not on the mass market lines, and not closed loop.  The Cunard crossings are such.  We were booked on one on Windstar from Costa Rica to Tahiti, 15 days.  But Covid cancelled it.  I have seen cruises on other smaller lines from Colon, Panama to the US East coast with no stops.  They are out there, but not for the budget cruiser.  EM

Edited May 12 by Essiesmom

[Theosprey247]

2 sea days is about as much as I, or more importantly, my wife can handle. We enjoy the lounging around and relaxing, but we we can do that at home. 

[MsTabbyKats]

I like port days, when everyone else if off the ship.  We've been to them all, so we don't need excursions.  Just, do a little shopping...and back to an empty ship.  No food lines, no chair hogging.

 

I don't like sea days.  I gamble...so the cruise can be quite expensive.  It's also generally too windy etc to sit outside comfortably (for me, anyway).  

 

Our last cruise had "2 sea days going and 3 coming back".  No more...so many sea days...for me!

[MsTabbyKats]

12 minutes ago, Theosprey247 said:

2 sea days is about as much as I, or more importantly, my wife can handle. We enjoy the lounging around and relaxing, but we we can do that at home. 

That's exactly what my husband said.  And we have more tv channels at home!