Cruise to nowhere advice

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I tried a search but I think my terms are too broad so anyway...

What do you all think about a cruise to nowhere? I was just playing around on Carnival's website and found a two day CTN out of Norfolk, Va. on June 7 on Victory.

I've been reading the roll call board for that cruise but just wanted to know opinions from anyone who has done one.

From reviews I've found it seems like most people feel it wasn't worth it, that the service was bad, etc. etc.

I'm itchin' for a quickie, so to speak, ;) but don't want to spend the money for two days if most people think it's not worth it.

Thanks so much in advance!

[VentureMan_2000]

Everything that I've read suggests it's nothing more than a booze cruise... just a weekend of partying, if you will.

 

This is a cruise for folks who just want a short get-a-way, as opposed to a vacation.

 

The longer the cruise, the less "Partying" you will experience. Not to say that folks on a 7 day cruise don't party... :D

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Thanks, that was the impression I was getting from the roll call too. :p

It was pretty expensive with the single supplement so I'll stick with saving my cash-ola for July.

$418 for a free upgrade from 1A to 4G sounds nice, but for two days, yikes.

I'll stick with a vacation. :)

[firefly333]

At least there are no port charges lol. .... since the cruise just anchors off shore, far enough so folks can drink and gamble.

[bcs819]

all my research shows they're not worth it - but that's my opinion.

[mics pics]

At least there are no port charges lol. .... since the cruise just anchors off shore, far enough so folks can drink and gamble.

 

Lol! Yep, and I was thinking I would save money because no shore excursions, souvenirs, etc.

But I would probably more than make up for it with cocktails, so I'll save my cash.

I really appreciate everyone's opinions. I think I've got better ways to deal with the anticipation. :p

[posh08]

At least there are no port charges lol. .... since the cruise just anchors off shore, far enough so folks can drink and gamble.

Are you sure it anchors off shore? Carnival told me it doesn't. Oh BTW we are going to eat too;)

[posh08]

all my research shows they're not worth it - but that's my opinion.

I'll let you all know when I get back.

[VentureMan_2000]

I suspect they cruise at a slow pace... I wouldn't think they would ever anchor out at sea.

 

 

I spent a month vacationing in Maui three years back. We watched the cruise ships as they sailed from island to island. We were pretty sure they were just drifting more in the currents than actually cruising, given how slow they appeared to be going.

[pboedeker]

I did a CTN in 2003 for 2 days. There wasn't any anchoring involved. The captain just sort of meadered out in the Gulf of Mexico avoiding rain showers. I didn't get them impression it was a "booze" cruise at all. We sailed in mid August and most of us thought it was perfect for a quick getaway with plenty of time to relax in the sun and rest!

 

I think our fare was closer to $249/person though. $418 sounds a little much for 2 days.

[posh08]

I did a CTN in 2003 for 2 days. There wasn't any anchoring involved. The captain just sort of meadered out in the Gulf of Mexico avoiding rain showers. I didn't get them impression it was a "booze" cruise at all. We sailed in mid August and most of us thought it was perfect for a quick getaway with plenty of time to relax in the sun and rest!

 

I think our fare was closer to $249/person though. $418 sounds a little much for 2 days.

I think the OP was paying a single rate. Anyway the price now pp is $279. We just wanted a quick fix before our 6 day in Oct. Compared to a couple of days at the beach it was about =

[Essiesmom]

They don't anchor, just sail around in circles. The only CTN I have done was a one nighter out of NYC, we did it as a get together for east coast members of another cruise forum. Local people do them because as soon as you are far enough offshore, they open the duty free shops and you can buy as much merchandise as you can cart off the ship, no limits. There were display tables of beer everywhere, people carrying around buckets of beer...already in the hot tub at 2pm...Service was a bit lacking, but if you really need a getaway, just to be 'on the boat' it might be worth it. Or if you want to check out a ship or line you haven't cruised before. EM

[zqvol]

At least there are no port charges lol. .... since the cruise just anchors off shore, far enough so folks can drink and gamble.

 

The cruise doesn't anchor off shore. Can you imagine how much anchor chain that would take? The ship just heads out to sea, and sails a set course that ends up being a big loop so to speak.

[momof1lilguy]

My husband and I will be doing a CTN at some point.. Hopefully this year.. He's got the worst work schedule to have 'fun' around, so a 1 or 2 nite is perfect. Only problem I noticed was that the 1 nites are on NCL... Hopefully I just didn't look down far enough!

[crusinpsychRN]

It's seems like a good way to run up your past cruise number. You can go on a four day for $349pp, third person is $199 on past guest rate.

[RYPERO]

We have done two cruises to no where and one repo cruise all on other lines and have always had a great time and we don't even drink. They have all left from a port near our house so it has been easy to drive up to the port with out any travel hassles. One trick is that we always try to be one of the first on and one of last off to make the most out of the short trip. For the price where else can you get a hotel, dinner, a show and a club..

[DqALEX]

I tried a search but I think my terms are too broad so anyway...

What do you all think about a cruise to nowhere? I was just playing around on Carnival's website and found a two day CTN out of Norfolk, Va. on June 7 on Victory.

I've been reading the roll call board for that cruise but just wanted to know opinions from anyone who has done one.

From reviews I've found it seems like most people feel it wasn't worth it, that the service was bad, etc. etc.

I'm itchin' for a quickie, so to speak, ;) but don't want to spend the money for two days if most people think it's not worth it.

Thanks so much in advance!

I feel for the price a nice 4 or 5 day cruise if you book far enough out is a much better bang for the dollar

[motherofthree]

went on the CTn last October on the miracle and going back this october, it was well worth the money for a quick getaway..granted I went with 7 friends, no kids no husbands, had a fantastic time. It absolutly wasnt a booze criuse although I did drink more then than ever. There were many differnet groups of people, some celbrating special birthdays, some anniversaries, some companies etc...Honestly, it was a little pricey, bus so worth the fun and the time away.

[tootsiescurly]

We were on the same cruise on the Miracle. It was a bit pricey for 2 days. Would have rather spent the time in NYC but it did help to get me to Platinum.

[babybeluga005]

we did a 2 night out of nyc a few years ago on the carnival victory and had a great time. it was like going to a resort for a weekend. didn't have to look for restaurants or entertainment, everything was right there. i would do it again. it went out about 150 miles and looped back. we had lobster one night and the shows were great. go and enjoy!

[vacruizer]

I did the Norfolk cruise to nowhere in June of last year. I came away with mixed feelings about the cruise. It has its pros and cons.

 

On the plus side - it was a nice weekend getaway, the ship itself was nice, enjoyed the shows and midnight comedy, Norfolk has a great new terminal, we could drive to port, I was out on a ship enjoying just being out to sea, and there is no customs - you could buy as much liquor, cigarettes, jewelry, etc. that you could haul off the ship with you - but a 3% tax was added (still cheaper than here at home.) It also added a cruise to our total # towards platinum.

 

On the downside - these cruises aren't cheap, we booked last minute and got a decent price, though. Prepaid gratuities are required at the time of booking - don't know if that was what caused the staff to all seem so miserable, or if something else was at play like a bad hotel manager or even just an off cruise. It's also just too short! We finally sailed around 6pm Saturday and were back in port at 7am Monday. It was also party central - drunks in the halls screaming at 3am - I'm pretty sure some people never slept at all. I also saw more rude passengers than I ever saw on either of our longer sailings - many people were just plain ugly to their fellow passengers as well as the crew. There were also a fair number of kids running the ship and security was unwilling to keep them out of the adult areas such as the former topless deck (now marked adults only) and the adult hot tubs. Very few activities were offered on our sea day - I think one "dance class" and a trivia game was about it. They also used this cruise to do a lot of ship maintenance that we thought could have been better planned on a port day sometime. We had lots of closed areas -some hot tubs, the jogging track, pizza was closed in the mornings - I know this stuff has to get done but didn't understand why they would pick a cruise to nowhere for the non-essential stuff. We actually started to think that the CTN was a way for Carnival to still sell some drinks while working on the ship there was so much stuff out of service.

 

In spite of some disappoinments - I "might" do it again if the price were to drop to what I paid last year - just for a quick getaway and to be on a ship again. I have been watching the price but so far it hasn't dropped that much. But I also wouldn't go out of my way for this cruise. I figure that some of the stuff I didn't like could have just been a fluke and would be willing to give the CTN one more try. If I experience the same problems I doubt I would do another one.

 

 

BTW - the ship does not anchor offshore. We were able to get the ship's coordinates when we made the turn to come back (we actually listed a bit) and map it out - we were about 150 miles off the coast of NC about even with Hatteras when we made the turn and headed back. But we did sail the whole time.

 

Also - there are port charges - for the port of Norfolk.:p Seems like we paid around $30pp in taxes/port charges and $20pp for the prepaid gratuities so factor this into your price.

 

Let me know if I can answer any questions.

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Thanks for all the advice and comments. The reason I was looking at this was two-fold, I wanted to get a short little cruise in to build up to Platinum (and I know, those of you who did all 7 days to get there, I admire you, truly) AND I wanted a quick little getaway that would just happen to be a cruise.

I've been looking at the 4 and 5 days cruises but for now, they are just too price prohibitive. I know spending $200 a day for a cruise is crazy, but paying the single supplement does that to me.

I'm definitely NOT a teetotaler, I can party with the best of them but the stories of drunks screaming in the wee hours just wasn't for me. I'm getting older and need my beauty sleep. :o

Since I don't live in that part of the country, I'd have to come in the day prior and get a hotel room which adds to the cost.

So anyway, long story short, if it were cheaper I'd be all over it, but at this price for a single, I'm probably going to opt out. Unless I come into some extra money somehow. ;)

BTW, you guys going on that cruise, you sound like a great group, I'll be playing some Skynyrd on June 7 in your honor. :p

[posh08]

Thanks for all the advice and comments. The reason I was looking at this was two-fold, I wanted to get a short little cruise in to build up to Platinum (and I know, those of you who did all 7 days to get there, I admire you, truly) AND I wanted a quick little getaway that would just happen to be a cruise.

I've been looking at the 4 and 5 days cruises but for now, they are just too price prohibitive. I know spending $200 a day for a cruise is crazy, but paying the single supplement does that to me.

I'm definitely NOT a teetotaler, I can party with the best of them but the stories of drunks screaming in the wee hours just wasn't for me. I'm getting older and need my beauty sleep. :o

Since I don't live in that part of the country, I'd have to come in the day prior and get a hotel room which adds to the cost.

So anyway, long story short, if it were cheaper I'd be all over it, but at this price for a single, I'm probably going to opt out. Unless I come into some extra money somehow. ;)

BTW, you guys going on that cruise, you sound like a great group, I'll be playing some Skynyrd on June 7 in your honor. :p

Thanks for the compliment. If I had to fly to Norfolk I wouldn't do it. I'll let you know if I heard drunks in the hall:(

[tumh20]

Just got back for a Norwegian Pearl's Cruise to Nowhere from Seattle...we had a fun time on our first cruise! I think a lot of people are doing this for the first time. We did not notice any excessive partying or noisy drunks. We sailed fast to open waters of the Pacific Ocean and then up the coast of Vancouver Island. Left on Friday, and at 1 pm on Saturday the captain announced that we should be ready to turn around. They waters were already rough and winds strong, and many were sick. But I had taken my Dramamine and went to the margarita tasting while this was happening. I didn't really notice the turnaround, though I hadn't had to much to drink...LOL! We were surprised at the great duty free prices on alcohol and bought a bottle of kahlua and 2 bottles of vodka, then panicked that we had bought more than we were allowed for US customs. Then customs lady was just having everyone in the line hand her their customs forms, and didn't even look at them.

The only down side to OUR cruise was that in the Pacific NW in May the weather is cool. Not many in the pool, though hot tubs were full, and no sunbathing here!

We will try for the Caribbean next April with the kids!:)

[vacruizer]

Thanks for the compliment. If I had to fly to Norfolk I wouldn't do it. I'll let you know if I heard drunks in the hall:(

 

Hopefully you don't have any problems - someone onboard with us said they had done the CTN before and that last year's June sailing was not like the others they had been on. I still may end up joining you onboard:D - I need a quick cruise fix and am willing to try once more - most of the problems I had can easily be fixed or could be chalked up to that particular group of people.