Disappointing going from 7 night cruises to a 5 night?

[Name Of The Game]

We're snowed in at Cleveland so looking for opinions for our next cruise.

 

Our first five cruises were 7 nights. They seemed long in a good way.

 

Last year we found a deal for the 6 night Freedom. We were a bit concerned that the 6 night would feel much shorter but it really didn't and we loved it. In fact, the Freedom was probably our favorite ship/cruise.

 

Looking into the fall of this year the only reasonable airfare is to Tampa, which seems to limit our choices to the Legend and Inspiration. (We've been on the Legend before) Right now the airfare to Ft Lauderdale is so much higher that the 6 night Freedom ends up costing the same/more than the 7 night Legend.

 

We can take the 5 night Inspiration for $400 less total than either of the other two. For those who have sailed 7 nights and then dropped down to 5, did the time just fly by? $400 seems like a big difference. However, we only cruise once a year and don't want to regret our choice.

 

Opinions please?

[*Mach*]

The five night does seem a bit short but you go into it knowing that so it's OK.

I've done a number of seven night sailings along with a cruise to nowhere, a three night, a four night and a couple of five night voyages. I loved every single one of them...

:)

[halos]

Ouch.

5 nights is way short and for me, flying costs so much that I'd want to make it worth the $$ I had to shell out to get to Fl.

can you book a B2B??

 

(Sailing out of Tampa is very nice :))

[okgirl]

I agree with Mach I've done 5, 7 and 9 day cruises and a 14 day B2B, and they were all wonderful, however the only reason I would take another 5 day is if I lived in the embarkation city and/or I was cruising with my Crazies friends (like I will be in about 22 days)....:p

 

Now, having said that.......right now vacation time and travel time to the port and stuff like that has to be considered. But by the end of the year I will be retired so the only consideration will be money. Everytime we have the money to pay for a cruise in full at the time of booking we will be going. And that might include doing a B2B with a couple of shorter cruises.

[Rosebud5t]

All cruises are wonderful, of course, but I noticed a huge difference going down to a 5-day cruise. I think the money savings is great for an "extra" vacation, but I wouldn't want to do it for my one yearly vacation. Just my thoughts, though. Whatever you decide.... HAPPY CRUISING!!! :D

[Name Of The Game]

Can't do a back to back due to work/pet issues.

 

Airfare to Ft Lauderdale is $100 higher PP than to Tampa.

 

We've completely eliminated any cruises out of Miami because airfare is more than $150 higher PP plus we fly in the day before and hotels are more expensive in Miami than Tampa.

[lorijeannj]

My husband, I and some friends out of Bradenton cruised the Inspiration for 5 nights out of Tampa back in September.

It was wonderful.

The 5 nights did not go as quick as I would have thought.

Enjoy! She is a wonderful ship.

[notawordok]

I will let you know next week. I have done 6, 7 nighters and leave in two days for a 5 nighter. The only reason I dropped to a 5 nighter is because I gave this trip to my 2 daughters their husbands and they each have a daughter so I footed the bill for 8. It was what I could afford to give thim this gift for christmas. I would look at the 400 dollars as even thou you will be spending less you are getting less. if you break it down thats only 100$ a day pp more. But its still two days shorter vacation. If you don't have the money makes sense to do the shorter if you have the money do you want to cut your vacation short? Its all about your perspective. I would work some OT and stay longer.

[valley1pw]

Ever consider Baltimore ? Mapquest says 6.5 hrs and zero airfare !

[halos]

We've completely eliminated any cruises out of Miami because airfare is more than $150 higher PP plus we fly in the day before and hotels are more expensive in Miami than Tampa.

 

Did you check air to FLL?

[Delta Dear]

Have you considered a 7 day out of Baltimore ? You might get cheaper airfare or consider driving to Baltimore from Cleveland. OOOPS, I see someone else just suggested that too.

 

Cleveland is my hometown. Give it my best regards. Left there in 1969, but it's still home !

[dixiediva761]

Maybe check in to a rental car from TPA to Mia/FLL one way and see if it makes any sense to do that it would be about a 3 hour drive give or take then you could spend the night in TPA if it is cheaper and drive over that morning if you are set on a 7 day :)

[momof4boys]

Our first two cruises were seven days. On our third cruise--we helped pay for a wedding and felt like we could only do a 5 day cruise since we pay for 4 rooms (We take our kids and their spouses/ or friends of same sex for younger kids)

 

It was a wonderful cruise. We had a great time. However, after we got back, my dh said that he would rather suck it up next time and do a 7 day. However we did a 6 day the next cruise, and it was great.

 

If money/time/money were no object, I would always do a 7-8 day cruise. However, a 5 day beats nothing!!!!

 

Whatever you decide, have a great time!!

[Name Of The Game]

To answer some of the questions:

 

We don't like driving long distances so don't want to drive to Baltimore. We also don't want to cruise to a cooler climate (Canada?) or just to the Bahamas.

 

Air to FLL is currently $330 PP (last year we paid $280). Tampa is $230.

 

Oh another thing....besides the 5 night being initially $400 lower there's a good chance they'll implement the fuel supplement again, tips would be a few bucks cheaper, plus less money spent on excursions/bingo.

 

Thanks for all your replies.

[zqvol]

We're snowed in at Cleveland so looking for opinions for our next cruise.

 

Our first five cruises were 7 nights. They seemed long in a good way.

 

Last year we found a deal for the 6 night Freedom. We were a bit concerned that the 6 night would feel much shorter but it really didn't and we loved it. In fact, the Freedom was probably our favorite ship/cruise.

 

Looking into the fall of this year the only reasonable airfare is to Tampa, which seems to limit our choices to the Legend and Inspiration. (We've been on the Legend before) Right now the airfare to Ft Lauderdale is so much higher that the 6 night Freedom ends up costing the same/more than the 7 night Legend.

 

We can take the 5 night Inspiration for $400 less total than either of the other two. For those who have sailed 7 nights and then dropped down to 5, did the time just fly by? $400 seems like a big difference. However, we only cruise once a year and don't want to regret our choice.

 

Opinions please?

 

Fly to Tampa or Orlando and drive the rest of the way to FLL. (Of course you also checked air fare to MIA along with FLL).

 

BTW $330 air to FLL is dirt cheap from Cleveland. You can expect it to be substantially higher soon.

[hankandteri]

Agree with others that 5 is much better than 0 if money or time is the issue.

 

Having said that, I will always opt for the 7 day cruise in the future.

 

DW and I took both a 5 and a 7 day cruise on Carnival last year. We enjoyed both of them, but we much preferred the 7 day for a lot of reasons. A big part of it was the atmosphere on board just seemed a little more relaxed on the longer cruise--like people weren't having to cram a week's worth of fun into five days.

 

That might just be my perception or it may have just been me trying to do that, but it's how I felt.

 

I even think we had a better time on our only 3 day cruise years ago where we knew we had just a little time to party hearty and party we did.

[Name Of The Game]

Our 2009 car just turned 10k miles. We don't like to drive much particularly in strange cities and would be nervous making it a stressful beginning/end to a vacation.

 

The $330 airfare to FLL is high to us because we paid $280 last year. I know flights will go up even more with the gas prices this year. Maybe we should just pick one of the cruises to Tampa now and lock in the low airfare while we can... :confused:

[dstone]

We have done the 5, 6 aND 7 nite cruises - 5 is way too short, 6 was okay, but 7 is our favorite

[FlaGrl4Evr]

We're snowed in at Cleveland so looking for opinions for our next cruise.

 

Our first five cruises were 7 nights. They seemed long in a good way.

 

Last year we found a deal for the 6 night Freedom. We were a bit concerned that the 6 night would feel much shorter but it really didn't and we loved it. In fact, the Freedom was probably our favorite ship/cruise.

 

Looking into the fall of this year the only reasonable airfare is to Tampa, which seems to limit our choices to the Legend and Inspiration. (We've been on the Legend before) Right now the airfare to Ft Lauderdale is so much higher that the 6 night Freedom ends up costing the same/more than the 7 night Legend.

 

We can take the 5 night Inspiration for $400 less total than either of the other two. For those who have sailed 7 nights and then dropped down to 5, did the time just fly by? $400 seems like a big difference. However, we only cruise once a year and don't want to regret our choice.

 

Opinions please?

 

 

We're basically in the same boat you are. We did a 7 night on the Legend last Oct and absolutly loved it. This coming year, do to some vacation scheduling issues, we could only do a 5 night. We also selected to sail the Inspiration out ot Tampa for a lot of the same reasons. #1 airfare is pretty cheap from Indy, plus we can get a direct flight. #2 we missed Grand Cayman on our last cruise due to Hurricane Tomas so hopefully this time we will get an oportunity to this. #3 We want to do Tulum in Cozumel and didn't get the chance to book it on our last cruise. So, even though this cruise is a 5 day, we are going to concentrate on some of the great excursions and just enjoy sailing a new ship.

 

In addition, We are booked on the Oct 31 sailing, which is the Halloween cruise. If you sail over Halloween you will be in for a real treat!!! We were on the Legend over Halloween and it was so much fun. There were all kinds of costume contests and extra holiday activities plus the MDR had a special dessert menu that night. Folks went all- out with their costumes and everyone was in the spirit. If this date will work for your fall schedule, come join the roll call.

 

 

Good luck to you. :)

[Name Of The Game]

I agree sailing over Halloween would be lots of fun! Unfortunately end of the month is the busiest time at work so always have to vacation earlier in the month.

[vaca_queen]

Can't do a back to back due to work/pet issues.

 

Airfare to Ft Lauderdale is $100 higher PP than to Tampa.

 

We've completely eliminated any cruises out of Miami because airfare is more than $150 higher PP plus we fly in the day before and hotels are more expensive in Miami than Tampa.

 

When we did the Victory out of Miami we flew into Ft. Lauderdale and stayed there because it was cheaper than Miami. Then we caught a shuttle to Miami. It is only like 30 min away. Good luck.

[Name Of The Game]

Didn't the cost of the shuttle offset the lower airfare to FLL?

[Cuizer2]

We're snowed in at Cleveland so looking for opinions for our next cruise.

 

Our first five cruises were 7 nights. They seemed long in a good way.

 

Last year we found a deal for the 6 night Freedom. We were a bit concerned that the 6 night would feel much shorter but it really didn't and we loved it. In fact, the Freedom was probably our favorite ship/cruise.

 

Looking into the fall of this year the only reasonable airfare is to Tampa, which seems to limit our choices to the Legend and Inspiration. (We've been on the Legend before) Right now the airfare to Ft Lauderdale is so much higher that the 6 night Freedom ends up costing the same/more than the 7 night Legend.

 

We can take the 5 night Inspiration for $400 less total than either of the other two. For those who have sailed 7 nights and then dropped down to 5, did the time just fly by? $400 seems like a big difference. However, we only cruise once a year and don't want to regret our choice.

 

Opinions please?

 

I've been on three night, five night, one week, eight nights nine nights and two weeks. The time on the five night did not seem to "fly by", but I knew it was a short cruise when I booked it.

 

The extra night on an eight night is noticeable to me. The two week cruises are heavenly compared to a one week. My last two cruises were nine nights and eight nights. My next cruise is also eight nights and then I have a six night cruise planned. I'm worried that that week will seem to fly by.

[vaca_queen]

Didn't the cost of the shuttle offset the lower airfare to FLL?

 

We called around and found a shuttle service for $25 pp round trip. They picked up at our hotel and were then when we got off the ship. Just a thought.

[Name Of The Game]

I know the Valor has reasonable cruises but I ruled them out due to the airfare to Miami....

 

We could look into a shuttle as long as the flight going back would give us enough time. The cheapest one usually leaves at noon. Would that be cutting it too close arriving back in FLL?