Short v. Long(er) Cruises ... Impressions?

[auscgguysgirl]

We've taken both short (5 day) and longer (7, 8 and 10 day) cruises and we have cruised out of a few ports. We have come to the conclusion that we prefer longer cruises and have decided to cruise nothing shorter than 8 days.

 

It seems like the shorter cruises appear more like the "Welcome to Walmart" cruise. :rolleyes:

 

Not trying to sound mean, but our overall experience ... the people and the atmosphere is very lacking. Both of our short cruises appeared to have a LOT of kids, a lot of young adult drinking age kids who vomited in the hallways on a regular basis (we felt so sorry for the staff walking around w/ buckets of cleaner and rubber gloves) and just overall tacky adults - sleeping on the benches in the buffet dining area in the middle of the afternoon while their kids sat and ate food. I mean, seriously? You have a room ... go take a nap! Leaving trash all over the place. Tacky cabin neighbors, who were both inconsiderate, noisy and rude.

 

We thought initially that it was just the cruise we took (mind you though it was NOT spring break or summer vacation). It was a few weeks after Easter and in October. Had we taken either of them the 1st time, we might not have gone again.

 

A friend recently told me that they no longer short cruise for the same reasons.

 

Anyone else experienced this or have any impressions? Are we being too critical to judge this based on these 2 experiences? Or is this normal for shorter cruises?

[InitialD]

From my experience it tends to be more when you go. A 3 or 4 night out of Miami during spring break or right after school gets out is going to be racaus. We went on a 4 night out of Miami the week after typical graduation and it was a party boat with a lot of grads.

 

Cruises when school is in session tend to a bit calmer - we like to go late April, early May. I can tell a bit of a difference between 4-5 day and 7 day cruises.

[crusinpsychRN]

Had only one 8 day and that one more day was terrific. I mostly take 7 day. On 3 day it almost doesn't pay to unpack.

[sturderick]

Shorter cruises are booze cruises as stated above. We have been on nice shorter cruises "off season" but I don't like anything less than 8 days now. Yes, I'm spoiled. I would say 6 days or up will be the best way to go unless you want the booze cruise atmosphere. A lot of people like that, it's just not for us.

[sturderick]

Had only one 8 day and that one more day was terrific. I mostly take 7 day. On 3 day it almost doesn't pay to unpack.

 

 

Agreed on the "one more day" on the 8 day cruises! It really makes a big difference :D.

[Micahs Grandad]

We take longer ones as we have too far to go to just do a few days.

[Anthomaniac]

We did two 5-day and one 7-day. Definitely prefer longer

 

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[cb at sea]

Cruises of at least a week will have fewer "partiers" on every line...short cruises tend to be noisier, and IMO, simply not worth the trip to port! Of course, if you live within easy driving distance, then it's a good "getaway"!

[Jamman54]

Now that the kids are done with school, and my wife has retired from teaching, I can't see us doing less then 10 days anymore, even if it means booking B2B's. :cool:

[maldenmusic]

We enjoyed our 8 day cruise more than the 5 day ones we've taken.

[Jamericannn]

Having to take a flight from NYC to where my desired ships are, it's not worth a cruise less than 6 days so I have not tried any shorter cruise. Once I move to Florida I will do some shorter cruise.

[JawjaFatBoy]

We've done 3, 4, 5, and 7 day cruises and definitely like the longer cruises better!

 

Our experience has also been that the longer the cruise, the less kids, partyers and 40+ year old adolescents.

 

We've pretty much decided that from now on we're doing 5 days absolute minimum and are looking at an 8, 9 or possibly an 11 day Journeys cruise in 2020 for our 20th anniversary.

[CJHAN]

Fir us the atmosphere of a 5 day vs a 7 day are not at all diffrent however it does seem to is that the shorter cruises seem to be a bit more hectic because we are trying to squeeze everything in.

 

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[Butterbean1000]

I really grow tired of the Walmart insinuation when it comes to Carnival. Granted, there is a whole different vibe to Carnival, but that is what we prefer. We like the 8 day cruises best, but they aren't always convenient. We have taken a couple of 4 to 5 day cruises and they just make us mad, LOL. We just hate getting off the ship.

[louanne93]

I really grow tired of the Walmart insinuation when it comes to Carnival. Granted, there is a whole different vibe to Carnival, but that is what we prefer. We like the 8 day cruises best, but they aren't always convenient. We have taken a couple of 4 to 5 day cruises and they just make us mad, LOL. We just hate getting off the ship.

 

 

Agree 100%

We will do a 3, 4, 5, 7, or 10 day! Just doesn't matter. We did a 3 day last spring break and never saw anyone vomiting in the hallways. Granted it is a much more party atmosphere than the 7 days but still we had a blast.

[auscgguysgirl]

I really grow tired of the Walmart insinuation when it comes to Carnival.

 

This really isn't Carnival specific. My parents have noted the same thing on other cruise lines as well and they have cruised several other lines. It's more time oriented. We haven't seen it on longer cruises.

My thought process was more in line of longer cruises equal more $$ and therefore the "riff raff" can't afford them. I might be wrong.

We've really enjoyed all of our longer Carnival cruises. We are more laid back and relaxed and prefer people who don't act like they have any upbringing or manners. Even when I was young and learning, I didn't do anything remotely close to some of what we've seen. I would be embarrassed.

[Butterbean1000]

Well, this riff raff has taken shorter cruises because of work schedules, school schedules and just wanting to get away for a few days.

[easyboy]

Most cruise destinations we prefer require a flight to embarkation port. Longer cruise for us makes it worth the extra expense.

[RTRMom]

We chose to only do 7 day or longer cruises from now on. We did some 3-5 day cruises back in the day. It was way too short.

 

We did an 8 day last June and it was great! So...our cruise coming up is also an 8 day. 8 days is perfect for us. I would do a longer 10-12 day, but it would be a little hard to get the kids out of school for that long. Summer prices are too much, so we may do a 10-12 day around a school holiday so we would only have take a couple extra days off of school for them.