Short Cruises (3-5 days) - Has anyone done any before?

RCCL usually has 5 day cruises to Bermuda out of NJ in the summer.

msjprincess said:

RCCL usually has 5 day cruises to Bermuda out of NJ in the summer.

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That might be an option if they are offering it the week of our anniversary, which is 7/18.

I asked DH about Carnival, but after the two incidents they had and too close together, he has been apprehensive. I was also talking to my mom about it and she was telling me that Carnival is more like a "party" cruise and it's where the younger crowd goes. I don't know where she heard that :. My parents went on a few cruises back in the 90's when my father was alive and have done both RCL and NCL (mostly NCL).

cybrkitn said:

That might be an option if they are offering it the week of our anniversary, which is 7/18.

I asked DH about Carnival, but after the two incidents they had and too close together, he has been apprehensive. I was also talking to my mom about it and she was telling me that Carnival is more like a "party" cruise and it's where the younger crowd goes. I don't know where she heard that :. My parents went on a few cruises back in the 90's when my father was alive and have done both RCL and NCL (mostly NCL).

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Unfortunately not all ships run all routes year-round which can be a bummer if you're really interested in a particular itinerary for a set-in-stone time frame. I've researched cruises for literally years and have found that in general, only the Florida ports (and Long Beach in California) have the short itineraries that go year-round.

As for Carnival, we've sailed it several times and wouldn't really characterize it the way your Mom has; that's kind of a outdated stereotype they've never managed to shake. But that said, it certainly isn't our favourite cruise product because the entertainment (shows, music, etc.) are way inferior to every other comparable line. The food is OK though, and the service. Some of the new ships apparently have more exciting features for recreation but the older ones are very, very bare-bones.

I actually really like some things about NCL - they're worth considering. Here's a review I did comparing NCL and RCCL after sailing both last fall:
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2268854

cybrkitn said:

That might be an option if they are offering it the week of our anniversary, which is 7/18.

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this year they had two five-day cruises on anthem to bermuda from nj in each month over june, july, and august. so, it's a possibility - the NJ itineraries don't vary much from year to year.

i think the norwegian breakaway does an occasional five-night trip from NY (manhattan) to bermuda, also, though most of its trips are 7 nights. to be honest, i hated my one norwegian cruise, but it was on an older, smaller ship with not much to do - the breakaway looks pretty awesome.

I've done the 4 day/3 night out of Port Canaveral to the Bahamas and back. It's nice, but always seems too short. If you plan on relaxing and not doing too much (excursions, activities) then it will be great. If you're running around trying to do everything, it seems as if you are done in a day.

DH and I did a 4 night out of Miami for our 1 yr anniversary and it was great! It would have been nice to have another day on the ship to enjoy it, but we had a very nice time. I would say do it!