If you have only ever done 4 days and more, can you ever do a 3 day?

[Disney1fan2002]

We started out cruising the 4-day Wonder. For years, we only sailed the Wonder because the Magic had the 7 day cruises, while the Wonder took care of the 3 and 4 day cruises. 4 days were perfect for us. Two stops and a sea day. We even sailed on the Dream when it first started sailing. Too big, too crowded. We did not like it, compared to the Wonder.

THEN.....in 2012, the Magic sailed out of NYC. We lived in MA at the time. A disney ship 4 hours from us? NO WAY! We were on it. 8 glorious nights. 4 days at sea, with the same itinerary as a 4 days cruise from PC. My kids were happy that we finally got to sail on the Magic. We now had 3 out of the 4 ships under our belt.

We will be on the Magic again this October out of NYC for a 7 night cruise. My 2 oldest children are adults now (18, 20) and it is going to be the last Disney trip I pay for them. So next year, as I am drooling over which cruise to book sans children, I like the price of the 3 day Dream. I just don't know if I could ever do a 3 day cruise without feeling like something is missing. Something would be missing...the day at sea. I need that day at sea to feel like a vacation. Do people feel rushed on a 3 day?

I'm probably going to book a 3/4 day b2b...but it got me thinking...if you sail the 3 day cruises, is it because you haven't ever been on a longer cruise to know what you're missing? Or is it truly possible to enjoy a 3 day cruise while knowing the longer cruises?

 

[BuzzLightyearInTampa]

The reason I haven't been on the Dream yet is that they only do 3 and 4 night cruises. I've always heard those cruises are very rushed. So far, we have only done 7 night cruises. That will change with our next one, which will be 5 nights on the Magic. But that is only because they don't offer longer cruises on the Magic out of Florida when we can go.

 

[disneyholic family]

our first cruise was a 3 day on the wonder...
that was a lot of years ago (2002)..
we really really really enjoyed that cruise.....but again, it was our first cruise ever and i purposely picked 3 days as i wasn't sure if we would like it or even if DD and i with our motion sickness issues would be able to handle it..

would i be able to do a 3 day now and enjoy it?
yes i think so...it wouldn't be my preference, but i think i would still enjoy it...
i would stay on the ship in nassau, so that would sort of give me a sea day....sort of..

as i said, it wouldn't be my first choice, but i think i could do a 3 day and be ok with it...
it's better than nothing after all...

.

 

[dclpluto]

Even a 7 night cruise by itself is way too short. I mean when I do a 7 night I go to wdw to make the vacation bigger. When I did the short Alaska cruise I did the 6 night repo cruise before that to make it a decent vacation. I only been on the dream once to try it because the cruises are way too short. You get on than its time to get off before you know it. But any cruise is better than nothing. Enjoy

 

[limabeanies]

My answer is: If it's your only option. Yes, Yes you can.
Oh the luxury to have a short 7 day cruise. Good for you! We did our first cruise 4 nights because we weren't sure if cruising was for us. It turns out we loved it. Due to work (bah humbug) and because this year we've taken several other long trips and have a Disney trip planned in December, we booked a 3 day on the Wonder for Feb. While I'll probably miss the 4th day our thought was better to have 3 days than none at all. I can tell you even though I haven't sailed yet we will love every minute. It's all in perspective. PC, At Sea, CC I know it definitely won't be as relaxing as a longer cruise but hopefully it will be an oasis in cold, cold February. We are both truly looking forward to it. No disappointment here.

Given the chance of course I would book a longer cruise but I'll happily enjoy a shorter one now.

 

[rhinodadz]

While longer is always better, 3 days is better than 0 days! Living in Central Florida we've done several 3 day cruises on the Dream - nice weekend getaways. We treat Nassau as a "sea day" and stay on the ship.

 

[lorimay]

We have only done one 3 day cruise, it was last minute for our anniversary, while we had a great time, it flew by in a blink, of course I think all 12 cruises flew by in a blink we as well, so that's just me.
But like a PP 3 days is better than 0 days.

Have fun!

 

[JoieNsk]

We actually have never done more than 3 days )) As we could not do more than three days. Just didn't work for us, because of the schedules. You need to fly day in advance - so it is not three - it's four days already, which made it even more difficult timewise.

But we are new to cruises, so our only two cruises we did were kind of "last moment" decision. That was probably why we were struggling so much to fit more than 3 days. I suppose if we plan a year in advance, - what we are trying to do now, - we hopefully be more successful in taking longer cruises. Because we liked those short ones VERY MUCH.

Also - like for some other people in this topic, - our first cruise was first time for my mom and my daughter (and me actually) - we weren't sure if we would like the experience. So we didn't even try to get more days. And the second cruise was my husband's first, and I was really worried about him, - because he always was against cruises, and I kind of persuaded him to try it with me.

I think for me 4 days is better than 3, three is a little too short. Just one more day should make a big difference. But I would be a little worried about more then 4-5 days, - is it going to be boring? I don't think I would take a risk even to try a 14-days Panama Cruise.

We all are so different.

 

[DISNEYFAN3260]

My first few cruises were 3 and 4 nights on the Wonder. Since then we've done a few 7 night trips as well and those are by far my favorite now, but for scheduling and cost purposes we still do the shorter trips more frequently. For me personally, 3 nights is really short - that 4th night makes all the difference somehow! But when 3 nights is all the time and/or money we can spare, I enjoy those as well and am glad for any time I can get on a DCL ship! I agree with PPs who recommend skipping Nassau if you've been there before - that's what my husband and I do every time now to get our "sea day" on a 3 night cruise. While there are fewer activities on board that day than during a true sea day, the boat is far less crowded so the pools, hot tubs, etc are very pleasant.

 

[Carrie in AZ]

Our first cruise was 7 nts on the Wonder. Our second cruise was only 4 nts on the Wonder. Four was wayyyyy too short. I pray we will be able to do another 7+ nt cruise one day soon! I cannot see myself going on a 3 nt cruise. It's really only 2.5 days. Think how quickly a weekend goes by...it would be just a bit more than that. That short of a time is just not for me, especially since we have to travel across the country to get to Florida.

 

[moremouse]

I would definitely try a B2B, but NEVER would I book a cruise shorter than 7 nights. I say that because it's such a pain to pack. You check in and pretty much check out.

That's just my opinion of course.

 

[Hundredacre]

We started out cruising the 4-day Wonder. For years, we only sailed the Wonder because the Magic had the 7 day cruises, while the Wonder took care of the 3 and 4 day cruises. 4 days were perfect for us. Two stops and a sea day. We even sailed on the Dream when it first started sailing. Too big, too crowded. We did not like it, compared to the Wonder.

THEN.....in 2012, the Magic sailed out of NYC. We lived in MA at the time. A disney ship 4 hours from us? NO WAY! We were on it. 8 glorious nights. 4 days at sea, with the same itinerary as a 4 days cruise from PC. My kids were happy that we finally got to sail on the Magic. We now had 3 out of the 4 ships under our belt.

We will be on the Magic again this October out of NYC for a 7 night cruise. My 2 oldest children are adults now (18, 20) and it is going to be the last Disney trip I pay for them. So next year, as I am drooling over which cruise to book sans children, I like the price of the 3 day Dream. I just don't know if I could ever do a 3 day cruise without feeling like something is missing. Something would be missing...the day at sea. I need that day at sea to feel like a vacation. Do people feel rushed on a 3 day?

I'm probably going to book a 3/4 day b2b...but it got me thinking...if you sail the 3 day cruises, is it because you haven't ever been on a longer cruise to know what you're missing? Or is it truly possible to enjoy a 3 day cruise while knowing the longer cruises?

We think the three night is fun to pair with a long wdw trip.

 

[AquaDame]

We cruised a 4-night first and then 7-nights before trying a 3-night. I had booked a 5-night wonder that was cancelled under us and it was all I could switch to on our dates (flights were already paid for). Personally, it felt way too rushed and I would avoid them in the future. Going on a cruise is such a rare treat I hated walked away feeling like I wasn't done yet and hadn't gotten to relax at all for doing #allthethings in my initial excitement. If we lived closer and I could do them all the time then I would probably feel differently though.

 

[moosecrouse]

Wouldn't be my first choice for cruise but would be willing to do a 3 day if the price was right and it was going to move me up a to the next loyalty level. Would be worth it to have my next 7 day with gold or platinum benefits.

 

[Dug720]

In my adult life (I don't really count the one I did in 6th grade in my cruise experience as I didn't really have a lot of say in it at all - I think it was 4 or 5 nights) I started with a 3-night. Then did a 4-night. Then 3 7-nights. And most recently a 12-night. My next one scheduled is a 4-night, but I'm pairing it with 3 nights in Miami beforehand.

However, when talking with my dad on the phone today about things like where I'm staying (I'm now taking them on the cruise, and they're going to join me for a day or two in Miami before) the following discussion occurred...

Dad: So are you thinking we'll board around 2?

Me: ... (radio silence)

Dad: Or... Oh. Were you thinking earlier?

Me: Yeah...it's a 4-night cruise. I'm planning to get the earliest Port Arrival Time I can for us when our window opens.

Dad: Oh, ok.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

Dad: So are you thinking we'll board around 2?

Me: ... (radio silence)

Dad: Or... Oh. Were you thinking earlier?

Me: Yeah...it's a 4-night cruise. I'm planning to get the earliest Port Arrival Time I can for us when our window opens.

Dad: Oh, ok.

radio silence...

 

[85glht]

While longer is always better, 3 days is better than 0 days! Living in Central Florida we've done several 3 day cruises on the Dream - nice weekend getaways. We treat Nassau as a "sea day" and stay on the ship.

We used Nassau as our sea day also. Just did a 3 day DCL cruise not too long ago. It was our shortest cruise to date. We thought that it was great and would do it again. (This was our 19th cruise...... Not all of them on Disney)
What made the short trip even better was we went to WDW after the cruise. Was like a two for one vacation.

 

[Sytrace]

We do mainly 7 night cruises on the Fantasy, but have done 4 nights on the Dream before. In a month we are taking a 3 night cruise on Dream for my 50th birthday celebration. (belated birthday celebration as my husband cannot get away in August) It was originally a surprise, but the vacation insurance people that sent the email to me did not get the memo. lol
We plan to stay on the ship and relax. No excursions booked this time. And doubtful we will even leave the ship for CC.

That being said, we set sail on the Fantasy 4 days after we get back...so really we can afford to be relaxed Under ordinary circumstances, we would not take a 3 night cruise and this will be our first one, but I am really looking forward to it.

 

[drea21]

Our first cruise was a 3 nighter- we were brand new to cruising, booked a last minute guarantee rate, and did very little research. We paired it with 4 days in WDW before and 2 days after. We didn't feel rushed on the ship because we didn't know any better, we had no clue about the rainforest room, mixology, etc etc. We knew there were 3 MDR's, we ate at all 3, saw the shows, pirate night and had a blast and didn't feel like we missed
Anything. We didn't get off the ship in Nassau so essentially it was a Sea Day.

Our next cruise we did 4 days, with 4 days at Disney before. It was nice, and I do feel like we saw more of the ship.

Now we have our first 7 nighter booked on the Fantasy. Because of school and work we don't have time to do any WDW before or after and I admit I'm bummed. I liked being able to do both. I haven't done the 7 night yet, but would definitely do a short one again, just going into it knowing I won't get to do/see everything.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

The only way I was able to convince myself to do a 4 night cruise was to book B2B 7 night cruises immediately following it. It made it seem like it was actually just part of a longer cruise (that's the type we like), with a 2 day port call between the 4 night & the B2Bs. There's no way I would do just a 3 night cruise. Or even a 3/4 night B2B.