Cruising-Testing The Water

Not sure if you would like cruising? Here's a way to try it out. Take a short 4-5 day cruise. Many are very affordable and you can eat, be entertained and have a room often for less than $100/night. Most of the cruises visit the Bahamas but there are some that do a port or two in the Caribbean and if you live on the West Coast, ports in Mexico.

A couple of years ago we took a short cruise on the Norwegian Sky. We had never sailed with the Norwegian Cruise Line so it was our opportunity to try out a line as well as just take a few days of pampering. What we had forgotten until we showed up in the embarkation line to check in was that it was spring break. We were surrounded by a flurry of 20 somethings, most obviously dressed for the pool to save time. Around us here and there were a few gray heads and a couple of families. We looked at each other, laughed and decided it could be an interesting couple of days.

We were impressed with how the ship's crew handled all the spring partying by setting up a buffet for the young people so they didn't have to leave the pool deck if they didn't want to. That kept the dining rooms less busy. There were still a lot of seats in the theater even if you got there just before the show started. Since we were up "early" and to bed "early" we didn't run into the partiers all that much. Someone wanting to camp out around the pool might have been disappointed but it didn't bother us as we're not sun and pool people.

What did happen was we had a good time, good food and were duly impressed with Norwegians service and handling of the Spring Break situation. Because of that we booked another cruise with them for this year.

Four and five day cruises don't interest us that much. We are avid cruisers and even a seven day stint doesn't seem long enough but it might just be what you are looking for if you want to try it out, not spend a lot and have to worry about whether you like it or not. Want to test the waters? Here's a link to a Cruise Critic post that lists several different short cruise options.