Just wondering if I’m hallucinating. Looking to book a cruise for next year or 2025 and it seems that a lot of cruises have added sea days and taken away ports. Is it just me? Another cost saver for them? Let me know if you have noticed the same.
Contributor Level:
Second Mate
Is it me or…….?
8 Answers
Contributor Level:
Second Mate
The ships keep getting bigger, with more activities, so they become the destination.
Contributor Level:
Purser
Interesting observation, I've not noticed it in Europe. Generally, not sure about where you are but in Europe, cruises are often part of package holidays where the operator flies you out as well to board the ship. When flight delays hit, like the big ones in the UK on Monday, they use the flex they have in sea days to make sure they can get as many people on board as possible without cancelling the cruise.
I did a P&O cruise on Iona back in May, that had three sea days in a 7 day cruise, I've just come back from another one and it had two in 14 days, so I think it's just dependent on many factors like capacity at ports, positioning of crew changes etc.
Contributor Level:
Cruise Director
Enjoy sea days, as long as the weather holds, and doing our "ship within a ship" thing......and we don't bother getting off the ship much anymore...plenty to do, and why exert ourselves and/or pay for things that are free onboard...besides, with 3/4 of the passengers gone, amazing how pleasant it is onboard on port days.
Contributor Level:
Cruise Director
Would rather have more sea days than beach days. All ports now the cruise lines pushes beaches. I live 6 miles from a beach in Galveston and 20 miles from a beach in surfside texas annd a couple of hours drive to south padre island texas and the beaches of corpus christi texas. SOOOO we stay on the ship as beaches on a cruise means nothing to us. We look for non carnival excursions like motorcycle sight seeing,eating in different cities near the ports, mayan ruins, non beach stuff.
Contributor Level:
Cruise Director
Doesn't bother me in the least. I know that there's more than enough to keep me occupied on ships.
I booked a 8-day in March 2025. Pre-pandemic, i can clearly remember 8-day cruises having 5-6 port days. Mine has 3, bookended by 2 sea days each.
Im not upset by it. any time on a ship, is time away from the stress of work, and my home's 9 months of winter, and 3 months of bad sledding.
Contributor Level:
Admiral
It's not just you! But like JohnGold said, we'll just keep looking for something that fits. Good luck!
I am in the same boat " pun intended".
I have been looking for a Feb 2024 get-a-way. I have found the pricing a little high and the services, in some cases, somewhat lacking. However, the search goes on and we will find the right mix for us. While I personally enjoy the sea days, I do want to explore some of the more remote excursions. We will see what happens.