Are 3 day cruises more crowded than 7 days?

[flashy09]

Just trying to prepare for my upcoming 3 day cruise. Went on a 7 day in December on the Fantasy and our weather really wasn't very good. Saw almost zero sun and it was low 50's on sail away day - my kids were the only ones in bathing suits, let alone in the pool! In fact they often had the little pool to themselves and not many kids in the bigger one. Zero wait on Mickey Slide, mostly zero wait on Aqua Duck and at most wait a couple of minutes. It was just chilly a lot of the time. But I am also wondering how much has to do with 7 days vs 3 days. Obviously 3 is a lot more affordable and a lot easier to get away for. Plus this is over a weekend vs during the school/work week. I am a little nervous it's going to be packed! My kids don't want to get off at Castaway Cay so maybe that will help on the ship?

 

[scootch]

Most every ship sails at least 90 percent capacity, so wont' be more people. But less time to do the things like the slides, so lines will likely be longer on a 3 day.

 

[dcassetta]

I would be willing to bet it had more to do with the weather, then the length of cruise. I've been on longer cruises where every day was kid soup in the main pool.

 

[Shanti]

Just trying to prepare for my upcoming 3 day cruise. Went on a 7 day in December on the Fantasy and our weather really wasn't very good. Saw almost zero sun and it was low 50's on sail away day - my kids were the only ones in bathing suits, let alone in the pool! In fact they often had the little pool to themselves and not many kids in the bigger one. Zero wait on Mickey Slide, mostly zero wait on Aqua Duck and at most wait a couple of minutes. It was just chilly a lot of the time. But I am also wondering how much has to do with 7 days vs 3 days. Obviously 3 is a lot more affordable and a lot easier to get away for. Plus this is over a weekend vs during the school/work week. I am a little nervous it's going to be packed! My kids don't want to get off at Castaway Cay so maybe that will help on the ship?

We've sailed on both the Fantasy and the Dream, and saw no difference in the pool deck experience on either cruise. On both ships, the pools were kid soup, and the Aqua Duck lines could get very long. The difference you saw was clearly due to the weather.

The best times to be on the pool deck are:

1. Immediately after an early embarkation (have bathing suits in your shoulder bag, and swim/ride the Aqua Duck before lunch).
2. The morning of Castaway Cay. We liked the ship so much the morning of CC that we stayed on it until a little after noon, swimming, riding Aqua Duck, lounging sans crowds, and having lunch on the pool deck. (This probably wouldn't work in summer when afternoon rains are common, but it worked like a dream for us on a dry winter day, as we still had hours left to enjoy Castaway Cay afterwards. Since you don't plan to visit the island at all, no need to worry about weather.)

 

[undertheradar]

In our experience, the shorter cruises feel more crowded, as people rush to squeeze as many activities in as possible. On the longer cruises there is a more relaxed pace, as people realize that they have plenty of time to enjoy activities.

 

[Norma Cook]

We just arrived home from our Cruise on the Dream. Our trip before that was on the Magic. We felt the Dream was a lot more crowded and therefor not as enjoyable as the Magic. Maybe consider a smaller ship for less people. It felt like we had more time to do things on the Magic. Lines no where near as long for characters or slide. Also, Magic has bigger pool.

 

[mmmears]

I agree with the 2 posters above me. I felt like the 2 short cruises had a more frenzied feeling (still had a good time though) since people were rushing to check items off their list and only had a couple of days to do so.

The 7 night felt much calmer and more relaxing.

Also the Dream felt much more crowded than the Wonder even though he Wonder cruises were sold out.

 

[Jkpark]

My 2 seven night cruises had better weather and were completely sold out. My 3 night cruise had cooler weather, even rainy one day, it wasn't completely sold out - but it felt more rushed/crowded. The pools, hot tub, Aquaduck was always crowded (during dinner times, show times, Nassau day). I think people want to get everything in a shorter amount of time. The seating at shows/movies was harder, most activities, it felt very crowded - but still so fun!

 

[professorandmom]

I believe the number of passengers also depends on the time of the year...sailings in the summer are generally closer to sold out as compared with when school is in session/hurricane season. I traveled on a 5 night Magic in early December of '14 ($500 for 5 nights, seriously) that was mostly empty (although they had offered extraordinary discounts to park employees so the ship was filled with smiling CMs - hard to win trivia or Magic Quest but really fun)