Let's Book Your Cruise Blog

Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the “Weekend Run“

As I write this, I’m sitting in the Fort Lauderdale airport, waiting to fly home from my third weekend cruise in the last six weeks. Weekend cruises, usually Friday-Monday, are a staple of those who live in Florida and can easily drive to the port for a short getaway.

I live in North Carolina.

I hear the same things a lot from my frequent-cruiser friends. “Why would I go on a cruise just for the weekend?” “Three nights is too short!”

That’s fair! But sometimes, you just can’t work a full week or even a 4-5 night cruise into your schedule, due to work or other obligations. Weekend cruises can also be a more affordable option for those who may need a lower-priced vacation, because you’re paying less for everything that you purchase by the day: drink package, daily gratuities, etc. And weekend cruises have all of the same great things that longer cruises have — onboard parties, great food, port stops, etc.

If you decide to do a weekend cruise, I have a few suggestions, based on my experience these last few weeks.

Learn to pack light. I’ll talk more about this later, but I’ve really enjoyed the freedom of taking a small suitcase and a minimal amount of clothes and other “stuff” with me on weekend cruises. Plus, it’s best to carry on if you have to fly, so you don’t get separated from your bag.

Fly nonstop if you can. (Anticipate problems if you can’t.) If you’re flying to the port for a weekend cruise, you might want to spend a little extra $$ on your flight if it allows you to go directly to your destination. If you can’t fly nonstop, try to plan ahead for what might happen in a worst-case scenario. This includes not flying later in the day, if you can avoid it, and making sure your connecting city has plenty of other flight options to your port in case you miss your connection.

Don’t sweat the small stuff. (Try not to sweat anything.) So you forgot your favorite flip-flops? You bought that new dress off Amazon and you forgot to pack it? My advice is to just let it go. Weekend cruises aren’t stressful per se, but there are a lot of little things that can add up if you let them. It’s not always easy, I know — but try not to let them.

Buy travel insurance. I had some pretty dicey travel delays during my run of weekend cruises, many of which had me wondering if I was even going to make it to my cruise. In the back of my mind, though, I knew that I had an Allianz annual travel insurance policy, so I’d be able to make a claim for my nonrefundable travel costs if it turned out that I missed my cruise. (Email me if you’d like more information about how to buy one of these plans! I can send you an easy-to-purchase quote and I get paid a commission by Allianz at no cost to you.)

Here’s one final piece of advice that you’ll want to tailor to your own personal preferences. When you’re traveling for a short cruise, you might want to consider spending less on things like accommodations: for example, getting an interior cabin or a more basic pre-cruise hotel. This allows you to splurge things that level up your cruise experience — for instance, a specialty dining package or a spa treatment.

Alternately, you can use the short cruise experience as an opportunity to finally book that suite you’ve always wanted. While the per-day price is still high for these cabins, the shorter cruise means that you’ll have a lower ticket price.

You don’t have to pack a week into three days. Just relax, enjoy what you can, and let the rest go. That’s the magic of a weekend cruise — and I’d be happy to help you find the perfect one.