3-day cruises are also known as the "cruise fix" or the "I need a cruise.” In other words, if you love cruising like we do at iCruise, the purpose of a 3-day cruise is to get you on a ship when it has just been too long since the last time. But, you also need to understand that short cruises have a different feel from longer ones. Expect a more casual atmosphere and more people staying up late than the usual week-long cruise.

But there are also advantages. The first is price; iCruise has a 2-night cruise for just $149 (per person) right now and a 3-night cruise for $224 (per person). Most 3-day cruises sail over weekends so you only need a minimum of time off of work.

The typical 3-day cruise leaves port about 5:00 pm Friday and returns to the same spot as early as 7:00 am Monday morning. Assuming you pack the night before, you can leave work just a few hours early and still arrive at the ship in plenty of time for check-in. If you pack your work clothes, you can even make it back to your office before the first coffee break.

Most ships that offer 3-day weekend cruises alternate them with 4-day cruises that sail from Monday night to Friday morning. But here is the rub with 4-night cruises; they require a full work week of vacation time so you might as well take a 7-day cruise. However, because of that one drawback they tend to be pretty inexpensive; about the same price as a 3-day cruise.

What Else is Different About 3-Day Cruises?

The main things you should know about 3-day cruises are:

• Many of them are offered on older ships, as cruise lines prefer to use their newest ships on the best, weeklong itineraries. But in recent years as so many new ships have come online you can find very nice ships, such as the Celebrity Summit, on 3-day cruises.
• Generally, younger people of working age take 3-day cruises because they cost less and they sail over weekends.
• They tend to be among the most "wild" cruises because they are populated with weekenders looking to pack in as much fun as possible in a short period of time.

3-Day Cruise Requirements

Even 3-day cruises are required to visit a foreign port before the ship can return to the United States according to laws applicable to most cruise lines. So you have the same document requirements as longer cruises.

Obviously, there are a limited number of foreign ports close enough to offer 3-day cruises on a regular basis. Year-round, the most popular east-coast cruises sail from Miami or Fort Lauderdale to the Bahamas, most to Nassau or Freeport.

On the West Coast, all of the 3-day cruises sail to Ensenada in Mexico, a mere 50 miles south of the border. The ships may leave from San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara or Long Beach, California.

All of the cruises just mentioned are far enough south that the weather is nice year-round. The temperatures vary the most on the West Coast. In December, the temperature in San Diego and Ensenada can be in the 60s or even the 50s. During the summer, it can get as hot as the high 90s.

On the East Coast, in Florida, the climate has less variation. Look for winter temperatures in the 70s and summer days in the 80s. The humidity is much greater on the East Coast as well, all year round, but worst during the summer.

Other 3-Day Cruises

On the East Coast you will find shorter cruises out of New York City. If you can get away for a 5-day cruise then there are many cruise options to Bermuda.

Finally, don’t forget that you can also take a 3 or 4-day cruise in Asia, South America or Europe.

For a full list of 3-day cruises, visit our booking page today!

About Paul Motter, Cruise & Travel Writer

<p>Paul Motter took his first cruise in 1983, when he was lucky enough to get hired by Royal Viking Line, a small but very influential cruise line still credited with inventing all-inclusive luxury cruises. At the time less than one million Americans had ever sailed on a cruise. For the year 2017 the projected number of cruise passengers is over 25-million people.</p><p>Paul's first cruise included sailing ten straight days at sea from San Francisco to Bora Bora, and he had no idea that was unusual. In the next year he sailed to destinations all the way from Tahiti to the North Cape of Norway. In later years Paul also worked aboard Norwegian Cruise Line's S.S. Norway and aboard three Holland America Line ships.</p><p>In 1999 Paul started the web site CruiseMates.com, the first professional cruise review site on the Internet, with well-known AOL cruise reviewer Anne Campbell as his partner. Paul served as the CEO of CruiseMates until 2007 when he became the editor-in-chief, the role he maintained until 2016. Paul has cruised on every popular cruise line in the U.S. His favorite ships include the Royal Caribbean Oasis-class, Carnival's Vista-class, Norwegian Cruise Line's Breakaway class, Celebrity's Solstice class, Oceania, Crystal, or any cruise on Princess or Holland America. His favorite river cruise experiences include the Nile in Egypt and a 10-day Russian River on Viking River Cruises.</p><p>His favorite memories as a cruise reporter include seeing Queen Elizabeth, Princess Kate and Camilla (all separately) commission the three Cunard ships now in service.</p><p>Paul has written about cruising for Women's Day, The San Francisco Chronicle, Boston Herald, Sherman's Travel, FoxNews.com and CruiseMates.</p>