Cruise to Nowhere

A cruise to nowhere sounds strange, mysterious, out of the ordinary and yes, very tempting. A cruise to nowhere is most often a short trip on a cruise ship that leaves port but doesn't actually travel to any other ports-of-call, and then the ship turns around at some point and brings you back to the same port you originally left from. Though it doesn't stop at any other ports, on some ships you will get to do just a bit of sightseeing. However, it will be only from a viewing standpoint, from on board the ship and usually at quite a distance.

The nowhere cruises are used to keep the cruise ships busy between the longer cruises they normally take, as well as when cruises have to be repositioned, or moved, from either a time period that was disrupted by something like a hurricane, mechanical failure of the ship, military upheaval in a country to which the cruise was scheduled to visit or any number of other problems that might cause a change in departure dates or in the length of the trip.

Sometimes the cruise to nowhere is offered by a cruise line expressly to introduce a new ship in their line to the public. Often the greater portion of the people taking the cruises are seasoned travelers, and want to see the benefits of the new ship before they commit to a long cruise on it, though some of those on shipboard are taking the short cruises as a way of testing to see whether a cruise is something they would like and can also tolerate. Some people just are not seafarers no matter how much they would like to be!

There are a lot of great reasons to take a cruise to nowhere. They make an ideal location to have any kind of larger event, such as family reunions or corporate meetings, and smaller events like birthday celebrations or even second honeymoons can be enjoyed there, as well. They are really easy to afford because of the short duration of the trip, and if you live in a port city, and leave from your home there isn't any airfare to have to worry about, either. A cruise to nowhere can leave from any port, any cruise line and any time. They are best as surprise trips! The only drawback to the cruises is that they generally can't be booked too far in advance, so planning them is a little difficult.

As far as entertainment and amenities go, they are the same as what is offered on the longer cruises. Spa services, dancing, great meals, swimming, gambling, socializing with new people and having fun with the ones you already know; it's all there.

There are lots of cruise lines that offer cruises to nowhere. The best way to book them is to do it online either through the cruise line itself, or through a travel agency. Some of the cruise lines offer nowhere trips out of many cities and countries, but here we will concentrate on just a few of the more well-known companies sailing from the United States' Pacific coast area for comparison's sake, and these prices are per person. The Princess Cruise Lines and Holland America both offer weekday one-day basic trips for $59.00. Norwegian Cruise Lines offers the same one-day trip for $69.00. Weekend one-day trips cost a little more, on the Princess Line it costs $74.00 and on Holland America it's $79.00.

Depending upon the port that you depart from, the day of the week and how many days your trip includes; all of these can make the cost of the cruise to nowhere go up. It's still very reasonable when compared to other kinds of short-duration vacation trips. When the cost of a hotel, car, gasoline, possibly air fare, meals, as well as any sort of other entertainment are tallied, the cost of the nowhere cruise is even more enticing. The only places you positively can't take a cruise to nowhere from are the places that have no ships departing from their ports. Other than that limitation, there are really no limitations. Check with your favorite travel service to check out the cruise to nowhere!