2 to 5 nights

Short cruises from Florida

2780 cruises of five nights or fewer leave Florida in the window we track. Nearly all of them go to the Bahamas, most leave from Miami or Port Canaveral, and the cheapest start around $139 per person.

The useful question is not whether to take a short cruise but which length. The costs that do not scale — flights or fuel, parking, the half-day you lose boarding and the half-day you lose disembarking — are identical on a two-night sailing and a five-night one. That is why the shortest cruise is the cheapest total and almost never the best value. Here is how the four lengths actually compare.

Schedule last updated 2026-10-19 · 2780 departures listed · Dates can change — verify with the cruise line before booking.

The four lengths compared

Short Florida cruises compared by count, price, value per night and destination
Length	Sailings	From	Per night	Mostly goes to	Mostly leaves from
2 nights	9	$279	$209	Bahamas	Port Canaveral, Miami
3 nights	837	$188	$153	Bahamas	Port Canaveral, Miami
4 nights	1213	$139	$119	Bahamas	Port Canaveral, Miami
5 nights	721	$179	$104	Bahamas	Port Canaveral, Tampa

Per-night figures are the median starting fare divided by nights, recorded 2026-10-19. The median across every Florida sailing, short or long, is $128 a night.

Which one should you book?

Cheapest total

A 3-night Bahamas run. Lowest sticker price of anything leaving Florida, and the standard Friday-to-Monday format.

3-day cruises →

Best value

5 nights sailings, at about $104 a night — the point where the fixed costs start spreading properly.

See them →

No leave needed

Thursday, Friday and Saturday departures of two to four nights — out after work, back for Monday.

Weekend cruises →

Actually a holiday

Five nights is the shortest that reaches the Western Caribbean or Mexico and still feels like a week away.

5-day cruises →

Short cruises by port

Compare ports

Miami 790 short sailings Port Canaveral 1051 short sailings Fort Lauderdale 519 short sailings Tampa 232 short sailings Jacksonville 188 short sailings

Got longer?

Six and seven nights is the standard Caribbean week and where most of Florida's bigger ships work. It is also, per night, usually better value than anything on this page.

6 and 7-day cruises from Florida →

Short cruises — questions

What counts as a short cruise?

Five nights or fewer. On this site that is 2780 sailings from Florida — two-, three-, four- and five-night itineraries, nearly all of them to the Bahamas or Mexico. Anything longer and you are into the six- and seven-night Caribbean loops, which are a different kind of trip.

Is a 3-night or a 4-night cruise better value?

On cost per night, 5-day cruises work out cheapest at about $104 a night, against a $128 median across the whole Florida calendar. But the fixed costs of a cruise — getting there, parking, the first and last day being half days at sea — are the same whatever the length, so a longer sailing almost always spreads them better. Three nights is the cheapest total; four or five is usually the better holiday.

Can you do a short cruise over a weekend without taking leave?

A three-night sailing leaving Friday afternoon and back Monday morning is the classic version, and there are enough of them from Miami and Port Canaveral to pick a date. Four-night sailings usually need one day off. See the weekend page for the ones that actually fit a Friday-to-Monday.

Where do short cruises from Florida go?

Bahamas, Eastern Caribbean, Western Caribbean, Other itineraries, and Mexico, but overwhelmingly the Bahamas — Nassau plus a private island is the standard short itinerary. Mexico appears on the Tampa short sailings because the Gulf coast is closer to Cozumel.