2 or 3 night mini cruise from UK port?

[Monr0e]

My DM will be 70 next year. She has always wanted to go on a cruise but has no one to go with and would dearly love to give one a try. She absolutely will not go on her own.

Due to work and dc's and numerous other reasons I can't go for a full week but would be able to go for 3 nights with her . But I'm feeling very overwhelmed trying to find anything. Ideally we could go early September next year, and for no more than 3 nights. Can anyone recommend where to begin looking or have experience of going on a mini cruise? Any tips or tricks for booking and who with?
Thank you very much for any help 🛳

Fred Olsen cruises may be the answer.
The average guest age is 67, they go from UK ports (Southampton, Liverpool, Rossythe I think & Newcastle)
Its a lovely atmosphere, staff are delightful, there’s gentle activities and the food is varied & very good.
Sometimes they have “repositioning” cruises for a couple of nights eg from Southampton to Liverpool. Take a look on their website.

There are short cruises from Southampton, including a cruise which stays at sea for 2 nights.

www.pocruises.com

www.royalcaribbean.com (click on the British Union Flag icon at the top of the page for the UK 🇬🇧 site)

www.cruisekings.co.uk

https://travel.saga.co.uk

As pp said Fred Olsen might be good. We've done a couple of P&O ones & I've loved them.
Although I have heard the 2 or 3 nights are more like party cruises - lots of stag & hen dos.....so wouldn't fancy that.
But maybe a more expensive cruise line like Fred Olsen will be ok.

Look on an agency site like Iglu, both p&o and Cunard run taster cruises out of Southampton but they are squeezed in between longer itineraries so you do need to be a bit flexible. MSc do too usually

Fred Olsen or Ambience would be a good option for this. They do some short cruises. Use an agent like Need That Cruise that specialises in cruises. Avoid MSC for this as their short cruises tend to be party sailings.

We did a 2 night to Bruges a few years back, were a lot of companies on board with sales staff as a treat, up side was they were being generous with drinks (they had little bars set up for their staff but topped up anyone’s)

Britanny ferries do one from either Portsmouth or Plymouth to Santander. It's really a sea cruise as it only stays in Santander a few hours.

In summer you do see a few dolphins too.

Beware the ‘booze cruise’ crowd on some of the short cruises. I’d look for a Cunard cruise. Saw one recently advertised in June which was just out and back along the south coast.

P&O do a couple of 3 and 4 night options from Southampton.

That one has a reputation for stag and hen nights, general partying and the ships aren't as big as the main cruise lines to get away from it all. The Bay of Biscay can be rough too.

Short cruises aren't great. They tend to have a lot of hen and stag parties on and have a more party vibe no matter what cruiseline you go with.

My sister just went on a Cunard cruise for 3/4 nights from Southampton to Belgium and the Netherlands. She'd never been on a cruise before and didn't want to be stuck on a ship for weeks if she hated it! She said that it was actually a very nice, grown-up clientele, with quite a glamorous feel to the ship in general. The food and cabins looked really nicely done as well.

Completely agree. Did a short MSC cruise a couple of years ago and the behaviour was feral. Definitely pick a higher priced company for a short cruise to hopefully weed out those who just want to drink themselves into oblivion.

It is absolutely not like that out of summer. It's general age is 50s and many people are driving.

There is usually an Orca presentation, quiz and music which is usually a duet. There is another bar which is more sedate with piano music.

I've been 5 tines and never seen pissed ip stags or hens.

During the next day there is yoga and kids crafts.

Everything closes at 11pm and thereafter you only see people on deck having a late night cigarette.

Excellent staff too.

P&O Ventura 1st September from Southampton for 4 nights is the closest one to your spec I’ve found.

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate the tips

Ive looked at Fred olsen but can only see either 1 night or 5?

Will check out the other recommendations too, thank you

A group of ladies I know used to go on mini cruises, and yes it’s called repositioning or similar

Have a look at company called Passion for Cruises.

They specialise in cruises for solo travellers and on Facebook you can see if there’s a local group where people get together face to face, or they have side groups for people going in a specific cruise so you can chat online beforehand .

They also have some cruises they call ‘hosted’ where a member of their staff travels on a specific cruise and is there to help organise get together onboard and in excursions.

Im in my 60s and gone on a few cruises with them now and have always found other solos to join with when I wanted company.

I’m currently on a cruise with Fred Olsen, very handy as can sail from UK ports. This cruise there’s quite a few younger people, kids, teens, young adults but often is geared towards older people. It’s very nice though, great food and great staff. It’s been very rocky though - 5-6 days of rough to very rough seas. I came as my mum wanted to come, but think next year i’ll be holidaying on dry land! Pretty sure Fred Olsen do a few short cruises, definitely seen 5 days but they may do shorter ones too.

Tagging on to this thread - does anyone know if you can do these really short cruises in the Mediterranean? I like the idea of a taster cruise but somewhere the weather would be a bit warmer and encompassing somewhere I would actually like to go to.

Definitely support this recommendation. I'm booked for a pre-Xmas Chruise from Southampton with them (Rouen and Antwerp, so 6 days) and have been on several previous ones. Lovely company, great guests (natch), very English vibe on the ships, despite being a Norwegian company.)

Not sure if it's useful but I've sailed from Southampton arriving both by train AND driving and parking with ABP. Parking's so much better - right next to the ship, easy to book online, nicer than faffing with wheelie suitcases, taxis, unreliable trains, etc. I just accept the extra cost. Enjoy yourselves.

I don’t know anything about this cruise 🚢 line but if Essex is convenient for people to get to, then they offer

www.ambassadorcruiseline.com

sailings from Tilbury port (London) - similar I guess in the manner of ‘London’Stansted airport, ‘London’ Luton airport, so is therefore not a particularly close distance from central London.

Their website also states that they also sail from:

Portsmouth
Bristol
Liverpool
Newcastle
Dundee, Scotland

Their prices seem attractive though, but I haven’t a clue what their target market is.

They are aimed at older passengers. The ships are adult only for the majority of the year with a couple of multi-generational cruises in the summer. They are older no frills ships but probably ideal for what the Op wants.

Just realised in my recommended I put ambience rather than ambassador! (Ambience is one of the ships rather than the cruise line!)

Thank you! The ambassador one looks like it has lots of options, including 2 and 3 nights which would be perfect.