Short cruises from Norfolk: 3-day, weekend and 5-night trips

The shortest cruise from Norfolk is a 5-night trip, and most short trips are 6 nights, Sunday to Saturday. This guide answers the 3-day and weekend questions first, then shows what the 5-night and 6-night trips look like day by day and how they fit a week off work. The table at the end lists every sailing shorter than a week, with today's fares.

Are there 3-day cruises from Norfolk?

No. The shortest cruise from Norfolk on our schedule is 5 nights, and it has no 2-, 3- or 4-night trip. CruiseTimetables' list of Norfolk departures, which runs to 31 March 2029, has nothing shorter than 4 nights either, and its one 4-night date is a Carnival Sunshine departure on 6 May 2027 that Cruisebound does not sell.

We have no ports, fare or booking for that 4-night date, so it is not on our schedule. Visit Norfolk's cruise schedule also lists Carnival Sunshine on 6 May 2027, the morning her 5-night Bermuda trip comes back. If that date suits you, ask Carnival whether it is sold.

What Norfolk has instead are the 5-night and 6-night trips below.

Are there weekend cruises from Norfolk?

No cruise from Norfolk starts and ends inside one weekend. What Norfolk has is trips that leave at the weekend: nearly all the 6-night trips leave on a Sunday, and nearly all the 8-night trips on a Saturday. Our weekend cruises page lists every sailing that leaves on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

A few dates break the pattern. The 5-night Bahamas trip of 10 May 2027 leaves on a Monday, and so does the 6-night trip of 27 December 2027, which comes back on Sunday 2 January 2028. Carnival Sunshine's 6-night trip of 12 December 2026 runs Saturday to Friday.

What are the 5-day cruises from Norfolk?

Carnival Sunshine's 5-night trips of 1 May and 10 May 2027, the only trips on our schedule shorter than 6 nights. Cruisebound's catalogue calls them "5 Day Bermuda" and "5 Day Bahamas", and the number counts nights: the Bermuda trip leaves on Saturday 1 May and is back on Thursday 6 May.

These were the itineraries Cruisebound showed on 3 November 2026:

	Bermuda, 1 May 2027	Bahamas, 10 May 2027
Day 1	Saturday, leaves Norfolk at 4:00 PM	Monday, leaves Norfolk at 4:00 PM
Day 2	Sunday, at sea	Tuesday, at sea
Day 3	Monday, Bermuda from 10:00 AM	Wednesday, Celebration Key, 12:00 PM to 7:00 PM
Day 4	Tuesday, Bermuda until 4:00 PM	Thursday, Bimini, 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Day 5	Wednesday, at sea	Friday, at sea
Day 6	Thursday, back in Norfolk at 8:00 AM	Saturday, back in Norfolk at 8:00 AM

The Bermuda trip gives you about 30 hours docked in Bermuda, overnight, by our arithmetic from those times. Both trips have two days at sea.

On 3 November 2026 the lowest 5-night fare was $639 per person, or $128 a night. When we checked on 3 November 2026, both 5-night trips cost more per night than most 6-night trips, and more in total than the cheapest 6-night ones. The cheap and last-minute guide compares fares by length.

What does a 6-night cruise from Norfolk look like?

It usually leaves Norfolk on a Sunday afternoon, spends two or three days at sea, and is back on Saturday at 8:00 AM. Bahamas trips call at two or three islands, always including Celebration Key on our schedule. Bermuda trips spend two days docked in Bermuda, overnight, with three days at sea. Our schedule has 42 6-night trips.

Three real weeks, from Cruisebound's itineraries on 3 November 2026:

	Carnival Sunshine, Bahamas, 3 January 2027	Carnival Freedom, Bahamas, 16 January 2028	Carnival Freedom, Bermuda, 26 September 2027
Sunday	Leaves Norfolk at 4:00 PM	Leaves Norfolk at 4:00 PM	Leaves Norfolk at 4:00 PM
Monday	At sea	At sea	At sea
Tuesday	Nassau, 1:00 PM to 9:00 PM	At sea	At sea
Wednesday	Princess Cays, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM	Half Moon Cay, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM	Bermuda from 10:00 AM
Thursday	Celebration Key, 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM	Celebration Key, 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM	Bermuda until 4:00 PM
Friday	At sea	At sea	At sea
Saturday	Back in Norfolk at 8:00 AM	Back in Norfolk at 8:00 AM	Back in Norfolk at 8:00 AM

The difference between the two Bahamas weeks is the ship. Carnival Sunshine's 6-night Bahamas trips call at three islands with two sea days. Carnival Freedom's from November 2027 on call at two, with three sea days, on the itineraries we read. Freedom's first Bahamas trips, in May and June 2027, call at three, like Sunshine's.

For packing, Carnival suggests no more than two bags per person on cruises of 6 days or longer and one on cruises of 3 to 5 days. It says cruises of 6 days or longer have two Cruise Elegant evenings in the main dining rooms.

Which 6-night cruises from Norfolk go to the Bahamas?

Our schedule lists 26 6-night Bahamas trips, from 6 December 2026 to 4 June 2028, on Carnival Sunshine until spring 2027 and Carnival Freedom after that. They run from late fall to early summer. On 3 November 2026 the lowest fare was $441 per person, or $74 a night.

Every one stops at Celebration Key, which Carnival lists among its private destinations. The other stops vary by date: Nassau, Half Moon Cay, Bimini or Princess Cays. When we checked on 3 November 2026, the January and February trips had the lowest fares of any 6-night trip from Norfolk. The Bahamas guide compares the ports, and the Bahamas page lists every date.

Which 6-night cruises from Norfolk go to Bermuda?

Our schedule lists 16 6-night Bermuda trips, from 11 April 2027 to 22 October 2028. All but the first, Carnival Sunshine's of 11 April 2027, are on Carnival Freedom. On 3 November 2026 the lowest fare was $621 per person, or $104 a night.

On most of Carnival Freedom's trips the ship docks in Bermuda from 10:00 AM on the fourth day until 4:00 PM on the fifth. That is about 30 hours, by our arithmetic from Cruisebound's itineraries. Carnival Sunshine's trip of 11 April 2027 arrives later, at 1:30 PM. When we checked on 3 November 2026, the September and October Bermuda trips had the lowest fares and the summer trips the highest. The Bermuda guide has more.

How does a short cruise from Norfolk fit a week off work?

A 6-night trip uses five weekdays, Monday to Friday, by our count. You leave on Sunday afternoon and are back at 8:00 AM on Saturday. The 8-night trips use the same five weekdays plus both weekends, because they leave on Saturday and come back on the Sunday a week later.

Leaves	Back	Weekdays away, by our count	Trips
Sunday, 4:00 PM	Saturday, 8:00 AM	5, Monday to Friday	6-night Bahamas and Bermuda
Saturday, 4:00 PM	Thursday, 8:00 AM	4, Monday to Thursday	5-night Bermuda, 1 May 2027
Monday, 4:00 PM	Saturday, 8:00 AM	5, Monday to Friday	5-night Bahamas, 10 May 2027
Saturday, 4:00 PM	Sunday, 8:00 AM, eight days later	5, Monday to Friday	8-night Eastern Caribbean and Canada

Most sailings leave at 4:00 PM, by Cruisebound's itineraries, and your boarding pass gives the final boarding time for yours. If you are flying in on the day, the Norfolk Airport guide and the hotels guide help with timing.

Is a short cruise from Norfolk cheaper per night than a longer one?

Not when we checked. On 3 November 2026 the lowest fare per night on an 8-night trip was below the lowest on a 6-night trip, and the 5-night trips were the dearest per night. The gap between 6 and 8 nights was small, and an 8-night trip still costs more in total.

These were the lowest fares on 3 November 2026, per person, for the cheapest cabin listed, with taxes and port fees included:

Length	Sailings	Lowest fare	Lowest per night
5 nights	2	$639	$128
6 nights	42	$441	$74
8 nights	44	$567	$71

Each figure is the lowest at that length, so they come from different ships and months. Fares change daily, and the cheap cruises page has the current order.

What if you can take more than a week for a cruise from Norfolk?

Then the 8-night trips open up the Eastern Caribbean and Canada. The Eastern Caribbean trips call at Grand Turk and Amber Cove with Half Moon Cay or San Juan, and the Canada trips, in late summer and fall, call at Halifax and Sydney in Nova Scotia. Our schedule has 44 of them, listed on the 8-night page.

The Caribbean guide and the Canada guide compare those trips, and the season guide shows what leaves in each month.