For people who are looking to take a cruise on a long weekend, the most popular cruise in the world is the 3-night voyage to the Bahamas.  And the most popular departure port for these cruises is Miami, from where they are sailing two or three times every week, year-round.

Those of us in the United States sometimes forget how close many of the popular island cruise destinations are to the ports of Florida.  It’s pretty cool that you can sail out of Miami, hit Nassau and maybe another Bahamian port, and still get back to Miami in three days.  These kinds of short cruises are perfect for first-timers who want to try a cruise at minimal time and expense.

The ships used to make these short trips don’t fall into what we’d call the “Super Mega Ship” category, but instead the merely “Really Big” with capacities in the 2,400-2,700 passenger range.  Cruises are offered on a regular basis by Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line and Carnival, with a few more by Disney, MSC and Celebrity.

All of the 3-night Bahamas voyages include a stop in Nassau.  Royal Caribbean and Norwegian also add a stop at their respective private island.  Royal Caribbean’s is called CocoCay (formerly known as Little Stirrup Cay) and Norwegian owns Great Stirrup Cay.  As you may have guessed by their former names, they’re right next to each other, a couple of hours north of Nassau.

If you’d rather prefer starting your cruise a little farther north – and closer to Orlando and Disney World – you’ll also find a large number of 3-night cruises to the Bahamas departing from Port Canaveral.  Again you’ll find Carnival and Royal Caribbean making the trip a couple of times a week – and from here they’re joined by the “home team”: Disney Cruise Line.  Disney’s Dream is the largest, newest ship making the short trips to the Bahamas – 4,000 passengers on a ship that’s only 3 years old.