TESTING THE WATERS : SHORT CRUISE GETAWAYS MAY WHET APPETITES FOR LONGER VOYAGES.

Byline: Carol Bidwell Daily News Staff Writer

In a few days, it'll be Friday afternoon again. You could battle the freeway traffic and head home for another weekend of backyard barbecues, lawn mowing, laundry and grocery shopping.

Or, you could throw a swimsuit and some shorts into a bag, slip on your sunglasses and your vacation attitude, and stroll up the gangplank of a cruise liner. Destination: the high seas, for three or four days of sun and swimming and sleeping late and shows and gourmet meals.

Now, tell me, is it hard to choose between those two scenarios?

Not for a growing number of people, say cruise industry professionals. More than 1.6 million people took two- to five-day cruises in 1994, nearly four times more than in 1980, according to the Cruise Lines International Association.

``It's the fastest-growing segment of the cruise market,'' said Bernadette Harding, CLIA spokeswoman.

More people are opting for short cruises as a weekend getaway.

``People want to go away and forget about the world,'' said Jill Oren, spokeswoman for Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, whose Viking Serenade specializes in short Los Angeles-to-Mexico cruises. ``They disappear midday Friday and are back at work Monday morning and they feel like they've been on a real vacation. It's incredibly relaxing.''

On the East Coast, short cruises generally head to the Caribbean. On the West Coast, the most popular destination is Mexico, but two cruise lines also offer Northern California inland river cruises.

Royal Caribbean pioneered short cruises, first offering them in the Caribbean less than a decade ago, said Oren.

``It was an instant success,'' she said. ``The short-cruise market exploded after that.''

Passenger demand now has prompted several cruise lines to focus on the short-term cruise market, said Bea Rosen, a North Hollywood travel consultant who's both sailed on and booked others on getaway cruises.

``Short cruises are absolutely wonderful,'' Rosen said. ``And it's a good value for the money. If you go to a bed-and-breakfast, that's expensive, plus you've got to find something to do. If you can spend $100 to $150 a day on a cruise, you've got your meals and your activities and shows, too - and going to a show on land can be incredibly expensive. People love it.''

Today's cruise passengers simply don't have tme for traditional cruises, said Jennifer de la Cruz, spokeswoman for Carnival Cruises, which in 1995 began offering short cruises from Los Angeles to Mexico.

``People are opting for shorter, more frequent vacations because they just can't get time away from work,'' de la Cruz said. ``Long weekends are getting more popular.''

Money can also be a factor, said Gordon Thorne, spokesman for Alaska Sightseeing, which offers cruises of the Sacramento Delta and river cruises of the Napa and Sonoma valleys.

``A lot of people will take a short cruise because it doesn't cost an arm and a leg,'' Thorne said. ``Longer cruises are definitely more expensive.''

But not everybody is looking for a cheap weekend, said Todd McCormack, spokesman for Seabourn Cruise Lines, which offers luxury getaways. The line's cruises in the San Francisco Bay area and up and down the California coast can cost nearly $1,000 a day; most cruises cost $100 to $150 a day. Despite the high cost, its San Francisco cruises sell out nearly as soon as they are offered.

``We really try to cater to personal service,'' he said. ``We're really talking about a cruise experience. To spend $2,000 for three days is a lot of money. We want people to come aboard and see if cruising's for them before they commit to a longer cruise.''

``You get a taste of places and you know whether you want to go back there,'' she said. ``In the Caribbean, for instance, you can try out five ports and plan a land vacation next time.''

Carnival Cruise Lines is so sure its passengers will like their cruise experience that it promises a refund to people who buy a cruise and quickly discover it is not for them. The refund plan applies to U.S. mainland departures aboard Carnival's 10 vessels between Aug. 8 and Nov. 22.

(Customers who want to invoke the offer must tell the purser's office of their dissatisfaction before the ship reaches its first port of call. The line will fly the customer back from the first foreign port of call to the port of embarkation. A pro-rata refund of the cruise fare for the days remaining will be sent by check within 30 days, the line said. So far, no one has taken them up on the offer, officials said.)

Rather than being disappointed in their cruise experience, many want to go again, de la Cruz said.

``We find that a lot of people who take three- or four-day cruises will come back and take a seven-day cruise next time,'' she said. ``The short trip's just enough to whet their appetite.''

Short cruises might have suffered a bit of a setback recently when several hundred people aboard Carnival's Jubilee became ill with flulike symptoms on a getaway cruise to Ensenada. But health officials said they believe the illness was an air-borne virus, possibly carried on board by a passenger, and did not believe the ship or crew were to blame. Lab tests are pending. Since then, all ship surfaces were washed down with disinfectant, and there have been no further outbreaks of illness on the ship.

Travelers contemplating a cruise of any length should investigate various cruise lines before booking a trip, travel professionals say.

``If you end up on the wrong cruise line, you're going to be real unhappy,'' de la Cruz said.

Some cruise ships tend to be casual, others more formal; some ships cater to specific age groups, single people, couples or families with children.

Carnival's vessels, billed as ``the fun ships,'' have the reputation of being party boats with nonstop fun and music, while the other cruise lines that offer West Coast sailings are geared toward a less party-hearty, more sophisticated passenger, travel professionals said. Seabourn probably has the oldest and most sedate cruisers, industry representives said.

Alaska Sightseeing spokesman Gordon Thorne said the line's passengers - most of them ``energetic seniors'' who range in age from 40 to 80 - come back again and again for the line's up-close wildlife cruises along California's rivers.

``We tend to attract an older, more experienced cruise audience,'' Thorne said. ``They've been around the block. They've laid around the pool and done the disco thing when they were younger. Now they're older, more interested in wildlife than night life.''

Martin said cruisers who can spend an extra day aboard can often get good deals.

``Three-day cruises are more popular than four-day ones,'' she said. ``So the ships are less full for four-day cruises and you can sometimes do the same cruise for four days for the price of a three-day cruise if you check your cruise lines.''

On Location Alaska Sightseeing offers a variety of short cruises, all departing from San Francisco. Air/sail packages are available for an additional $140 from Los Angeles. Three- and four-night sails through wine country waterways aboard the 84-passenger Spirit of Discovery, stopping at Sonoma, Sacramento and the Napa Valley. Cost starts at $449 per person for three-night cruises, $599 for four-night sails; both are double occupancy rates. A San Francisco stopover can be arranged with hotels starting at $115 per night, double occupancy. Fall departures for five-day, four-night cruises are scheduled Sept. 30, Oct. 7, 14, 21 and 28, and Nov. 4, 11 and 18; departures for four-day, three-night cruises are Sept. 27, Oct. 4, 11, 18 and 25; and Nov. 1, 8, 15 and 22. Information: [phone].

Carnival Cruise Lines offers three- and four-day Mexico cruises year-round (this year; next year's short cruises run January through June) aboard the 1,452-passenger Holiday. Three-day cruises depart Los Angeles every Friday, heading efor Ensenada; four-day cruises leave Los Angeles every Monday, stopping at Catalina Island before going on to Ensenada. Fly/sail packages start at $649 for three-day cruises, and $749 for four-day cruises; both are double-occupancy rates. Those rates drop $150 for Los Angeles-area passengers who don't used the combined fly/sail packages. Early booking discounts are offered that can total $500 to $600 per stateroom. Information: [phone].

Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines offers three- and four-night cruises year-round aboard the 1,512-passenger Viking Serenade departing from Los Angeles. Three-night cruises sail every Friday for Ensenada; four-night cruises leave every Monday, calling at Catalina Island and Ensenada. Fly/sail packages begin at $599 for the three-night cruises and $629 for the four-night sails; both are double-occupancy rates. Those rates are $150 cheaper for Los Angeles-area passengers who don't use the combined fly/sail packages. Up to 30 percent discounts are offered for early bookings. Information: [phone].

Seabourn Cruise Lines offers three-day cruises this year in August and September in the San Francisco area aboard the 204-passenger Seabourn Pride. Bay-and-beyond cruises are scheduled Aug. 10-13 and Aug. 30-Sept. 2; costs start at $2,050, double occupancy, and include air fare from Los Angeles and one night's pre-cruise stay in a San Francisco hotel. Seabourn also offers a Sept. 2-7 cruise, departing from San Francisco and calling at Monterey, Santa Barbara and San Diego before arriving in Ensenada; costs start at $2,950, double occupancy, and include air fare to San Francisco and a night's pre-cruise hotel stay. In May 1997, the cruise line plans to add a Mexican cruise, departing from San Diego. Information: [phone].

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Drawing: (Color) No caption (Cruise ship)

Illustration by Jorge Irribarren/Daily News

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