These 2 cruises are some of the cheapest sailing in 2023 at only $27 a day — but passengers will have to spend 11 days at sea

You won't need credit card hacks or last-minute holiday sales to go on an unbelievably cheap $27-a-day vacation in 2023.

But you will need a pair of sea legs and a way to keep yourself busy for days at a time.

MSC Cruises has two 20-night transatlantic sailings for $27.45 a day before fees and taxes, making these itineraries some of the cheapest cruise options available.

Source: MSC Cruises, MSC Cruises, Cruise Sheet 

Just be prepared to spend up to five days at sea with no land in sight.

On November 13, MSC Musica will embark on a 20-night sailing from Genoa, Italy to Montevideo, Uruguay for $549 per person for an interior stateroom.

Source: MSC Cruises

The ship will take off from the coastal Italian city and head straight to six destinations in France, Spain, and Portugal with only two sailing days in-between.

But after this, travelers will need to prepare for almost a week at sea with no stops.

At the end of day nine, the MSC Musica will begin sailing nonstop from Las Palmas in Spain's Canary Islands before docking in Salvador, Brazil on day 16.

From Salvador and the ship's next stop in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, travelers will then sail for yet another two days before the trip concludes in Montevideo, Uruguay on day 21.

In total, the 964-foot-long Musica and its passengers will be at sea with no ports of calls for a total of 11 days, about half of the sailing.

Source: MSC Cruises

There's also the option to join this itinerary on its second day in Barcelona, Spain to end a day later in Buenos Aires, Argentina. But this later start and end date will still include the 11 days at sea.

To help pass the time, the up to 3,013 passengers aboard the Musica can spend an afternoon in one of its nine bars and lounges …

Source: MSC Cruises

… four restaurants …

… or two outdoor pool areas.

There's also a waterfall and a see-through piano, although these alone likely won't entertain travelers for 11 days at sea.

But don't expect high-tech entertaining amenities. This isn't MSC's most modern ship: The Musica was launched in 2006, although it was refurbished in 2016.

Source: US News Travel

MSC Opera's 21-day itinerary will have slightly less days at sea than the Musica's sailing despite being the same price.

The ship's 20-night sailing will embark on October 29 from Genoa, Italy.

Source: MSC Cruises

From Genoa, the ship will sail to Siracusa, Italy, three destinations in Greece, five stops in Egypt, and a day in both Saudi Arabia and Oman before the sailing concludes in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Between Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and Muscat, Oman, the ship will be at sea for four days straight.

And in total, the MSC Opera will spend eight of the 21 days at sea.

But don't expect a full day of excursions at all of the ports of calls.

Of the five stops in Egypt, two — Suez Canal North and South — will only be docked for 30 minutes.

And similar to the MSC Musica, the MSC Opera is old: The 19-year-old ship was last renovated in 2015.

Source: US News Travel

But this older age doesn't mean the 902-foot-long ship will be a total bore.

The vessel has six bars and lounges, four restaurants ...

… multiple pools, and a small children's water playground.

With that being said, the Opera and Musica aren't going to be as contemporary or exciting as the modern mega cruise ships filled with water slides and zip lines.

But for $27.45 a night, this price can't be beat.

Long-haul transatlantic cruises are known for having some of the cheapest cruise itineraries.

These cross-ocean sailings are only convenient for travelers who can sail for weeks at a time.

And there are almost always several days at sea with no ports of call, which could make for either a meditative or boring vacation depending on the traveler.

But as inflation has kicked up and the cost of travel has skyrocketed, more travelers — especially millennials — have begun turning to these more affordable transatlantic sailings.

"You typically see almost no young people on these [transatlantic] cruises," Tynan Smith, the founder of cheap cruise aggregator Cruise Sheet, told Insider in late 2022.

But on his last two-week long-haul sailing, he saw plenty of younger faces: "I've never seen so many young people on cruises as I have this year."