Back-To-Back Cruises

Hi:

Has anyone done a back-to-back cruise before? My DH/I are "thinking" of doing that next year for our 10th wedding anniversary. I found two RCI ships that we could on that has two different itineraries (one week in one part of the Caribbean and the next week in a different part of the Caribbean). Would RCI give us a good deal for doing this? We are platinum members and with the Crown & Anchor Society. Since we are going on a cruise next Friday, we plan on asking someone on the ship since I heard that if you book a cruise while you are on a cruise you get a good deal. Not sure how true that is but we are going to ask. In the meantime I'm doing my research on prices, etc. to bring with me.

Any information you could provide would be appreciated!

Thanks!

We did a back to back last year on Celebrity Century. First week was Western Carib and 2nd week was Eastern Carib. We did not get an additional discount it was considered 2 one week cruises, thought the price was very low already ( $525 for the 1st week and $575 p/p 2nd week). It was still less than than any of the 10,11, or 12 day cruises. We enjoyed it immensely. Many of the crew remembered us, we didn't have to get off after the 1st week, didn't change cabins ( sometimes you have to, but we booked earlier enough to get the same cabin), ate lunch in the dining room as people were boarding, and we really felt like we got to do everything the ship offered without constantly rushing around. I loved it and would love to do it again.

I think a back to back is great if the ship is going to two different itineraries. The shows and the menus on the ship will be the same both weeks. You can try to get the same cabin for both weeks so you dont have to pack up and move after the first week.

Booking while on the ship will give you 100-200 per week cabin credit depending onhow long the cruise is for.

We have done quite a few back-to-back cruises. Years ago we did our first back-to-back cruises on Cunard which was also our first cruises.

Since then we have done back-to-back cruises on Princess, NCL, and HAL.

We have done many BB's in the Caribbean and a couple of times in Alaska.

We've signed up for a back to back Nov 2005 with RCCL. East & West Caribbean. I did get a discount on the package only because of the flights and also got an upgraded cabin as they could not give me the same cabin on the 2 weeks at the grade I wanted. It should be good. I say go for it and I'm sure if you ask nicely they may throw in a little something for you.

Some lines will give you discounts if you book back to backs on the same ship, but not if you are doing two different ships on alternate weeks. I've done B2B's and there was a 40% reduction for the second cruise because it was on the same ship. By going on two ships, it's just like you're taking two separate vacations. See if there isn't a ship that does different itineraries every other week. I know Celebrity does that and other lines might as well.

Hi Everyone:

Thank you very much for your responses, it's greatly appreciated.

Right now we are looking at the following cruises for our 10th anniversary next year:

RCI ~ Explorer of the Seas (7 days)

7/17/05 - Belize City, Belize; Costa Maya, Mexico; Cozumel, Mexico; Georgetown, Grand Cayman

7/24/05 ~ San Juan, Puerto Rico; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; Charlotte Aamlie, St. Thomas; Nassau, Bahamas

OR

RCI ~ Mariner of the Seas (7 days)

7/17/05 ~ Labadee, Hispaniola; Ocho Rios, Jamaica; Georgetown, Grand Cayman; Cozumel, Mexico.

7/24/05 ~ Nassau, Bahamas; Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas; Philipsburg, St. Maarten.

We plan on staying on the same ship and hopefully the same cabin if possible. We are currently looking at an outside stateroom and maybe a balcony. All depends on what quotes we get and if we can do this from a financial point of view. We're also going to renew our vows as well so this is a very special vacation for DH/I. Just hope it will work out for us.

Thanks again for your input!

Trish, we are doing our first back to back next July also! :) We are going on the AOS, as we loved it so much this July. We are really looking forward to it. Have you given the AOS consideration? It does the two Southern routes Aruba then Barbados.

Hi

Thanks for your reponse.

I just checked the prices for the cruise on AOS and it's way too much money for us. :( Airfare from Newark is quite expensive. We have a budget for next year's vacation and so far I'm not having much luck. I'll definitely keep it in mind just in case there is a special. The itinerary is great so hopefully the prices will decrease.

Also checking out Voyager as well. I found a 9 day cruise out of NJ for the Caribbean and then a 6 day cruise to Bermuda on the same ship. This will exclude airfare so taht will help but the prices are high at this time.

Hope you have a wonderful time on your b2b cruise next year!

Thanks again!

I wouldn't mind doing 2 that go to the same places!!!

There are so many choices when you get to the ports anyway.

I think it would be nice to move to a dif room. Maybe a larger room the 2nd week.

Hey LetsParty,

My family and I are doing the same exact back to back cruises on the Mariner this summer that you're doing. We'll be there on 7/17/05 and the 7/24/05. Can't believe I found someone doing the same exact trip as us.

My Dh and I are doing a back to back on the new Carnival Valor, next month, Jan 30----Feb 6.....can't wait...we booked GT inside , so we are not sure if we can get the same cabin both weeks, if not, oh well, we will just move...I am just happy to be doing both, and they also have different itineraries...

my family and i are also going on mariner july 17. this is our first cruise.

When inquiring about b2b cruises for next fall, our TA was promptly told, by two cruise lines, the only bonus you get for b2b cruises is that you get to keep the same cabin!

Interestingly enough, this was to celebrate mine and DH 10th anniversary as well.

My finance and I are going to be planning a cruise in June of 2006 this will be our first cruise. We would like to go for 2 or 3 weeks since it is our honeymoon. My question is are B2B cruises better than doing one long cruise. We are having problems finding long cruises in June at least based on June of 2005 itineraries. Looking for some advice.

Thanks

Chief440, unless you go and do a more exotic cruise to Europe, you're not going to find many cruises that are longer than 7 days in June. Many ships are redeployed to Alaska or the Med for the summer, and the ones that are left in the Caribbean only do 7 day cruises. If you want longer cruises, you'll have to do back to back, and as most have already written, most cruise lines don't really give much of a price break for doing two separate cruises.

We did a back to back itinery in the Med one year on the Serenade of the seas. it was great! We did different ports and got to stay in the same room. Another plus was that there were others on board who did the smae thing and therefore they sat us together for dinner. We made some interesting friends and had a fab. two weeks!

we will be doing back to back on 2 different ships later this year. why 2 different ships? because we want to know which ship is better. our first one will be carnival victory and second one will be explorer of the seas. we will walk over from victory to explorer. for us, the ship is the destination and so we want to experience different ships. next year, we will try princess and may be ncl or holland american. i have read many great comments about princess. we want to try as many different ships as we could.

happy cruising.