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b2b question


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Hi everyone,

 

We are looking at booking our 2nd Disney cruise. I'm indecisive whether we should do the eastern on the Fantasy in august or the b2b Bahamian cruise (3+4 days). The price is about 500$ spread (b2b being more pricey). My question is this, do you know if you get a discount when you book a b2b because you are booking 2 cruises? silly question, but am just wondering. and also, for anyone who's done a b2b, what was your experience?

 

TIA

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There's no discount for booking a B2B - from Disney's perspective, you just happen to be taking 2 consecutive cruises.

 

We've done 2 B2B cruises - once 2 5n (Wonder), and once 2 7n (Fantasy). We really enjoyed the experiences! We enjoyed the repeated menus as we got to try different things. Both times we saw all the shows the first time around, and skipped most of them the second time around - no fear of missing anything since we'd already seen it! We only made sure to see the guest entertainers if they changed. We kept our stateroom and our dining team both times, and having that continuity was great. The kids club staff really got to know my daughter, and it made the experience extra-special for her. We got double the stateroom gifts, double the DVC gifts and opportunities for OBC at the members meet, and double the trips to Castaway Cay.

 

The downsides? No one else in our cruise meets was on both trips - so all our first friends left and we had to start over again on the second trip. DD had the same problem - she'd get comfortable with one group of friends in the club and have to start over again. For us, this was a minor down-side. Switch-over day was okay - you are off the ship for a couple of hours. We managed to get some laundry done.

 

All this being said - I would personally book a 7 night itinerary over a B2B that adds up to 7 nights. The experience is different - the sea days, the different ports, the extra meals and shows. If you've never done a 7 night, I'd highly recommend going that route at least once! We've been on 4 Easterns and enjoyed every one of them!

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We have done several different B2B cruises. One was a 4/3 Caribbean. The others were things like a trans-Atlantic + first Med or 2 different Med cruises.

 

The reason we did the 4/3 was that we couldn't get to PC for a Saturday departure, but could get there for Sunday. The downside to the 4/3 is a repeat of everything--menus, ports, shows, etc. Yes, it gives you the option to see the shows one time and do something different the second time However, on a 7 night cruise you will have a different menu each night, more entertainment, more on board activities, etc.

 

There were advantages of the 4/3. We got a phone call toward the end of the first leg asking if we had any dining preferences for the second leg. They specifically asked if we wanted Palo reservations, the same or different dining team, etc. Obviously, we knew the crew. And we enjoyed the morning with only ourselves and one other guest on board for a few hours. However, I would strongly suggest a 7 night over a 4/3 B2B.

 

Other issues--the ports are better on a 7 night than on a 4/3..other than having 2 stops at Castaway. And if you are looking at the Dream vs. Fantasy, the Fantasy has some enhancements that are not currently on the Dream. That might change after the Dream dry dock, but is accurate at this moment.

 

No, there is no discount for a B2B. You are just doing 2 cruises. You will pay off 2 onboard accounts, etc. The one thing that CAN carry over is that if you purchase a photo package (not the CD), you can talk to the Shutters people. They do have a history of allowing people to combine photos from the first cruise into a package purchased on the second leg.

Edited by moki'smommy
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You sort of answered your own question--you are seeing $500 less for a 7 night cruise than a 3/4. So, you could view that as a $500 discount.

 

That, combined with better ports, more entertainment, more menus, etc. would make it a "no brainer" for me. I'd do the 7 night cruise.

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Did a 4/3 on the Dream before the Fantasy was out. Never again. Short cruises b2b are not for us (we felt that you lost so much of the transfer day to the changeover from one cruise to the other).

 

On other lines when I did a B2B, they sent a fruit basket, a bottle of champagne, staff were just fantastic.

 

On DCL, we weren't given the same servers or the same table; there was no recognition that we were doing a b2b, disembarkation and re-embarkation was disorganized (which may not be the norm but it was our experience), and our service wasn't very good on the second cruise.

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The changeover day on each of our B2Bs has been different, and reports from friends are different still. This depends in part on how many families are doing B2B and what port is involved and the government regulations. What has been consistent is that you get a letter in your cabin on the last full day giving you the details of the process for the next morning.

 

Our 4/3 was one of the worst. Because we had to change cabins, we were told to call GS about 9 when our luggage was packed and we were ready to leave the ship--they would send someone to get our luggage and store it until our new cabin was ready. The problem with that was that GS is very busy on the last day and no one answered the phone for over 20 minutes. We finally took our own luggage to GS...and stood off to the side of the LONG line. Finally a suit came out and I pulled an "Excuse me, sir" which got immediate assistance.

 

On other B2Bs the we have been told to leave our packed luggage inside the stateroom on the last morning and the hosts have made the transfer happen. Of course, the best thing is to try to keep the same cabin. The 4/3 was a screw up by a TA that I'll never use again.

 

In PC, you have to get off the ship, go thru Customs, up the stairs or elevator and back into the terminal. As soon as the computer has changed over, a CM will check you in and issue new KTTW cards. You can then re-board the ship before the terminal opens to newbies. HOW you get off the ship varies--if there is a group, you are met in a lounge by a CM and escorted thru the process. With only 2 cabins involved, we were on our own.

 

In other ports, we've encountered everything from not needing to leave the ship--we just picked up new KTTW cards at GS--to being required to get off and not allowed to re-board; being required to wait in the terminal for hours. (of course, Barcelona has never been my favorite port). In Dover, B2Bs were given stickers like those used for excursions. Guests got off and were intermixed with waiting "newbies," but we were able to board an hour or two before the ship opened to those without the stickers.

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On DCL, we weren't given the same servers or the same table; there was no recognition that we were doing a b2b, disembarkation and re-embarkation was disorganized (which may not be the norm but it was our experience), and our service wasn't very good on the second cruise.

 

Wow, completely different from our experience. We were asked by our head server on the last night if we wanted to have the same servers (we did). Our room attendant knew that we were staying on. Even our favourite bartenders knew that we were staying and took good care of us when we reboarded for the second leg (Cove Café). We got a letter telling us when to disembark, went right back up after going through customs and they checked us back in again really quickly and put us into the Concierge lounge in the terminal. Chatted with some of the CMs in the terminal for a while - it was really quiet. Eventually two other families joined us and then we reboarded at 10:30. We were only off for about an hour or so.

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Wow, completely different from our experience. We were asked by our head server on the last night if we wanted to have the same servers (we did). Our room attendant knew that we were staying on. Even our favourite bartenders knew that we were staying and took good care of us when we reboarded for the second leg (Cove Café). We got a letter telling us when to disembark, went right back up after going through customs and they checked us back in again really quickly and put us into the Concierge lounge in the terminal. Chatted with some of the CMs in the terminal for a while - it was really quiet. Eventually two other families joined us and then we reboarded at 10:30. We were only off for about an hour or so.

 

There was a number of families who did the B2B the same time as us (Halloween 2011). We received a letter telling us we had to be off the ship by 9am. We went through customs and back into the terminal. We had to wait to be checked back in. Once checked back in, no one told us to wait in the concierge area (though some families were, some were not). We didn't get to board until 11:30 and they started Concierge boarding right after us.

 

Our room attendant knew we were doing the B2B but that was the only person. Our servers didn't know we were doing a B2B and actually we were assigned different servers and different tables on the second cruise (but in the same general area of the dining room).

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