DarrylR85

I agree with everything you say overall. Short itineraries in March I would avoid. I also was once a kid on HAL, i was 10 on my first, and have been in love since.

I sailed March 11-18 last year out if FLL. Maybe 100 kids under 18 and well behaved. 100s of college age "kids" there on their own. This was a significant dynamic change in my experience compared to the New Years cruise with over 500 kids, and many young couples along with your more traditional over 65 crowd. Im Only 38....i will likely never cruise a short itinerary in March again. Think power drinking crowd, large groups out and about and loud well into the wee hours. In talking with people that did B2B cruises around those dates the week before and after were the same.

To be fair....I feel the same about the adults on cruises as well...

I have not been to New Zealand, I have done b2b cruises that I made seperate reservations months apart. By the time we boarded they had them linked together with no input on my part. How various ports handle B2B cruisers varies significantly. But you will receive notice in your stateroom a few days before the 1st cruise ends giving you instructions on how to proceed.

For conversation sake.....let's say 1000 people took advantage of the $1 deposit for an August 24 cruise at 5000/reservation with final payment due in February. That's $5,000,000. If 10% of customers decided the 100 obc is worth it to them.....that is half a million in liquid cash for the company.

This offer came our 3 weeks after they did there $1 deposit offer, I got the same 100 OBC offer for an August 24 cruise and like others have said it doesn't really make sense to pay early. My upcoming New Years cruise I booked on the same offer well over a year ago and I vaguely remember some offer in the email with incentives for paying early.