Jump to content

Back 2 back 2 back???


Ski Mom 2
 Share

Recommended Posts

We will be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary and my husband's 65th birthday in 2018. We have been on 2 Wind Star cruises and HAD narrowed it down to the Treasures of Southern Spain and Morocco in September. Our initial thought was fly in early to Lisbon, cruise, and rent a car for about 15 days and tour southern France to Nice.

 

My husband then found that Yachtsman's Harbors of the Rivera's was the next cruise and thought perhaps we should just put the 2 cruises together (which Wind Star has done in Star Collector: Iberian Coastal Charms. I like this idea; a little less stressful in finding places to stay, renting a car, etc. Plus, we can now stay longer in Rome at the end of the cruise and visit my Italian family.

 

Yesterday, my husband says to me, did you know we could add on Sicilian Splendors to make it a back 2 back 2 back? WOW!

 

In the beginning I thought the Treasures of Southern Spain and Morocco and the Sicilian Splendors sounded wonderful so now that he's thinking putting 3 together I'm so surprised that HE thought of this! But now the big question...can I really do what is basically 25 days on Wind Surf? We've never cruised more than a week at a time. We love the port intensive itineraries of Wind Star and all the ports sound fabulous of course. But really, 25 days at sea...I'm torn...it sounds fantastic but can I do it? Can my waistline handle it? LOL!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We were on Oceania for two 48 day cruises. We were so busy while in the fascinating ports, we welcomed a sea day to rest and store our energies. We didn't gain weight because we so busy in the ports so walked more, I guess.

 

You won't know til you try it....we love it!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We will be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary and my husband's 65th birthday in 2018. We have been on 2 Wind Star cruises and HAD narrowed it down to the Treasures of Southern Spain and Morocco in September. Our initial thought was fly in early to Lisbon, cruise, and rent a car for about 15 days and tour southern France to Nice.

 

My husband then found that Yachtsman's Harbors of the Rivera's was the next cruise and thought perhaps we should just put the 2 cruises together (which Wind Star has done in Star Collector: Iberian Coastal Charms. I like this idea; a little less stressful in finding places to stay, renting a car, etc. Plus, we can now stay longer in Rome at the end of the cruise and visit my Italian family.

 

Yesterday, my husband says to me, did you know we could add on Sicilian Splendors to make it a back 2 back 2 back? WOW!

 

In the beginning I thought the Treasures of Southern Spain and Morocco and the Sicilian Splendors sounded wonderful so now that he's thinking putting 3 together I'm so surprised that HE thought of this! But now the big question...can I really do what is basically 25 days on Wind Surf? We've never cruised more than a week at a time. We love the port intensive itineraries of Wind Star and all the ports sound fabulous of course. But really, 25 days at sea...I'm torn...it sounds fantastic but can I do it? Can my waistline handle it? LOL!

 

It sounds lovely to me. 8 days is the longest I've cruised. To celebrate retirement, I've booked a b2b for May - a 13 day ocean crossing (8+ sea days in a row) plus 14-day Alaska cruise so that's going to be 27 days. I did have to think about that because I've always done port intensive cruises, but I've been wanting to try an ocean crossing and it seems like a nice way to decompress after over 40 years of work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When my oldest daughter graduated from high school we celebrated as a family and traveled to Europe for a 2 week Mediterranean cruise. I don't remember the cruise line but it was one of the larger ships. Since we were traveling with our 3 teenage kids it worked out just fine for us. We loved the combination of the stops as well as the days at sea and two weeks did not seem like too much to us. I think that if we were on a nicer ship like the Windstar appears to be, 3 weeks would be very enjoyable. Does Windstar provide any kind of discount for booking 3 trips in a row? It seems like they might? Whatever you do it sounds like a wonderful vacation!! We're currently in Santorini and then getting on the Windstar sailing out of Athens this Saturday and finishing our trip in Rome. I'm so excited about the cruise that I'm having trouble just enjoying where I am now. Now that's ridiculous!! Hope you have a great time whatever you choose.

 

Sandy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you all for the replies! I'm still so fascinated that my husband thought of combining the cruises together!

 

I haven't called Wind Star yet but I would hope there would be some incentive to booking besides our 5% alumni discount. Technically it would really only be a back 2 back since the first two cruise are all ready combined but it was so much more fun to say back 2 back 2 back :) Their web site does say you get free laundry by booking the one combo cruise. I wonder if they would continue that on the last one? I don't know that we would get a beverage package (although we do typically have a bottle of wine with dinner) but maybe we could negotiate something there too.

 

Any other thoughts would be greatly appreciated! Oh, and have a grand time Sandy!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you all for the replies! I'm still so fascinated that my husband thought of combining the cruises together!

 

I haven't called Wind Star yet but I would hope there would be some incentive to booking besides our 5% alumni discount. Technically it would really only be a back 2 back since the first two cruise are all ready combined but it was so much more fun to say back 2 back 2 back :) Their web site does say you get free laundry by booking the one combo cruise. I wonder if they would continue that on the last one? I don't know that we would get a beverage package (although we do typically have a bottle of wine with dinner) but maybe we could negotiate something there too.

 

Any other thoughts would be greatly appreciated! Oh, and have a grand time Sandy!!

 

I checked when booking my b2b. Windstar doesn't have a b2b discount. However, if you choose b2b cruises that are bundled in a Star Collector cruise, the price for that is lower than the two individual cruises. The price on the one you chose is about 9% less than the sum of the two individual cruises (based on the lowest cabin price). There wasn't Star Collector with my 2 cruises.

 

I'd count your cruises as a b2b2b since the Star Collector just bundles two individual cruises so that should count as a b2b :).

 

I booked my Alaska cruise when it was on the 7 for 7 special. Then I checked each Thursday for the Japan and Northern Pacific cruise on 7 for 7. Two weeks later it was there and I added a booking for it. The cabin I already had was available so I get to stay in the same cabin for both voyages.

 

You could wait to book the third cruise and see if it goes on special. Or you could book now but continue to check and rely on Windstar's price assurance policy to get compensated if it goes on special.

 

The beverage package doesn't break even until you average about 5 drinks a day. It gives a 30% discount on bottles of wine. Probably doesn't break even if you usually have a bottle of wine with dinner but don't drink much else.

Edited by new_cruiser
added something about the beverage package.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The longest cruise we have done was fourteen days and we enjoyed it. Towards the end of the cruise I awoke one day and realized that being on the ship felt like my normal daily routine. I had completely forgotten all about home and work. That was a good feeling.

 

Go for it. What do you have to lose?

 

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

Edited by BBQ Lover
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you have the time and money to do it, why the hell wouldn't you?? Life is short, and is there any possible way to spend that time better? Plus, you're already there, so you don't have to pay the airfare separately for each cruise. If you don't go for it, I will be solely disappointed! YOLO!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you have the time and money to do it, why the hell wouldn't you?? Life is short, and is there any possible way to spend that time better? Plus, you're already there, so you don't have to pay the airfare separately for each cruise. If you don't go for it, I will be solely disappointed! YOLO!!!

 

I totally agree with this sentiment. You are lucky to have the means and to be in good health. i had a very dear family friend who waited far too long to retire, always promising his wife that they would travel to Europe when he was done working. Sadly she got sick and passed away. He made me promise that we would always live our life to the fullest and never delay plans. We are looking forward to hearing about your trip!

 

Sandy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks again to all my CC friends! It's been fun reading your thoughts about our trip. And believe me, we are very lucky we can make this dream vacation a reality! Now it's a matter of deciding when to book. I feel like WS is probably overwhelmed with the Caribbean itineraries and calls from folks close to their cruise date and I should wait to call.

 

For those of you who have done back2backs, did you book them together or separately? And have you had any luck with an upgrade at the time of boarding? And how does that upgrade work with B2B's?

 

Thanks for your help!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sounds like a wonderful trip. We have been on Windstar for 14 days quite a few times. Love it! In Europe you get plenty of exercise in the ports, so don't worry about the weight gain. We have done Sicilian Splendors twice,,,,on the Windsurf and Star Pride. It is a great itinerary. I did a blog on their site about that trip. We will be aboard Star Pride in another week doing the Islands of the Western Med.

Windstar is our favorite, and whatever trips you choose, you will love them. A great way to celebrate. Happy Anniversary!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For those of you who have done back2backs, did you book them together or separately? And have you had any luck with an upgrade at the time of boarding? And how does that upgrade work with B2B's?

 

As mentioned above, I booked my b2b's separately. I snapped up the Alaska Wonders sailing when it was on 7 for 7. I also wanted to take the prior Japan and North Pacific cruise but decided to wait to see if it would go on special. I figured that ocean crossings are usually far from full and booking wasn't urgent to get the category I or stateroom position that I wanted. The cruise was on 7 for 7 within a few weeks and I was able to book the same cabin.

 

I don't know how the Yacht Club complimentary on-board upgrade works with b2b cruises. That only allows a one-category upgrade so it's not that exciting unless one has booked something like the top category ocean view so that the next category is a suite on Wind Surf or a balcony on the motor yachts. I'd prefer to have my mid-ship S1 than one of the far forward S2 suites (especially for the ocean crossing where the sea may be more lively). Even for the S2 directly above my S1 I don't see any advantage in moving up a deck even if cruise ships charge more for higher decks. The cabins are exactly the same. Being able to stay in the same cabin across the two cruises is more of an advantage so I probably wouldn't take a complimentary upgrade unless it allowed that as well as having a good cabin position.

 

Now, if I could get an upgrade to a balcony, that might be worth moving between the two cruises for :). The room configuration is the same on Star Legend for the ocean view and balcony suites, but being able to open the sliding door for some fresh air is nice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks again to all my CC friends! It's been fun reading your thoughts about our trip. And believe me, we are very lucky we can make this dream vacation a reality! Now it's a matter of deciding when to book. I feel like WS is probably overwhelmed with the Caribbean itineraries and calls from folks close to their cruise date and I should wait to call.

 

For those of you who have done back2backs, did you book them together or separately? And have you had any luck with an upgrade at the time of boarding? And how does that upgrade work with B2B's?

 

Thanks for your help!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

We did a B2B on Windstar. We booked one leg and then a few months later booked the second. They called us a few weeks before we left and offered an upgrade to a cabin one category higher which we accepted. We were in the same cabin for both cruises. We would not have accepted the upgrade if it meant we had to change cabins.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Well...we did it! We booked our 25 day cruise starting out in Lisbon on September 9, 2018! Got the perfect cabin for the entire cruise, free laundry, OBC, and our alumni discount. Will co to use to watch for any price drops and spend the next few months dreaming about the possibilities [emoji6] Thank you all for your input. I'll keep you posted.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We did b2b on Windstar... Spanish Serenade and Glitter and Glam. Both cruises were good. Glitter and Glam was spectacular. We were not alone. We met a couple who were staying on for 4 b2b cruisers. Windstar handled the change between cruises seamlessly. The only thing that we had to do was attend the muster drill for each cruise. I am booked on a signature voyage in 2018 which is also being sold as 2 separate cruises. I love longer cruises. Since my spouse and I have retired, we look for longer cruises. Short cruises are nice when you have limited time and/or money. Once you spend for the plane fare, stay as long as you can. We also like to tack on days before and after the cruise. Whatever cruise or vacation you take, enjoy the voyage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Our plan is to fly in a few days early to Lisbon and then board for our cruise and possibly stay a few extra days in Rome. I'm not sure how long to stay in Rome; will we be ready to be home after 25+ days? We've been to Rome so we would just hang out and revisit our favorite places.

 

Cruise 1 is Treasures of Southern Spain and Morocco.

Cruise 2 is Yachtsman's Treasures of the Rivieras

Cruise 3 is Silician Splendors

 

WS actually put 1 & 2 together and 2 & 3 together in their Star Collections. It was cheaper to book cruise 1 as the single and then add 2 & 3 together called Star Collector: Autumn on the Riveras for the best price.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...