Would you turn a repo into a b-2-b?

[KAYEF]

I'm doing one of my favorite repos in Sept.............when the ships leave AK and head back to the Caribbean.

Thinking of adding the last cruise out of AK to our repo (Infinity)......was going to WAIT until closer to Sept. but I see a good deal now and the ship seems very booked (I'm amazed) already.

We have a balcony on the 16 day and my SIL says she'd take an inside for this portion; we're always out and about anyhow. I know a LOT of people say you have to have a B in AK but if it's raining up there I also know how soaked I've been...........and that we really couldn't enjoy our balcony. I go to AK almost every year.;)

Your opinion please..............it's our first time on Celebrity.......we are HAL people but Infinity followed us port to port last year and we've decided to try her...............surely have heard GOOD things about this line on CC.

Thanks:D

[jwattle]

We're doing B2B on Equinox; Ultimate Caribbean, then Transatlantic over to the Mediterranean:)

[c-legs]

Hi,

We're doing something very similar to you this September: B2B on MERCURY Vancouver-ultimate Alaska -SanFransisco to SanDiego ( 12 days)....and staying on for the full panama transit to Baltimore ( another 17 days). Imagine....unpacking once in 29 days !!!! DW loves that !!

Re; your query on balconies and the Alaska run.....if you can swing it, go for a balcony !! Even while ''at sea'' ( which up there means you're still in full sight of fabulous land scenery, most of the time ), it's a defenite '' value added'' expense to have a balcony. For the Panama transit, it's perhaps less of a must.....but think of the ''unpacking once '' advantage in having the same stateroom all the way Seattle-Alaska-Seattle-Panama-FortLauderdale!!!!

We did a ''ultimate Alaska''on Infinity Sept '08, 14 days from Vancouver and ending up in SanFransisco....Fantastic !!!! We also did a full Transit of the Panama canal Dec'06 on Mercury: great cruise !! Those were our ''two best out of three'' in our cruising travelogue ( oddly, we're repeating the same, all in one, this september....)

INFINITY is still one of the grand dames of the fleet;you'll love it.

Enjoy

Smooth Sailing

Cheers

[Cruise Junky]

We did it last year, loved it! highly recommend.

[AAAAmerican]

KAYEF,

 

Maam a B @ B is awesome that you want to do.

 

HAL is (( IMHO ))still quite a few steps ahead of Celebrity..but yes Celebrity, does now have to do things better which the new admin as they thought they didn't a few mere years ago:eek: Penny Wise and pound Foolish ..ehh..

 

On A Balcony yes in Ak, YT and/or BC on ships is nice to see things in a different perspective. The area is one of the wettest places on earth..

 

On the full canal transit that's one day which they are great to see the close walls in each lock and hear the howlers..

 

In the Bermudian Islands ( Somers Isles ) going through the CUT on High Tide is not even that close...

 

May youall have a great cruise and fair seas to thee! ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm doing one of my favorite repos in Sept.............when the ships leave AK and head back to the Caribbean.

Thinking of adding the last cruise out of AK to our repo (Infinity)......was going to WAIT until closer to Sept. but I see a good deal now and the ship seems very booked (I'm amazed) already.

We have a balcony on the 16 day and my SIL says she'd take an inside for this portion; we're always out and about anyhow. I know a LOT of people say you have to have a B in AK but if it's raining up there I also know how soaked I've been...........and that we really couldn't enjoy our balcony. I go to AK almost every year.;)

Your opinion please..............it's our first time on Celebrity.......we are HAL people but Infinity followed us port to port last year and we've decided to try her...............surely have heard GOOD things about this line on CC.

Thanks:D

[Nancyquilts]

If the price is right, go for it. When desperate for a good price, we take insides, tho' I must admit I prefer a balcony.

[KAYEF]

WOW! I've already had lots of fun replies on here......THANKS:p........we DO have a balcony for the 16 day part (Canal) but can't get that balcony, so we will have to move our "stuff" no matter what.

 

I hope Celebrity is wonderful; I've read good things........but, someone above says HAL is better...........hummmmmmmm. It's all up to what you make it, though...........a positive attitude makes travel so much more wonderful.

 

It's just that, with changine lines, there will be many things done differently and we will have to learn new ropes.:rolleyes:

[smtcan]

WOW! I've already had lots of fun replies on here......THANKS:p........we DO have a balcony for the 16 day part (Canal) but can't get that balcony, so we will have to move our "stuff" no matter what.

 

I hope Celebrity is wonderful; I've read good things........but, someone above says HAL is better...........hummmmmmmm. It's all up to what you make it, though...........a positive attitude makes travel so much more wonderful.

 

It's just that, with changine lines, there will be many things done differently and we will have to learn new ropes.:rolleyes:

 

Celebrity and HAL are our favourite lines, but we give a slight edge to Celebrity. We did a B to B on Solstice last Fall - Greek Islands and TA. We had to change cabins because like you we booked then added the second leg later. We had a balcony first and went with an inside for the TA. However, about six weeks out there was a great deal on balconies so we upgraded and were glad we did. We are just back from Mercury where we had an inside again and I didn't miss a balcony, just spent less time in the cabin. Any cruise is great - a balcony is a bonus!

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I'm doing one of my favorite repos in Sept.............when the ships leave AK and head back to the Caribbean.

Thinking of adding the last cruise out of AK to our repo (Infinity)......was going to WAIT until closer to Sept. but I see a good deal now and the ship seems very booked (I'm amazed) already.

We have a balcony on the 16 day and my SIL says she'd take an inside for this portion; we're always out and about anyhow. I know a LOT of people say you have to have a B in AK but if it's raining up there I also know how soaked I've been...........and that we really couldn't enjoy our balcony. I go to AK almost every year.;)

Your opinion please..............it's our first time on Celebrity.......we are HAL people but Infinity followed us port to port last year and we've decided to try her...............surely have heard GOOD things about this line on CC.

Thanks:D

 

I'd turn anything into a B2B if I had the time and the money! What's not to like about being at sea that long?

[BrendaJ]

We've never done without a balcony since Celebrity upgraded us to our first (from an inside, no less) but I like the balcony mostly for the opportunity to get some fresh air in the cabin and go outside first thing to see what the weather is like and take a first look at where we are.

 

However, I have to say, on any itinerary, I've seldom spent much time on my balcony looking at the scenery for one reason - no matter how great the view is from the balcony, I'm always wondering what the view is like on the other side of the ship. We've gone to Europe, Alaska, South America, the Panama canal, Hawaii, etc. and I always prefer to do my sightseeing from somewhere that I can get to the other side of the ship.

 

If the weather is bad, I find the outside area on deck 4 or 5 (can't remember which) to be a great spot to view the sights without getting wet. You have go inside and cross the ship width to see the view on the other side but that's really not a big deal. That area of the ship even has lounge chairs to sit on, and it really seldom seems that anyone is out there.

 

If price is at all a consideration, I don't think I'd worry about not having a balcony for one leg of your cruise - there are plenty of public areas to see the scenery, and it might be nice to spend that money on excursions instead.

 

Just my opinion . . .

[cruie4ever]

B2B cruises are wonderful & a stern balcony will give you views of both sides of the ship .sunrises & sunsets off a stern balcony are awesome as well . It is the way to go if you can afford the cost.

[sammamishcruiser]

WOW! I've already had lots of fun replies on here......THANKS:p........we DO have a balcony for the 16 day part (Canal) but can't get that balcony, so we will have to move our "stuff" no matter what.

 

I hope Celebrity is wonderful; I've read good things........but, someone above says HAL is better...........hummmmmmmm. It's all up to what you make it, though...........a positive attitude makes travel so much more wonderful.

 

It's just that, with changine lines, there will be many things done differently and we will have to learn new ropes.:rolleyes:

 

We did the repo cruise last year on the Infinity (16 days thru the canal) had a fantastic time. you will love the Infinity! If I could have done the b2b, I sure would have, but dh could not get the extra time off from work:(. I say - GO FOR IT! and DO try to get a balcony, if you can swing it, Alaska is beautiful and you don't want to miss anything. BTW, we have cruised to Alaska twice, both times at the end of September (06 and 08) and the weather was beautiful. very little rain at all.

 

Happy cruising

Melody:D

[zebra36]

Since you asked: No. Personally I have enough of cruising after 10-12 days. If you are up to it why not.

[Orator]

Will make my Eclipse TA next year a B2B with 4 day Cork cruise. I have the time and want to see a bit of Ireland. Only one airfare needed, that's a plus!

[hajekfam]

We did a back to back Med and Trans 2 years ago - 28 nights on the ship. It was the best cruise we have taken. We did a precruise stay in Venice and a post cruise stay in FL so we were gone for 6 weeks. Hubby did bring his laptop and we did pay for an internet package so that he could keep up with the bills while we were gone. The only thing that got me off the ship in FL after the 28 nights aboard was that we were going to visit our granddaughters in Ft. Myers before going home.

Actually the backing up the Med cruise with a transatlantic was ideal - after the Med cruise with long days spent in port nearly every day, the transatlantic was a wonderful way to rest up and relax.

[KAYEF]

Actually the backing up the Med cruise with a transatlantic was ideal - after the Med cruise with long days spent in port nearly every day, the transatlantic was a wonderful way to rest up and relax.

 

When we did a TA from Barcelona to Galveston we had MANY people onboard who were coming home from other cruises or travels in Europe via ship................said it was cheaper than flying.................and WHAT a way to end a trip..............lots of relaxing sea days..left Brcelona on Nov. 1st and it was SMOOTH all the way. I was amazed.:p

[May B]

I think some folks feel like HAL has always been "the leader" in Alaska.

 

One big difference you may notice is the fabulous lack of announcements over the intercom, on Celebrity. If I wanted to know when bingo was started, I'd check the schedule! That having been said, I'm not 100% sure you'll hear any outdoor lectures, from your Celebrity balcony, and you certainly want to hear the naturalists in Alaska. Actually, do they both use the same type of experts for that? Somebody else can answer that.

 

I couldn't imagine being in Alaska without my balcony, but I certainly would not hesitate to run out to go someplace (deck 4 with the overhang and the deck chairs, but don't expect the nice wooden flooring) to see the other side's view. I like deck 11 for being outdoors, and then up front is so fabulous -- even up to deck 12.

 

Have a wonderful trip!

[shipshape sam]

I'm doing one of my favorite repos in Sept.............when the ships leave AK and head back to the Caribbean.

Thinking of adding the last cruise out of AK to our repo (Infinity)......was going to WAIT until closer to Sept. but I see a good deal now and the ship seems very booked (I'm amazed) already.

We have a balcony on the 16 day and my SIL says she'd take an inside for this portion; we're always out and about anyhow. I know a LOT of people say you have to have a B in AK but if it's raining up there I also know how soaked I've been...........and that we really couldn't enjoy our balcony. I go to AK almost every year.;)

Your opinion please..............it's our first time on Celebrity.......we are HAL people but Infinity followed us port to port last year and we've decided to try her...............surely have heard GOOD things about this line on CC.

Thanks:D

 

A cruise B 2 B I would love to do would be sailing from Ft Lauderdale, FL through Panama Canal on the repositioning sailing and then stay on for the first Alaska sailing.

[tuggers]

Turning any cruise into a b2b is a good thing! A b2b2b is even better!:D

[bobbyleduck]

Yes! In fact, my next cruise is a B2B repositioning cruise. It is the best deal on the high seas.

 

Happy cruising to all!

 

Bob