B2B Question

[CALMOM]

I have a silly question, so excuse me. I wanted to know what the benefit of doing a B2B other then, you have double the days, you can return to the port you originally left from (1st leg) but the cost is basically double.

 

I would love to have double the days, but couldn't afford double the price, unfortunately. Thanks in advance for sharing.

[Plant]

There are no "silly" questions! You're right, the main advantage is not having to get off the ship and sailing for 14 days instead of 7. There's no advantage (that I know of) as far as the price :(.

 

We enjoy B2B's because we live in the middle of the country and we feel that if we're going to pay big bucks to fly, we might as well cruise for two weeks :)!

 

You'll also get credit for two cruises in the Captain's Circle.

[Coral]

To spend more time in ports.

 

Since we live far from port and air prices seems seem to be high right now, we like to have longer vacations than 7 days. For example - I love to do a B2B in Alaska (Vancouver to Whittier to Vancouver) because I love the ports. Plus, in Alaska, the hope for having a good day in port is better if you double your chances. I say this after taking my first Alaskan cruise and having it rainy and foggy the entire time that I didn't see anything.

 

We are doing a B2B at Christmas and repeating ports. The main reason is that we really don't relax on 7 night cruises anymore when we have all the hassles with air, etc...

 

Many of the B2Bs I have done don't repeat the ports. Especially when you combine a repositioning cruise with another cruise.

[Coral]

We enjoy B2B's because we live in the middle of the country and we feel that if we're going to pay big bucks to fly, we might as well cruise for two weeks :)!

.

 

This is my main issue also. Making the most of the $$$$ we pay for air! I am envious of those who live near big airports and can fly across the country for $200. I can't think of the last time I paid less than $500 pp for air.

[paul929207]

There may be a slight savings for a b2b, but there is little difference. The benefits are of course more days on the ship. In some cases, you can take a b2b that is 2 one-way cruises that return to the original port. A good example is the Princess cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Manaus. A one-way air ticket from Manaus back to the US is not much cheaper than the return cruise.

[rdsqrl]

I'm eagerly looking forward to doing my first B2B and one of the reasons I want to do one is not only the thrill of having a longer cruise but also getting to enjoy the schadenfreude of watching people preparing to disembark and end their vacation while mine is only half over. Does that sound too mean?!

Seriously, my interest in one is to combine two different itineraries to make one long, interesting cruise. I'd like to do the two 10-day Caribbean itineraries as a back-to-back, or combine the Eastern and Western Caribbean 7-day itineraries. I'm right now looking at the Rome-Venice and Venice-Rome Med sailings on the Star, which although it hits many of the same ports in both directions, does have enough different ones to make it worthwhile, plus the duplication of some of the smaller ports will serve the function of a "sea" day in these very port-intensive itineraries. Plus two nights in Venice and no need to deal with the confusion/complications of a Venice dis-/embarkation.

So them's my thoughts. . .

[Va_Cruizer]

As I still work for a living, any cruise day beats a day in the office.

I tried to get Princess to discount two Panama canal trips B2B but they wouldn't do it. I still want to do that one but it looks like it may have to wait till 2012:rolleyes:

[Colo Cruiser]

Staying on the same ship.

[Go-Bucks!]

I'm eagerly looking forward to doing my first B2B and one of the reasons I want to do one is not only the thrill of having a longer cruise but also getting to enjoy the schadenfreude of watching people preparing to disembark and end their vacation while mine is only half over. Does that sound too mean?!

 

Seriously, my interest in one is to combine two different itineraries to make one long, interesting cruise. I'd like to do the two 10-day Caribbean itineraries as a back-to-back, or combine the Eastern and Western Caribbean 7-day itineraries. I'm right now looking at the Rome-Venice and Venice-Rome Med sailings on the Star, which although it hits many of the same ports in both directions, does have enough different ones to make it worthwhile, plus the duplication of some of the smaller ports will serve the function of a "sea" day in these very port-intensive itineraries. Plus two nights in Venice and no need to deal with the confusion/complications of a Venice dis-/embarkation.

 

So them's my thoughts. . .

 

 

And even if you go to the same port twice, you don't have to rush to try and see it all in one day and/or you can take a couple different excursions on those 2 days. Kinda of like the advantage of a land vacation where you get more time in one place to see it in more depth.

[Toto2Kansas]

Many ships alternate their itineary, those are great B2B's where you don't just go to the same ports twice but to a mostly new set of islands.

 

For us, some of the more exotic itinerarys with long flights involved, it is best to do a B2B and get the most of it instead of having a very long and expensive flight for just one leg of the cruise. Some of these the flights can be over 50% of what a balcony cabin costs for one cruise, so we find it a much better bargain.

 

The one thing I don't really like about some B2B's is that the menus repeat and so does most of the entertainment.

[CALMOM]

To spend more time in ports.

 

Since we live far from port and air prices seems seem to be high right now, we like to have longer vacations than 7 days. For example - I love to do a B2B in Alaska (Vancouver to Whittier to Vancouver) because I love the ports. Plus, in Alaska, the hope for having a good day in port is better if you double your chances. I say this after taking my first Alaskan cruise and having it rainy and foggy the entire time that I didn't see anything.

 

We are doing a B2B at Christmas and repeating ports. The main reason is that we really don't relax on 7 night cruises anymore when we have all the hassles with air, etc...

 

Many of the B2Bs I have done don't repeat the ports. Especially when you combine a repositioning cruise with another cruise.

 

I so agree, especially Alaska. It seems like both times we cruised to Alaska, we were doing excursions for 90% of the time we were in port, that we didn't get to even walk around and enjoy the town, at a nice slow pace. We also tend to do the same type of excursion because we enjoyed it so much before. I find that 7 days in Alaska is just too short and no time to relax even the At Sea Days, because your in the Glacier Bays and you don't want to miss any of that either.

 

I would love to do a B2B for Alaska, I just love Alaska. I guess I'll have to start saving twice as much.

 

Thank you for your opinion.

[rdsqrl]

And even if you go to the same port twice, you don't have to rush to try and see it all in one day and/or you can take a couple different excursions on those 2 days. Kinda of like the advantage of a land vacation where you get more time in one place to see it in more depth.

Excellent point.

For this particular pair, two visits to Naples will provide time to do the Amalfi Drive, Pompeii, and Herculaneum without shorting any of them. And some ports that may seem like they don't offer much at first glance might turn out to be really interesting with the extra time to dig a little deeper.

[CALMOM]

Many ships alternate their itineary, those are great B2B's where you don't just go to the same ports twice but to a mostly new set of islands.

 

For us, some of the more exotic itinerarys with long flights involved, it is best to do a B2B and get the most of it instead of having a very long and expensive flight for just one leg of the cruise. Some of these the flights can be over 50% of what a balcony cabin costs for one cruise, so we find it a much better bargain.

 

The one thing I don't really like about some B2B's is that the menus repeat and so does most of the entertainment.

 

That would be great to go to different ports on the B2B, sounds wonderful to me and double the benefit. As far as the menu, the same, I can handle that, better then cooking at home :D. I'm not worried about the entertainment, as it would give me the time to just sit out on the deck and relax instead of trying to get everything in. We always get a balcony and unfortunately, we never really have the time free to just sit on our balcony and relax. It sounds like a B2B would be a real vacation with time for relaxation :D

[spunkie4]

Sometimes you are able to find different itenaries. For example, we are cruising 9-5 from Ft. Lauderdale to the Eastern Carb. Return to Ft. Lauderdale on 9-12 and cruise to the Western Carb. Same ship. Sure the cost is double, but consider the travel cost, hotel stay if going a day early, food while traveling. Subtract this from the cost of the second cruise and the price lowers. We have also done with with Alaska to enable us to return to the same port that we flew into.

 

Shirley

[caribill]

There may be a slight savings for a b2b, but there is little difference. The benefits are of course more days on the ship. In some cases, you can take a b2b that is 2 one-way cruises that return to the original port. A good example is the Princess cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Manaus. A one-way air ticket from Manaus back to the US is not much cheaper than the return cruise.

 

We did this round trip: FLL-Manaus-FLL.

 

We had initially booked only Manaus-FLL, but when we received the air arrangements from Princess, they had us flying overnight to arrive in Sao Paulo about 5 am, then having to wait six hours for a connecting flight back north to Manaus, arriving late afternoon---and we were booking an evening excursion that night.

 

Was not a hard choice.

Choice a) Keep these arrangements and arrive exhausted in Manaus

Choice b) Book FLL-Manaus on the ship, arriving refreshed after 12 days on a cruise ship for about the same price as choice a.

 

One additional advantage of the B2B: On the way to Manaus one port had to be bypassed due to being behind scheduled, but we saw that port on the way back. Also, on the way back Devil's Island had to be skipped due to high waves, but we had been able to go there on the way to Manaus.

[Shogun]

Hi There

 

Has to be saving on flights, plus 7 days just to short, there is a small saving on 2nd leg, however just sometimes there can be a massive saving,

 

have booked cruise to be told by TA add an extra week for only a few hundred pounds.

 

yours Shogun

[CALMOM]

Hi There

 

Has to be saving on flights, plus 7 days just to short, there is a small saving on 2nd leg, however just sometimes there can be a massive saving,

 

have booked cruise to be told by TA add an extra week for only a few hundred pounds.

 

yours Shogun

 

WOW, that would be fantastic, I'll have to talk to my TA. Thanks

[btrojanoski]

We have done 4 BTB cruises, three Vancouver to Alaska return and one 20 days in the South Pacific on the Tahitian Princess. For the Alaska cruises it cost almost as much to fly back from Anchorage to Vancouver as the return cruise cost so that's a no brainer (we're retired so time is not an issue). For the South Pacific, we had two different 10 day cruises on the TP and considering the cost of airafre to Papeete, it makes sense to double up there if you can.

 

Barry

[Coral]

WOW, that would be fantastic, I'll have to talk to my TA. Thanks

 

I wonder if that is a UK thing (savings). I don't think we get that in the US. There used to be a statement in the brochures that if you book a B2B, you would get a one category upgrade or something like that (but it never really worked well) but I think even that has been removed. I have 3 B2Bs booked right now and there is no savings on the 2nd leg.

 

Alaska - the reason I did the first B2B was due to air costs. I was able to get FF miles RT out of Vancouver but couldn't do it out of Anchorage - thus, being able to use miles out of Vancouver made it worth it to stay on the ship for another week.

[englishboy]

We have just booked BTB Cruises in early 2012. Aukland to Sydney (12 days) then Sydney-Beijing-Singapore (39 days). We have wanted to do the New Zealand Cruise for a long time and by putting the two together we save on two return air fairs to Sydney.

Just as a by-the -way, can anyone advise what 5,000+; 10,000+; 20,000+ etc next to Username/Photo's means??

[paul929207]

We have just booked BTB Cruises in early 2012. Aukland to Sydney (12 days) then Sydney-Beijing-Singapore (39 days). We have wanted to do the New Zealand Cruise for a long time and by putting the two together we save on two return air fairs to Sydney.

Just as a by-the -way, can anyone advise what 5,000+; 10,000+; 20,000+ etc next to Username/Photo's means??

The numbers incicate the number of posts a person has made on Cruise Critic.

[englishboy]

Wow you Guy's have been busy.

[johnmik1]

Sometimes you are able to find different itenaries. For example, we are cruising 9-5 from Ft. Lauderdale to the Eastern Carb. Return to Ft. Lauderdale on 9-12 and cruise to the Western Carb. Same ship. Sure the cost is double, but consider the travel cost, hotel stay if going a day early, food while traveling. Subtract this from the cost of the second cruise and the price lowers. We have also done with with Alaska to enable us to return to the same port that we flew into.

 

Shirley

 

We are doing the exact same cruises.This is our second b2b this year and forth overall.

[paul929207]

We have done three b2b's and only once did we repeat the itinerary the second cruise. We have two more b2b's for next year, with no repeats.

[SeaTheWorldBySea]

We have done several B2Bs and only twice repeated the same ports. Ft Lauderdale to Manaus and return. We were not crazy about repeating those ports & rough seas, but that was still preferable to flying in to or out of Manaus. The other repeat was Alaska and we can never get enough of those ports. We would (and probably will) do a B2B repeating Alaska ports again.