B2B or 2 different ships?

[jimbug]

As you can see by my siggy, I'm an experienced cruiser, but I've taken a couple of years off to start a family. :) The cruise bug has bitten again, and my DH and I are planning to take our daughter (then 20-21 months old) on a cruise next winter.

 

We are considering either a B2B on the Independence of the Seas (6-night Western then 8-night Eastern)....or....a two B2B 7-nighters on different ships, one of them being RCCL, the other one probably being HAL (my favorite) or NCL (good itinerary).

 

Help me decide! :D

 

The basics:

- Kids programs are not important, as my little one will not be old enough to take advantage of the organized activities. However, I understand RCCL has the Babies & Tots Nursery, plus the Fisher-Price playgroups for her age, so that's why I want at least one leg of our vacation to be on an RCCL ship.

 

- Ports are not necessarily important, as I've been to most of the Caribbean ones. My favorites are Grand Cayman, Tortola, and St. Thomas, but honestly, just getting away from the North Dakota winter and spending time with my husband and kiddo will be nice enough.

 

- We're not nightlife people, even if we have a babysitter.

 

Ok, help please!

[Trainman-2]

A B2B on the same ship in the same cabin means you don't have to pack up and move to another ship.

 

One of the nice things about the B2B on one ship is that the crew knows you the second leg.

[NorbertsNiece]

Read on here a while ago where someone missed their 2nd cruise due to depart the same day they disembarked the first cruise as they arrived back late in port due to poor weather conditions. I would opt for a true B2B any day for the reasons mentioned by Trainman.

[ksuds]

I've actually done it both ways.

 

Switching ships takes a lot out of you and you will be exhausted the first day of your second leg.

 

B2B on same ship is great. There is nothing better than knowing you can relax and watch all the other stressed out people try to get off the ship. Then for a couple hours you have the ship all to yourself. Yes, and the crew being familiar with you is a big plus. You seem to get a little better treatment.

[LBumb]

sounds like a win win to me.

[M&M Hayden]

If I had a child that young I'd do a b2b on the same ship, same cabin, but from my experience not out of Ft Lauderdale. We've done b2b's out of Ft Lauderdale, Tampa and San Juan. Procedures in Ft Lauderdale are awful. You have to get off the ship, it was truly disorganized. Tampa and San Juan you were able to stay on the ship. Tampa we had to get up early and go thru Customs/Immigration on the ship and we were done. In San Juan all we had to do was pick up our new card I think about 10 AM. Easy.

 

We'll probably do another b2b out of Ft Lauderdale and we'll do a tour so we don't have to deal with the craziness.

[swmichigan cruiser]

Last year we did a cruise on the Oasis and then did a shuttle to Miami and got on the NCL Epic same day and everything went very smoothly and it was nice to compare two different ships and cruiselines. This October we did a back to back on the Oasis and Royal handled it very poorly. That has been our experiences. Others I am sure have had different experiences. This month we are doing the Liberty of the Seas then going to Miami on the same day to get on the NCL Epic and when the Epic returns to port we will then wheel our luggage down to get on the Celebrity Eclipse. So we can compare three different cruiselines. Don't think you can go wrong with whatever you decide.

[jimbug]

Thanks for the input, everyone. I think we've made our decision - unfortunately, RCCL sort of priced itself out of the equation. :( I think we're going to do Carnival Liberty, followed by NCL Epic, both out of Miami for convenience. I really wanted to do NCL Epic and RCCL Oasis, but the price was literally 3x that of the Carnival cruise, and I've really enjoyed Carnival in the past, so that's our probable route.

[Phillies14]

As you can see by my siggy, I'm an experienced cruiser, but I've taken a couple of years off to start a family. :) The cruise bug has bitten again, and my DH and I are planning to take our daughter (then 20-21 months old) on a cruise next winter.

 

We are considering either a B2B on the Independence of the Seas (6-night Western then 8-night Eastern)....or....a two B2B 7-nighters on different ships, one of them being RCCL, the other one probably being HAL (my favorite) or NCL (good itinerary).

 

Help me decide! :D

 

The basics:

- Kids programs are not important, as my little one will not be old enough to take advantage of the organized activities. However, I understand RCCL has the Babies & Tots Nursery, plus the Fisher-Price playgroups for her age, so that's why I want at least one leg of our vacation to be on an RCCL ship.

 

- Ports are not necessarily important, as I've been to most of the Caribbean ones. My favorites are Grand Cayman, Tortola, and St. Thomas, but honestly, just getting away from the North Dakota winter and spending time with my husband and kiddo will be nice enough.

 

- We're not nightlife people, even if we have a babysitter.

 

Ok, help please!

Stay on the same ship!! You can do an eastern itinerary one week a western the next, for example. And it's stress free....K.O. Near Philly:)

[Jimbo]

Your storm pictures are amazing, never see anything like that in New Jersey.

 

Jimbo:)

[Topo Gigio]

Thanks for the input, everyone. I think we've made our decision - unfortunately, RCCL sort of priced itself out of the equation. :( I think we're going to do Carnival Liberty, followed by NCL Epic, both out of Miami for convenience. I really wanted to do NCL Epic and RCCL Oasis, but the price was literally 3x that of the Carnival cruise, and I've really enjoyed Carnival in the past, so that's our probable route.

 

Haven't been on the Oasis but from what I have read it's worth every penny!