B2B why do you do them?

[Jiminy1955]

Why do people do B2B's? Same ship, same itinerary....I don't get it!

[CruiserBruce]

Most B2Bs, at least on Holland America, are not the same route. Perhaps on other cruise lines, but, for example, I know Oasis and Allure alternate Eastern and Western Caribbean. So they wouldn't be the same route for a B2B.

 

Many people can do them, want to cruise longer, get more bang for their flight dollars, sometimes get a discount for a B2B, etc. Many reasons.

[Shmoo here]

Why do people do B2B's? Same ship, same itinerary....I don't get it!

 

Our one B2B (to date) was a 10 night Med and 14 night Westbound Transatlantic. We're planning on a B2B Eastern & Western Caribbean combo next.

 

Not all consecutive cruises are the same cruise.

[Cruising Golfer]

Because they can!!!:D Wish I could!!!:(

[Jiminy1955]

Ok making more sense to me now! What happens to any OBC's you may have left over?

[Shmoo here]

Ok making more sense to me now! What happens to any OBC's you may have left over?

 

Don't know, we don't have any.

 

But, as each leg of the B2B is considered a separate cruise, I'd hazard a guess that OBCs wouldn't carryover from first cruise to second.

[paul929207]

We do our b2bs on Princess. Usually different itineray. Twice we have done a one way cruise b2b to avoid the hassle and expense of flying home from the end of the first cruise.

[SadieN]

Only have to pay airfare once.

 

Get to do other things in port and onboard. The second cruise, doing the same itin does not have to be the 'same' cruise.

[dadroy]

I did an Alaska B2B because I got a great deal. For about $150 pp we added the second week. This was cheaper than the flight to Anchorage. The other reason to do it is many times there is too much to see in a port to get it done in one stop. This way, we got two stops.

 

The other B2B was this last December. The flights to Florida from California around xmas were so expensive it made sense to add another cruise onto the trip. It was on two different cruise lines, but the same ports (just worked out that way)

[YubaSutter]

Why do people do B2B's? Same ship, same itinerary....I don't get it!

 

Two cruises, one airline.

[sail7seas]

In the Caribbean and Canada/NE cruises, we have been to those ports so many times we love getting off in the ones we enjoy and love the days we stay aboard and not leave the ship in ports we don't particularly care about.

 

DH cruises rest and relaxation. We like being on a ship 10 - 14 days. A b-to-b permits us to sail 14 days and only one flight there and back.

 

[Keith1010]

We do back to backs on the same ship but different itineraries.

 

Keith

[CruiserBruce]

 

But, as each leg of the B2B is considered a separate cruise, I'd hazard a guess that OBCs wouldn't carryover from first cruise to second.

 

This varies so much by each cruise. All of the B2Bs we have done there hasn't any issue with OBCs or any other thing carrying over. It all depends bon his the cruise line handles it.

[Hflors]

Our upcoming cruises are b2b because I will be celebrating my 60th birthday and our 42nd anniversary the first part of december. Then rather then come home and try to "do" x-mas on our own (we recently moved to florida) we decided to do christmas and new years onboard. The itinaries are different first leg is eastern caribbean second will be southern caribbean and partial panama canal. It isn't hard to stay onboard for an extra 14 days! :D

[NMLady]

Why do people do B2B's? Same ship, same itinerary....I don't get it!

 

For those of us who prefer longer cruises, a b2b provides the opportunity.

Although it is the same ship, it is not usually the same itinerary.

We did a b2b2b on the Sun that was Northern Europe, then ta, then Western Caribbean. 33 days total and we loved it.

 

In October we will be doing a b2b on the Star that is a ta and then a full transit of the Panama Canal. 26 days total.

 

Being on the same ship means you really learn where everything is, and get to know many members of the crew.

[lady_cruiser]

Why do people do B2B's? Same ship, same itinerary....I don't get it!

Because we enjoy cruising and if we go to the same ports we any either do something different each time or redo an excursion because we actually loved seeing what we did see.

[OCruisers]

Just because we take a B2B on the same ship and stay in the same cabin doesn't mean we'll go to the same ports. As others have mentioned, in the Caribbean finding one that does different itineraries every other sailing makes a great B2B.

 

TA (Trans-Atlantic) cruises are another example. Often people do the same ship for the sailing either before or after.

 

On Panama Canal cruises (full transits) we have actually booked B2B knowing the return trip would be to the same ports. This works for us so we can make it into a roundtrip out of Ft. Lauderdale. We just do different things in port each time.

 

Just a few of many examples. B2B cruises are great! :)

 

LuLu

~~~~

[PennyAgain]

For us getting organized and out of the house is a bit of work we dread. Doing a B2B pair of cruises means we only have to do it once.

 

We get much more enjoyment out of a B2B situation than out of 2 separate cruises weeks or months apart.

[paul929207]

OP,

I guess you can see that we all do b2b for different reasons. The bottom line for me is I love to be at sea.

[Seago2]

Because we don't want to get off the bloody ship ;).

[lovemylab]

We did a B2B two years ago and it was two different itineraries. We wanted a 14 day cruise and it was cheaper to book a B2B on this particular ship vs. paying for a 14 day cruise on a different ship.

[Hlitner]

Regarding things like OBCs it really depends on the cruise line. For example, on most HA cruises if you do back to back or even back to back to back they will handle it as a single cruise onboard. In those cases everything is just carried over for the entire cruise. But on other lines such as Celebrity they handle it as too separate cruises and actually close out your account at the end of each cruise. In that case you would generally lose any OBCs that are not spent on the first cruise.

 

Hank

[paul929207]

Regarding things like OBCs it really depends on the cruise line. For example, on most HA cruises if you do back to back or even back to back to back they will handle it as a single cruise onboard. In those cases everything is just carried over for the entire cruise. But on other lines such as Celebrity they handle it as too separate cruises and actually close out your account at the end of each cruise. In that case you would generally lose any OBCs that are not spent on the first cruise.

 

Hank

Hank's comments reminded me that when booking a b2b you often have a choice - book it as one cruise or as two. You need to take the OBC into account when determining which way is best for you. For our b2b2b earlier this year, the price was the same no matter how we booked it. However, one cruise would get us $575 OBC from Princess where booking as three cruises got us $1475.

 

On the other hand our B2B coming up we had a price difference of about $900, so we booked it as one.

[Shmoo here]

Hank's comments reminded me that when booking a b2b you often have a choice - book it as one cruise or as two. You need to take the OBC into account when determining which way is best for you. For our b2b2b earlier this year, the price was the same no matter how we booked it. However, one cruise would get us $575 OBC from Princess where booking as three cruises got us $1475.

 

On the other hand our B2B coming up we had a price difference of about $900, so we booked it as one.

 

No choice on DCL. B2Bs are considered 2 separate cruises. Any OBCs/photo packages/drink packages you don't use up in the first cruise are lost.

 

Now, that said, there have been times when random people were allowed to continue their OBCs/photo packages/drink packages into the subsequent cruises, but that's really rare. It depends on how loudly, and to whom you complain about not being able to use up all your credits.;)

[Keith1010]

There is nothing like a back to back.

 

Keith