Question for those who have booked Back to Back (and more!) cruises

[CutestLittleEvil]

I was hoping to get an idea about back to back cruising with this line. I'm hoping people could share their experiences about what they liked, what they didn't like, how long they were gone on their sailing, if the length of the trip was too long (or not long enough!) etc...

 

How did you come to decided a back to back cruise was what you wanted to do and how did you book such a thing (independently or with a TA)? Did you stay on the same ship or switch ships? Was the process easy or confusing? How important is the time of year when you chose your back to back cruise?

 

And would you do it again?

[Life is Good Cruising]

I was hoping to get an idea about back to back cruising with this line. I'm hoping people could share their experiences about what they liked, what they didn't like, how long they were gone on their sailing, if the length of the trip was too long (or not long enough!) etc...

 

The sailing was to the Caribbean, 5 nights and 9 nights=14 nights. It was not too long for us, everyone is different. Now if it was to the Mediterranean, would love to do a month cruising to various ports.

 

 

How did you come to decided a back to back cruise was what you wanted to do and how did you book such a thing (independently or with a TA)?

The price was right for both cruises which is why we decided to do a B2B and booked with RCI.

Did you stay on the same ship or switch ships? Did not switch ships, had to get off the ship to go through customs.

 

Was the process easy or confusing? Process is easy as a letter will be in your stateroom explaining the whole B2B process.

How important is the time of year when you chose your back to back cruise?

Not important to us the time of the year, but to others it may be due to vacation scheduling.

 

And would you do it again?

Of course, if the prices are right/reasonable.

[CVU]

Love B2Bs and do them as much as we can. Flying is our cost, so it helps to make the cruise worth the hassle and cost.

 

Depends where you want to go, Baltic or Panama Canal cruise maybe easier to do a B2B for air or time?

Longest B2B was 63 nights for the Australia cruise from YVR. It was great!!

 

We have changed ships the same day and with a hotel between and do not want to do it anymore. Too much packing up and checking in and out of ship/hotel etc. Not our thing. Staying on the ship when everyone else had to get off is wonderful!!!!:)

 

It is an easy process to do a B2B. Easier if you book the same cabin. Changing cabins is not a big deal either but nicer to not move.

 

We do not use a TA and it is easy to do. I prefer to call RCL and not do it on their web site but do my researching on the web. They link the reservations as a B2B.

 

Hope you enjoy any B2Bs. Try one and work your way up.:D

[HeartCruzs]

I was hoping to get an idea about back to back cruising with this line. I'm hoping people could share their experiences about what they liked, what they didn't like, how long they were gone on their sailing, if the length of the trip was too long (or not long enough!) etc...

 

How did you come to decided a back to back cruise was what you wanted to do and how did you book such a thing (independently or with a TA)? Did you stay on the same ship or switch ships? Was the process easy or confusing? How important is the time of year when you chose your back to back cruise?

 

And would you do it again?

 

My (now) husband and I were on Radiance of the Seas, back to back, out of Tampa in December 2010. 4-day cruise each (totaling 8-days). It went to Cozumel both times. We chose the back to back because the flights home after the first cruise were more than staying on the cruise and flying back at a later date.

 

I booked through Royal Caribbean's website. We had 2 different balconies on different decks and areas of the ship.

 

We didn't like getting up at 6:15am to stand in line for an hour while we waited for Customs and Immigration to board the ship and stamp our customs declaration form. (Even though you may not get off the ship, you still have to "clear" Customs and Immigration). There were no pool towels available until after the next cruise guests boarded.

 

What we liked: hearing the announcements (after everyone else got off the ship) telling crew members who was coming aboard - how many people from a particular country, back to back cruisers, how many children, etc.

 

We loved walking around the ship when no one was on it. And we already knew the crew!

 

Would I do another back to back? Yes - only if I could keep the same stateroom. (My husband would not. He felt 8-days on a cruise was too many. Though honestly, he'd prefer to only sail 4-5 night cruises).

[ASeaPrincess1]

I was hoping to get an idea about back to back cruising with this line. I'm hoping people could share their experiences about what they liked, what they didn't like, how long they were gone on their sailing, if the length of the trip was too long (or not long enough!) etc...

 

How did you come to decided a back to back cruise was what you wanted to do and how did you book such a thing (independently or with a TA)? Did you stay on the same ship or switch ships? Was the process easy or confusing? How important is the time of year when you chose your back to back cruise?

 

And would you do it again?

 

I just returned from a B2B on Serenade of the Seas.

One of my friends chose the first itinerary, as it was a Western Caribbean that went to Grand Cayman. She wanted to go to Stingray City.

Since the next itinerary was to the Bahamas, and we all had to fly (there were 6 couples all together who ended up doing these cruises) from various states, we made it a B2B.

The process was very easy. My friends all got to stay in their same staterooms. I was the only one who had to move, since my room was already taken for the second leg (booked two years ago!)

They had a special meeting for the B2B-ers, and served champagne, which I thought was a nice touch.

We had to get off the ship for immigration, but turned around and walked right back on!

As for moving, they took my hanging clothes and I tossed other things in suitcases, and they moved everything to the new room.

Would I do it again? You betcha! It's never long enough when I'm on a ship. I wish I could have stayed on to Barcelona, as that's where the ship headed next.

[Talisker92]

We recently took a 31 day B2B cruise from Buenos Aires to LA. We could have gotten off in Santiago Chile and flown home, but the air fare was more than the second segment. We spent another 15 days being pampered on the ship and got off in LA.

We had a car service take us home-No airports!!

[lady_cruiser]

I was hoping to get an idea about back to back cruising with this line. I'm hoping people could share their experiences about what they liked, what they didn't like, how long they were gone on their sailing, if the length of the trip was too long (or not long enough!) etc...

 

How did you come to decided a back to back cruise was what you wanted to do and how did you book such a thing (independently or with a TA)? Did you stay on the same ship or switch ships? Was the process easy or confusing? How important is the time of year when you chose your back to back cruise?

 

And would you do it again?

 

We booked our B2B with the cruise line. This way if there are price drops we talk to the cruise line. With a T.A. the cruiseline won't even talk to us. On the same ship, in the same cabin for 7-days each trip. We found that 14 days was just enough for us. We choose to cruise when most schools are in session because there are less kids on the ship.

 

We find it fairly easy now that we've done it before. Luckily we meet people on board you has done this a dozen times so when we were making the transition from week one to week two they stayed with us throughout the process.

 

I'm not sure how other cruise lines work but with Royal Caribbean you call their consecutive cruise department and they help you throughout the process. All the way up the point you walk up that gang plank.

 

Would I do it again? Yes, if my financials allow it.

[OCruisers]

You may want to read the replies you got here on "Ask a Cruise Question" to your very same post on 5/11. :)

LuLu