Back-to-back cruises: How do they work?

[NOLAbebe]

Hey, y'all!

 

I see a lot of people talking about back-to-back cruises on the same ship. How does this work? Do you keep the same room? Do you disembark to re-board later in the day?

 

Spill! I am intrigued by this idea but can't wrap my mind around the in' and out's. :)

[l2f]

We have our 1st B2B coming next month. Very excited.

 

For most I would think you want to have the same room for both legs so you don't have to pack and unpack. We had both cruise bookings open and the PVP on the phone to make sure we got the same cabin in a desirable (to us) location.

 

We have read the cabin stewards sometimes help coordinate if you have to change cabins.

 

You must debark the ship. Again read all the B2B folks will meet at a location on the ship, be escorted off the ship, and right back on the ship. Sometimes there is a little photo op and a toast.

 

I'm sure more experienced B2B folks will be along to set straight anything I may have misstated.

[Vacay mom]

Follow.. I also find it fascinating

[Runaway Parent]

We have done 1 B2B. Earlier response is accurate. You can stay in the same cabin. Or change. We stayed-was great to not have to unpack again!

 

We left port for awhile, so didn't experience the privileged on/off process. Read here on CC you pretty much just get back on and have the run of the ship for awhile! You get a letter in cabin explaining process night before.

 

There are a lot of B2B posts on CC to explore for info.

 

One of the coolest things on the 2nd week was feeling almost part of the crew- you were "family." We also enjoyed knowing we didn't have to try to pack everything into 1 week. It was nice to know we had options to wait!

[wranglerguy]

You will meet at guest services. They will walk you off the ship recheck you in and walk you back on. If you have the same cabin you don't have to pack. If you don't you will have to pack up your stuff and move it to the new cabin.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[WinnipegCruiser]

Here is my detailed review of our experience on a B2B2B

 

2/2/2012 Carnival Destiny

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1573798

[WinnipegCruiser]

A small Summary from my review:

 

"At 9:30 we back to back cruisers meet at the big theater at the front of the ship. This time there were only 10 of us in total. A crew member takes us through customs, where they glanced at our passports and took that blue customs form from us. We were guided right back on to the ship and given our new keys. New security pictures are taken, and the rest of the morning is ours."

[chocolate melting cake]

We have done several and have one next year (Vista, Europe then transatlantic), so you can see we like them. However there are normally two disadvantages, the menus repeat (not a problem for us-we can always find something) and you'll see the same shows. If you're interested in the transition, just click below for our "album" from October's B2B. Pictures 137-143 show how the crew guides you through the two phases.

 

Oct. B2B

[Velvetwater]

Unless the itinerary changed for the 2 cruises I am a bit baffled why they are so popular...even then I would rather jump on another ship if I could or wait a few days. I would rather do a longer cruise!

 

One of our table mates did a back to back cruise a decade or so ago. She said that they could not get the same cabin but 2 crew members helped her and her husband move decks with all their stuff out of the goodness of their hearts.

[l2f]

Unless the itinerary changed for the 2 cruises I am a bit baffled why they are so popular...even then I would rather jump on another ship if I could or wait a few days. I would rather do a longer cruise!

 

In the case of our upcoming B2B, each leg is a different itinerary. Yes not sure we would do the same itinerary for a B2B.

[islandatsea]

In the case of our upcoming B2B, each leg is a different itinerary. Yes not sure we would do the same itinerary for a B2B.

 

Our Vista cruise will be our 1st B2B & the itineraries are totally different. Always wanted to try one so figured the Vista would be a great ship to experience a B2B. We have booked the same cabins so we will not have to pack and move.

[SadieN]

We changed cabins.

We had to pack up the stuff in the drawers and could have left the hanging clothes in hangars. For ease we packed everything up.

We put the new luggage tags on the suitcases.

[Elaine5715]

If you book the same cabin, you will stay in the same cabin. If you book a different cabin on your second leg, you must back up all your belongings, place them in your luggage and then the stewards will move the luggage to your new cabin.

Each ship may do it a bit different.

[scuddles]

Our Vista cruise will be our 1st B2B & the itineraries are totally different. Always wanted to try one so figured the Vista would be a great ship to experience a B2B. We have booked the same cabins so we will not have to pack and move.

We are just looking at booking the Vista for the January 14th date as well but then driving to New Orleans and jumping on the Dream the 29th, so kind of a B2B. We have never been to through FL or the Gulf states so we thought it would give us a little variety.

[planetcadillac]

We are relatively new to Carnival - however on other lines a lot of the cruises on the same ships are sold as segments and sometimes packaged as larger cruises. We have done segments of the World Cruise on the QE2 where about 1/2 of the pax stayed for the whole 3 1/2 months and the other have came and went at different times. The process was a little different there was not getting off to get back on during the segments you didn't debark unless you wanted to visit that port.

 

Now on say Carnival where every voyage is cataloged separately it makes sense for you to debark for a formality to deal with customs and get a new S&S card because in essence you are taking two separate trips that happen to coincide on the calendar. Since Carnival really does not do longer cruises I imagine that is the process they came up with.

 

I would imagine if you were going to do a B2B have different itineraries and try your best to get the same cabin. I can't imagine the hassle of moving. If you are going to be on board for 2 weeks or more you set up your stuff and want to stay put.

 

I would definitely go to some interesting places with B2B or a large ship so you can maximize the experience. We just got off a 5-day on the Fantasy Friday and I wouldn't do a B2B on that ship. We had a wonderful time but 10 days in the Bahamas would be a waste. Repos are always good and another option. Also pick your ship and atmosphere and expected crowd well. If you didn't like the crowd on the first part it might not change much on the second if it is at certain times of the year.

[Sparky2]

We've done a total of 4 B2Bs including the last 3 years. We booked next years B2B while on our B2B January 2015. Each week was a different itinerary.

 

There were 63 of us doing B2B. What was different this time is that after we debarked the ship and went through customs, we came back on the ship and they had chairs arranged for a photo. We also had our choice of OJ, Mimosa, or champagne. Nice touch. We took a serious photo & a funny photo. Copies of these were delivered to our cabins a few days later.

 

On all of our B2Bs we've received a bottle of champagne & fruitbasket.

 

What I like about B2B is that if there are 2 things you want to do on a sea day and you have to make your choice, you can always do the other one the next week.

Edited March 8, 2015 by Sparky2

[SeaPeaInn]

We did three Carnival cruises in a row. It was 49 days around South America. We never had to get off the ship.

 

It seems that you only have to get off if you are returning to your original port and repeating a cruise.

[jmcancruise]

Our most recent b2b had the same itinerary, but it was port intensive and we enjoyed the slower pace of not feeling the need to go all out at each port, each week. Made for a very relaxing 2 week cruise.

[l2f]

This is a good point. Never thought of it that way.

[almendrada]

Follow.. I also find it fascinating

 

Me too!

[cmptrwiz]

Pros of back to back: one airline ticket, recognized by crew 2nd week, we did laundry on turn around day no one else wanting to use the laundry, the ship to ourselves for a few hours.

 

Cons: same jokes from the CD, same menus, same shows.

[Ascott318]

I'm doing a B2B in May out of NY. It is an 8 day ,starting in NY and ending in San Juan. The 2nd leg 8 days starts in San Juan and ends in NY. It was cheaper for me to just do B2B on pack & play offer than to do one leg and have to fly home. 16 days ,a bit different itinerary for less thn $300.

[Crusin Karen]

What everyone else said! :rolleyes: We did a B2B on Liberty in January. Had to change cabins because the one we were in for the lst cruise was booked, but it was so easy. Stewards helped and we were in the new cabin and unpacked in no time. A WARNING: We cruised from Port Canaveral. Our friends cruised with us the lst cruise and they live in Cocoa Beach, about a mile from the terminal. The plan was they would debark, have their DS pick them up, go home, then come back and pick us up and we would go to get our allowable carry on wine and soda for the next cruise, plus some things we wanted to pick up. You HAVE to debark the ship. The ship has to be COMPLETELY EMPTY before the next cruise. So we (the B2B'ers!) were the last pax off. There were about 2 dozen of us who were B2B. Escorted off, spent about 5 minutes, escorted back on, had the champagne or soda offering, had a group picture in the atrium, then went to our new cabin to p/u our carry on bags to get off the ship to get "more supplies." By that time, the new pax were boarding and the security had NO SET UP TO let us debark. We had to wait and when we were finally allowed to get off the ship it was 2:30 with a "must be on the ship by 3:30" time with a 4pm sailing. I was TERRIFIED that I would be in a car in PC stuck in traffic while I watched the ship sail away, so we did not debark. Went to guest services to complain nicely and they comped us with a bottle of wine, but I was upset we did not have the chance to get off the ship. In hindsight, we should have left when we were off the ship to begin with and brought our carry ons with us. You are given a card that says: "in transit" . So a warning to anyone who plans to do this between cruises! We are doing a B2B on Pride in May and you can be sure I have learned my lesson! :eek:

[NOLAbebe]

16 days ,a bit different itinerary for less thn $300.

 

Say WHAT?! What was less than $300?

[Dabaras]

Our experience in the past has been similar to what others have described. We had to change rooms (and we will be changing rooms on our next B2B in six weeks) and the last time they brought us a luggage cart that we loaded everything onto and the stewards transferred everything. While you do have the same shows, this lets you have more flexibility between relaxing and shows. You don't feel like you have to do everything the first week because there is always next week.

 

One week trips always seem rushed. Like you are trying to do everything to get your money/times worth. Two weeks is just much more pleasant.