Back to Back

[cruisestitch]

the $50 has only seldom been applied, it isn't an automatic thing on B2B cruises. Some B2B cruisers have never gotten it. I've received it once or twice. Consider it a lucky thing if you get one but don't be surprised if you don't.

[roxievegas]

Yes on the additional discount. We booked three cruises B2B2B all for next year. first one is 13 day, received additional 100 off, next is 9 days, received 50 off, and last is 12 day and received 100 off. I did not know that we were going to get that, showed up on my receipt as YDR7-B2B Savings. First cruise is out of Fort Lauderdale, transatlantic to London, second Norway, third is Baltic.

[az_tchr]

And to answer the original question - There is an available discount of $100 per cabin for B2B but you need to ask. The only other thing we could add is we received a coupon for an additional bag of laundry - free and a great lunch with the officers in the MDR. Had about 150 on our cruise.

 

As to boarding and reboarding - you do need a new photo taken to get your new ID card for second cruise.

 

Our last B2B change was in Rome. There we had NOBODY from Italy to check us either on or off the ship and Celebrity just waved us on like any other day with our new ship pass.

[Grandmaanne7]

Yes on the additional discount. We booked three cruises B2B2B all for next year. first one is 13 day, received additional 100 off, next is 9 days, received 50 off, and last is 12 day and received 100 off. I did not know that we were going to get that, showed up on my receipt as YDR7-B2B Savings. First cruise is out of Fort Lauderdale, transatlantic to London, second Norway, third is Baltic.

 

And to answer the original question - There is an available discount of $100 per cabin for B2B but you need to ask. The only other thing we could add is we received a coupon for an additional bag of laundry - free and a great lunch with the officers in the MDR. Had about 150 on our cruise.

 

As to boarding and reboarding - you do need a new photo taken to get your new ID card for second cruise.

 

Our last B2B change was in Rome. There we had NOBODY from Italy to check us either on or off the ship and Celebrity just waved us on like any other day with our new ship pass.

Can you tell me when these cruises were booked please? My TA called today and was told that the discount is only as of June 2015 and we would have to cancel and rebook at today's much higher cruise fare in order to qualify. Obviously we are not going to do that.

[az_tchr]

Ours was booked in October of 2014. There are usually few if any discounts on a TA cruise. Received $100 off the total invoice of about $6500. Not very significant. We booked both together and directly with a TA. Had a 3 way discussion about another problem with Celebrity on the line and Celebrity said there was a discount available. Was it just for TA cruises combined with another? No idea.

[Desertbelle]

Getting to take 2 or 3 cruises in a row would be the biggest bonus to me!! I love B2B's!

[Hlitner]

I am going to expand on this topic. There are some major differences between a true back-to back and cruises that are booked with various segments. For example, HAL has some very long cruises (over 60 days) that are also sold in shorter segments. So you could do several segments (kind of like back to backs) but they are not true back to backs for several reasons. Many folks do back to backs in the Caribbean such as on a ship that does 7 days Eastern Caribbean and 7 days Western. But back to backs have some negatives. In many (if not most) cases the entertainment is the same on both cruises. And the MDR menus are often exactly the same from week to week.

 

But when we take long cruises (and we are talking well over a month), even though some passengers are only cruising on shorter segments, the cruise line often guarantees that no menu will be repeated (items might be repeated...but not an entire menu). And entertainment may vary from cruise to cruise! But what we have never liked about shorter back to backs is that you have 2 first nights (with the boring Welcome aboard show) and 2 last nights (with the boring Farewell show. In most cases the production shows will be exactly the same on both cruises and often the Guest Entertainers may be the same people doing the same shows. And on most lines you will have to attend two boat drills (although this can even happen on true long cruises).

 

And back to backs where the turn around day is in a USA port can be a real hassle. The CBP folks insist on "zeroing out" the ship which means that ongoing passengers must get off the ship in the morning (even if they have no interest in spending time ashore). And depending on CBP you can be held in a holding area from as little as 20 min....but it can also drag on to several hours (if there is an issue zeroing out the ship). Back to backs in Europe and Asia do not have this problem

 

 

Hank

Edited September 24, 2015 by Hlitner

[Grandmaanne7]

Ours was booked in October of 2014. There are usually few if any discounts on a TA cruise. Received $100 off the total invoice of about $6500. Not very significant. We booked both together and directly with a TA. Had a 3 way discussion about another problem with Celebrity on the line and Celebrity said there was a discount available. Was it just for TA cruises combined with another? No idea.

Thank you for this info. It nullifies what the Celebrity rep told our TA about it being new bookings only as of June 2015. She is going for round 2 with Celebrity tomorrow. Wish us luck. Any discount is a bonus. :D

[CathyCruises]

We're doing a Silhouette cruise that ends on 10/31 in Rome, then boarding Connie on 11/4. Would we qualify for the b2b discount??

[grandgeezer]

We're doing a Silhouette cruise that ends on 10/31 in Rome, then boarding Connie on 11/4. Would we qualify for the b2b discount??

 

We are doing our 8th true B2B on Celebrity in December and we have never gotten a discount for any of them.

[ladylemondrop]

Two things I noticed when trying to book a B2B, you cannot book online, in one booking, (and if they did try and do this on celebrity website we all know it probably wouldnt work anyway!!) also, the pricing - wow! I priced two back to back seven night med cruises whilst onboard this year, and they were nearly double what a straight forward two week cruise was, which meant we couldnt do it. I was gutted. Equinox has some fabulous itineraries for next July, including overnight in Ibiza, and stops in palma, valencia, malta, barcelona etc and we wanted to stay on for both cruises but it was just waaaaay over budget, so now I have no cruise booked and thats very sad. :(

[AlbertaCruisers]

Thank you for this info. It nullifies what the Celebrity rep told our TA about it being new bookings only as of June 2015. She is going for round 2 with Celebrity tomorrow. Wish us luck. Any discount is a bonus. :D

 

Just as an FYI, we have done quite a few B2Bs and our one at the end of October is B2B2B and we have never received anything extra for it, just the regular pricing we would have gotten for booking them separate. I have always asked and there has never been anything. I'm happy with the prices we paid, so I'm not going to worry about it.

 

I love B2Bs, the last night of the first cruise is the best feeling when we are hanging out as usual and everyone else is packing and worrying about getting off early the next morning, etc. I love the turn around day, nice and relaxing. We normally stay on the ship and hang out. In San Juan it has always been easy. Last year we were held up outside for a bit while two couples, also on B2Bs were found and brought out through customs, but really only about 10 minutes.

[Desertbelle]

On our B2B last year our ship was determined to have norovirus and we were required to exit the ship for the day so they could do extensive cleaning. The cruise line (Royal Caribbean) arranged for an excursion to a nearby town with a castle (we were docked in Harwick, England) for anyone interested...there were hundreds of us, so no small expense to them. Of course, we loved the idea of a free excursion. We had a lovely day...the little village and castle were wonderful. Our plans had been to hang out on the ship to await my sister who was joining us for the second leg of the cruise...what a nice change.

 

 

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[Patrick IL.]

It will be very easy, our first b2b we were uncertain. The last day of the first cruise an officer hosted a information session with free sparkling wine. We all met in a lounge, we had to wait for it to hit zero count, were escorted off the ship, a customs agent came over, smiled at us and said hurry up and get back on board for you second cruise. Officer issued us our new sea passes. Celebrity hosted a very nice lunch in the main dining room for us B2B'rs. It's the best if you can keep your stateroom the same. Our guys knew we were back to back and the officer told us just walk through the fire doors, your room will be clean, and it was. We were in Ft. Lauderdale.

[Grandmaanne7]

Thank you for this info. It nullifies what the Celebrity rep told our TA about it being new bookings only as of June 2015. She is going for round 2 with Celebrity tomorrow. Wish us luck. Any discount is a bonus. :D

Just an update for anyone who is interested. Our TA called back today and spoke with another rep. She was told that because the second leg of our B2B is a group booking, we do not qualify for the discount. The group booking saved us on the cruise fare plus added $75 OBC. Otherwise, we would have qualified so it never hurts to ask.

 

Thanks to all those who posted on what to expect on turnaround day. We are hoping for a relaxing day on the ship and not too long a wait while the ship zeroes out and Immigration does their thing.