Thoughts on my Dream B2B

[chemistrynerd]

I'm a bit late to this thread after returning from a 4-nighter on the Dream. My family is doing a B2B on the Magic in March. This is a very helpful thread on handling the transition between the two cruises. We didn't want to do a B2B, but getting 7-nights total in a window that matched my vacation time required it.

 

One complaint was the length of lines on the Dream. We actually had the opposite experience on our latest cruise. The lines were shorter than we expected based on previous trips. I was pretty sure that the ship wasn't full, but we were told that there were between 3700 and 3900 guests aboard (very nearly full).

 

We try to hit the pool area in off times - shortly after breakfast and after dinner (before dinner if the late seating). During the rest of the day we do other stuff - kids area, detective game, naps, downtime, etc. The weather doesn't always let you pick when to go to the pool, but it worked for us on this last trip. It was nearly 80 and sunny each day.

[Ex techie]

I'm a bit late to this thread after returning from a 4-nighter on the Dream. My family is doing a B2B on the Magic in March. This is a very helpful thread on handling the transition between the two cruises. We didn't want to do a B2B, but getting 7-nights total in a window that matched my vacation time required it.

 

One complaint was the length of lines on the Dream. We actually had the opposite experience on our latest cruise. The lines were shorter than we expected based on previous trips. I was pretty sure that the ship wasn't full, but we were told that there were between 3700 and 3900 guests aboard (very nearly full).

 

We try to hit the pool area in off times - shortly after breakfast and after dinner (before dinner if the late seating). During the rest of the day we do other stuff - kids area, detective game, naps, downtime, etc. The weather doesn't always let you pick when to go to the pool, but it worked for us on this last trip. It was nearly 80 and sunny each day.

 

Leaving the ship at the 9am slot and following the instructions in your briefing letter and in the terminal will serve you well!

 

ex techie

[JinxyB]

No, my last B2B was not with my mom. We typically don't vacation together, but she wanted to go to celebrate my son's birthday. The only other B2B I did was in 2009, so procedures may very well have changed. Hindsight is 20/20, but if I could do things over again, I would have booked the 7-day Fantasy cruise leaving on Nov 28 and sucked it up and done the Magic Kingdom for one or two days after the cruise. Going forward, I won't opt again to do any type of B2B (unless it is 2 longer cruises)...but a little thing called work will get in the way of doing that, LOL! :D

[moki'smommy]

No, my last B2B was not with my mom. We typically don't vacation together, but she wanted to go to celebrate my son's birthday. The only other B2B I did was in 2009, so procedures may very well have changed. Hindsight is 20/20, but if I could do things over again, I would have booked the 7-day Fantasy cruise leaving on Nov 28 and sucked it up and done the Magic Kingdom for one or two days after the cruise. Going forward, I won't opt again to do any type of B2B (unless it is 2 longer cruises)...but a little thing called work will get in the way of doing that, LOL! :D

 

We've done only one "short" B2B (4/3 on the Wonder), but several longer B2Bs (usually 12+12 or 14+12 with different ports.) There would have to be a specific reason for me to do a short cruise B2B. When we did it, it was to celebrate a birthday and the inability to get to PC for a Saturday departure. While I don't regret doing it, I wouldn't do it again without a similar circumstance.

 

Another suggestion--we find that doing WDW before the cruise works better. First, if there are transportation issues, it is better to miss one day of a land vacation than to literally miss the ship. It also allows time for missing luggage to catch up with you! Secondly, the ship is far more relaxing than the parks. And finally, when my daughter was young, she tended to get off the ship with a bit of an entitlement mentality--where else will someone bring you a soda or a Mickey bar whenever you want one, call you "princess," and basically wait on you hand and foot. It was easier to make the transition to "vacation is over" by heading for home than heading to the parks.