Back-to-Back Cruises - Downsides?

[blloydtbird]

Hi folks - Thanks to the wonderful discussions on this board, my wife and I just returned from our first cruise and had a blast.  We were on the Caribbean Princess over the holidays and returned on 1/3.  We had such a great time, we are looking at cruises for the 2020 holiday period.

 

I've come across a few different options on a few different ships.  One option that has drawn my attention is the Enchanted Princess, leaving out of Port Everglades on 12/19.  In reviewing the itinerary, the ship returns to Port Everglades only to depart the same day.  I assume this is what is referred to as a "back-to-back" cruise.  Are there any downsides a beginning cruiser should be aware of?  Would half of the passengers likely disembark with new folks joining?  We really enjoyed getting to know quite a few folks onboard during our two weeks at sea.  

 

Ports of Call: Fort Lauderdale | At Sea | Grand Cayman | Roatan | Belize City | Cozumel | At Sea | Fort Lauderdale | Princess Cays | At Sea | St Thomas | St Maarten | At Sea | At Sea | Fort Lauderdale

 

Thanks!

[Essiesmom]

Usually most of the guests will get off after the first week.  I would be surprised if there were 100 staying on, although it can happen.  EM

[neverbeenhere]

Possible Downsides:

 

you may not be able to book the same preferred stateroom on each cruise. 

 

You may not enjoy these cruises as much as your first cruise.

 

You May have to travel with “that person” for two weeks straight as they may stay on also. 
 

 

[Aus Traveller]

Downsides:

1. Two cruises as b2b are probably not as exciting as two cruises booked separately where you can look forward to each one. A b2b is basically a long cruise, but with a boring day in the middle.

2. There will be repetition of shows - production shows and maybe guest entertainers.

3. It would be more convenient if you can book the same cabin for both cruises.

4. As has been mentioned, most passengers will be on only one of the cruises.

 

[Times Prince]

Back to Back (B2B) cruises are typically two separate consecutive cruises where one can book both.  Occasionally the same total cruise can be offered by Princess as a single cruise.   The optimum such B2B cruise will offer different itineraries for each leg.  As an example look for consecutive 10 day cruises to the islands in the Eastern Caribbean.  The ship will visit a slightly different set of islands each 10 days giving an attractive B2B option that can be booked as two separate 10 day cruises or one 20 day cruise.  If the 20 day option is offered it may be more cost effective, and one still gets Captain's Circle credits for 2 cruises.

 

The biggest disadvantage is on the day of return to the home port.  Princess must empty the ship of all passengers, which usually means B2B passengers must either get off the ship for an excursion or just Florida sightseeing, or be part of a group which is marched off the ship through immigration, then right back onto the ship.   That usually kills half the morning, and while one can relax and enjoy the ship in port, there are few amenities open (e.g. the buffet reopens around noon).

 

Otherwise Aus Traveller summarized it well.

 

Edited January 5, 2020 by Times Prince

[OzKiwiJJ]

43 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

Downsides:

1. Two cruises as b2b are probably not as exciting as two cruises booked separately where you can look forward to each one. A b2b is basically a long cruise, but with a boring day in the middle.

2. There will be repetition of shows - production shows and maybe guest entertainers.

3. It would be more convenient if you can book the same cabin for both cruises.

4. As has been mentioned, most passengers will be on only one of the cruises.

 

And repetition of menus in the MDRs.

[satxdiver]

A B2B is two separate cruises although Princess will bundle them into one cruise which is what you are asking about.  By booking the combined cruise you will have the same cabin as opposed to doing a true B2B booking two successive cruise you need to make sure that you have the same cabin on both.  The only gotcha when sailing out of  US port is that all pax must exit the ship for immigration checks.   You can either go on an excursion during the time back in port or stay on the ship until being told to leave.  For the later they will have you go to an assigned location where you will wait until all have left the ship.  Then you will be taken off the ship as a group, go through US immigration with passport (or whatever docs you are using) and then go to the waiting lounge in a special location to get back on the ship with the first group to board.

 

No matter which you choose, you will be given one Medallion/cruise card good for the entire B2B and your folio will be for the entire cruise payable on the last day.  B2B is fun IMO and we have done it several times.  Best part of a B2B is that the last night of the first leg walking down the hall seeing all the luggage out to be taken off the ship and not seeing the brown kiss of death (covering they put on the bed to protect it from luggage) on your bed all while you will be staying on the ship for another cruise. BTW the MDR and HC/WFM menu will repeat itself.

Edited January 5, 2020 by satxdiver

[I Love Cruising 3]

A lot of good points made by everyone.

Most cruises we do as B2B trips and although we enjoy the longer sailing times we hate wasting a turnaround day in Florida where we travel often. The morning is a complete waste of time since you can't do practically anything except go to breakfast & wait till it's time to walk through immigrations.

 

There are usually 300-400 people doing a B2B and many times a few will show up late for the time when everyone must go through imagarations together making the rest wait until they arrive unless you've left the ship earlier. 

 

The first afternoon is also interrupted by hectic people running around before the muster which you don't have to attend but there's no other events scheduled to attend. 

You could leave the ship early & go to the beach for a day if you prefer.

 

The repeat of menus is always OK with us especially if you wanted to try another choice from the first trip.

 

The production shows will repeat but the guest entertainers usually rotate each cruise so they'll most likely be different except for the bands.

[Coral]

1 hour ago, I Love Cruising 3 said:

 

The production shows will repeat but the guest entertainers usually rotate each cruise so they'll most likely be different except for the bands.

My experience is a lot of entertainers stay on for months.

[I Love Cruising 3]

8 minutes ago, Coral said:

My experience is a lot of entertainers stay on for months.

We do many B2B trips (almost exclusively) and they always seem to rotate the guest entertainers on our trips (comedians, singers, etc.) each trip so they would have fresh faces for people doing repetitive cruises. Thankfully they tend to move them to other ships for a week or two & them back again so not to be boring for the same passengers. 

[Coral]

4 minutes ago, I Love Cruising 3 said:

We do many B2B trips (almost exclusively) and they always seem to rotate the guest entertainers on our trips (comedians, singers, etc.) each trip so they would have fresh faces for people doing repetitive cruises. Thankfully they tend to move them to other ships for a week or two & them back again so not to be boring for the same passengers. 

Me too - I only do B2Bs or B2B2B and see repeat entertainment of the guest entertainers. Sometimes they do get off and get on another ship in port but they return on the next sailing so they are on both sailings.

 

For me -it is not worth traveling for a 7 night cruise as I have a full day of travel. I haven't done a Caribbean cruise in a very long time as I find them boring. So maybe if you only do Caribbean cruises, this maybe true.

Edited January 5, 2020 by Coral

[skynight]

Downside, same production shows both weeks. Upside, you only have to go once the other week you can select a different evening activity.

Guest entertainers may or may not repeat. Same upsides and downsides, no rush to see them a 2nd time if they repeat.

Book early to reserve the same cabin for both voyages. You can book as a single cruise, one booking number, or two cruises. Do the math.

DR menus will repeat, but there are lots of selections. Gives you extra time to try a specialty restaurant or the super large buffet which will be on the Enchanted.

Downside is turn around day in Ft. Lauderdale. You will have to go through immigration. There will be choices to leave the ship or to stay on. Either way you must go through immigration. Expect a large group, 100's.

We love b2b's. Have been doing them for years. 

[CaribbeanIsland]

23 minutes ago, Coral said:

My experience is a lot of entertainers stay on for months.

That is our experience also. Whenever we have done back two backs, we get the same guest entertainers.

[I Love Cruising 3]

8 minutes ago, Coral said:

For me -it is not worth traveling for a 7 night cruise as I have a full day of travel. I haven't done a Caribbean cruise in a very long time as I find them boring. So maybe if you only do Caribbean cruises, this maybe true.

In the past 15 years that's about all we've done & it might be easier to shift them around in that region. 

[Coral]

Just now, I Love Cruising 3 said:

In the past 15 years that's about all we've done & it might be easier to shift them around in that region. 

That makes sense. I gave up on the Caribbean years ago and probably haven't done a B2B there. With so many ships there, they probably do jump ships.

 

I will only get on a ship for 14 days as it is too much hassle to travel for 7 nights.

[jimdee3636]

One more thing to do on the turnaround day: laundry. Don't laugh. After the first seven days you'll have plenty of it, particularly in a hot climate. The self-serve laundry rooms are usually empty on turnaround days but can be a zoo at other times. By doing a week's worth of laundry onboard you can pack a lot less.

[skynight]

Other considerations

The Enchanted will most likely be at pier 2. An easy walk to SE 17th St. for new supplies or a lunch. You can also take a taxi to the beach area, spend some time and then return before the ship sails.

[Bwana Tom]

You can sometimes book b2b cruises together, in this case as a 14 night cruise, or separately as two 7 night cruises. Sometimes booking them together will be a little cheaper than separately. We've been on many b2bs and our experience has been a little different than one of the other poster's comments. We have found in many cases the entertainers are duplicated from one cruise to another. So, that is something to think about, but there is always a lot to do on the ship and if you don't want to watch a repeat performance there will likely be some other type of entertainment to participate in. With Caribbean cruises sometimes you can book for an Eastern Caribbean cruise on the one end and a Western on the other, or even a Southern Caribbean cruise. By mixing them up in this manner it will give you more a variety of ports than if you book identical itineraries.

Tom  

[elliair]

B2B to me means been there done that.  I'd get off the ship and on to another ship going somewhere else.  We got off the Caribbean Princess on a New England cruise.  Spent the night in Ft. Lauderdale then got on the Royal for a different itinerary and experience.  On our recent Hawaiian cruise, there were people who stayed on the ship for another trip back to Hawaii.  We couldn't do anything like that without going bonkers.

[paul929207]

In your case you will be returning to FLL. Princess may offer a tour or two, but in general there will be few if any activities prior to sailaway.

 

Should you run low on supplies (soap, shampoo, etc.), Walgreens (drugstore) , Publix (supermarket ) and Ttal wines & More are a short walk from the port.

[WisCruiser2]

A fun thing to do in Ft Lauderdale is walk to the 17th St Water Taxi stop and take it to Las Olas Blvd. We like eating at La Bonne Crepes, or you can go back to the ship for lunch. You are given an "in-transit" card so you skip the lines at the port (other than security) to re-board.

[ghstudio]

48 minutes ago, Bwana Tom said:

You can sometimes book b2b cruises together, in this case as a 14 night cruise, or separately as two 7 night cruises. Sometimes booking them together will be a little cheaper than separately. 

Tom  

 

We booked a 12 night cruise around the UK....$7000 in an M1....we decided to take the prior 15 night cruise transatlantic and make it a B2B...an M1 cabin would cost $6000 for that cruise.  I found that Princess offered the two together as one 27 night cruise. We booked an M1 cabin for a total of $8600 for the two of us....a saving of $4400.  That's more than "a little cheaper".

[Coral]

1 hour ago, elliair said:

B2B to me means been there done that.  I'd get off the ship and on to another ship going somewhere else.  We got off the Caribbean Princess on a New England cruise.  Spent the night in Ft. Lauderdale then got on the Royal for a different itinerary and experience.  On our recent Hawaiian cruise, there were people who stayed on the ship for another trip back to Hawaii.  We couldn't do anything like that without going bonkers.

Not for me. I am looking at a Transatlantic and then a cruise in Europe after that staying on the same ship.

 

These are also considered B2B.

[geoherb]

Always look at the total cost of booking separate cruises versus booking it as one cruise if offered. For instance, people who qualify for shareholder and military onboard credits get $250 for 14-day cruises versus $100 for each 7-day cruise. Elites will still get their minibars for each leg even if they booked it as one cruise.

 

I did not mind the repeated shows when I took back-to-back cruises. When we took some shorter ones (made up of 3- and 4-day cruises), they even varied the production shows and the menus. When I did back-to-back 7-day cruises, the production shows and menus were exactly the same. The guest entertainers were different. There are lots of entertainment options going on at night, so having the same show repeat isn't that big a deal.

[I Love Cruising 3]

Don't forget about the loyalty credit of up to $100 per cruise if it's a 14 day or $200 for two 7 day trips.