tell me about back to back cruises!!!

[travelgyalrox2]

Tell me about B2B cruises!!

 

seems like a great idea to me simply cuz i never wanna get off the ship. :D whats it like?

 

u dont do the exact same cruise do u? i guess that wud be a lil redundant.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Not always some time you do east one week and west the next week there are maney people who do B2B cruises

[lannp]

Love em!!! You move into your cabin and make it like home. It's also fun on the last night to walk down the hall and watch people putting their suitcases out and chanting to yourself "I don't have to paaaaack".

The next morning everybody is rushing around. You can take your time getting to breakfast and depending on the turn-around port you might not even have to leave the ship. If you do, you're last off and once the ship is cleared you generally re-board long before they open it up for general boarding.

[sail7seas]

We have done many b-to-b's and love them. We sometimes have alternating Eastern/Western Caribbean and sometimes repeat the same itinerary. For us, the ship is our primary destination and where the ship stops (in the Caribbean) is not that important.

 

We always have the same cabin for both segments so don't have to move which is great. We love the turnaround day when we don't have to leave. :)

 

We did b-to-b in March on Eurodam, June on Maasdam and have two booked for next year already.

 

[serene56]

Doing a B2B is a lot easier if you can go eastern one week and western the next week.

menus and shows will be exactly the same for those two weeks.

[ItsAllAboutTheSass]

You can buy booze on the first leg and it will be delivered to your room the last night of that leg and you have it for the second...

[Alexis]

You can buy booze on the first leg and it will be delivered to your room the last night of that leg and you have it for the second...

 

RCCL does not do that on many of theirs. You get it the last night of the second week. ;)

[Alexis]

Tell me about B2B cruises!!

 

seems like a great idea to me simply cuz i never wanna get off the ship. :D whats it like?

 

u dont do the exact same cruise do u? i guess that wud be a lil redundant.

 

Hi,

This is for RCCL cruises only. I am going to give you my whole posting on B2B cruises.

We have done many B2B's over the years. They are wonderful. We usually do the Eastern and the Western, but have done the Southern route also.

We will be doing two more in Nov/Dec. And two more in 2010.

When you book a B2B with Royal Caribbean, always tell them you want to book it with the Back to Back desk. Our paperwork is different than a person cruising for 1 week. ;)

 

My first thing about a B2B cruise is I NEVER cruise them unless I can stay in the same cabin. I am not one for an upgrade or changing to another cabin because I always pick the exact cabin I want and insist on staying with it.

There is no repacking to be done and everything you have stays in the same cabin. By now your cabin attendant knows you and is familiar with your times, likes and dislikes.

 

If you decide to change cabins after the first week. They will help you move your things to the new cabin on a cart like bell hops use. You do not have to pack everything and leave the ship. The two cabin attendants usually get together and help you. ;)

 

The only real discount you get other than C&A coupons, Platinum and Diamond/Diamond + Balcony discounts, is you only have to pay to fly one time for both cruises Your fare to get there and your fare to get home. Saves on airfare and that's it.

 

The dining room menu has enough variety that you can eat a different meal every night for the two weeks. I do not find the food to be boring on a B2B You do not normally stay at the same table the second week, nor have the same wait staff. It can be requested if you would like to stay with your waiter. It will not be guaranteed though.

With the MTD I am waiting to see what happens as it will be our first time trying it.

 

The entertainment as far as the main shows are usually the same for the two weeks. The comics or other show people normally change by the second week. If not, check out another thing on the ship you missed the first week.

 

On the day of turn around, You should receive a letter in your cabin by the end of the first week with your instructions on what to do. You are usually escorted off the ship by an officer and returned to it within minutes. No going back in line to re board for the second week. This will depend on the port you are in. They do not do the same procedure in all of them. Sometimes they hand you the new card at the pursers desk.

 

EDIT: Tipping: You also pay your tips at the end of the first week or segment and then again at the end of the second week or segment. You do not wait until the entire cruise is over.

 

I hope this explains some of the questions anyone might ask. ;)

[AlanAllyn]

Doing a B2B is a lot easier if you can go eastern one week and western the next week.

menus and shows will be exactly the same for those two weeks.

 

Although that is often true, it is not always so. We did the Independence of the Seas las December, Western Carib, then Eastern. Since they had been doing 12 day cruises in Europe, they had more shows. Some were a repeat but not all. Also, the some of the other entertainers changed.

 

Most of the menus from the 6-day western reappeared, but not all.

 

 

ALSO, ITIS MUCH EASIER IF YOU HAVE THE SAME CABIN ON BOTH HALVES.

 

Alan

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have done quite a few back-to-back cruises. Some were 7 day segments for each cruise -- others were 10 day cruises for each segment (really love those the best).

We have done them in the Caribbean, Mexico/Sea of Cortez, Canada/New England, Alaska, Mediterranean, a repositioning cruise and then tacked on Alaska. So many choices.

We always book far enough in advance that we get the same cabin.

[Goldryder]

I am doing my first B2B in March/April/May next year...the cruise was booked as one cruise despite it also being available as two halves. I have the same cabin throughout and the changeover point for those leaving/joining part way through is Mumbai, India.

 

Being a repositioning, there are no duplicated ports, but I will be overnighting a couple of times along the way...Phuket & Mumbai...so should be a great experience all round :)

[hajekfam]

One of the best things about a back to back is that about midway through the first cruise when everyone else starts on the downward spiral that their cruise is ending soon - you know that you still have time onboard.

Also, you get to know the staff and ship and when everyone else is floundering around on the first day of the second cruise, you walk around the ship with a knowing air and have bartenders greeting you by name.

Even if you do repeat itineraries, you can use the second cruise as a rest and relaxation cruise - enjoy the "private" pool on port days, do the things that you missed on the first cruise.

The ship itself can be the vacation. And a back to back is one way to enjoy that.

[CC Help Michell]

Tell me about B2B cruises!!

 

seems like a great idea to me simply cuz i never wanna get off the ship. :D whats it like?

 

u dont do the exact same cruise do u? i guess that wud be a lil redundant.

 

 

There are lots of options for back to back cruising. In Alaska, you could do a Northbound, then Southbound sailing along the Inside Passage and have double the chances for glacier and wildlife viewing, excursions, etc. You can also do the same cruise if you choose to -- for a very port intensive itinerary where you just couldn't decide what to do each day, that would be a good choice. It also would be a good choice if you don't care a fig about the ports because you've already seen them, and you just want to relax and enjoy the ship.

 

Here's another thread with thoughts about why people sail back to back -- http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=959387&highlight=back

[Happy ks]

The only time I truly did not want to get off the ship and do a B2B was last year on Legend. We were on the Italy/Croatia segment and they alternated with an Italy/Greece itinerary.

 

Don't get me wrong, I've only once really wanted to get off of a cruise ship (note to self, you like longer cruises!), I just never would want to repeat the same trip twice in a row. We haven't yet cruised the Caribbean, but the East/West sounds like a good way to do a B2B.

 

A dream of ours for Alaska would be a northbound, a few days in port and catch a different ship back southbound. We'd really prefer different cruise lines for this.

[Happy ks]

Another awesome B2B would be a repo to Europe with a week or 2 stay after disembarkation, then return on QM2 to New York :)

 

I need to buy some lottery tickets :D

[Mary in Maine]

We did a B2B on the Legend, Eastern and Western. We had a great time but decided that we would never do it again. We didn't like being the old hands while everyone else was wondering around getting used to the ship, losing a day while the new passengers came aboard, 2 drills, same jokes, same shows, etc. The following year we did a 14 day cruise. Much better!

[SC LTC]

Doing a B2B is a lot easier if you can go eastern one week and western the next week.

menus and shows will be exactly the same for those two weeks.

 

 

How does that work? would like to do eastern one week and western next week. THX

[rianvi]

Thank you everyone for all of your great tips/points.

We are doing our first B2B in Feb/10 on the AOS out of S.J. Different ports each week. We prepaid our gratuity as we requested MTD.

 

Alexis...thank you for posting the anwers to the questions I was about to ask.

 

Happy ks...The group of friends we travel with all buy lottery tickets. Hoping that some day our ship will come in...literally:D.

 

Rianvi:)

[LHT28]

We did the Panama Canal Miami to LA & return

same ports, same food, same entertainment.

We got to see some things on the return trip we missed on the 1st trip

We got to try more entrees in the dining room that we did not try the 1st week, we got to meet new people the 2nd week

Only downside was having to get off after 32 days.

 

Europe B2B's are better because they usually do a different route on week 2 (if you choose the right cruise)

 

Looking forward to our next B2B ..Northern Europe & Norway

 

Lyn