Question for those who have booked Back to Back (and more!) cruises

[CutestLittleEvil]

I was hoping to get an idea about back to back cruising. I'm hoping people could share their experiences about what they liked, what they didn't like, how long they were gone on their sailing, if the length of the trip was too long (or not long enough!) etc...

 

How did you come to decided a back to back cruise was what you wanted to do and how did you book such a thing (independently or with a TA)? Did you stay on the same ship or switch ships? Was the process easy or confusing?

 

And would you do it again?

[LindaJSteele]

We did a back to back on the Conquest and the Breeze. We just decided it was something we wanted to do, so we booked it with our PVP at Carnival. I would definitely do it again. It was nice to see two different ships although I can see the advantage of keeping the same cabin and not having to unpack. We also went to different ports so that was another plus. The first was 7 days and the second was 6.

 

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Forums mobile app

Edited May 12, 2014 by LindaJSteele

[Essiesmom]

I answered on the HAL board. HAL handles B2B passengers very well. I have also done B2B cruises on Celebrity, who do not 'get it', as far as treating B2B passengers well on turnaround day. Especially when you have to change cabins. I have also done a B2B on Carnival without any difficulties. EM

[cmptrwiz]

I was hoping to get an idea about back to back cruising. I'm hoping people could share their experiences about what they liked, what they didn't like, how long they were gone on their sailing, if the length of the trip was too long (or not long enough!) etc...

 

How did you come to decided a back to back cruise was what you wanted to do and how did you book such a thing (independently or with a TA)? Did you stay on the same ship or switch ships? Was the process easy or confusing?

 

And would you do it again?

 

We went on a B2B 1 1/2 years ago and would do it again in a heart beat! The best part was one airfare for basically 2 cruises. The downside was the same jokes from the Cruise Director and the same shows. We were gone 7 days Eastern Caribbean 1st leg and 7 days Western Caribbean 2nd leg same ship the Valor. We had the same cabin both legs. The length of trip was wonderful and I could of gone one or two more weeks. We had read about back to backs and decided it was time to try. We have done 7,8,9, and 10 day cruises and thought it was time to try longer. We booked with our PVP and the process was simple. The turn around day was easy peasy too in Miami. Met at Guest services went off as a group went through customs back on ship and bang back on vacation.

 

Another con was we were alone the 1st week and had several friends join us the 2nd week. So on the turn around day instead of relaxing we were being called by our friends telling us where they were and what they were doing. When they boarded they wanted us to take their carry on to our cabin so they wouldn't have to lug it around. That took a lot of time because they didn't all board at the same time. After they boarded they were asking us all sorts of questions about our past week and telling us all about their travel adventures getting to Miami and that took a lot of time out of our relaxation time, but was ok. Part of the time on turn around we we're doing laundry for the next week and that took a little time early in the morning. Of course we had to do muster again on the 2nd week. Our friends wanted us to go to some of the same shows we went to the week before so we went. We probably shouldn't have gone to the shows the 1st week and had more alone time!

 

All in all it was a great time and would do it again with airfare being so expensive. We have been looking at the Valor out of Puerto Rico with all the same stops the 2nd week. One of my biggest problem is getting time off of work for 2 weeks in a row.

 

We received a fruit basket and a bottle of wine or champaign and we don't drink alcohol so we returned it to guest services and they substituted chocolate covered strawberries for us.

 

One word of advice is to pace yourselves as far as food. We only had one over the top dessert WCMC once each week. We tried to restrict our bread and rolls at each meal, but Carnival has such good bread. We tried to not use the elevator and hit the gym three times a week.

 

Any more questions please ask.

 

Wiz

Edited May 12, 2014 by cmptrwiz

[Elaine5715]

Did B2Bs on the Imagination. No price break. Did get bottle of wine and chocolate covered strawberries from the hotel director. Recognized by many crew on the second leg. Way cool sitting in the lobby watching them clear the ship, like you were watching the behind-the-scenes activities.

[jmcancruise]

We have done two b2b s. First on the Glory, second on the Valor. First we had a total of 7 different ports. Lots of fun with so many different ports. On the valor we did 5 ports twice. We found it much more relaxing as we were able to pace ourselves and not have to feel like we needed to do something big at every port.

 

IT is true that things on the ship are repeated each week, but again you just pick and choose from the beginning so you can spread your activities out.

 

Love that feeling of not having to pack up at the end of the first week.

 

We did not have to go to muster the second week on the Valor. We're just told to stay in our room.

 

All and all we have loved doing b2b s and have another booked for next fall. Our primary reason for doing one is the high cost of airfare.

[Spaniel Lover]

We have done several back-to-backs with Carnival. In fact, we just got home last night from the latest... on Carnival Glory.

 

Try to find ships (like Carnival Glory) that do alternating itineraries rather than ships (like NCL's Norwegian Getaway) that just do the same itinerary over and over every week.

 

Princess makes it really easy to book B2Bs online yourself without the help of a Personal Vacation Planner or Travel Agent. On Princess.com when you do a search for cruises, it will not only show you the single itineraries but if the ship does alternating itineraries it will show those as a B2B, too. Carnival really needs to offer this feature on their web site. On Carnival, it's a lot trickier to determine if there are any cabins that are available to book for multiple weeks.

 

One trick that nobody has mentioned yet is that if you go to the gift shop on the last night of the first cruise, you can buy booze and take it with you... and have it to drink on your second cruise. Of course, I'm talking about when you do a B2B on the same ship, not switching ships.

 

Another thing I really like about B2Bs is that the swimming pools and jacuzzis are usually almost empty on the first afternoon of the second week. Most of the passengers who just got onboard have their swim suits packed in the luggage... which takes a few hours to be delivered. You already have your swim suit, since you've been onboard for a week already... so the pools and jacuzzis are all yours for at least the first few hours of the second cruise.

[hockeyluver]

We did a short b2b on the Victory, a 4 day and a 5 day. It was perfect for a first b2b. We loved the ports on both legs so decided to do them both.

 

We changed cabins which was a surprise for my hubby. I had booked a 4j for both legs but when the price dropped for a balcony for the second leg i moved us. I am so glad I did. We really missed having a balcony!!!

 

We packed everything up in the morning then had to go to guest services, we were walked off the ship to customs cleared customs then right back on and off to our new cabin. All our luggage had been moved there.

 

It was great and I will definitely do it again!!

[caddyrag]

we've done a couple of b2b's on the Carnival Magic and the turnaround day was made very easy by the staff. Same cabin so backing it up. 1st leg was western 2nd leg eastern so really got a good visit with the sites. we will be booking the next b2b very soon for the fall.

[katiel53]

We did a B2B on Dream a few years ago. We stayed in the same cabin and one week was an Eastern Caribbean and the other was a Western Caribbean. Turn around day was great and it was a simple get off/on and we were good to go for the second week.

 

We don't go to the shows much so we didn't have any problems with seeing the same ones both weeks. Blackjack band was playing both weeks and we knew when/where so we were able to see them and enjoy their music.

 

I am more of a cruising fan than my DH. If it were up to me, I'd do a B2B every cruise, but two weeks at one time was enough for him. We do two cruises at least every year, but they; are separate. We do have an advantage though by living in FL. We usually drive to the port.

[Carnival_Brides]

I broke your questions down. We've done two b2bs in the past.

 

What we liked? Our favorite day on a b2b is debark on the first leg. It's fun (twisted sense of humor) to watch everyone get off knowing that our vacation is only half over. We also like having the empty ship to explore for 30 to 90 minutes.

What we didn't like? With the Glory last year it had been 2.0ed and some of our favorite activities had been moved to a smoking area due to venue branding restrictions. Once we realized that, we knew it was going to be a long 9 days. We also didn't love that for trivia they use the same questions from sailing-to-sailing (they don't have 2 or 3 sets), so we felt bad participating on the second leg.

How long we were gone on our sailing? The first b2b was 8 days (2 four day cruises) and the second one was 9 days (a four and a five).

Was the length of the trip was too long (or not long enough!)? It was just right for us. We had done seven day cruises before with no problem, so the extra days were kind of nice. We'd love to find the time to do a 14 day, but there's not enough time during the school year and we don't go south in the summer.

How did we come to decide on a back to back cruise? Honestly, it was the price. Carnival had to sink the cost of their Canadian cruises due to Concordia, Triumph, and an unfriendly market. We figured out that we could do two legs in oceanviews for under $500 a person with tax and in the northeast that is an amazing deal. Since we had to drive or take a train for 9 hours, it sounded good to us.

How did you book such a thing (independently or with a TA)? We booked directly with Carnival through a PVP. The first b2b we were able to keep our cabin, the second b2b we had to move.

Did you stay on the same ship or switch ships? Same ship

Was the process easy or confusing? It was easy. The only time we encountered any kind of problem was on last year's b2b. We got upgrades on the way to the port that hadn't made it into their system, so it took some back and forth at Guest Services to get it sorted out. We went from 1As to balconies for free, so it was worth the hassle. The other problem was our cabin staff was uncooperative when it came time to move cabins. Carnival and Guest Services said they would handle moving our 2 suitcases, but they were moody and refused when the Guest Services manager called them. The Hotel Director had to get involved.

 

And would we you do it again? Yup--if the price was right and we had the time.

 

Also, we second the booze thing. We did the four day on our own and then my brother and niece joined us on the second leg--he had two bottles of Jack waiting on him when he got to the cabin. Just make sure you do it the last night, so you can walk out of the store with it. Some passengers on b2bs have recently reported that the ship wouldn't deliver their liquor on the last night of the first leg because they knew they were b2b.

Edited May 12, 2014 by Carnival_Brides

[nunuc2000]

We've done B2B cruises on Carnival and Princess, and have another B2B2B booked for this October - LOVE B2B cruises!

 

Airfare is outrageous for us, so it makes sense to do B2B's or just book much longer cruises whenever possible. They're still never long enough for us though... we could live on a cruiseship! :D

 

Turnaround day is wonderful - very relaxing, no crowds and no rush for breakfast in the dining room, perfect time to do some laundry, and a very easy process for meeting with ship's personnel to debark, go through the quick immigration process, and get back on again to enjoy an almost empty ship - usually means being able to stake a claim on the best lounging spot in the Serenity area or poolside too! The second leg allows us to try foods that we didn't get to try on the first leg, and to see the shows that we didn't the first time around. We've had different itineraries on each leg, so that makes it like a totally different vacation on each leg too.

 

We've been fortunate to keep the same room for each leg, but even if we had to move rooms, it's an easy process. On our Princess B2B we weren't required to attend the muster drill on the second leg, but we were required to attend on our Carnival B2B.

 

Honestly, I can't find anything bad about doing a B2B! :)

 

Celine

[Sparky2]

we have done 3 B2Bs and have our 4th B2B booked for next January. We've always stayed in the same cabin so it's been very easy. All of our B2Bs have been a total of 14 days. We're never ready to get off the ship after 7 or 8 days. After 14 days, we're almost ready to go home.

 

We've always received a fruit basket and bottle of champagne for doing B2B. I don't want to open the champagne for just me as my SO doesn't drink. I've been allowed to exchange it for white wine in the MDR and it was served to me for a few nights.

 

I've never bought booze from the gift shop on the last night. However, I did buy a bottle of booze in port toward the end of the 1st cruise. Unfortunately, when I went through security, I was told to take it to the desk to be held for me. It was not at all busy at that time so I didn't want to sneak it to my cabin. I left the form out for my room steward. He left me a note saying since we were doing B2B, it would be held till the end of the next cruise. It was out of his control.

 

By the way, if you change ships, you are not doing an actual B2B. You are doing 2 different cruises.

 

The first B2B we did was because we were unable to cruise one year so decided to double up. One airfare for 2 cruises. Now we won't do any single cruises unless it was a long one.

[OCruisers]

Can't think of anything we don't like about taking B2B cruises! We always stay on the same ship and in the same cabin when we take them.

LuLu

[Ohio Bucki]

We have done several back-to-backs with Carnival. In fact, we just got home last night from the latest... on Carnival Glory.

 

Try to find ships (like Carnival Glory) that do alternating itineraries rather than ships (like NCL's Norwegian Getaway) that just do the same itinerary over and over every week.

 

Princess makes it really easy to book B2Bs online yourself without the help of a Personal Vacation Planner or Travel Agent. On Princess.com when you do a search for cruises, it will not only show you the single itineraries but if the ship does alternating itineraries it will show those as a B2B, too. Carnival really needs to offer this feature on their web site. On Carnival, it's a lot trickier to determine if there are any cabins that are available to book for multiple weeks.

 

One trick that nobody has mentioned yet is that if you go to the gift shop on the last night of the first cruise, you can buy booze and take it with you... and have it to drink on your second cruise. Of course, I'm talking about when you do a B2B on the same ship, not switching ships.

 

Another thing I really like about B2Bs is that the swimming pools and jacuzzis are usually almost empty on the first afternoon of the second week. Most of the passengers who just got onboard have their swim suits packed in the luggage... which takes a few hours to be delivered. You already have your swim suit, since you've been onboard for a week already... so the pools and jacuzzis are all yours for at least the first few hours of the second cruise.

 

We have our first B2B scheduled on the Glory for this November, same cabin. How were thing handled at the end of the first week? Did you have to fill out a customs form after week one or just at the end of week two? Did you get a new sign and sail card? If yes, when does that happen? Thanks for this and any other info. you can share.

[sewut]

We've done two pseudo b2b cruises. The first time we drove to Florida from Kansas and decided if we were going to drive all that way, we might as well make it worth our while. We did the Freedom 8 day out of Ft. Lauderdale on a Western Exotic, got off and hopped in our car, and drove 3 hours to Port Canaveral, and boarded the Sensation for a 4 day to the Bahamas. The Sensation cruise was free because we have a Carnival Mastercard and paid with points.

The second pseudo b2b was out of Galveston. We tried Princess for my birthday (Ultimate Balcony Breakfast:D) and went to Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel. Then we stayed at a hotel, went up to Houston to pick up our daughter and grandson, stayed another night, and boarded the Triumph and witnessed their first cruise.

This coming January we have a b2b booked on the Magic, same room, cove balcony, different itinerary. Can't wait.

[Spaniel Lover]

We have our first B2B scheduled on the Glory for this November, same cabin. How were thing handled at the end of the first week? Did you have to fill out a customs form after week one or just at the end of week two? Did you get a new sign and sail card? If yes, when does that happen? Thanks for this and any other info. you can share.

 

On the last night of the first cruise, your cabin steward leaves you a letter (during the evening bed turndown) with all the instructions and he also gives you a customs form to fill out.

 

Basically, you meet down in the lobby at about 10:30 AM with all the other B2B cruisers. You sit in the lobby and chat from 10:30 until whenever the very last passenger finally leaves the ship. It's kind of fun to sit in the lobby and watch everyone leave the ship... and there's usually some kind of drama involved with tracking down the last few guests and getting them off the ship. Typically, they make increasingly urgent PA announcements as the morning goes on, letting the guests know that it is time to leave. At the end, when it's down to just the last few remaining guests, they start paging people by name over the PA system. It's kind of funny to observe.

 

Anyway, when the last guests finally leave, and only the crew and the B2B people are still onboard, a special crew member walks all the B2B people off the ship and down to customs. You all go through customs, and then when all the B2B people are done with customs you all are given new sail & sign cards and are escorted back on to the ship.

 

Being escorted on to the ship is kind of fun because you are able to see the cruise terminal crowded with people who are anxious to board... and they can all see you and I'm sure they wonder who you are and why it appears that you are walking on to the ship when (as far as they know) boarding hasn't begun yet.

 

The group of B2B people cross the gangway on to the ship, you ding in with your new sail & sign card, and you are free to go do whatever you want at that point. Typically, this is somewhere around 11:30 AM. Personally, I like to head to Guy's Burger Joint and be the first one served... but what you want to do on an empty ship is up to you. Just remember, boarding will begin minutes after the B2B people get onboard... so there will be people boarding and crowding in to the buffet and Guy's Burger Joint within about 10 minutes of when you get onboard. Make the most of your quiet time on an empty ship... it will not last long!

 

Regarding the customs form...

Remember that as far as US Customs is concerned, you are doing two completely independent cruises. So, when you fill out the form at the end of the first cruise, you declare anything you purchased that week... and when you fill out the form at the end of the second cruise, you DO NOT declare anything you purchased the FIRST week... only whatever you purchased the SECOND week. Even though you are carrying things off with you on the second week that you bought on the first week, you already declared them at the end of the first week. You don't declare them twice.

[Spaniel Lover]

I'd also like to offer one bit of advice...

 

When you're in the lobby at the end of the first cruise, with all the other B2B people, waiting for all the other passengers to get off the ship... don't be quiet and locked away in your own thoughts. Be social with the other B2B people. You'll have some interesting conversations with other people who are in your same situation. Compare notes on how the first week went. Talk about interesting shore excursions you took. You'll find your fellow B2B people to be a very interesting bunch!

 

As I said, we've done B2Bs quite a few times now. Typically, there have been about a dozen people doing B2Bs. However, one very memorable time, my wife and I were the only people doing a B2B that particular week. That was really fun... as it was like having our own personal assistant sitting and chatting with us in the lobby while we waited for all the other passengers to disembark... and then that person walked the two of us down to customs and then back onboard. We really felt like VIPs that day!

[cmptrwiz]

One more thing. When they give you your sail and sign card back put it away so you don't try and use it. I read on here where one person got their cards mixed up and some other poor person was getting charged for their drinks. Yes they do reuse the folio numbers!

[CutestLittleEvil]

Do any of you book back to back cruises but also switch cruise lines between legs? ( I do not mean to commit sacrilege to the loyalist by suggesting such a thing, I'm just curious.) Was it easy to accomplish?

[Ohio Bucki]

On the last night of the first cruise, your cabin steward leaves you a letter (during the evening bed turndown) with all the instructions and he also gives you a customs form to fill out.

 

Basically, you meet down in the lobby at about 10:30 AM with all the other B2B cruisers. You sit in the lobby and chat from 10:30 until whenever the very last passenger finally leaves the ship. It's kind of fun to sit in the lobby and watch everyone leave the ship... and there's usually some kind of drama involved with tracking down the last few guests and getting them off the ship. Typically, they make increasingly urgent PA announcements as the morning goes on, letting the guests know that it is time to leave. At the end, when it's down to just the last few remaining guests, they start paging people by name over the PA system. It's kind of funny to observe.

 

Anyway, when the last guests finally leave, and only the crew and the B2B people are still onboard, a special crew member walks all the B2B people off the ship and down to customs. You all go through customs, and then when all the B2B people are done with customs you all are given new sail & sign cards and are escorted back on to the ship.

 

Being escorted on to the ship is kind of fun because you are able to see the cruise terminal crowded with people who are anxious to board... and they can all see you and I'm sure they wonder who you are and why it appears that you are walking on to the ship when (as far as they know) boarding hasn't begun yet.

 

The group of B2B people cross the gangway on to the ship, you ding in with your new sail & sign card, and you are free to go do whatever you want at that point. Typically, this is somewhere around 11:30 AM. Personally, I like to head to Guy's Burger Joint and be the first one served... but what you want to do on an empty ship is up to you. Just remember, boarding will begin minutes after the B2B people get onboard... so there will be people boarding and crowding in to the buffet and Guy's Burger Joint within about 10 minutes of when you get onboard. Make the most of your quiet time on an empty ship... it will not last long!

 

Regarding the customs form...

Remember that as far as US Customs is concerned, you are doing two completely independent cruises. So, when you fill out the form at the end of the first cruise, you declare anything you purchased that week... and when you fill out the form at the end of the second cruise, you DO NOT declare anything you purchased the FIRST week... only whatever you purchased the SECOND week. Even though you are carrying things off with you on the second week that you bought on the first week, you already declared them at the end of the first week. You don't declare them twice.

 

Thanks for all the info!!!

[OCruisers]

OP you may want to read these replies.

LuLu

[dorisis]

Princess has very few cruises in the Caribbean that are more than 7 days. We happen to like Princess for many reasons. SO>> when we cruise the Caribbean we almost always do a B2B. Short cruises are not our style.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have done quite a few back-to-back cruises.

 

In fact our first cruises were back-to-back out of San Juan.

 

Now HAL calls many of the back-to-back cruises Collectors Cruises.

 

With the hassle of flying and no direct flights, we would never consider any cruise less than 14 days. The longer, the better.

 

I would not consider doing one cruise on one ship and then packing up everything and moving to another ship and going through all the check-in and security again and unpacking.

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

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

We only us a TA we have don it many ways B2B2B, one ship to an other ship , ship to ship to ship .. all is fun ..