Has anyone tried back to back cruising?

[deer stone]

I have been on a couple cruises but one of my friends recommended trying back to back cruising... what are the benefits to this way of cruising? She got back from two back to back Norwegian Cruise Line cruises and said she would do it again in a heartbeat.

Edited June 21, 2020 by deer stone

[1025cruise]

People do back to back all the time. If you can spend the time and the itinerary is worth it to you, why not?

[CruisingAlong4Now]

The major benefit for most people is that doing a B2B rather than two single 7 day cruises at different times means that they only have one RT flight.  If you tend to cruise 7-day cruises and you do a B2B, you effectively have a 14 day cruise.  There's nothing special about a two 7 day B2B compared to a 14 day cruise (although some cruise lines have a small discount for booking a B2B rather than two single 7 day cruises). 

[dogs4fun]

1 hour ago, CruisingAlong4Now said:

The major benefit for most people is that doing a B2B rather than two single 7 day cruises at different times means that they only have one RT flight.  

This is the major reason that we have enjoyed B2B cruises - especially TA cruises combined with med cruises, etc. - only had one R/T flight 

[ColeThornton]

I think for me the 14 day B2B cruises are a bit long.   Seven days for me of fun, relaxing and eating more than I should is just about right.  Maybe I would stretch it to ten days but fourteen FOR ME would be too long.

 

Just one thing to think about.

[CruiserBruce]

Done many back to backs (commonly referred to as B2B). Yes, longer cruise with less travel. Don't be fooled by people who talk about 2 7 day B2Bs...you can back to back cruises of any length. We have done 7 and 7, 10 and 10, 10 and 11, and have a 12 and 12 booked. You can do any combo.

 

Other benefits vary by cruise line. Some discounts, cocktail parties or dinners, etc. All varies by the cruise line and the policy they have.

[Lois R]

I know folks who have taken more than just 1 b2b........multiple ones......my sis and bil have done several.  Were gone

about 6 weeks with 3 or 4 cruises.....(in a row).  They love cruising  and are able to be away for longer periods of time.

[cruisemom42]

There's no significant difference between doing two BTB 7-day cruises and doing one 14-day cruise, for the most part. 

 

As mentioned above, some cruise lines give a small discount for booking two cruises back-to-back, however....

[LHT28]

We do it   but when they do  different itineraries

 We prefer  Europe cruises  so you can do the Baltic  with Norway or other areas

TA followed by European ports

As above one flight there  & 1 back

discounted for the B2B  sometimes

Unpacking once 

 

 

[navybankerteacher]

The only B2B which I think is truly absurd is one that repeats the same itinerary.  Also, having that day in the middle, when you have to debark, hang around, and then reboard a ship which is going through the changeover chaos is kind of a pain.  I would much prefer one single, longer, itinerary.  Lots of people book two or more segments of longer itineraries - which is similar to back-to-back without the hassle of that middle day - but usually involves different embarkation/debarkation ports.  

[c-boy]

they're great, as long as it isn't a repeat of the same itinerary. My wife and I do repositioning cruises,  along the lines of Caribbean then a T A  or vice versa. A seven day cruise equates to a five day cruise , embarkation and disembarking  days are included,  and  it can take two day's just to relax. so ........🤷‍♂️.  I gotta say it's nice & relaxing not having to scramble about while leaving the ship to make connections. 

[evandbob]

1 hour ago, cruisemom42 said:

There's no significant difference between doing two BTB 7-day cruises and doing one 14-day cruise, for the most part. 

 

As mentioned above, some cruise lines give a small discount for booking two cruises back-to-back, however....

One major difference is that you can have an extra port day or two during the 14 day cruise since you lose the travel day and the extra homeport day on a B2B.

 

I once did a 10 day eastern from MIA to SJU immediately followed by and 11 day southern SJU to MIA in the middle of a cold New York winter.  Heaven!

[TheOldBear]

Our two most recent [2017 & 2019] were round trip transatlantic crossings - our upcoming cruise [Sept 2021] is another round trip, visiting Southampton, Rotterdam, Brussels & Cherbourg  

 

We choose this option as we are local to the Brooklyn terminal [no airplanes, rolls or bridges] and have always found the ship and other passengers the main attraction as a vacation.

[Shmoo here]

7 hours ago, deer stone said:

I have been on a couple cruises but one of my friends recommended trying back to back cruising... what are the benefits to this way of cruising? She got back from two back to back Norwegian Cruise Line cruises and said she would do it again in a heartbeat.

Biggest benefit - you don't have to get off after the first cruise.  Makes the cruise "longer".

 

A few cruise lines offer reduced fares for booking B2B cruises.  Sometimes.

 

We've done a Med/WBTA B2B.  And a Eastern/Western Caribbean B2B (with a short Bahamas cruise just prior).

 

 

 

 

[George C]

We done back to back twice liked both one a long time ago on costa and a recent one on celebrity, many of the Caribbean cruises ships alter there route from eastern to western Caribbean so you hit different ports. 

[CruisingAlong4Now]

Not all cruise lines or ports require you to disembark on the turnover day.  Another difference between B2B and a single cruise of the same duration is the turnover of people. On a B2B, some people leave at the end of the first cruise and new people join the cruise. If you like the first bunch of people and they leave after the first cruise, you might feel that you've lost your friends. On the other hand, if the first cruise has a bunch of loud boozers, you'll be happy to see the back of them and look forward to new people joining the cruise.

[davekathy]

We do B2B cruises all the time. The only way we will do B2B cruises if we can get the same cabin and two different itineraries. 

Edited June 21, 2020 by davekathy

[BSR]

I've done many b2b cruises and also b2b2b. Unfortunately, I had to change cabins a few times.

[PORT ROYAL]

We do multiple b2bs on Cunard, booking early to secure same Stateroom with Cunard Fare OBC, then utilise FCDs for each seperate voyage, with additional OBC per voyage.

 

Will look at the Math fot a 2023 WC by seperate Voyages.

 

 

 

 

[Husky61]

We did one B2B cruise out of Fort lauderdale and would definitely not do it again.  We returned to FL after 7 days and had to go through customs and waste our time sitting in the port all day.

 

Not for us but others seem to like it.

[CruiserBruce]

30 minutes ago, Husky61 said:

We did one B2B cruise out of Fort lauderdale and would definitely not do it again.  We returned to FL after 7 days and had to go through customs and waste our time sitting in the port all day.

 

Not for us but others seem to like it.

No, you went through immigration. And the process typically takes less than an hour. Or you could have gone on an excursion, or disembarked on your own, and could have gone wherever you wished. Worst case, you should have been able to reboard when general boarding resumed.

[LHT28]

38 minutes ago, Husky61 said:

We did one B2B cruise out of Fort lauderdale and would definitely not do it again.  We returned to FL after 7 days and had to go through customs and waste our time sitting in the port all day.

 

Not for us but others seem to like it.

Depends on the cruise line  we have had turnaround day  at POM

 we got off  for about 1 hr they walk you out one door & in the other  then waited in the building until the ship was zeroed

Then back on the ship   ..no problem

 sometime we go shopping  then just reboard  when we get back to the ship

no waiting for general boarding

[d9704011]

1 minute ago, LHT28 said:

Depends on the cruise line  we have had turnaround day  at POM

 we got off  for about 1 hr they walk you out one door & in the other  then waited in the building until the ship was zeroed

Then back on the ship   ..no problem

Unlike Husky61, we had the same experience in Fort Lauderdale with Princess.

[George C]

1 hour ago, BSR said:

I've done many b2b cruises and also b2b2b. Unfortunately, I had to change cabins a few times.

On our last we actually moved one room over this was handy since we had same room steward and butler since we were in a celebrity suite , before we left our cabin our room steward said our new cabin was all set, they moved everything on hangers also. 

[donaldsc]

We have a friend who is a cruise nut.  They had a cruise wedding in the Caribbean to attend.  They converted it to a B2B2B2B2B2B2B.  That's right - 7 cruises bouncing around the Caribbean.  I think that they are crazy but as I often say, different strokes etc.  They hardly ever do a single cruise unless it is a world cruise which they have 4 or 5 of.  

 

The most I have done is a B2B but since since the shortest cruise I will ever do is a 14 day cruise so a B2B means that I am on the ship for 38 days.  

 

As I said, they are cruise nuts. They are home this summer  going crazy.

 

DON