Is there a benefit to a back2back cruise rather than a longer one?

[John&LaLa]

13 hours ago, ONECRUISER said:

Agree. Last 20yrs have only Cruised B3B or longer ALWAYS in same Cabin and except for last month each leg has been 10 Days or longer. Don't like to pack/unpack more then once or pay for Airfare/Hotel more then have to and way Airfare Prices starting creep up I'm ahead of the Game. Yes, the free Laundry Bag saves on me having to bring 3-4 Dozen pair Underwear!

 

Underwear🤔

#commando

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, vjmatty said:

It depends..... sometimes it is cheaper as one long cruise, sometimes it's cheaper as two separate cruises.  OBC promotions can be doubled if you book it as two separate sailings as a B2B instead of one long cruise. Same with suite and loyalty amenities, they can be doubled if booked separately. Another thing, and I don't know if this is true on Royal like it is on Princess, some cabins are bookable for only the two separate cruises and others for the single long cruise.

 

Royals world cruise is like that. Individual legs get less cabin choices

[firefly333]

15 hours ago, MommaBear55 said:

Pro of doing a B2B vs a longer cruise: double the benefits of whatever C&A level you are at. Drawback, wasting part of a day doing the turnover and coming back to the same port another time

I did appreciate my free 2 days of wifi more often on 4 and 5 days b2b2b2b.  Vs on a 7 or 10 day coming up. 

 

Hate turnaround day, its always a pita. 

 

You answered it perfect.

[pcur]

I usually book b2b cruises for the itinerary.  I look for repositioning cruises, and then look at the one before and after.  I like to cruise when the itinerary changes. 

 

The best I've done recently is the Vision b2b combining it's 11 and 10 night cruises for 3 weeks.

 

I've also booked a transatlantic, and either taken the last cruise before the TA, or the first one after it.  

[island lady]

6 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I'm all in, Laura is on the fence past leg 1

 

No fence needed.   

 

Leg 1, then home for laundry, mail, doc appointments, etc.   

 

Rejoin ship in Barcelona for leg 4.....

 

Works for us.  😉  

[island lady]

4 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Royals world cruise is like that. Individual legs get less cabin choices

 

You got that right!!  😮   And less perks as well.  Oh...we will try to survive anyway.  😉 

[island lady]

4 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I did appreciate my free 2 days of wifi more often on 4 and 5 days b2b2b2b.  Vs on a 7 or 10 day coming up. 

 

Hate turnaround day, its always a pita. 

 

You answered it perfect.

 

We actually adore TAD.   Fun to know you don't have to pack, and have the ship to yourself for awhile.  😉 

[molly361]

17 hours ago, RobInMN said:

If you are talking like a 3 night and a 4 night Caribbean cruise that basically hit the same ports (like CocoCay & Nassau), that's a valid question, but most of the B2B I hear about are longer than most individual cruises. If you're taking a multi-week holiday, your actual cruise choices are severely limited if you wanted to book it as a single cruise. Almost every time I hear people talking about B2B, they are talking about mostly new ports, not the same ports over & over.

For instance. B2B 7-day Eastern, then 7-day Western Caribbean. Or like for us, we are doing 12-night Arctic Circle (Norway), followed by a 12-night Iceland and Ireland. There isn't a single long cruise that does both. Or I've heard of doing a 7-ngiht Western Mediterranean, followed by the 12-14 night Trans-Atlantic back to the Caribbean. If we do A Trans-Pacific someday, it's almost guaranteed we will look at whatever Australia/New Zealand cruise is before it.

 

16 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

As a weirdo who is doing a B2B in July with that exact itinerary, I’ll answer…

 

1. We only live an hour from Port Canaveral and have little interest in having to drive all the way to Ft Lauderdale or Miami.

 

2. We’re on a Harmony 7-nighter right now courtesy of family.

 

3. We don’t love the Harmony itineraries this summer.

 

So when I got a very good deal through a TA for shorter cruises on Indy we decided we’d rather stop at Cococay twice & save quite a bit of money rather than pay more to go on Harmony again.

I love the 3/4 day cruises but have never done a b2b.  That said on every one there are quite a few b2b's mostly local folks that are just along for the ride/drinks/gambling/food

[pcur]

I always get the same cabin for b2b cruises, and I tell the cabin attendant to not clean my room on turnaround day, but put extra towels in the bathroom.  The room will be cleaned the evening of day 1, anyway.

 

I use the turnaround day to just relax, unless the embarkation port is a must-see, and I want to get off.  If I do this I find something to do that keeps me busy until at least 1pm in the afternoon.

 

I make sure I'm reading a good book, because there is some wait time when you're doing the turnaround process on a b2b, and getting back on the ship.  Then I get a snack if anything is open, and go to my cabin.  The corridor doors to the cabins are not locked, and if asked, I say I'm b2b and going to my cabin.  I will spend the rest of the morning relaxing, listening to music, reading, doing email.  As soon as my account is closed from one cruise, it is reopened when I get back onboard, and I can get access to wifi again.  Then, when I'm hungry again, I go out and have lunch.  (Some people will substitute "pool deck" for "cabin").

[firefly333]

16 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

We actually adore TAD.   Fun to know you don't have to pack, and have the ship to yourself for awhile.  😉 

well again mybe it's just this particular grandeur 4 legs.

 

I booked late and had 3 different cabins, though very close, next door even. So I did pack except once.

 

First turn around computers went down and we were still sitting on hard chairs at 11 am in the terminal.  They couldnt load the next manifest. We sat .. and sat. Watched the next cruisers coming in lol. They just seemed utterly unprepared. 

 

Terminal has facial recognition but last 2 legs we had to walk a million miles to customs and have our passports looked at, no idea why facial wasnt working. Then back to check in desk in terminal. 

 

So then they decided to give us a turn around lunch at noon.  .. and my friends who sat under the window in the dining room when they washed windows and twice water came thru the window onto top of him.. nice gesture..and of course they moved the couple to a new table. The window should have been air tight on deck 4, but grandeur ... 

 

2nd leg I know they didnt vacuum the new cabin. I stepped on plastic things in my bare feet, lucky I didnt puncture anything. Floor hadnt been cleaned. I changed cabins. I didnt drop those things.

 

I'm glad I have larger newer ships booked from now on. Everything felt like pulling teeth. Of course it was worth it, I love to cruise .. but there were issues. 

 

And again this was grandeur first cruise out of texas after it arrived from Barbados. There was a learning curve as crew adapted to american passengers. Diamond guy said we were louder than uk pax, though there were more than double the previous pax loads too. .. not sure how I felt him saying americans were a louder group he was adjusting to. Though he said it was a energetic loudness. And he loved us at the end of the leg. 

 

Why turn around was difficult idk. Liberty and adventure did it before. 

[island lady]

50 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

well again mybe it's just this particular grandeur 4 legs.

 

I booked late and had 3 different cabins, though very close, next door even. So I did pack except once.

 

First turn around computers went down and we were still sitting on hard chairs at 11 am in the terminal.  They couldnt load the next manifest. We sat .. and sat. Watched the next cruisers coming in lol. They just seemed utterly unprepared. 

 

Terminal has facial recognition but last 2 legs we had to walk a million miles to customs and have our passports looked at, no idea why facial wasnt working. Then back to check in desk in terminal. 

 

So then they decided to give us a turn around lunch at noon.  .. and my friends who sat under the window in the dining room when they washed windows and twice water came thru the window onto top of him.. nice gesture..and of course they moved the couple to a new table. The window should have been air tight on deck 4, but grandeur ... 

 

2nd leg I know they didnt vacuum the new cabin. I stepped on plastic things in my bare feet, lucky I didnt puncture anything. Floor hadnt been cleaned. I changed cabins. I didnt drop those things.

 

I'm glad I have larger newer ships booked from now on. Everything felt like pulling teeth. Of course it was worth it, I love to cruise .. but there were issues. 

 

And again this was grandeur first cruise out of texas after it arrived from Barbados. There was a learning curve as crew adapted to american passengers. Diamond guy said we were louder than uk pax, though there were more than double the previous pax loads too. .. not sure how I felt him saying americans were a louder group he was adjusting to. Though he said it was a energetic loudness. And he loved us at the end of the leg. 

 

Why turn around was difficult idk. Liberty and adventure did it before. 

 

Indeed that does not sound like fun!!   😮 

 

Have had to change cabins before, including this one...but just had to move next door, and fortunately able to store bags in the new cabin just before the processing time meeting.  But normally I avoid having to change cabins as much as possible.  

 

Also have had "not so great" TAD in the past.  But fortunately...most have been painless.  

[firefly333]

2 hours ago, island lady said:

 

Indeed that does not sound like fun!!   😮 

 

Have had to change cabins before, including this one...but just had to move next door, and fortunately able to store bags in the new cabin just before the processing time meeting.  But normally I avoid having to change cabins as much as possible.  

 

Also have had "not so great" TAD in the past.  But fortunately...most have been painless.  

another oddity. They lead us, about 25 of us off the ship and we get to the terminal facing the elevator and each time they stop. I finally say why do we keep stopping. She said we have to wait for the cdc to tell us what route we can take you off thru the terminal. Can you believe we went 3 different routes and sets of steps.

 

She claims cdc sets the route. First I ever heard this. She had to wait for the cdc to agree which set of steps we were allowed to take and wait for them to call her. 3 times. 3 different routes. Odd. Who knew the cdc was involved? 

[jagsfan]

20 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Hopefully they'll do another, but not quite as long. Huge time commitment 

I just hope you have great internet!

[Jimbo]

5 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I'm all in, Laura is on the fence past leg 1

Bella will be happy. Won't be so long away from the both of you.

[firefly333]

28 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Bella will be happy. Won't be so long away from the both of you.

Have you seen Felix. He is a charmer and just turned 9 months. A new grand baby whose first words may have been LaLa. 

 

I dont think I could leave that long. Good for John doing it before they get too old to enjoy it. 

[Jimbo]

7 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Have you seen Felix. He is a charmer and just turned 9 months. A new grand baby whose first words may have been LaLa. 

 

I dont think I could leave that long. Good for John doing it before they get too old to enjoy it. 

No I haven't.......I probably could go away for that long on a cruise, but by the time I got home my wife will have changed the locks on the house and all my belongings would be out on the front lawn.

[mom2miracles]

Thanks for all of the insight. The last three cruises we have been on, people were doing b2b's on the same ships and the same itineraries, which is why I was curious if I was missing something. I would definitely want the same stateroom though if I ever did a b2b, I have no desire to change rooms part way through, lol. 

Edited May 31, 2022 by mom2miracles

[ONECRUISER]

6 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Underwear🤔

#commando

Yeah, Right! Not Me! I'm what my Wife back then would call me "Anal" about my cleanliness, and no that's not the part she was actually referring to. Later her Term Metrosexual sounded a LITTLE better. Think Military living in Tent for Month, I'm the one still Bath/Shave every day wearing pressed BDU's and spit shined Boots. 

[neverbeenhere]

I know one cruiser gets a mani-pedi. 

[Mum2Mercury]

B2B vs. a longer cruise -- I see several benefits for the B2B:

 

Scheduling

- A lot of people love the private-island day /consider it highlight of the cruise, and a B2B can give you two of those in one cruise.

- A lot of us like the Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries, and a B2B allows you to do both in one trip.

- The Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries are pretty much available every week of the year, whereas longer cruises are a little harder to schedule. 

- If you care about "collecting points" on a specific cruise line, a B2B counts as two cruises. 

 

Flexibility /more options to get just what you want from your cruise

- You could splurge on a fancier room for the more sea-day intensive leg ... while saving money in an interior room on the other leg.

- You could buy the alcohol package for one leg of the cruise ... and then skip it for the second half, when you'd probably be "done" drinking multiple drinks per day anyway.

- You could buy the specialty-restaurants all-the-time deal for one leg of the cruise ... then stick to the MDR and Windjammer for the second leg of the cruise.

- If for some reason you can't manage the two weeks (can't get the time off work, budget doesn't stretch, whatever), you can always drop one leg of a B2B ... you can't drop half of a 10 day cruise. 

 

[vjmatty]

7 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

B2B vs. a longer cruise -- I see several benefits for the B2B:

 

Scheduling

- A lot of people love the private-island day /consider it highlight of the cruise, and a B2B can give you two of those in one cruise.

- A lot of us like the Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries, and a B2B allows you to do both in one trip.

- The Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries are pretty much available every week of the year, whereas longer cruises are a little harder to schedule. 

- If you care about "collecting points" on a specific cruise line, a B2B counts as two cruises. 

 

Flexibility /more options to get just what you want from your cruise

- You could splurge on a fancier room for the more sea-day intensive leg ... while saving money in an interior room on the other leg.

- You could buy the alcohol package for one leg of the cruise ... and then skip it for the second half, when you'd probably be "done" drinking multiple drinks per day anyway.

- You could buy the specialty-restaurants all-the-time deal for one leg of the cruise ... then stick to the MDR and Windjammer for the second leg of the cruise.

- If for some reason you can't manage the two weeks (can't get the time off work, budget doesn't stretch, whatever), you can always drop one leg of a B2B ... you can't drop half of a 10 day cruise. 

 

Also there is a greater chance for price drops if you’re looking at two cruises, if one sailing drops and the other doesn’t. 

[island lady]

13 hours ago, firefly333 said:

another oddity. They lead us, about 25 of us off the ship and we get to the terminal facing the elevator and each time they stop. I finally say why do we keep stopping. She said we have to wait for the cdc to tell us what route we can take you off thru the terminal. Can you believe we went 3 different routes and sets of steps.

 

She claims cdc sets the route. First I ever heard this. She had to wait for the cdc to agree which set of steps we were allowed to take and wait for them to call her. 3 times. 3 different routes. Odd. Who knew the cdc was involved? 

 

Wow...that just seems very odd indeed!  😮 

[2chiefs]

12 hours ago, mom2miracles said:

Thanks for all of the insight. The last three cruises we have been on, people were doing b2b's on the same ships and the same itineraries, which is why I was curious if I was missing something. I would definitely want the same stateroom though if I ever did a b2b, I have no desire to change rooms part way through, lol. 

We usually do a 7-day B2B in December every year in the weeks just prior to Christmas for a total of 14 days:

1. B2B reduces travel costs as some have pointed out. Pre-Christmas cruises are more reasonably priced. Decorations on the ship are awesome.

2. Our B2B cruising started when I was still working so limited vacation time available (now we try to cruise more often)

3. We try to find a B2B with two different itineraries

4. With the introduction of the mega ships, sometimes you can't fit everything you wanted to do in a single 7-day cruise. Plenty of options for the second leg

5. RCL has very few itineraries longer than 7 days except for repositioning cruises

6. While not always true now-a-days, RCL used to provide a nice lunch on turn-around day in the MDR for B2B cruisers. Years ago, sometimes they even included the lunch with officers and even provided free wine from time to time. 

7. If you watch a show on the first leg that is repeated on the 2nd leg then it can be beneficial to allow you to schedule something different during that time on the 2nd leg.

 

 

Edited June 1, 2022 by 2chiefs

[SummerBeee]

I love B2B cruises! The whole getting on the ship process (packing, testing, traveling, embarking) is a hassle and I only have to do it once.

Turn around day can be a pain but much less so than getting ON the ship.

 

In January we did a B2B on Oasis, western then eastern with CocoCay on both.

Week 1 we invested in the shore activities (bar hop in Cozumel, Maya Chan in Costa Maya, monkeys and sloths in Roatan) On the ship we just visited included dining. Week 2 we had the UDP and did very low cost shore activities. Plus we got to see Aqua 80 multiple times.

I enjoyed the trip so much I booked myself on a B4B for Oasis in February 

 

Another thing about b2b, especially on smaller ships is getting to know the crew. 

[SbbquilterUT]

We fly to any port (2-3 flights) so I want to make the most of that travel.  Like many of us, our attempts at longer cruises were altered since 2020.  Our first B2B we actually boarded went awry in January as we contracted CoVid during the first leg.  Our next trip is 19 days Iceland, Ireland, and Norway this August - already counting the days!  Then next spring we will sail Bayonne to London on the Anthem (so much better than a flight) followed by a week of land travel then a river cruise.