7-day Back-to-Back vs. 14-day Combined Questions

[Purple Gallinule]

We have 7-day cruises planned on Majestic Princess Vancouver to Whittier 6/10/23 and Whittier to Vancouver 6/17/23. We have the same cabin on both. We are also listed as the #1 standby for a combined 14-day trip, but we have no details like price, cabin, etc., just that it will be the same class of stateroom. Even though we have sailed many times on Princess, we have never done a B2B or combined sailing. Here are a couple of questions.

1. Is the combined cruise significantly cheaper?

2. Do we retain our OBC for both directions on the B2B?

3. Do we have to get off the ship in Whittier for either variation - one-way or B2B?

4. When should we expect to hear if we will get the combined trip and do we have the option to turn it down?

 

Your insights are greatly appreciated.

[triple7tahoe]

Not sure which kind of OBC you are referring to but there is a difference depending on length of cruise. I have gotten $100 for 7day cruises from military and Carnival stock. It goes to $250 around 14 days but that might be 15 days. I booked 3- 7 day cruises as at the time they were offering an extra $100 OBC for excursion without saying how many days. For me it was in the math. The OBC should carry over in either case as long as the cruises are linked. As for getting off, most B2B require some form of customs check but it is normally fairly simple.

[Shelly97060]

49 minutes ago, Purple Gallinule said:

We have 7-day cruises planned on Majestic Princess Vancouver to Whittier 6/10/23 and Whittier to Vancouver 6/17/23. We have the same cabin on both. We are also listed as the #1 standby for a combined 14-day trip, but we have no details like price, cabin, etc., just that it will be the same class of stateroom. Even though we have sailed many times on Princess, we have never done a B2B or combined sailing. Here are a couple of questions.

1. Is the combined cruise significantly cheaper? No not typically. 

2. Do we retain our OBC for both directions on the B2B? No your original booking is two bookings that each have OBC from whatever promotion you booked with.  You are on Standby for a 14 day voyage so you would get the OBC for the booking you are on the waitlist for.
 

If your question is does any unused OBC carry over from one segment to another - yes the unused is retained and can be used to settle your ship board account at the end of the voyages

3. Do we have to get off the ship in Whittier for either variation - one-way or B2B? yes in either case you will get off the ship. But you will only have to do the safety drill once.

4. When should we expect to hear if we will get the combined trip and do we have the option to turn it down?  yes you can turn it down or you can ask to be removed from the list.  Unclear when you would hear.  The biggest benefit to doing a single voyage instead of B2B is staying in the same cabin which isn’t an issue for you since you already have the same cabin for both segments. To make sure you remain in the same cabin for both you can have your bookings linked and marked no upgrade.

49 minutes ago, Purple Gallinule said:

 

Your insights are greatly appreciated.

See my answers above in red.  If you have a travel advisor you should circle back and discuss with them. 

Edited December 30, 2022 by Shelly97060

[Purple Gallinule]

41 minutes ago, Shelly97060 said:

See my answers above in red.  If you have a travel advisor you should circle back and discuss with them. 

Thanks a lot.

[wallyj]

Hello @Purple Gallinule, for most US ports, Customs require you to disembark and clear customs, Whittier is one of the exceptions. When I have done B2B Vancouver to Whittier and the 14 day roundtrip Vancouver to Whittier and back, I was not required to disembark to clear customs. 
 

The savings from the 14 day vs B2B is the taxes are usually a little less for the 14 day and the stock benefit is $250 compared to $100 x 2 for B2B.

 

As the 14 day sailing is 2 seven day sailings, you will receive the same number of cruise credits either way you book, If you book the 14 day, you would receive 2 cruise credits. 
 

If you booked during the $100 excursion credit per person, going to the 14 day, you lose out, since you only get $100 each for the 14 day sailing, but should receive $100 each passenger for each 7 day sailing.

[KreinKrunker]

55 minutes ago, Shelly97060 said:

3. Do we have to get off the ship in Whittier for either variation - one-way or B2B? yes in either case you will get off the ship. But you will only have to do the safety drill once.

Actually, you do not have to get off in Whittier.  Whittier is the third or fourth US port that you will stop at.  You will have already been through immigration and customs.  You will do this before you get on the ship in Vancouver.  Have done this itinerary twice, as well as round trip out of Vancouver four other times.

[Shelly97060]

22 minutes ago, KreinKrunker said:

Actually, you do not have to get off in Whittier.  Whittier is the third or fourth US port that you will stop at.  You will have already been through immigration and customs.  You will do this before you get on the ship in Vancouver.  Have done this itinerary twice, as well as round trip out of Vancouver four other times.

Thanks for the clarification based on your own real life experience! 

[sunviking90]

We are looking at doing one of these B2B also, but don’t want to do the 14 day as we are close to Elite, and want to count as 2 cruises not 1. Not sure if this is a consideration for you or not. It’s worth it to us even with the slightly higher taxes.

[wallyj]

21 minutes ago, sunviking90 said:

We are looking at doing one of these B2B also, but don’t want to do the 14 day as we are close to Elite, and want to count as 2 cruises not 1. Not sure if this is a consideration for you or not. It’s worth it to us even with the slightly higher taxes.

Hi @sunviking90, please see my post #5. Since the 14 day sailing is made up of 2 seven day sailings, it will count as 2 cruise credits. Princess calls this a ‘logical’ sailing? You will be able to verify this by looking at you cruise history and after booking the 14 day, it will show you will earn 2 credits. 
 

Princess updated their computer system many years ago to account for these types of cruises, before they would manually add a cruise credit with zero days to post the additional cruise credit. 
 

Do the math to check if the 14 day or B2B is better considering OBC’s from shareholders, promo’s, etc. 

 

You will earn same # of cruise credits either way.

[sunviking90]

3 minutes ago, wallyj said:

Hi @sunviking90, please see my post #5. Since the 14 day sailing is made up of 2 seven day sailings, it will count as 2 cruise credits. Princess calls this a ‘logical’ sailing? You will be able to verify this by looking at you cruise history and after booking the 14 day, it will show you will earn 2 credits. 
 

Princess updated their computer system many years ago to account for these types of cruises, before they would manually add a cruise credit with zero days to post the additional cruise credit. 
 

Do the math to check if the 14 day or B2B is better considering OBC’s from shareholders, promo’s, etc. 

 

You will earn same # of cruise credits either way.

Thanks! I had missed that part of your earlier post. Good to know.

[startedwithamouse]

2 hours ago, Shelly97060 said:

See my answers above in red.  If you have a travel advisor you should circle back and discuss with them. 

Wrong, you don't have to get off in Whittier doing a b2b.  We've done this voyage twice. 

[Shelly97060]

9 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

Wrong, you don't have to get off in Whittier doing a b2b.  We've done this voyage twice. 

Yes thanks. Someone else pointed that out. I have done many B2B but not Whittier so my mistake. 

[Purple Gallinule]

1 hour ago, sunviking90 said:

We are looking at doing one of these B2B also, but don’t want to do the 14 day as we are close to Elite, and want to count as 2 cruises not 1. Not sure if this is a consideration for you or not. It’s worth it to us even with the slightly higher taxes.

In fact, we are already elite, so not an issue. Congrats to you when you get there! 

[ukestrummer]

do the 28 glacier cruise when in Whittier, worth every penny

[famski740]

As far as Military benefit.  Check it out because I have done a couple of B2B and received the total $250.00 for the entire voyage and not just $100.00 both ways.

 

Very important: Check with the Casino cashier the final night of the first cruise, as you must clear your casino account before the second cruise or you will loose the money.  You will then have to set up a new account for the second cruise.

[skynight]

1. Is the combined cruise significantly cheaper?

Not Really. Unless you receive a really great price for the 14 day single booking I would stay with the two bookings. There is more flexibility. When booked as two booking numbers you will still receive only one final statement on final disembarkation day.

2. Do we retain our OBC for both directions on the B2B?

Yes, credit balances (OBC) carry over from the first segment to the second. Any second segment OBC will be added when the second segment begins. Note that if you change to a single booking number the OBC and fare will be based on the single booking at that time. What you had on the two booking numbers will be gone.

3. Do we have to get off the ship in Whittier for either variation - one-way or B2B?

This is the only U.S. itinerary I know of that you do not have to pass through immigration on turn around day. You will actually pass through U.S. immigration in Vancouver when you board. You most likely will not have to get off the ship, but you may wish to go ashore.

4. When should we expect to hear if we will get the combined trip and do we have the option to turn it down?

Can't tell. But, as mentioned in point 1 I would stay with the two booking numbers AND have your bookings marked "no upgrade" so you remain in the same cabin you booked for both segments.

[Purple Gallinule]

First of all we want to thank everyone who contributed to this thread. We got some great tips.

 

So... I contacted our Cruise Vacation Planner and had her cancel the waitlisted 14-day Vancouver RT booking. When I got the cancellation confirmation, I did the math as the price was actually listed on it. It did not show up previously when I checked on the booking. It just said waitlisted.

 

In fact, the two one-way bookings come out to $134 LESS than the 14-day! Plus we get our deposit for that booking credited back to our credit card AND we retain our $400 OBC for both north and south bound trips. All in all, a great decision made possible by Cruise Critic members. Thanks again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Purple Gallinule]

7 hours ago, skynight said:

1. Is the combined cruise significantly cheaper?

Not Really. Unless you receive a really great price for the 14 day single booking I would stay with the two bookings. There is more flexibility. When booked as two booking numbers you will still receive only one final statement on final disembarkation day.

2. Do we retain our OBC for both directions on the B2B?

Yes, credit balances (OBC) carry over from the first segment to the second. Any second segment OBC will be added when the second segment begins. Note that if you change to a single booking number the OBC and fare will be based on the single booking at that time. What you had on the two booking numbers will be gone.

3. Do we have to get off the ship in Whittier for either variation - one-way or B2B?

This is the only U.S. itinerary I know of that you do not have to pass through immigration on turn around day. You will actually pass through U.S. immigration in Vancouver when you board. You most likely will not have to get off the ship, but you may wish to go ashore.

4. When should we expect to hear if we will get the combined trip and do we have the option to turn it down?

Can't tell. But, as mentioned in point 1 I would stay with the two booking numbers AND have your bookings marked "no upgrade" so you remain in the same cabin you booked for both segments.

Thanks. See my new post for details. I did make sure to have them marked "no upgrade".

[CeCe_]

Not trying to hi-jack the thread, it seems like impossible to get a suite on a 14-day combined.

[skynight]

1 hour ago, CeCe_ said:

Not trying to hi-jack the thread, it seems like impossible to get a suite on a 14-day combined.

Try booking as two 7 day cruises. There is really little difference in cost. You might have to change cabins. Onboard accounts carry over and you are billed on your final  disembarkation day.

[PacnGoNow]

1 hour ago, CeCe_ said:

Not trying to hi-jack the thread, it seems like impossible to get a suite on a 14-day combined.

Also, check with your TA/CVP to check availability for a suite.  Sometimes, they can do it for you.

[CeCe_]

47 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

Also, check with your TA/CVP to check availability for a suite.  Sometimes, they can do it for you.

 

Thank you!  Yes our TA has been trying to help and we made some calls ourselves too.  Nothing can be done to the 14-day combined itinerary.  We ended up cancelling our 14-day and booking the 7 day b2b on two difference suites (they dont have a matching suite on both direction) and later dropped Northbound too.  Keeping just the Southbound as we are not too interested in College Fjord.  It is not the same as the 14-day Caribbean East/West itinerary you got to visit different ports.

 

Also, all the 2024 Alaska 14-days have Suites "SOLD OUT" the first day the 2024 schedules rolled out.  It might be done on purpose for cruise credit related.  The 14-day itineraries have 2 cruise credits, and a suite would have been 4 cruise credits?