B2B SB-but different ships?

[JunPOA]

I've only heard anecdotally that this is possible.

Is it possible or has anyone done a B2B on SB BUT on different SB ships? For ex. to get the itineraries I want, e.g. Rome, Venice, Turkey & Greece I would need to book the 2009 9/26-10/3 Odyssey Athens-Venice then disembark then board the 10/3 - 10/10 Spirit Venice-Rome. I am hoping this would not be a logisitcal nightmare - but some friends of ours did a similar arrangment on SS recently - so we thought we'd give it a consideration for SB. I am assuming the cruise fare would be based on the pricing for purchasing two single 7 day SB cruises. Any thoughts or shared expereinces are appreciated. I am guessing the only complication would be repacking purchasing air flights as 2 OW (BWI-Athens-Rome-BWI) rather than a RT.

 

Fondly,

Leah, RN

[Lefty Bob]

ON your air - it may be possible to get an open jaw ticket and avoid the hugh one way fares.

 

Lefty Bob

[JunPOA]

ON your air - it may be possible to get an open jaw ticket and avoid the hugh one way fares.

 

Lefty Bob

OK - I'll bite leftyBob- forgive my unfamillairty w/ the term "Open Jaw" - how is that different from (two) OW - how does one book an open jaw?:o

Thanks for the advice.

[Host Dan]

Round trip tickets don't necessarily have to be from the same arrival port. I.e. I have flown into Barcelona, traveled to Venice and flown home from there. I don't believe thats considered 2 OW tickets.

 

Host Dan

[dalliowner]

:) On British Airways (ww.ba.com) you can book return flights from different cities. If you look on line and try book multi-cititi this allows you to get returns from different cities. We booked London-Venice and Athens -London this way for our Spirit voyage.It is much cheaper than two singles.

[Lefty Bob]

Host Dan & dalliowner gave good info on how to work from/to different cities. I have done several times in U. S. and Europe. Good luck.

 

LB

[JunPOA]

Gotcha - thank you all, this is all very helpful for planning the air portion.

Leah

[wripro]

I would imagine the Odyssey and Spirit will be docked next to each other in Venice ( assuming they can both dock at San Basilia) so moving from one ship to the other should be a problem. Actually, I think it's a great idea.

[JunPOA]

I would imagine the Odyssey and Spirit will be docked next to each other in Venice ( assuming they can both dock at San Basilia) so moving from one ship to the other should be a problem. Actually, I think it's a great idea.

 

You're right I get to experience my 1st SB cruise and have a taste of 2 ships on one holiday-it doesn't get better than that!:D

[wripro]

I meant to say should NOT be a problem. Sorry. Have a great cruise. In fact, have two great cruises.

[duct tape]

We recently did this on SS ships. No problem with an air ticket that did IAD to Sydney, HK to Dubai, Dubai to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to IAD. Have a great trip. I think the Odyssey may be too big for San Basilio. If it is, it is not far to the Maritime Passagenger Terminal. Water taxi will do it!

[JaneBP]

>"Is it possible or has anyone done a B2B on SB BUT on different SB ships?"

 

What I would like to see is the ability to spend Christmas on the Pride and then New Year's on the Legend. Or vice-versa. I wish they could be scheduled so that in the middle they are in the same port, then I could just switch. In Barbados, perhaps? It's so hard to choose, one over the other in the Carribean, after all. I don't care about the itineraries, but would love to sail on both over the holidays.

 

it actually looks as if in 2009 all 4 will be in the Carribean.

[Iamboatman]

It is actually not very difficult to make that arrangement. The key is finding flights that work from Athens to Venice. But with a full day that should be done without much problem.

 

The other advice on flights is correct. Open jaw flights are not very, very common. There are times when they are actually less expensive than round-trips. The days of purchasing two one way tickets are pretty much over...as the world becomes smaller.

[johnnycruise]

It is actually not very difficult to make that arrangement. The key is finding flights that work from Athens to Venice. But with a full day that should be done without much problem.

 

Why would the good nurse want to fly from Athens to Venice?

[GrannyLorr]

I hadnt heard about these "open jaw" tickets either......so old Granny has learnt something!! :D Wonder if they are available here? Dont think it would help for next trip anyway as we will do a return to London and just a one way to Copenhagen.....

[PeaSea8ch]

Johnny: I believe our new poster intends to sail from Athens to Venice on the Odyssey.

 

Leah: First of all, welcome to Seabourn! About 10 years ago, I did a very similar "open jaw" air itinerary on Delta as part of a cruise just as you are planning, but in reverse. I flew Delta from LAX to Rome, then Alitalia for the short hop to Venice and then Athens to LAX after the cruise. The trans-oceanic flights were one-stop at JFK both ways. My TA got me a great RT fare on Delta and the Alitalia flight to Venice from Rome that was a lot less than the two one-way fares. About a year or two after I flew this itinerary, Delta added non-stop service from JFK to Venice.

 

Exactly 4 weeks to the day after you disembark the Odyssey, I will embark on her in Malaga for her maiden Trans-Atlantic crossing. :D Happy Seabourn cruise planning and Bon Voyage! :)

[JunPOA]

Thanks all for the helpful hints and very warm welcome!:)

If your warm welcomes are even a slight reflection of fellow - passengers-this seems like finally a good match for us.:D

Sorry - if my post was unclear to some.

And for those considering a BTB similar what I've selected I just did a best-guestimate search on airfare (especially applicable to those in the US mid-Atlantic region).

The current out of pocket cash cost for us to fly out of Baltimore, MD:

BWI-Athens

Venice-BWI

BOTH flights connecting through NY/JFK is US$900.00 per leg, so total is estimated @ US$1,800.00/pp [incl. tx.] based on March 2009 departures (Expedia dates only went out to March 2009:rolleyes: ).

We have quite a lot of AA and X cruiseline Visa cc (maybe used for air w/ co-pay) award miles, and will accuumulate some for our Delta/NW flights to Alaska this week. So we'll have to wait and see on what's the most cost-eefective way to book the air. We still have plenty of time, thank God. And agin this was estimated on Expedia - so its probaly a little higher than say a consolidator or maybe even if I purchased it as a package w/ my B2B cruises on SB. As I understand fro the SB brochure some savings can be had by both EBS + an additional 10% for BTB.

Look forward to becoming a regular on the SB Board - initially asking questions of you veterans (whic I am so grateful for)- then hopefully being able to contribute after our SB expereince.

Leah, RN:)

[norm2002]

As I understand from the SB brochure some savings can be had by both EBS + an additional 10% for BTB.

 

Hi and welcome! You do need to check this. It used to be the case that you could only get the BTB additional discount if you were staying on the same ship - not transferring from one to another. It may have changed but just check before you work out the costing. Sounds a great idea though.

[JunPOA]

Hi and welcome! You do need to check this. It used to be the case that you could only get the BTB additional discount if you were staying on the same ship - not transferring from one to another. .

Thanks for pointing that out Norm-I'll have my TA verify w/ SB.

Good news and update on sailings (I was incorrect :o on my 1st post about ports of embarkation), it should've read:

August 29, 2009 Spirit Rome-Venice

Sept. 5, 2009 Odyssey Venice-Athens

According to AA Advantage my AA miles are good on British Airways so the outbound BWI-Rome could be covered w/ award miles.

Leah, RN:)