Back to back cruises on the Dream

[samandbailey]

Has anyone done a back to back cruise on Disney? We are thinking of doing a back to back 3 and 4 day cruise on the Dream in August. Do they allow you to book the same cabin? If you are in the same cabin, do you have to pack up your belongings or are you allowed to just disembark and then re-embark at your appointed time? Thanks for any guidance/suggestions anyone can give me.

[Shmoo here]

Has anyone done a back to back cruise on Disney? We are thinking of doing a back to back 3 and 4 day cruise on the Dream in August. Do they allow you to book the same cabin? If you are in the same cabin, do you have to pack up your belongings or are you allowed to just disembark and then re-embark at your appointed time? Thanks for any guidance/suggestions anyone can give me.

 

We did a B2B Med/WBTA in 2010. I'd hazard a guess that at least 50% of most DCL cruises have B2Brs on them.

 

You can book the same room, if it's available. You would book each cruise separately. If you are in the same room, you don't have to pack up your stuff. If you wind up in different rooms, you will either just leave your stuff in your room (in the drawers and closet)and your room host will move it, or you will pack your bags and leave them in the room for your room host to move.

 

The process for B2B cruisers does vary from cruise to cruise, depending on the port, and how many of you there are.

 

Generally, you will receive a notice in your room the last night telling you the process. In our case (there were over 300 B2B people on that one) we were directed to assemble in one of the lounges by 9:00 in the morning. After everyone else had gotten off the ship, the group was escorted off, through checkin, and back on the ship (about 15-20 minutes total off the ship). Once back onboard, we could get food at Cove Cafe. And we could use the pools once they were cleaned. There isn't anything going on that day (due to the turnover, the crew is involved with cleaning and getting ready for the "new" people). Some cruises, B2B guests will just be told to disembark at a specific time themselves for re-checking in. The actual time off the ship can vary from 10 minutes up to 2 hours.

 

Until they start boarding the "new" guests you can have access to your room. Once the boarding process has started with the new guests, you must either stay in your room until the rooms are ready for everyone (usually 1:30), or stay on the other side of the rope keeping people away from the rooms until that time.

 

Personally, I think B2B on a 3 & 4 day cruise wouldn't be all that great. You lose a day on the turnaround day and the menus/shows repeat within a short time. I'd look into a 7 night cruise if you have the time. That way you have different shows, menus, and activities available to you.

 

:)

[hackif]

We just did a 3/4 day B2B on the Dream in early December. We were told to leave the ship by about 9:15 am then just go back up the stairs after passing through customs and check in again. When we did that, they put us in the concierge lounge and told us we'd probably be back on the ship about 10:30 (which was the exact time we re-boarded). There were only two other families at the same time doing B2B.

 

The Cove Cafe was open and we just went up there and had a couple of coffees, read for a couple of hours then went to lunch. After lunch our room was ready again (we had the same room). I've seen many others say that it's not worth it because you lose part of a day but spending the day in a leisurely fashion reading, eating and drinking was, to me, a great and relaxing day. I managed to finish a mystery story I'd been dying to read so I didn't consider it a waste of a day. If it had been a day at sea, I'd probably have done the same thing.

[pepsicruiser]

For me the decision to go btb on the Dream was "2" days at Castaway Cay. We go in 3 weeks and can't wait.

[kandjrolls2]

For me the decision to go btb on the Dream was "2" days at Castaway Cay. We go in 3 weeks and can't wait.

 

There is a cruise in October that does 2 stops at CC on one of the classic ships.

[pepsicruiser]

There is a cruise in October that does 2 stops at CC on one of the classic ships.

 

That's unusual for sure but this is a Christmas gift so January worked out better for us,

[meatloafsfan]

Personally, I think B2B on a 3 & 4 day cruise wouldn't be all that great. You lose a day on the turnaround day and the menus/shows repeat within a short time. I'd look into a 7 night cruise if you have the time. That way you have different shows, menus, and activities available to you.

 

:)

 

I agree with this. We did a B2B on a 4/3 on the Dream and didn't find it all that great. The turnaround day was really a waste because we had to get off the ship and wait to get back on and with the second muster drill it just felt like such a non day.

 

Plus, you repeat the same 3 menus twice in a week (plus once for the pirate menu), it just felt like we'd "been there, done that" - same food, same shows, same movies, same everything.

 

I have done a 7/7 B2B (on the Carnival Dream), I think it works better for longer cruises because there is more variety in menus, activities and everything.

[pepsicruiser]

I agree with this. We did a B2B on a 4/3 on the Dream and didn't find it all that great. The turnaround day was really a waste because we had to get off the ship and wait to get back on and with the second muster drill it just felt like such a non day.

 

Plus, you repeat the same 3 menus twice in a week (plus once for the pirate menu), it just felt like we'd "been there, done that" - same food, same shows, same movies, same everything.

 

I have done a 7/7 B2B (on the Carnival Dream), I think it works better for longer cruises because there is more variety in menus, activities and everything.

 

After looking at your cruise list I can understand you not wanting to "waste" a day hanging around a ship. But when you have family including young grandchildren the attention turns to all about them and I have no doubt they will not be bothered by spending a day on a Disney ship running around nor eating from the same menus and most of all watching shows a second time if we decide to do that. It is a different experience traveling with young children. I my self after 35plus cruises may miss the casino the most lol but this one is all about the children.