MoreMouse Posted February 7, 2014 #1 Share Posted February 7, 2014 I'm really jealous of all of you that have been able to take two cruises at one time. :p I want to know though: Why? Do You Have to Do the Same Ship? Same Cabin? What are the Benefits? Discounts from Cruise Lines to Do It? Clue me in. Seriously... share! :D TIA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgie562 Posted February 7, 2014 #2 Share Posted February 7, 2014 (edited) Here are a few of my reasons why I enjoy taking B2B or even a B2B2B - have enough vacation time at work - no children to attend to - way to save on flights, knock down 2 or 3 cruises with just one airfare - and mainly, I just simply dont like short vacations. -you don't dont get discounted fares- at least thats been my experience -ive done same cabin B2B and also one ship onto a different ship. Like the experience the vibe of different ships. but would prefer to stay on the same ship Edited February 7, 2014 by Georgie562 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gh1088 Posted February 7, 2014 #3 Share Posted February 7, 2014 My family did a B2B on the Victory last May. We added the second leg because a 5 day cruise just didn't sound like enough. And, Mother's day was during the second leg! My husband and I switched rooms (L-shaped balcony to aft balcony) so we could try out the two different options. They were two doors away from each other. The kids stayed in the same inside room. We had the same cabin steward for the 9 days. I took some sadistic pleasure in watching everyone disembark from the first cruise knowing I had 4 more days to go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goofytoo Posted February 7, 2014 #4 Share Posted February 7, 2014 (edited) Here are a few of my reasons why I enjoy taking B2B or even a B2B2B - have enough vacation time at work - no children to attend to - way to save on flights, knock down 2 or 3 cruises with just one airfare - and mainly, I just simply dont like short vacations. -you don't dont get discounted fares- at least thats been my experience -ive done same cabin B2B and also one ship onto a different ship. Like the experience the vibe of different ships. but would prefer to stay on the same ship I pretty much did a B2B for the same reasons. Except we usually drive to the port. It is a 24 hour car ride. I figured I would need one week to recover from the drive and the next week to get ready for the drive home. We did the eastern itinerary one week and western itinerary the next week. We had the same room on the same ship. Not having to pack and unpack between cruises was my main reason for staying on the same ship. I loved it and plan on doing it again in a few years after I retire. Edited February 7, 2014 by goofytoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kangaand2roos Posted February 7, 2014 #5 Share Posted February 7, 2014 My family did a B2B on the Victory last May. We added the second leg because a 5 day cruise just didn't sound like enough. And, Mother's day was during the second leg! My husband and I switched rooms (L-shaped balcony to aft balcony) so we could try out the two different options. They were two doors away from each other. The kids stayed in the same inside room. We had the same cabin steward for the 9 days. I took some sadistic pleasure in watching everyone disembark from the first cruise knowing I had 4 more days to go! Several years ago we did a B2B on the Valor and I get that sadistic pleasure. I called it "Cruisenfreude". Schadenfreude=getting pleasure out of someone else's pain, so cruisenfreude=getting pleasure out of someone leaving a ship when you don't have to!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kangaand2roos Posted February 7, 2014 #6 Share Posted February 7, 2014 (edited) Delete...duplicate Edited February 7, 2014 by kangaand2roos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shipcats6 Posted February 7, 2014 #7 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Doing a B2B on Liberty in March. Air fare from the West Coast is out of sight. It made sense to do Western & Eastern using one plane trip. Have to move two doors down for second cruise. Can't wait! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grandmacani Posted February 7, 2014 #8 Share Posted February 7, 2014 We did a B2B on the Sunshine 28 days. Flew to venice and cruised thru the Mediterranean and the second cruise was the transatlantic back to the states. This was better for making the time change and after shore intensive ports the transatlantic was restful. I don't know how my next 8 day cruise will be enough. Same room for both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWolver672 Posted February 7, 2014 #9 Share Posted February 7, 2014 (edited) We have our first B2B booked for next year on the Victory. It all started out with our youngest son going on the first leg with a bunch of his firemen friends. It's a five day cruise. We normally cruise every other year and next year is our year to cruise. We decided to join him the first week along with my DB and SIL who always cruise with us. We normally take a 7 or 8 day cruise so we checked into staying on the ship for the second week. Myself, DW, DB and SIL have the same two cabins for the two weeks. Son has a different cabin on the first week but has one next to us on the second week and our other son is flying in to share his cabin. To answer your questions, son is changing cabins, the rest of us stay put both weeks. To us, it's not worth the cost of flying in for only a short cruise. We like to get our money's worth. No, there are no discounts for doing a B2B. You pay full price for both cruises. You can not only either stay on the same ship, change ships or even change cruise lines from one week to the next. Edited February 7, 2014 by RWolver672 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lizziez00 Posted February 7, 2014 #10 Share Posted February 7, 2014 We prefer longer (at least 7 days cruises) than 4 or 5 days. Our daughter is transferring from Wisconsin (so we had to fly no matter where we boarded so it did not matter) to a college in GA, about 45 min from Jacksonville, so we will probably cruise from there for awhile to make it easier for her and they only do the short routes. Definitely looking at doing B2B's now. (Sounds like a good excuse to get a few extra days of cruising doesn't it!!!:D:D) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonsai3s Posted February 7, 2014 #11 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Here are a few of my reasons why I enjoy taking B2B or even a B2B2B - have enough vacation time at work - no children to attend to - way to save on flights, knock down 2 or 3 cruises with just one airfare - and mainly, I just simply dont like short vacations. -you don't dont get discounted fares- at least thats been my experience -ive done same cabin B2B and also one ship onto a different ship. Like the experience the vibe of different ships. but would prefer to stay on the same ship ...with Georgie562. Exactly the same reasons. Only wish we had started doing them sooner. We could've save a lot on airfare to Florida and Europe. Last month, we did a B2B2B, two weeks on the Independence of the Seas, then a week on the new Royal Princess. We've done quite a few B2B's on the same ships. We enjoy sailing on different ships just so we can immediately see the difference...and you will. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul929207 Posted February 7, 2014 #12 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Why? - Why not? We love to cruise, we are retired, we saved all of our lives so we could do it now. Do You Have to Do the Same Ship? All of ours are one ship b2b. Same Cabin? If possible we get the same cabin. Once we had to move. What are the Benefits? Just a longer, relaxing cruise. Discounts from Cruise Lines to Do It? Nope. I would that nearly all of our b2b cruises are different itineraries. For instance, in the fall we had a 28 day cruise from Rome to Singapore followed by 20 days from Singapore to Sydney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samiam0403 Posted February 8, 2014 #13 Share Posted February 8, 2014 I'm really jealous of all of you that have been able to take two cruises at one time. :p I want to know though: Why? Do You Have to Do the Same Ship? Same Cabin? What are the Benefits? Discounts from Cruise Lines to Do It? Clue me in. Seriously... share! :D TIA 1. Because I love cruising and the longer the cruise, the better. :) And when I did mine, I was finally stationed at home for the first time in 13 years (am military) so I had extra vacation time from not having to take time off to visit family. :) 2. You don't have to do the same ship at all! 3. Nope. My first B2B after coming home from Iraq was spent in the same cabin, but my B2B2B required a cabin change. 4. No benefits other than the longer cruise, saving on air fare and enjoying the jealously of fellow passengers when they find out what you're up to. :D 5. No discounts at all. Honestly, everyone has different reason. My first B2B was because I had spent 9 months in Iraq and wanted a 2 week vacation filled with music, ocean and color. The second (my B2B2B) was because I could - it was an odd convergence of events where I had the money, the vacation time, and each leg went to different ports. Would I do it again? Absolutely! But I'll save any future B2Bs for when I'm retired and have more vacation time. Like in a year or so. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PortSideCruzan Posted February 8, 2014 #14 Share Posted February 8, 2014 (edited) I'm really jealous of all of you that have been able to take two cruises at one time. :p I want to know though: Why? Do You Have to Do the Same Ship? Same Cabin? What are the Benefits? Discounts from Cruise Lines to Do It? Clue me in. Seriously... share! :D TIA Hi MoreMouse :) My wife & I began cruising thirty years ago in '84. After our very first voyage my wife said to me, "We have to do that again! It went too fast".. From that point on all of our future voyages have been B2B's. We typically plan 14 to 18-day voyages. There are many, many various reasons people do a back to back cruise. For us it is because we find ourselves really getting that comfy cozy, at home feel, between day 4 to 6, where your starting to say to yourself that you don't want it to end, and you are beginning to feel totally relaxed. Then before you know it, its time to leave. To us, a 7 or 8-day cruise is just too short. When it comes to all of the precious time spent planning, the money for the cruise, the airfare, and all of the saving involved, we simply feel that we want to make all of that effort worth it, by taking a longer, relaxing vacation. Yes, we always stay on the same ship, same cabin. And two different itinerary's whenever possible. We did however plan four voyages in the past, when we were younger, that were on two different ships. Packing up everything and getting to the 2nd ship is something we will never consider doing again. These days we rather unpack once, and stay. It's nice to have the opportunity to say, "We'll see/do that on the 2nd leg of the voyage". And we try to avoid certain repeats that can take place. B2B cruises gives us the freedom to not rush, giving us the ability to see all of the shows, entertainment, activities, eat at the specialty restaurants more than once or twice, chefs table, spa time, and so on and so on, at a relaxed pace. The list of things to do aboard a cruise ship is a long one. Then you have the aspect of more ports visited during one vacation. Now that is a super huge benefit! Especially since the amount of time at a port is extremely short. (6 to 8 hours depending on the port & cruise line) In my humble opinion, there exists far more benefits in a B2B cruise than merely a 'longer vacation'. Have a terrific day! Sorry I rambled on & on.. :) Edited February 8, 2014 by PortSideCruzan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PORT ROYAL Posted February 8, 2014 #15 Share Posted February 8, 2014 I'm really jealous of all of you that have been able to take two cruises at one time. :p I want to know though: Why? Do You Have to Do the Same Ship? Same Cabin? What are the Benefits? Discounts from Cruise Lines to Do It? Clue me in. Seriously... share! :D TIA Why? Because we like to Always the same stateroom Benefits are - A special Lunch on embarkation a days - No need for many rum runners as the ship delivers you surrendered liquor on the last night of your first cruise. Or just purchase what you want from the onboard store on last night and take to your stateroom for the following cruise;) Discounts - sometimes but have to ask your TA or Cruise Line Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PORT ROYAL Posted February 8, 2014 #16 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Hi MoreMouse :) My wife & I began cruising thirty years ago in '84. After our very first voyage my wife said to me, "We have to do that again! It went too fast".. From that point on all of our future voyages have been B2B's. We typically plan 14 to 18-day voyages. There are many, many various reasons people do a back to back cruise. For us it is because we find ourselves really getting that comfy cozy, at home feel, between day 4 to 6, where your starting to say to yourself that you don't want it to end, and you are beginning to feel totally relaxed. Then before you know it, its time to leave. To us, a 7 or 8-day cruise is just too short. When it comes to all of the precious time spent planning, the money for the cruise, the airfare, and all of the saving involved, we simply feel that we want to make all of that effort worth it, by taking a longer, relaxing vacation. Yes, we always stay on the same ship, same cabin. And two different itinerary's whenever possible. We did however plan four voyages in the past, when we were younger, that were on two different ships. Packing up everything and getting to the 2nd ship is something we will never consider doing again. These days we rather unpack once, and stay. It's nice to have the opportunity to say, "We'll see/do that on the 2nd leg of the voyage". And we try to avoid certain repeats that can take place. B2B cruises gives us the freedom to not rush, giving us the ability to see all of the shows, entertainment, activities, specialty restaurants more than once or twice, chefs table, spa time, and so on and so on, at a relaxed pace. The list of things to do aboard a cruise ship is a long one. Then you have the aspect of more ports visited during one vacation. Now that is a super huge benefit! Especially since the amount of time at a port is extremely short. (6 to 8 hours depending on the port & cruise line) In my humble opinion, there exists far more benefits in a B2B cruise than merely a 'longer vacation'. Have a terrific day! Sorry I rambled on & Not rambling in my book, you said everything I was thinking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted February 8, 2014 #17 Share Posted February 8, 2014 I'm really jealous of all of you that have been able to take two cruises at one time. :p I want to know though: Why? why not?? Do You Have to Do the Same Ship? for a true B2B yes Same Cabin? hopefully if you book early What are the Benefits? discount on some lines, you see different ports if you plan it right Discounts from Cruise Lines to Do It? some not all give a discount Clue me in. Seriously... share! :D TIA try it you will like it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NMLady Posted February 8, 2014 #18 Share Posted February 8, 2014 I'm really jealous of all of you that have been able to take two cruises at one time. :p I want to know though: Why? Do You Have to Do the Same Ship? Same Cabin? What are the Benefits? Discounts from Cruise Lines to Do It? Clue me in. Seriously... share! :D TIA We do b2b's that have different itineraries. It makes the cruise longer, saves on airfare. We keep same cabin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FTLcruisers Posted February 8, 2014 #19 Share Posted February 8, 2014 We have done 2 B2B -- the first time we were booking a 9 day cruise out of Oslo and realized the cruise before ours was a 5 day (going to different places) so we did both to make it a 14 day cruise - just made sense to get more days out of the trip with the price of airfare. The second one we were on a 13-day Adriatic cruise and then stayed on for a 14 day TA sailing back home to Florida, making it a 27 day cruise. Certainly was more enjoyable to sail home than to fly back. Both times we made sure we could stay in the same cabin - while lots of people we met changed cabins, that just isn't for us. Marianne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPacificbound Posted February 9, 2014 #20 Share Posted February 9, 2014 1. Because I love cruising and the longer the cruise, the better. :) And when I did mine, I was finally stationed at home for the first time in 13 years (am military) so I had extra vacation time from not having to take time off to visit family. :)2. You don't have to do the same ship at all! 3. Nope. My first B2B after coming home from Iraq was spent in the same cabin, but my B2B2B required a cabin change. 4. No benefits other than the longer cruise, saving on air fare and enjoying the jealously of fellow passengers when they find out what you're up to. :D 5. No discounts at all. Honestly, everyone has different reason. My first B2B was because I had spent 9 months in Iraq and wanted a 2 week vacation filled with music, ocean and color. The second (my B2B2B) was because I could - it was an odd convergence of events where I had the money, the vacation time, and each leg went to different ports. Would I do it again? Absolutely! But I'll save any future B2Bs for when I'm retired and have more vacation time. Like in a year or so. :D Thank you for your service! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CheckersMidwest Posted February 9, 2014 #21 Share Posted February 9, 2014 I have one kid graduating college a week after the other graduates high school. We wanted a big vacation to celebrate and we all chose a B2B. We're going in 2015, booking as soon as those itineraries are released. We're going on the same ship, 2 different itineraries. We plan to have the same cabin so we don't have to pack & move. At the end of our other cruises, we wished we had more days, even after a 7 day one. Airfare costs us about $1600 and not enough time off to drive to port too, so makes the second cruise much cheaper overall. We're looking forward to a slower pace - catch the evening show or do it next week. Not the 'need' to do it all at once. One week go to the cooking demo, the next week go to the 80's trivia, for example. Also looking forward to the turn around day. We can eat lunch at the buffet and pick the perfect place for sail away. First week, up on deck to see everything, next week down by the lido to be in the action. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPacificbound Posted February 9, 2014 #22 Share Posted February 9, 2014 We have a b2b2b booked for 2015. They are all on Celebrity Infinity, the same cabin, three 14 night cruises that are each different from the other. We fly going and cruise home. I am hoping to book a similar situation when the Europe 2015 schedules are released. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady_cruiser Posted February 9, 2014 #23 Share Posted February 9, 2014 I'm really jealous of all of you that have been able to take two cruises at one time. :p I want to know though: Why? For the love of cruising Do You Have to Do the Same Ship? We do but we have heard that other people who jump from one ship to another also call that a B2B Same Cabin? the only way we would do a B2B is if we are in the same cabin What are the Benefits? an extra week of fun Discounts from Cruise Lines to Do It? No, not for us Clue me in. Seriously... share! :D TIA See our answers in green. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flamomo Posted February 9, 2014 #24 Share Posted February 9, 2014 If I am flying to Europe to board a ship, especially considering how expensive a one way flight usually is, it makes better financial sense, to me, to do a B2B. I enjoy transatlantic cruises, so I like tacking another cruise on the front end. Most recently, I flew to London a day early for a little sightseeing, boarded a 12 day cruise on the Crown Princess r/t Southampton to the Canary Islands, then stayed on the same ship and spent 14 days cruising from Southampton to Ft Lauderdale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
selma Posted February 9, 2014 #25 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Did one last summer, will be repeating this august. On HAL they alternate itineraries, so you can easily add them up yet go to different ports. Genius! Many of these are offered as a combined itinerary, so for instance you can book a 7 day, or a 14 day which consists of two 7 days. Those combined itineraries are called collectors voyage. And here comes the good news; they are priced lower than you will pay if booking 2 seperate reservations for the 2 itineraries seperate. Some folks decide to book a collectors voyage for the price, some decide to book 2 seperate itineraries instead when not sure yet for instance if able to make it on both of them. Why? Very simple! For me 7 days is not worth all of the troubles. I got some medical issues that result in a almost literal moving house in stuff needing to be schlept along, loads of arrangements to be made ahead. I only cruise from ports in my own country, which results in more 7 day options than longer. When you combine my personal likes and dislikes, medical issues I need to take into consideration etc. many times you end up with 7 days. That's why I love the type of scheduling of HAL. They tick all my boxes, yet I can turn that 7 day into a 14 day with different ports or even 21, 28 etc days with different ports. Yes, it does mean one day spent back in embarkation port, but that is a bonus for me to. It's the hometown of my best friend, who in normal life I might easily not see irl for longer than a year due to the distances, health etc. Because of these itineraries I now have a day in her town, she blocks her agenda for me and HAL offers me the option to spend the day with her onboard. Perfect!!!!! For this year I had planned on a 14 day itinerary to the Northcape (specific 14 day, so no collectors voyage). Unfort. some issues came up leading me to reschedule. For this trip Norway was a priority, as was at least 14 days, so ended up booking the 14 day collectors voyage. Almost the same as last year, but plenty still to do and see in port, but also less 'must see this' because I've been there and thus time to relax. These collectors voyages have so much benefits for my likes, wants and needs in cruising it was a nobrainer to do it again. Do You Have to Do the Same Ship? Same Cabin? Yes and yes. Obviously, when remembering that huge schlepping of medical stuff. Even more obvious when you realise they have to change so much around in the stateroom it is almost literally remodelling. Changing ship or stateroom is too much of a pain. What are the Benefits? Discounts from Cruise Lines to Do It? Depends per line and sometimes even per itinerary. With HAL when being able to book a B2B as a collectors voyage there are some benefits. Lower price is one of them. Getting a tote bag in a different style than normally handed out. Getting a free dinner at pinnacle grill (one of the premium restaurants), specialty lunch at turn around day, invitation to captains mingle etc. Reports have varied, some of those onboard perks seem to vary, personally had them all as did everybody I talked to about this that sailed the same ship. Being able to reserve premium dining, entertainment, spa stuff, you name it for that 2nd itinerary onboard during that 1st itinerary long before your fellow sailers (or most anyway) are even onboard. Other benefits; ship empty to 'myself' on turnaround day with no need to deal with reboarding, customs or alike (obviously depends on port authority) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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