Opinions on long Back to Back cruise

[2910car]

We are considering taking the Silhouette in October for the Holy Land cruise and then transatlantic back to Ft Lauderdale (we live in Florida). We would be on the ship for 29 days.

 

Since we have never been on a ship longer than 14 days we are wondering how we would feel about that long a cruise. Looking for encouragement from anyone with experience on this long a cruise.

[need2bespoiled]

We did. 27 day cruise back to back on the Constellation last year, Istanbul to Fort Lauderdale and then this year 28 days on Millennium through Asia this year. We're not sure if we'll do 15 or 29 next year but in 2016 we'll do 26-38 depending on what we decide.

 

It's WONDERFUL. You have so much time to unwind, and ending with a tran Atlantic allows youth bring so much more back for gifts, we shipped a lot home from FL via Fed Ex ground right from our hotel.

 

Another big advantage for US travelers is you only have one long haul flight.

 

If after a 14 day cruise your glad to be getting off the boat, maybe it's not for you, but if your sad, and want to stay on, I say, go for it.

 

If you have time and financial wherewithal, then try it.

 

One more thing, after the port intensive cruise on Silhouette and the beginning of the TA, it's really wonderful for to relax and do less on the crossing for us. If you don't like Sea Days, it may be tougher.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[cruising teacher]

Just finished a 14 day transatlantic on the Eclipse and a 14 day in the southern Carribean on the Eclipse. We were almost ready to come home. Recommend this highly if you can be away this long. Economically a great idea:)

[jelayne]

We have done 28 day B2Bs twice, and a 25 day B2b. We currently have a 8 night river cruise & 15 day TA B2B booked for 2015 and a 35 night B2B for 2016. Needless to say, we enjoy B2B cruises and they make the high cost of airfare seem better. Most of our B2Bs have been port intensive, so little chance to get bored.

 

We do love sea days and have done 5 TAs. I think if you enjoy sea days then you will enjoy the B2B you are considering. As others have said there are some advantages to the TA at the end if the B2B.

[travlr21]

We recently did a B2B2B on the Constellation for a total of 38 nights, starting in Istanbul and ending up in Ft Lauderdale. I did wonder f it might be a tad long, but we really enjoyed it. We had a good mix of ports and sea days, and then the last 7 sea days into Ft Lauderdale to just enjoy the ship. We liked the guest speakers, and Rich Cleson, the CD, arranged afternoon shows for the sea days on the TA. We will be doing a B2B next December for 29 nights, looking forward to it already.

[cruzzzinma]

We did our first b2b in 2014 - 29 cruise days and an additional 7 days on land. I have always been ready to go home when a cruises ends. I didn't feel like the first cruise in our b2b ended - no luggage outside the door, and no drama about getting off and getting to the airport or the hotel so it was really really good.

 

We are doing a river cruise in October followed by some days on land then a TA back to the US. 40 days total and we can't wait.

 

Enjoy your b2b!

[miched]

I wouldn't enjoy it. I would get bored and gain too much weight. 14 days is enough to make it enjoyable and yet make me desire to want more.

 

This is my opinion and it is what you asked for.

 

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌞

[cb at sea]

I, too, would hate it...too long and B2B's repeat everything. I like to cruise, but an entire month? Nope.

[cruise kitty]

I, too, would hate it...too long and B2B's repeat everything. I like to cruise, but an entire month? Nope.

 

The Holy Land cruise followed by the TA that the OP is referring to certainly doesn't repeat ports, unless of course you count Rome... but there's no such thing as too much Rome :) my DD & SIL are there now.

 

to the OP, sounds like an excellent plan, the Silhouette is a gorgeous ship, with plenty of restaurants to choose from on the crossing.

[Orator]

I've done the cruises you are planning to take and found it wonderful. The first part is very port intensive as is the first week of the TA so the long sea days were much appreciated. Plenty to do on the sea days and I often had to make some choices. Would take these cruises again in a heartbeat! Some people take cruises that are over 30 days.one recently took a series that was over 60 days so the definition of "long" cruise is quite relative. Enjoy.

Edited December 28, 2014 by Orator

[sr4mjc]

wow, and I am questioning whether a 14 day is too long.. Have a great cruise!

[Duanerice1]

Sounds like a great cruise but there is no way I would do it. Way too long. I did my first 10 day not too long ago and that was pushing it. I was ready to get off. I don't see how people can stay on a boat that long. But my Mother in Law just came back from Holland America 112 day cruise. She loves it.

enjoy,

Duane

[Orator]

Sounds like a great cruise but there is no way I would do it. Way too long. I did my first 10 day not too long ago and that was pushing it. I was ready to get off. I don't see how people can stay on a boat that long. But my Mother in Law just came back from Holland America 112 day cruise. She loves it.

enjoy,

Duane

 

At one time I only took the newest ships. At one time I could not understand why some people cruised on the same ship more than once. At one time I could not understand why people would ever take more than 10 cruises and was quite taken back when one woman told me that she had taken 26 cruises. At one time I could not understand why people would ever take the same line over and over again. At one time I could not see myself on a cruise for more than 10 days. Well, that was then and now is now. I now understand what I didn't understand before.

[KW Cruisers]

I also think that would be too long. We did a 10 day cruise this summer and I too felt that it was too long. However, that being said, I would prefer adding on a TA after a cruise in the Mediterranean to doing the same cruise twice. We meet many people who do B2B Bermuda/Caribbean cruises (I would hate that!). 7 nights is long enough for us...I even like 5 nights (We just do more than one a year).

 

Shawn

 

And yes, part of the reason is I miss my puppies too much!!

[Embrace]

Sounds like a great cruise but there is no way I would do it. Way too long. I did my first 10 day not too long ago and that was pushing it. I was ready to get off. I don't see how people can stay on a boat that long. But my Mother in Law just came back from Holland America 112 day cruise. She loves it.

enjoy,

Duane

 

Lol - I love how each and everyone of us are all different. We did our first cruise nearly a couple of years ago and it was an 11 night cruise. We LOVED it and on our 10th night we were still discovering parts of the ship we never knew existed :D. We were sad to leave so soon.

Edited December 28, 2014 by Embrace

[Embrace]

At one time I only took the newest ships. At one time I could not understand why some people cruised on the same ship more than once. At one time I could not understand why people would ever take more than 10 cruises and was quite taken back when one woman told me that she had taken 26 cruises. At one time I could not understand why people would ever take the same line over and over again. At one time I could not see myself on a cruise for more than 10 days. Well, that was then and now is now. I now understand what I didn't understand before.

 

Yep ! :D - and that's why on our second cruise, we are taking the same line, same ship, and even the same room because we loved the location of it so much and it also views the coast we are following.... but we learn't from last time ... instead of 11 nights, we're doing a 17 nighter.

 

(just so I don't sound too predictable and boring to some, our next cruise after that we will mix it up a bit ..., if only to change our room .... ;)oooh lol!!!; but seriously, we really like celebrity and solstice class, and we are running out of itinerary down here - unless we venture over to the med or carib, or switch to a river cruise in Europe).

Edited December 28, 2014 by Embrace

[SPacificbound]

We haven't been on a B2B cruise yet but we have several booked. If I can avoid an international flight with a B2B cruise, I will every time.

 

Our first is B2B2B, 42 nights. I told DH we are going to find out how much we like each other. :D

[Tricia724]

I've done several b-t-b cruises and have enjoyed them all. We are currently booked on Silhouette for 24 days b-t-b in July for a Baltic cruise and a British Isles cruise. If we have to bear the expense and inconvenience of flying to Europe, we want to get the most bang for the buck, and doing two cruises makes the airfare more cost effective.

 

My only reservation is that I do not love the cabins on the Solstice class ships and their ineffective storage space. On our last 14-day cruise on Eclipse, I kept my suitcase open under the bed and used it as a drawer. That over-the-bed shelf doesn't work for me....I'm too short. But it's not a deal breaker, and we'll get by. At least we have the same cabin for both cruises, so we'll only have to get organized once.

 

A couple of drawbacks to doing b-t-b cruises may be that the menus repeat and sometimes the entertainment and onboard activity repeats. That's not a problem for us because we are itinerary focused and consider the ship our hotel rather than the destination.

 

I think in the end it depends upon your own personality and preferences. If you think you're going to like it, you probably will.

[fleckle]

We are considering taking the Silhouette in October for the Holy Land cruise and then transatlantic back to Ft Lauderdale (we live in Florida). We would be on the ship for 29 days.

 

Since we have never been on a ship longer than 14 days we are wondering how we would feel about that long a cruise. Looking for encouragement from anyone with experience on this long a cruise.

How did you feel about leaving the ship after your 14 day cruise?

That should be a pretty good indicator.

 

None of us can know how you would feel about cruising for 29 days.

Everyone is different. Some are happy to cruise for months, and there are even some who live on cruise ships, while for others a short cruise is plenty and they are ready to get off after a few days.

 

We have family members who loved long cruises as long as they were feeling well, but were miserable when they got sick on a long cruise and only wanted to go home.

 

 

Our first is B2B2B, 42 nights. I told DH we are going to find out how much we like each other. :D

LOL! But not necessarily, unless you choose to spend all your time together. ;)

 

Actually some couples see even less of each other on a cruise than they do at home if they have differing interests and choose different activities and excursions. Many times one is an early riser, while the other likes to sleep in and have a late breakfast.

 

A nice thing about a cruise is that you can have as much or as little "together" time as you choose, other than sharing the cabin and bathroom, and usually having dinner together.

 

[Project_gal]

We have done one cruise that was 24-nights long [single cruise, not back to back] and loved it. Was not as keen on 20-nights B2B [15-nights plus 5-nights] because too much changed on the second cruise and 5-nights was not long enough to overcome the change over. Two 14-night cruises B2B would probably work for us but, personally, I would prefer a 28-night cruise over two 14-nights B2B.

[Northern Aurora]

It has been interesting skimming this thread.

 

Since we live in the middle of Alaska we fly to every cruise port -- even when we do Alaska cruises. We almost always do B2B or B2B2B cruises as it just seems more sensible to us since we are purchasing air fare. We have six Celebrity cruises booked for 2015 -- two B2B2B sets including 42 nights on the Infinity and 38 on the Equinox. Our last fall cruise was 35 nights on the Century.

 

We love sea days, and as others have noted folks have to enjoy sea days to enjoy either TA or TP cruises. We have done both more than once.

 

Repeating 14 day menu rotations is the largest negative for us. And, again, as others have noted there will most likely be a great repetition of entertainers. Regarding the productions shows -- we have seen so many production shows on the C-class ships (we just loved the Mercury), M-class ships and S-class ships that until the production shows change they will always be a repeat.

[GUT2407]

It is really a personal thing as to whether or not a longer cruise is good for you.

 

At the end of 14 days were you:

 

"I can't wait to get home" or

 

"Why do I have to get off".

 

That probably answers your question.

 

Yes, as many say, you will get repeating menus, but how many different menus do you follow at home?

[Embrace]

It is really a personal thing as to whether or not a longer cruise is good for you.

 

At the end of 14 days were you:

 

"I can't wait to get home" or

 

"Why do I have to get off".

 

That probably answers your question.

 

Yes, as many say, you will get repeating menus, but how many different menus do you follow at home?

 

I reckon he's summed it up well! Go well, enjoy your decision :)

[C 2 C]

I love cruises that last at least a month (or two) ... :D

either to escape the cold or to tour wonderful destinations.

 

This year we were cruising on Millennium for four back to back cruises from Vancouver to Hong Kong and liked the region so much that we stayed on for another two weeks, ten weeks in total. The itinerary was absolutely spectacular.

 

As long as I'm with my dear wife, I'm happy wherever I am and we are never bored. She likes the fact that I'm responsible for all the chores, meals, groceries, and laundry while we're on board. What's not to like.

 

Give us a good book an occasional tipple or two and a choice of live entertainment occasionally, all with great service provided by a friendly staff how can one possibly get bored?

 

There are always wonderful new people to meet.

 

There is the mesmerizing sea upon which to gaze.

 

Mostly unobstructed sunsets (and sunrises if one is so inclined)

 

Entertainment: better than TV at home.

 

I wonder how many repeat menus people have at home?

 

(Note: I'm addicted to cruising, Celebrity style, and I'm not looking for a cure.)

 

Next up: our Reflection ocean view condo in search of warm ocean breezes.. for a few back to backs..

[npb]

We did 39 days from Sydney to Seattle. If possible I would have stayed on for the next cruise to Alaska.