B2B Disadvantage

[KevintheIrishDJ]

Just got off a 20 day B2B on the Caribbean Princess. The problem is the menus never changes and entertainment basically stays the same. :(

[moki'smommy]

It is true that if you do a 10+10 for a 20 night B2B, you'll have 10 days worth of menus and entertainment which will basically repeat. We did find some small changes when we did an 11+9 in Japan. The biggest problem was when I deferred an activity, thinking I'd see it on the second leg. You guessed it--it wasn't offered in English on the second leg.

[paul929207]

That is correct. We find enough second choices on the menu to enjoy the dinners. We miss enough of the shows so that repeats are not much of a problem.

[Griller]

Yes its pretty much Groundhog Day, and Deja Vue all over again................... but I find the second cruise seems to pass more quickly than the first

[A&Jfamily]

That is definitely a first world problem I would love to have! Between my kids' need to be in school, and our inability to be gone from work for more than about a week, it will be retirement before we have to suffer this disappointment. I'm pretty confident I will be able to survive it - after all, there are always specialty restaurants, balcony dining, multiple entertainment venues and bars, and a whole night sky to explore.;p

[paul929207]

I am retired and there ain't no suffering involved :)

[neverbeenhere]

That is correct. We find enough second choices on the menu to enjoy the dinners. We miss enough of the shows so that repeats are not much of a problem.

I agree and follow this plan. With more B’s work in the specialties, buffet and eating while in port. Entertainers change too.

[Thrak]

I am retired and there ain't no suffering involved :)

 

I'm with you. It's not really a hardship if the menu repeats and, at times, I look at the menu and wish it was a different one we had earlier.:rolleyes: We normally have TD but on our last cruise (14 days) we had ATD and actually only ate in MDR 3 times. It was very different for us. Of course the cruise before that was 28 days with TD and it may be that we had MDR burnout (although we did meet some really nice folks at dinner on that one):D

[CruiserBruce]

You expect that they will change the menus and entertainment for a small percentage ( certainly less than 10%) that sail back to back?

 

That being said, Holland America commonly sells what are referred to as Collector's Cruises, and does change things up some for those sailing B2Bs. It depends on the Cruise Director and Hotel Manager how much is changed, but there is usually some differences.

 

I agree...this is a devastating first world problem. Being retired, we seem to desire to suffer this indignity.

[geoherb]

We've only taken short b2b cruises--two 4-day ones and a 3- combined with a 4-day. We did get some different production shows and different menus.

[caribill]

If you have ten favorite restaurants where you live and go to each two times in twenty days, it is no different than what you experienced on the ship. You would have ten menus that are the same each visit.

 

I never hear complaints from friends that when they visit the same land restaurant twice they are disappointed because the menu had not changed.

[NSWP]

Tough life doing those B2B's. Done quite a few and another coming up on Sapphire. Have to grin and bear it, someone has to do it.:')

[Griller]

If you have ten favorite restaurants where you live and go to each two times in twenty days, it is no different than what you experienced on the ship. You would have ten menus that are the same each visit.

 

I never hear complaints from friends that when they visit the same land restaurant twice they are disappointed because the menu had not changed.

 

If my favorite restaurants on land had the lack of menu choice and steak quality which Princess now has I would be dining at Golden Corral instead

 

We have a 25 day cruise on Regal P coming up and love the itinerary but dread the dining room.

 

We should never have gone on NCL recently which we realise now has much better choice and food quality. And its cheaper.

[sewgood]

I wouldn't mind things repeating if they used the same trivia questions. :D

[OzKiwiJJ]

You expect that they will change the menus and entertainment for a small percentage ( certainly less than 10%) that sail back to back?

 

 

Why not? Especially when they often sell the cruise as a longer cruise or two shorter segments - we did a 21 night one like that last year.

 

Why not have many of the menus on a monthly cycle with, perhaps, the exception of the lobster / beef wellington / pheasant menu?

 

Why not have enough shows to run for a month? Production shows especially.

Edited May 2, 2018 by OzKiwiJJ

[paul929207]

I wouldn't mind things repeating if they used the same trivia questions. :D

 

Unfortunately, sometimes they do repeat the questions for trivia.

[geoherb]

They repeat trivia questions a lot--even whole trivias on different cruises. Back-to-back cruisers definitely have an advantage as do frequent cruisers. On one of our cruises, there was a team of back-to-back cruisers who won almost every trivia. I don't see the thrill of being able to remember something from one week to the next. The crowd would cheer when another team occasionally won.

 

I wish the cruise director's staff members weren't so lazy and would come up with unique trivia questions every time instead of reusing them. It seems like it would be easy for Princess to facilitate fresh quizzes by having someone in corporate headquarters come up with the questions and emailing them to the CDs for the upcoming week.

[skynight]

We enjoy the b2b's. In Jan/Feb this year we were on the Caribbean b2b and the Royal b2b. Yes, the production shows repeated, but there were different comics, singers and other entertainers. Trivia questions also did not repeat. There is always something to select from the DR menu or at the other dining locations. When we are on board for a long time we get tired of DR meals every evening. We move around.

[coo359a2]

They repeat trivia questions a lot--even whole trivias on different cruises. Back-to-back cruisers definitely have an advantage as do frequent cruisers. On one of our cruises, there was a team of back-to-back cruisers who won almost every trivia. I don't see the thrill of being able to remember something from one week to the next. The crowd would cheer when another team occasionally won.

 

I wish the cruise director's staff members weren't so lazy and would come up with unique trivia questions every time instead of reusing them. It seems like it would be easy for Princess to facilitate fresh quizzes by having someone in corporate headquarters come up with the questions and emailing them to the CDs for the upcoming week.

 

What's bad is when they ask the same trivia question 4 days after they asked it the first time.

[neverbeenhere]

For us the rule is we participate in trivia only on the first of b2b cruises. (If we participate at all)

 

We don’t care if they change the questions on the other cruises, anyone who knows you are b2b will think you cheated. I can afford to buy the winning prize, why would I want to cheat to “win” it.

:mad:

[towhee]

When we have done a B2B, we've always looked forward to the repeat. Gee, should I have the steak or the lobster? I know lobster tonight, steak next week. Should I take the snorkeling trip or the beach trip? I know beach this week, snorkeling next week. You get the idea.

As several people noted - definitely a first world problem!

[Pierlesscruisers]

When I think of how many people in this world can't find enough food to eat any day of the week, I find it hard to see a problem with having to eat off the same menu for 14 or 20 or some such number of days.

 

 

 

Tom

[aknursemom]

I wouldn't mind things repeating if they used the same trivia questions. :D

Love it!

[NSWP]

Unfortunately, sometimes they do repeat the questions for trivia.

 

Don't get me started on Princess Trivia questions, not easy for us non Americans to answer most of the questions. Trivia questions need to be international.:hearteyes:

 

As for Princess menus plenty of variety. We have done several 30 days Princess cruises, never bored with the menus and we rarely go to the cover charge restaurants, we have already paid more than enough in cruise fares and flights. Although on upcoming cruises Sapphire x 2 and Royal we have the 3 for free promo which includes the speciality eateries.

[DrivesLikeMario]

That is definitely a first world problem I would love to have! Between my kids' need to be in school, and our inability to be gone from work for more than about a week, it will be retirement before we have to suffer this disappointment. I'm pretty confident I will be able to survive it - after all, there are always specialty restaurants, balcony dining, multiple entertainment venues and bars, and a whole night sky to explore.;p

Love it! Totally empathize. We're in the same boat as far as work goes. I'll suffer that problem of repeated menus happily.