B2B Questions

[boopsahoy]

Hi! I am planning on retiring at the end of the year and I am getting ready to book a B2B on the Escape in January. 28 days at sea! What do you do about:

 

Clothes: I was thinking that I would bring enough for 14 days (except undergarments!) and just wear everything twice. What do you do?

 

Mail/Bills: What do you do about Bills that may come due while you are gone?

 

House: Do you have someone check on your house?

 

Cabin: Do you want a nicer cabin or more money to spend? 28 days in a small cabin :eek:

 

Is there something Im not asking that I should be?:o

[Tantsee]

Hi! I am planning on retiring at the end of the year and I am getting ready to book a B2B on the Escape in January. 28 days at sea! What do you do about:

 

Clothes: I was thinking that I would bring enough for 14 days (except undergarments!) and just wear everything twice. What do you do?

Personally, I try to stretch my wardrobe out even farther than that. I do a lot of mixing and matching. You can get away with one pair of black slacks or skirts for dinner for several days and just change up the tops. Obviously some clothes can't be worn more than a couple of times if you are in a warm climate though.

 

Mail/Bills: What do you do about Bills that may come due while you are gone?

I have all my bills set up on autopay through my bank. I place a temporary hold on the mail and have it delivered the day we return.

 

House: Do you have someone check on your house?

Depends... for 28 days, probably would. This is always a tough one for us. We don't want strangers lurking in our house, and don't have friends close enough to come by.

 

Cabin: Do you want a nicer cabin or more money to spend? 28 days in a small cabin :eek:

My advice will likely be different than some. I say get the "most" cabin you can afford. After cruising in suites, we took a balcony on our last cruise to save a little money. It just wasn't as memorable for us. But unlike many cruisers, we DO spend a lot of time in our cabin.

 

Is there something Im not asking that I should be?:o

 

Just my two cents worth.

[MaryZ]

Hi! I am planning on retiring at the end of the year and I am getting ready to book a B2B on the Escape in January. 28 days at sea! What do you do about:

 

Clothes: I was thinking that I would bring enough for 14 days (except undergarments!) and just wear everything twice. What do you do?

 

 

 

Mail/Bills: What do you do about Bills that may come due while you are gone?

 

House: Do you have someone check on your house?

 

Cabin: Do you want a nicer cabin or more money to spend? 28 days in a small cabin :eek:

 

 

Is there something Im not asking that I should be?:o

 

We have free laundry as plat + people. But during the cruise they will offer a bag of laundry for approx $25. Pack with using laundry in mind. But be aware that you don't want to send out fragile clothing to be laundered. Bring febreeze.

All of our bills are on autopay. Our daughter and grandson live with us and our son lives next door, so we don't stop the mail. and that answers your next question.

At least a balcony. You need natural light cruising more than 7 days.

is the itinerary the same for both cruises? Because everything else will be exactly the same. Even the cruise directors jokes. The movies, the meals, the entertainment.

Book it as separate cruises so you get on each cruise the perks you pick.

Book the same cabin so you don't have to deal with packing up and changing cabins (something we are doing on our upcoming cruise and although the steward helps, it's still a pain. however it was a choice we made)

have a great time!

[boopsahoy]

Just my two cents worth.

 

Thanks-your advice is worth way more than 2 cents! :D

[boopsahoy]

We have free laundry as plat + people. But during the cruise they will offer a bag of laundry for approx $25. Pack with using laundry in mind. But be aware that you don't want to send out fragile clothing to be laundered. Bring febreeze.

All of our bills are on autopay. Our daughter and grandson live with us and our son lives next door, so we don't stop the mail. and that answers your next question.

At least a balcony. You need natural light cruising more than 7 days.

is the itinerary the same for both cruises? Because everything else will be exactly the same. Even the cruise directors jokes. The movies, the meals, the entertainment.

Book it as separate cruises so you get on each cruise the perks you pick.

Book the same cabin so you don't have to deal with packing up and changing cabins (something we are doing on our upcoming cruise and although the steward helps, it's still a pain. however it was a choice we made)

have a great time!

We are platinum plus also-forgot about the laundry perk! Its 2 different itineraries. I made sure of that! Thanks for all your input! My husband is now saying he rather take 2 separate cruises :o

[YVRBassElectric]

We are platinum plus also-forgot about the laundry perk! Its 2 different itineraries. I made sure of that! Thanks for all your input! My husband is now saying he rather take 2 separate cruises :o

 

We did the Bliss Transatlantic, 5 days in New York, 1 day in Miami and then the Bliss Panama - was an amazing 38 day vacation, really enjoyed the different itineraries.

 

Alaska we did 7 day back to back - REALLY grateful we did, because we had fog on both legs - but not in the same cities, so we were able to see what we really wanted to.

[boopsahoy]

We did the Bliss Transatlantic, 5 days in New York, 1 day in Miami and then the Bliss Panama - was an amazing 38 day vacation, really enjoyed the different itineraries.

 

Alaska we did 7 day back to back - REALLY grateful we did, because we had fog on both legs - but not in the same cities, so we were able to see what we really wanted to.

Im trying to get my husband back on board the B2B idea!

[kodesthemoose]

We are booked on two separate cruises next year with a day in between, in total we will be on a ship for 20 nights - I cannot wait. A true b2b would be even more awesome, not having to look for a place to stay for a night or two!

[casofilia]

Being Platinum Plus we both get a free load of laundry on each portion of B2B(2B) so manage quite well even on total cruises of 40+ days.

[boopsahoy]

We are booked on two separate cruises next year with a day in between, in total we will be on a ship for 20 nights - I cannot wait. A true b2b would be even more awesome, not having to look for a place to stay for a night or two!

 

Not having to pack up!

[casofilia]

Not having to pack up!

Provided you can get the same cabin; that is not always possible especially if you book late.

[boopsahoy]

Not having to pack up!

 

Provided you can get the same cabin; that is not always possible especially if you book late.

 

I'm already having a problem with January. I wanted aft balcony cabin but they didn't have one for both legs of the journey..that's one reason we may just do the one cruise.

[House_Atreides]

Hi! I am planning on retiring at the end of the year and I am getting ready to book a B2B on the Escape in January. 28 days at sea! What do you do about:

 

Clothes: I was thinking that I would bring enough for 14 days (except undergarments!) and just wear everything twice. What do you do?

 

Mail/Bills: What do you do about Bills that may come due while you are gone?

 

House: Do you have someone check on your house?

 

Cabin: Do you want a nicer cabin or more money to spend? 28 days in a small cabin :eek:

 

Is there something Im not asking that I should be?:o

 

We did 29 days from Miami to Alaska and down to Seattle in 2015.

 

Clothes: I was thinking that I would bring enough for 14 days (except undergarments!) and just wear everything twice. What do you do?

 

Basically, this is what we did and took advantage of the platinum laundry bags; fill a bag up as tight as you can and send it off; comes back in about 48 (or less) hours.

 

Mail/Bills: What do you do about Bills that may come due while you are gone?

 

We had our stuff on auto-pay.

House: Do you have someone check on your house?

 

We had a friend (single gal) who stayed in our house the whole time we were gone (lucky!!)

 

Cabin: Do you want a nicer cabin or more money to spend? 28 days in a small cabin :eek:

 

 

We booked an aft suite. Not only for the extra space for a month, but also the views.

 

On our trip, there was a rampant flu outbreak. People were running around sick before they knew they were sick. If you can, get a flu shot at least 2 weeks before you travel. I got influenza B as tested by the nose swab down in the medical center. Get cruise insurance, the medical center is $$$. I was given Tamiflu and it seemed to at least shorten the length of the flu. DH got a cold.

 

If you have pets make sure they are well taken care of (probably a no-brainer).

 

Get the post office to hold your mail while you are gone.

 

You will love a long cruise; we sure did...booked on our 3rd long cruise in November.

[boopsahoy]

We did 29 days from Miami to Alaska and down to Seattle in 2015.

 

Clothes: I was thinking that I would bring enough for 14 days (except undergarments!) and just wear everything twice. What do you do?

 

Basically, this is what we did and took advantage of the platinum laundry bags; fill a bag up as tight as you can and send it off; comes back in about 48 (or less) hours.

 

Mail/Bills: What do you do about Bills that may come due while you are gone?

 

We had our stuff on auto-pay.

House: Do you have someone check on your house?

 

We had a friend (single gal) who stayed in our house the whole time we were gone (lucky!!)

 

Cabin: Do you want a nicer cabin or more money to spend? 28 days in a small cabin :eek:

 

 

We booked an aft suite. Not only for the extra space for a month, but also the views.

 

On our trip, there was a rampant flu outbreak. People were running around sick before they knew they were sick. If you can, get a flu shot at least 2 weeks before you travel. I got influenza B as tested by the nose swab down in the medical center. Get cruise insurance, the medical center is $$$. I was given Tamiflu and it seemed to at least shorten the length of the flu. DH got a cold.

 

If you have pets make sure they are well taken care of (probably a no-brainer).

 

Get the post office to hold your mail while you are gone.

 

You will love a long cruise; we sure did...booked on our 3rd long cruise in November.

 

My husband is having 2nd thoughts....he says lets take 2 but separate-sure he doesn't have to pack twice! Help me with ideas to convince him!