Where to find the back to back cruises?

[luv2trvlnow]

You could always check Carnivals Transatlantic crossings and then look at Cunard for the opposite crossing.  They have many more crossings both East and West during the year.  You might find something that works where you can spend some time in Europe before boarding the return cruise. 

[Linsuesue]

I have read and learned so much from your posts, that I dont think there is a cruise you haven’t been on yet!😄 Keeping the same cabin for a repositioning cruise would be my dream. Now that booking a flight has become problematic due to computer errors, lack of pilots, bad weather, floods, and lack of cabin staff, it would be a benefit to me to not have to fly twice for 2 cruises when one flight will get me to a back to back.

[Linsuesue]

1 minute ago, luv2trvlnow said:

You could always check Carnivals Transatlantic crossings and then look at Cunard for the opposite crossing.  They have many more crossings both East and West during the year.  You might find something that works where you can spend some time in Europe before boarding the return cruise. 

I have to admit that Cunard has never been on my radar for a cruise. I would just as soon spend the airfare money on a return cruise, even if it is more expensive. Extra days in Europe would be bonus too. Good tip-thanks!

[RobertL88]

2 hours ago, cellfree said:

We have done B2Bs on same ship (we don’t care if same cabin or not, if a different cabin the move is really easy and to us it feels like we are starting fresh again) 

I don't want to hijack this thread, but how does moving to the different cabin work? We have booked a cabin next door on our upcoming cruise as well, and am wondering how this works 😅

Edited July 8, 2023 by RobertL88

[pcvtmom]

2 hours ago, crzndeb said:

I don’t see any repo cruises listed for Carnival right now, only TA’s and TP’s. It might be easier to start with where you want to cruise to. How many days are you looking at? Most Carnival cruises over 9 days are called Journey cruises. Even a 3/4 day combined is a B2B, so narrowing down your choices might help.

We're going on a repositioning cruise on the Pride, next April ('24) from Tampa to Baltimore. It's 14 days, with lots of island stops. I just checked to make sure, and there are rooms still available! It's listed as a Journeys cruise, but the beginning and ending ports are different. 

[FastShip24]

3 hours ago, d9704011 said:

There is nothing particularly special about back to back (B2B) cruises; it's a term used to describe one cruise itinerary immediately followed by another on the same ship.  Some common ones may be a seven day Eastern Caribbean followed by a seven day Western Caribbean.  So, just search the Carnival site for a couple you might like to do and if you're a little hesitant to book yourself call Carnival and they'll be happy to help.

That's literally what she asked for

[FastShip24]

35 minutes ago, RobertL88 said:

I don't want to hijack this thread, but how does moving to the different cabin work? We have booked a cabin next door on our upcoming cruise as well, and am wondering how this works 😅

You did hijack the thread

[FastShip24]

1 hour ago, luv2trvlnow said:

You could always check Carnivals Transatlantic crossings and then look at Cunard for the opposite crossing.  They have many more crossings both East and West during the year.  You might find something that works where you can spend some time in Europe before boarding the return cruise. 

I know the last cruise out of Alaska goes to a different part of the globe. 7 days Alaska to 14 days somewhere else

[crzndeb]

36 minutes ago, pcvtmom said:

We're going on a repositioning cruise on the Pride, next April ('24) from Tampa to Baltimore. It's 14 days, with lots of island stops. I just checked to make sure, and there are rooms still available! It's listed as a Journeys cruise, but the beginning and ending ports are different. 

I just pulled up plan and sail to on website, and I didn’t see any repo options. Not sure why it isn’t showing. Makes it difficult for those looking for repo cruises, or I’m just looking in wrong place.

Edited July 8, 2023 by crzndeb

[Linsuesue]

33 minutes ago, FastShip24 said:

I know the last cruise out of Alaska goes to a different part of the globe. 7 days Alaska to 14 days somewhere else

That sounds perfect! I have cruised to Alaska and cruised out of California to Hawaii and back. I am wondering where the Alaskan cruise ships are repositioned. Would the cruise be Alaska-Hawaii-California, or do the Alaskan ships reposition to Australia with a stop in Hawaii on the way?

[Linsuesue]

10 minutes ago, crzndeb said:

I just pulled up plan and sail to on website, and I didn’t see any repo options. Not sure why it isn’t showing. Makes it difficult for those looking for repo cruises, or I’m just looking in wrong place.

Since I haven’t done it before, I am probably looking in the wrong places. I would think those cruises are popular enough to sell out faster. 🙂

[Linsuesue]

42 minutes ago, FastShip24 said:

That's literally what she asked for

I realize now the title should be, “Where to find repositioning cruises”, but I am learning the lingo as I go.☺️

[firefly333]

13 minutes ago, Linsuesue said:

That sounds perfect! I have cruised to Alaska and cruised out of California to Hawaii and back. I am wondering where the Alaskan cruise ships are repositioned. Would the cruise be Alaska-Hawaii-California, or do the Alaskan ships reposition to Australia with a stop in Hawaii on the way?

It can be very tricky to book. Seattle to seattle alaska then hawaii because it needs to leave from Vancouver or change ships. I've seen this before on the carnival boards too .. get a experienced pvp or ta to book it perhaps. Need to hit a foreign port so coming back to seattle and leaving from seattle is a problem all cruiselines. This was posted this morning  .. but its true for carnival too. 

 

 

 

 

[cellfree]

1 hour ago, RobertL88 said:

I don't want to hijack this thread, but how does moving to the different cabin work? We have booked a cabin next door on our upcoming cruise as well, and am wondering how this works 😅

In the morning you pack your belongings (I take a couple $1.00 TJM bags to make life easier) and your room guy will eventually move everything for you from current cabin to new cabin. We always make sure they are aware we are B2B. We have found that once we are back on ship after mandatory walk onto American soil (in the terminal - ha) we can go to our new cabin and all is good. 

[JimmyTheSaint]

We did our first B2B last October on Carnival Pride. We booked the Transatlantic sailing from Lisbon to Tampa and as it was such a good deal we had a look at the cruise before it, Rome to Lisbon, and as the price of it was a good deal we booked it also. We booked the cruises separately but then contacted customer services to link them as B2B. 

 

The process on board Pride was very easy and well handled by the crew, I think there were about 500 passengers doing B2B. We had to move cabins which was very straightforward, we moved next door. It was a great trip and I wouldn't hesitate to do another B2B.

[FastShip24]

26 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

It can be very tricky to book. Seattle to seattle alaska then hawaii because it needs to leave from Vancouver or change ships. I've seen this before on the carnival boards too .. get a experienced pvp or ta to book it perhaps. Need to hit a foreign port so coming back to seattle and leaving from seattle is a problem all cruiselines. This was posted this morning  .. but its true for carnival too. 

 

 

The spirits last cruise out of Seattle is a repositioning cruise. The cruise before is Alaskan.  No need to get off and go to vancouver

 

 

[FastShip24]

38 minutes ago, Linsuesue said:

I realize now the title should be, “Where to find repositioning cruises”, but I am learning the lingo as I go.☺️

Not really.  You gave her the answer.  Repositioning is not required 

[Drew B 58]

If you are trying to avoid flights, repositioning cruises probably are NOT the way to go.  By definition, they start in one port and end in another.  You’d have to fly to/from at least one of those ports.  For example, I did a repo Alaska cruise that started in Los Angeles and ended in Vancouver.  L.A. is my home port, so I didn’t have to fly to get there, but I did have to fly BACK from Vancouver (actually from Seattle because it was cheaper to drive from Vancouver to Seattle, then book a domestic flight home…).

Edited July 8, 2023 by Drew B 58

[lazydayz]

15 minutes ago, Drew B 58 said:

If you are trying to avoid flights, repositioning cruises probably are NOT the way to go.  By definition, they start in one port and end in another.  You’d have to fly to/from at least one of those ports.  For example, I did a repo Alaska cruise that started in Los Angeles and ended in Vancouver.  L.A. is my home port, so I didn’t have to fly to get there, but I did have to fly BACK from Vancouver (actually from Seattle because it was cheaper to drive from Vancouver to Seattle, then book a domestic flight home…).

Good point.  Our last repositioning cruise was Tampa to Long Beach.  So only had to fly one way.  I love these types of cruises as they are usually longer and you get to some ports that are not often visited on our home ported cruises.  We are doing the Tampa to Baltimore cruise next April, and will finally get to visit Barbados (fingers crossed).  

[Drew B 58]

The only B2B cruises I can think of where leg one starts in one port and ends in another and leg two starts in the second port and returns to the first are the one-way Alaska cruises - South to North followed by North to South.  However, those cruises tend to hit the same ports in reverse order, so are likely not what you are looking for…

[Linsuesue]

1 hour ago, JimmyTheSaint said:

We did our first B2B last October on Carnival Pride. We booked the Transatlantic sailing from Lisbon to Tampa and as it was such a good deal we had a look at the cruise before it, Rome to Lisbon, and as the price of it was a good deal we booked it also. We booked the cruises separately but then contacted customer services to link them as B2B. 

 

The process on board Pride was very easy and well handled by the crew, I think there were about 500 passengers doing B2B. We had to move cabins which was very straightforward, we moved next door. It was a great trip and I wouldn't hesitate to do another B2B.

Did you have to spend some days in Lisbon, or did the cruises mesh so well that they arrived and departed on the same day. I love the Pride and the Spirit class ships. How long was the flight to Rome?

[Linsuesue]

1 hour ago, FastShip24 said:

 

If the first part of your cruise is Seattle to Alaska-it has a stop in Victoria, Canada, and then back to Seattle-that is fine. The second part would be Seattle to Hawaii-that would be problematic with no foreign port stop. I am thinking maybe one of the ships could go from Seattle to Australia, or Seattle-Hawaii-Ensenada-California. 

[Linsuesue]

1 hour ago, Drew B 58 said:

If you are trying to avoid flights, repositioning cruises probably are NOT the way to go.  By definition, they start in one port and end in another.  You’d have to fly to/from at least one of those ports.  For example, I did a repo Alaska cruise that started in Los Angeles and ended in Vancouver.  L.A. is my home port, so I didn’t have to fly to get there, but I did have to fly BACK from Vancouver (actually from Seattle because it was cheaper to drive from Vancouver to Seattle, then book a domestic flight home…).

I live inland, so I have to fly to get to most ports, and I am OK with that. I know it is a dream to just travel by ship, but if I could take a transatlantic one way, that would make me much happier. That 8 + hour flight to Rome which would be $3,000+ roundtrip for 2 is why we havent ever been to Europe.  We recently did a Panama Canal cruise from Miami to Los Angeles. If we had more time, I would have booked a 7 day Miami Caribbean cruise and then done the Panama Canal cruise. That kind of back to back shouldnt be that hard to set up. 

[Drew B 58]

I understand.  I would LOVE to do an Australia cruise, but I know I could never handle that long a flight.  My dream is to do a transpacific to Australia followed by another transpacific back.  But that’s not realistic.  That isn’t how the schedule ships…

Edited July 9, 2023 by Drew B 58

[Haljo1935]

Hey @Linsuesue weighing in a bit on B2B and TAs (transatlantic) & TPs (transpacific) and answering @RobertL88 as you may have same question when (see what I did there? "When" not "if") you book your B2B.

You will get instructions for "turnaround" day - the day passengers leave & new ones get on. It will tell you when/where to meet, just follow those instructions and know you will cause an entire ship to wait for you if you don't. If you change cabins, you can pack your loose stuff, leave hanging clothes on hangers - stewards will move your stuff. There are threads on here w/very good info and lots of details.

As for the B2B - I have always built my own by searching for ports I would be willing to get to to leave from then just start expanding the filters for dates. I do not filter by number of days because it will omit the shorter itineraries that you can book to build your B2B.

@Linsuesue I would encourage you to add HAL (Holland America Line) into your search as they do a lot of European itineraries. 

We built a B2B on Princess pre-Covid flying to Athens, cruise Athens RT (round trip), turnaround day in Athens then cruise Athens->Barcelona, flew home from Barcelona. This repeated 1 port even though we were in the same area; we could have spent a week in that 1 port and still not seen it all, so repeating it was certainly acceptable. We wouldn't have repeated it, but Turkey was canceled and it was the replacement.  That was our 1st B2B and honestly back then didn't even know that's what it was called (silly, naiive us) - we just knew we thought it was easy to cruise a 2nd  week and didn't understand why more people didn't do it (again, how dumb were we). We heard people talking about how much they paid for the full cruise and were surprised as our B2B was far less than their 1 cruise. We did a HOHO (hop on hop off) around Athens on turnaround day - it was fabulous!

We have our 1st TA and TP coming up. The TA we fly to Rome cruising Spain to FLL (Ft Lauderdale) then fly home from FLL. We booked air as 2 separate 1-way tickets for far less than half what a multi-city ticket cost.

By not limiting yourself to 1 cruiseline (sorry cheerleaders and loyalists) you will have more options to avoid the long flights you are looking to avoid. We booked a RT Rome that would require us to fly both ways from Rome, but then I found a TA London->FL that left the day after the Rome returned. So a $70 flight got us from Rome->London then cruise London->FL. I did not look for a TA going the other way to prevent flying to Rome, but I likely could have found one. This does require changing cruise lines for London leg.

The TP is one you may well be interested in; I built it into a B2B as well. We fly to Japan, cruise to Seattle then cruise Seattle RT, fly home from Seattle. If you don't want to fly to Japan, there is cruise from the US to Japan; I couldn't add it because I couldn't get that much time off work.

I personally don't turn this research phase over to a TA and do not have a good PCC/PVP to do it. But I will send them what I've put together to see if they have recommendations to make it better/cheaper or have an alternative. 

Happy to answer questions or share any tips if you want to DM.