Back to Back cruising

[darstamp]

I think it would be great to have a listing of back to back cruises that are available.  Is there a demand for this?  

[CruiserBruce]

Lots of people do B2B cruises. I am willing to bet there are threads on every cruise line forum about doing B2Bs. 

 

Depending on the cruise line, it can be very easy to book B2Bs. Holland America,  for example,  sells some B2Bs as " Collectors Cruises " and makes it very easy to book. Other cruise lines are regimented about the two Cruises be booked individually. 

 

B2Bs are not really a special item. Any two or more cruises could be set up as B2Bs, or B2B2B2B....

[mom says]

As Cruiser Bruce said, many people do B2Bs or B3Bs or B4Bs. Some cruise lines will have long cruises that can be broken down and booked as segments (often as a B2B). Other lines simply have individual cruises where the succeeding cruise is just booked separately.  There is no list of B2Bs per se. But any cruise line will have a cruise schedule for each of their ships. Any block of 2 or more successive cruises is by definition a B2B.

 

And then, of course there are the S2S cruises (side to side), where you actually change ships on the turn around day.

[Hlitner]

With some cruise lines it is "back to back" and with others it is simply "segments" of a much longer cruise.  But the OPs post lacks any info that would help.  A list of "back to backs" all over the world would be hundreds (or even thousands) of possible cruises.  The OP needs to be a bit more specific on when, where, and what cruise lines they want to consider.  There is no sense of posting info on luxury lines for somebody who is thinking about Carnival or RCI.

 

And yes there is a demand :).  Consider that just in our case (one cruising couple) we will have booked 5 cruise trips in a year...with 4 different lines...and each involve multiple segments!  And those cruises involve cruising in Asia, Alaska, Canada/NE, Europe, and the Caribbean!  I post this not to boast but to simply point out that the question (by the OP) is too general.

 

Hank

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 hour ago, darstamp said:

I think it would be great to have a listing of back to back cruises that are available.  Is there a demand for this?  

If what you’re looking for is a B2B that starts and ends in different ports without a lot of repeat ports (like you’d get if your B2B was 2 round trips back and forth from one location), get used to the term “multi-segment” which is primarily consecutive cruises moving across a world region from A to B with an exchange of some passengers in each segment’s end/start changeover day.

There are cruise lines that specialize in multi-segment cruises. Primary among them is Oceania where you can either purchase an advertised multi-segment cruise (called an extended journey) or, if not advertised as such, construct your own multi-segment “custom” cruise. Either way, your fare is discounted when compared to the total of the two or three (or more) individual segments in your trip.

With a few occasional exceptions (like this week’s Oceania Insignia 3 week trek from SF to NY, pretty much all we do is multi-segment Oceania cruises ranging from 3 to 7 weeks +\-. And to that we usually add land stays at each end.

[ldubs]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

With some cruise lines it is "back to back" and with others it is simply "segments" of a much longer cruise.  But the OPs post lacks any info that would help.  A list of "back to backs" all over the world would be hundreds (or even thousands) of possible cruises.  The OP needs to be a bit more specific on when, where, and what cruise lines they want to consider.  There is no sense of posting info on luxury lines for somebody who is thinking about Carnival or RCI.

 

And yes there is a demand :).  Consider that just in our case (one cruising couple) we will have booked 5 cruise trips in a year...with 4 different lines...and each involve multiple segments!  And those cruises involve cruising in Asia, Alaska, Canada/NE, Europe, and the Caribbean!  I post this not to boast but to simply point out that the question (by the OP) is too general.

 

Hank

 

Considering any cruise ship that runs the same itinerary consecutively could be a B2B, the list, as you say, would be incredibly long.  

Edited July 13, 2023 by ldubs

[navybankerteacher]

 Just start with the dates you want  and consider the ports you want - from busy ports like Miami and Fort Lauderdale you could easily come up with hundreds of permutations.  If you want to stay on the same ship you should look for longer itineraries (perhaps segments of a world cruise) and book as many chunks as you want.

[SPacificbound]

5 hours ago, darstamp said:

I think it would be great to have a listing of back to back cruises that are available.  Is there a demand for this?  

You have the right idea, it is a fantastic way to see the world. You just start doing the research, it's part of the fun.

[Essiesmom]

Go to cruisetimetables.com and choose a ship, or a destination, or a departure port.  You can find all kinds of cruise combinations.  For instance, choose a ship, and time.  Many times it will show a seven day cruise, and then a combination of two seven day cruises, etc.     This is done on HAL, Princess,  celebrity, MSC…and probably other lines I don’t follow.  EM

[Shmoo here]

On 7/12/2023 at 3:10 PM, darstamp said:

I think it would be great to have a listing of back to back cruises that are available.  Is there a demand for this?  

It really wouldn't be feasible.  Any two cruises, on the same ship, would be "B2B"  the list for that would be huge.

[AKJonesy]

I just booked a B2B from FLL to Buenos Aires.  The first voyage leaves from FLL and goes to Santiago (South America).  Then the next voyage leaves from Santiago and goes around SA to Buenos Aires where it ends for us.  It's a total of 31 days, but for some reason booking the B2B was cheaper.  I'm using a popular discount cruise broker.  I can either book directly online or I call; which is what I always do and let the TA do the booking on HAL for me.  We can't link you to these sites, so you will have to find them.  But, the two that I use allow me to look at the ships, cheapest categories; that is, cheapest inside, cheapest oceanview, cheapest balcony, etc.  I can also look at the stateroom availability and choose the stateroom so that I don't end up in a horrible place next to the music walk at night or under the world stage, etc. 

[donaldsc]

Are you prepared to create and maintain such a list.  If not it would be a tremendously difficult list to create and it would be out of date 2 minutes after you posted it.

 

DON

[JRG]

On 7/12/2023 at 3:01 PM, CruiserBruce said:

Depending on the cruise line, it can be very easy to book B2Bs. Holland America,  for example,  sells some B2Bs as " Collectors Cruises " and makes it very easy to book. Other cruise lines are regimented about the two Cruises be booked individually. 

 

They call them Collectors Cruises because they collect your money first and then you savor the journey of finding out later that it's not the exact B2B sometime later on.   (I'm joking of course) 

 

It seems thought that they come in a few different flavors,   depending on whether you stay on your ship (and maybe with your same cabin) or as a poster said , side-to-side, or even with different lines.

 

They are not as convenient as they could be either, if you are staying on the same line ,   especially in the US in the drive-to-port markets.

 

 

[CruiserBruce]

37 minutes ago, JRG said:

They are not as convenient as they could be either, if you are staying on the same line ,   especially in the US in the drive-to-port markets.

On HAL they are pretty convenient. What are you mentioning?

[darstamp]

I had no idea they were so complicated.  I had taken a cruise from Vancouver to LA and then it continued on to Mexico and returned to LA.  They called it a back to back.  I have looked at one that goes from Montreal to Boston and then turns around and goes from Boston to Montreal.  I assumed that was a back to back.  Thanks for all your comments

 

 

[JRG]

27 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

What are you mentioning?

 

Its complicated.

[CruiserBruce]

35 minutes ago, darstamp said:

I had no idea they were so complicated.  I had taken a cruise from Vancouver to LA and then it continued on to Mexico and returned to LA.  They called it a back to back.  I have looked at one that goes from Montreal to Boston and then turns around and goes from Boston to Montreal.  I assumed that was a back to back.  Thanks for all your comments

 

 

Depending on the terminology of your cruise line, your Montreal-Boston-Montreal could be considered a B2B or a roundtrip out of Montreal. It can be mostly semantics...but it depends on the policies of the cruise line involved.

[CruiserBruce]

7 minutes ago, JRG said:

 

Its complicated.

Sorry, but nobody can learn anything from such a tease.

[JRG]

56 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Sorry, but nobody can learn anything from such a tease.

 

Quite frequently, posters are directed to the correct area in CC but there is a slight learning curve; in this case if you go to the West Coast Departures Boards forum, then use the database search engine and enter the key word "B2B"  Be sure and specify the search is for "This Forum".  You can try by title too.

 

then scroll down and you will learn,  it is not a tease. 

 

Go ahead,  use the search engine.

[mom says]

1 hour ago, darstamp said:

I had no idea they were so complicated.  I had taken a cruise from Vancouver to LA and then it continued on to Mexico and returned to LA.  They called it a back to back.  I have looked at one that goes from Montreal to Boston and then turns around and goes from Boston to Montreal.  I assumed that was a back to back.  Thanks for all your comments

 

 

It's not really complicated at all. Disregard the cryptic comments that make things out to be harder than they are. The situations you describe could be booked as back to back cruises. Any consecutive  cruises on the same ship are B2Bs. Any TA or Cruise line booking agent can book them for you.The only time you CANT book a B2B is if the ship starts in one US port on the first cruise and ends in a different US port on the second cruise without first stopping at a distant  foreign port. That would be a violation of the PVSA law.

 

A S2S booking would be consecutive bookings on the same line, but different ships. PVSA would not apply.

 

[JRG]

35 minutes ago, mom says said:

The only time you CANT book a B2B is if the ship starts in one US port on the first cruise and ends in a different US port on the second cruise without first stopping at a distant  foreign port. That would be a violation of the PVSA law.

 

You are right mom,   it's not really complicated some of the time,  but the one exception you point out is exactly where it gets complicated and it occurs at a very high frequency here on cc.   You can confirm that by using the database as I suggested to CruiserBruce and looking at the issues people have when the PVSA gets in the way when booking certain B2B's

 

But you are correct it does not always have to be complicated.  

[crzndeb]

2 hours ago, mom says said:

That would be a violation of the PVSA law.

Now you’re really going to confuse the OP…LOL

I have been explaining this law for 15 years, especially living in Seattle area. And I’m sure you know exactly which cruises I’m talking about. 😉

[new_cruiser]

 

On 7/12/2023 at 3:01 PM, CruiserBruce said:

B2Bs are not really a special item. Any two or more cruises could be set up as B2Bs, or B2B2B2B..

 

As others have mentioned, not quite any two consecutive cruises. There are some cases where two consecutive cruises can't be combined. US law (PVSA) doesn't allow a foreign carrier to transport people between two US cities without visiting a distant foreign city in between. For example, one can't do a back-to-back of a cruise from Los Angeles to Vancouver and one from Vancouver to Seward because that would go from LA to Seward without visiting a distant foreign port. Similarly, one can't combine a Boston to Montreal cruise with a Montreal to New York City cruise. 

 

Mexico, Canada and most of the Caribbean are not distant foreign ports, the ABCs in the Caribbean are the exception.  

 

On 7/12/2023 at 3:01 PM, CruiserBruce said:

Holland America,  for example,  sells some B2Bs as " Collectors Cruises " and makes it very easy to book.

 

Windstar has Star Collector Voyages. These are 2 or more back to back cruises sold with one fare. Generally, the fare for the Star Collector is lower than the combined fares of the component cruises. In some cases it is a lot less. The segments they package this way usually have few repeat ports. A Star Collector has one cabin for the whole cruise and free laundry. 

 

On time we did 31 days on back-to-back Star Collectors. They had a sequence of cruises around the Caribbean and Central America for 54 days. We had booked a 14-day Star Collector in the middle of that and had looked at the next couple of segments and decided not to take them. Then they had a great last minute sale on the next Star Collector about a month before our cruise so we added the 17 days - we had to change cabins between the two, but they made that pretty easy. 

[Flatbush Flyer]

17 hours ago, crzndeb said:

Now you’re really going to confuse the OP…LOL

I have been explaining this law for 15 years, especially living in Seattle area. And I’m sure you know exactly which cruises I’m talking about. 😉

News flash folks: Avoiding the PVSA problem on consecutive segments has a workaround which is absolutely legal. Do your homework.

[JRG]

3 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

News flash folks: Avoiding the PVSA problem on consecutive segments has a workaround which is absolutely legal. Do your homework.

 

Does this 'workaround'  have a financial detriment to the cruiser?  and/or

Does this 'workaround' have a financial detriment to the home country whose law is being avoided.

 

Or are we just teasing the audience?