4 back to backs - likely to get boring?

[the penguins]

22 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

All I can say is, some of you folks that are doing these extended trips must either not have a significant property to manage, and also very possibly no pets or houseplants. I'd feel so bad putting my pet in a kennel for weeks on end. It even bothered me for our most recent 3-week trip. For the plants, thus far I've been able to get my niece or nephew to come over and water every 8-9 days, but I pay either of them quite well also. Then, there's the flowerbeds, pool maintenance (if traveling during the summer), and lawn mowing to attend to. If a winter trip, gotta have someone ready to plow snow. Till I'd take care of all those various needs, it's just so much easier and far less worry to simply plan 2+ weeks and then back home! If no plants, pets, yard and property to take of, smaller house or townhouse (basically close the door and go), etc., that's a different level of responsibility and less stress wondering what's happening back home while away. Often wonder, relative to all this, how people manage their affairs that go on world tours for 4-5 months.

It just takes planning.

All bills are settled automatically by variable direct debit.

We have no pets.

Neighbour checks house and puts out food for the wild birds every couple of days .

Enough meds for the trip plus 10 days 

Travel insurance that includes medical for the whole trip essential.

House insurance that covers an "Unoccupied" property.

Everything else just waits

Once you have done it once it becomes fairly routine.

[the penguins]

On 11/17/2023 at 10:12 PM, bedrick said:

Thanks for this really relevant information,  The trips we are deciding between are Celebrity Silhouette May 5th 8 nights Norway. 11 nights Britain, 13 nights Baltic, 11 nights Iceland all starting and finishing in Amsterdam or Rotterdam or Niew Statendam 27 nights 5th May to 1st June Norway, Baltic’s and Britain Amsterdam to Copenhagen then 1st June to !5th June Iceland to and from Copenhagen.  I am not concerned about the ports being boring on either more  about the entertainment in the evenings being repetitive.  Cost for Celebrity (43 nights) is about A$3,000 per person cheaper and includes gratuities than HAL (41 nights) with no gratuities included.  Celebrity does repeat a few of the ports.

My vote goes to X.

Repeat shows and menus can give you more choices not less.

So many shows/entertainments overlap it's difficult to choose so  knowing some will repeat helps.

Also ivf you really like a show being able to see it again in 3 cruises time gives you something to look forward to. The same is true in reverse. Had a busy day in port? ok just relax the show you wanted will be back.

The same applies to menus. How often do you struggle to decide on your main course knowing nothing will be repeated? Problem solved.

Interactive shows are always different with each audience and of course the "audience" will change every time.

The saving you set out between X and HAL will give you a lot of money to treat yourselves with or perhaps you should a 5th sector.

[C 2 C]

On 11/17/2023 at 5:12 PM, bedrick said:

 Cost for Celebrity (43 nights) is about A$3,000 per person cheaper and includes gratuities than HAL (41 nights) with no gratuities included.  Celebrity does repeat a few of the ports.

On this basis go with X.  Savings in tips and lower cost will buy a lot of excursions.

[phoenix_dream]

I've done many B2B, but the max time I've been onboard is 21 days.  Honestly, that was enough for me.  I do like the shows, so I get frustrated when they stay the same sailing to sailing.  I also get bored with the same (usually) music in the bars week after week.  As to menus - can mix that up a bit so that isn't an issue for me.  

[OnTheJourney]

4 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

max time I've been onboard is 21 days

Yeah I can handle that. Our most recent trip was 3 weeks. Don't think I'd like to go much longer.

[zgscl]

On 11/14/2023 at 5:06 PM, bedrick said:

Hi, we are planning a trip to Scandinavia, Norway, Iceland and Britain in May 24. Trying to decide between 4 back to backs on Celebrity or 2 long itineraries on Holland America.  If we string together the cruises on Celebrity are we likely to get repeat entertainment and menus on each of the back to back cruises?  Thanks for your help.

So this is a tough choice. Just to weigh in on HAL. They have 4 production shows (step one dance company) which will repeat on both cruises and like celebrity the guest entertainers may or may not repeat. HAL leans very heavily on the music walk for evening entertainment. Not sure what ship you are on, but these venues will feel very repetitive from one cruise to the next. As I recall the performers have a pre approved list of a couple hundred songs that they mix into different sets. 
 

Celebrity has a much wider array of entertainment even if they do repeat sets. 
 

 

On 11/15/2023 at 2:44 PM, bedrick said:

Wow - Thanks so much for the incredibly helpful replies.  14 day turnaround for menus is great, we recently did a 21 day cruise on P & O Australia and the main dining room only had two different menus for the whole trip, that is why I was concerned.  I agree about having time on land too.  We will be touring Spain, Italy and Switzerland by train before we head north.  We also want to relax and spend time in ports, definitely won’t be doing excursions every day.  We were trying to decide between HAL and Celebrity for this part of the trip.  HAL has better itineraries but we know it can be very quiet at night and it is considerably more expensive than Celebrity.  The amazing responses to my question has helped us decide on Celebrity - you are the kind of people we want to spend time with.  Thanks again.

I’m assuming the dates/itineraries don’t work to do 14 on HAL and then a B2B on Celebrity? That would just be too perfect 
 

[billc23]

On 11/17/2023 at 7:01 PM, OnTheJourney said:

All I can say is, some of you folks that are doing these extended trips must either not have a significant property to manage, and also very possibly no pets or houseplants. 

We have a significant property, pets and plants and we take extended vacations. I set up monitoring - via the internet - of the electrical system, water system and have many cameras. I have a large reef fish tank that is hooked up to a computer monitoring system that will alert me if there is a problem that I can often address online. Almost all bills are auto pay and the few that are not usually come due once a year, so they are easy to handle. Our landscaper takes care of the outside property including snow removal and we hire a house sitter who takes care of the cats. She is the boots on the ground who can call the plumber, electrician, veterinarian, etc. if needed. We have friends with second homes who travel between them and they often take their pets with them for extended stays and that makes it easier. 

To answer the OP's question, we never get board on an extended trip and I can easily entertain myself with reading, writing, chatting...  We have a 90+ day trip coming up on 2 different ship with 2 different cruise lines and some land travel tossed in. Starting in India and ending in Canada with mostly unique ports. We are really looking forward to the trip and will consider doing a live review if I'm not to occupied.  

[OnTheJourney]

On 11/20/2023 at 3:08 PM, billc23 said:

Our landscaper takes care of the outside property including snow removal and we hire a house sitter who takes care of the cats.

Surely the best way. I have neither a landscaper or a house sitter, but would likely consider it were we to plan any extensive time away. Luckily for me, I have no interest in anything longer than a 3-week trip so it all works out. Auto bill pay is great regardless of traveling or not. Often happens that I'd have to quick make a payment for a credit card that comes due on the 15th of the month, let alone forget a payment right before a trip and then wind up paying charges. For an in-house person to whatever degree the person spends there  - either live-in or stop-in - gotta really have someone that you trust. I have a hard time envisioning my cat getting used to a stranger coming in - since she always hides whenever someone visits or stops in even for a few hours!  Computer controlling / monitors / cameras, etc. sounds great as well, but I just have no interest in stressing myself out with all that and probably STILL worrying about everything while away. Having been robbed many years ago and then, ever since that event, having put in an alarm system with internal motion sensors, another thing I'd be worried about is whether the person remembered to turn it back on every time they leave. Oh well, sacrificing an extensive level of travel in exchange for peace of mind is, for me, probably a good trade-off. If I do two or three 2-to-3-week-long trips a year, along with maybe some shorter trips sprinkled in there, I'm fine. I've come to realize there are a good many places on the "bucket list" that'll likely remain as such as opposed to actually happening. But, hey, go for it!!

[OnTheJourney]

On 11/14/2023 at 7:06 PM, bedrick said:

If we string together the cruises on Celebrity are we likely to get repeat entertainment and menus on each of the back to back cruises?  

Even if you do, and would get a bit tired of repeat entrees or shows, I assume the whole point of the trip is to visit the four main destinations you mentioned. Are there going to be repeat port stops? If not, I'd say the varied travel experiences alone will override whatever else might take place on the ship that could engender a modicum of boredom -which might not even be the case anyway. Sort of all comes back, as I've mentioned before, of primarily traveling for the itinerary or for what the ship offers. If occasionally eating meals ashore, that would help to compensate for repeat offerings of the ship restaurants. I'd say you're good to go. If I'd have whatever it takes to enjoy traveling for extended periods of time, I suspect the last thing I'd be concerned with is what the shows and menus are. But, some folks are all about that sort of thing and want to know even before the cruise what shows or entertainment are going to be onboard. I really could not care less and will check out whatever it is once I'm on the ship. Can always get up and leave. We do often look at menus online before boarding, thanks to the wonders of apps, but I'd be just as happy finding out once on the ship.

 

Go and enjoy.

Edited November 22, 2023 by OnTheJourney

[dateacher]

On 11/15/2023 at 4:44 PM, bedrick said:

Wow - Thanks so much for the incredibly helpful replies.  14 day turnaround for menus is great, we recently did a 21 day cruise on P & O Australia and the main dining room only had two different menus for the whole trip, that is why I was concerned.  I agree about having time on land too.  We will be touring Spain, Italy and Switzerland by train before we head north.  We also want to relax and spend time in ports, definitely won’t be doing excursions every day.  We were trying to decide between HAL and Celebrity for this part of the trip.  HAL has better itineraries but we know it can be very quiet at night and it is considerably more expensive than Celebrity.  The amazing responses to my question has helped us decide on Celebrity - you are the kind of people we want to spend time with.  Thanks again.

I didn't find HAL much quieter than Celebrity and I loved the Blues lounge.  I also didn't realize HAL was more expensive than Celebrity. It wasn't when we were on it. 

[billc23]

3 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

Even if you do, and would get a bit tired of repeat entrees or shows, I assume the whole point of the trip is to visit the four main destinations you mentioned.

In the past 2 years I sailed over 20 weeks on Celebrity on 5 different ships and some were B2B. The shows all seem to repeat and the menus are mostly the same across ships although there is more variety on the newer ships. The different destinations are fun and eating off the ship is great too. My point is if you sail frequently there is a lot of repetition even without B2B...

I like sailing on different lines to mix things up. 

[OnTheJourney]

5 hours ago, billc23 said:

I like sailing on different lines to mix things up. 

Yeah I'm sure that's nice. We've done mostly RCL and X cause we can sail on either without having to fly. That said, if Viking went out of Baltimore or Bayonne (our two closest ports) I'd be tempted to go with them probably most of the time. Love the smaller size and quiet / relaxed feeling of their ocean ships. Our most recent was their Mississippi ship. Really a beautiful vessel but unfortunately our northern sailing was not very successful in terms of the planned itinerary. Doing the entire river from New Orleans to St. Paul is a most interesting journey. We have a voucher from the MS trip so might book the Octantis for their Great Lakes cruise.

 

With X we've only been on the Summit and Infinity. A friend of mine who sails frequently with X loves the newer ships - Edge and Beyond. I have no interest in flying down to Florida to try one of them however. Unless it's someplace we really want to go, I'm good with going out Baltimore or Bayonne. One of our favorite cruises is Canada / New England. Unfortunately, X is starting to do alot of them roundtrip out of Boston. No interest in flying to or driving up there either.

 

Sounds like you're a very frequent cruiser. We enjoy it alot but my favorite mode of travel is still DIY by car.

Edited November 23, 2023 by OnTheJourney

[gerelmx]

I have a B4B booked in the Silhouette, June and July, 2024, Iceland, Norwegian Fjords, British Islands and Scandinavia, 41 Nights, I had this trip booked but due to the pandemic it was cancelled. I don't plan to get bored, I just think about enjoying my vacation. I think that flying to Europe is not for a short vacation, on the contrary it is for a long vacation.

[SPacificbound]

We enjoy booking B2B etc. cruises. The longest we have been on was 51 nights. I would have been fine staying on but DH was ready to get on land.

[critic2023]

To each their own. I am not retirement age so it's not even an option, but even if I were, I think one single B2B would be my limit - and even then, only if the itineraries were drastically different. I love cruising (wouldn't be here if I didn't!) but for me anything more than 3ish weeks is just way too much time to spend on a cruise ship and away from home.

Edited November 26, 2023 by critic2023

[Lastdance]

B2b’s and MoveUp’s can certainly get expensive, not to mention confusing too, but you don’t know until you do it, as far as, how many days you can stay onboard and enjoy.    My DH and I found the sweet spot at 22: however, we thought a month would be great.  I guess it would be if someone else was paying and the itinerary was right.  Combining with your own land tour by yourself is such a nice balance, so we have made it a month, just not onboard a ship for all that time.  I will say that we did miss the ship quite a few times...no one really knows until he/she does it!

[OnTheJourney]

On 11/25/2023 at 10:21 PM, critic2023 said:

for me anything more than 3ish weeks is just way too much time to spend on a cruise ship and away from home.

I'm with you on this totally. Somehow, for me, the time passes by more quickly when we're doing our driving tours. There I can do almost 3 weeks and it doesn't start to feel 'long'. We don't mind hotel hopping either and sort of like researching and staying in different places. I like the spontaneity that is often associated with that mode of travel. Even in a nice suite onboard ship, it's still the same room every night. Advantage to cruising, of course, is only unpacking once - and we do like it for that although either way you wind up living out of a suitcase to some extent. As we near the end of a cruise, we start to pack up clothes we won't be using anymore.

 

On 11/25/2023 at 10:21 PM, critic2023 said:

I think one single B2B would be my limit - and even then, only if the itineraries were drastically different.

Yep...for sure. We've only done two B2B, and loved both of them; however, both had just about completely different itineraries the 2nd week. Simply repeating the exact same - or even very similar cruise (and itinerary) back and forth wouldn't appeal to me, unless there were at least a few changes the 2nd week (or longer). If, however, you're only cruising for what the ship offers - as I've discussed previously - then it really doesn't matter. There's somewhat of a difference, I do believe, between solely being a diehard "cruiser" and an avid 'traveler" who pursues many different modes of travel to many different parts of the world. I think these are different groups of people with not quite the same interests. Those who, for instance, are content to keep going back down to the Caribbean - over and over - on very similar itineraries each time, are the latter category and are folks whom I deem more into cruising for the ship rather than where it goes. But, hey, that's why they make vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. My inlaws have often admittedly said that they often really don't care where they're going as long as they're cruising. I get it, but that's not me. I think a mix of land / sea travel experiences is what works best for us. If I cruise once or twice a year, I'm well satisfied.

 

BTW - I see you're headed to Antarctica with Celebrity in January. ENJOY! We did that on the Infinity back in '17 and loved that trip. Absolutely amazing. Yes, it was a "drive by" but it worked for us since we'd never been to South America before.

Edited November 28, 2023 by OnTheJourney