?Back-to-back cruises

[kcgozs]

We are considering booking back to back 7 day cruises. I'm wandering if the itineraries are different does that mean that the menus, entertainment, trivia games, etc. are also different? We worry that the second week might be a rerun of all activities and menus on the ship. I'd appreciatre hearing from anyone who has done a back to back cruise.

[firefly333]

Probably pretty much the same. We were on the Caribbean Princess with a couple who did THREE back to backs to make it worth the trip down from how far away they lived!!! lol.

 

They knew the things that were not on the menu you could ask for like mixed fresh berries for dessert.

 

We are doing back to backs coming up soon. Im already thinking do we HAVE to do two muster drills :P

 

Im coming from Texas to Florida and wanted to make it worth while and get two cruise credits out of it. I hope we like it too.

 

Im already asking questions like if we buy booze in a port will they still deliver it the last night of the first leg so that we can have it for the next leg? (my bad)

[cruisead]

The only thing different will be the itinerary. The menus and entertainment will be the same.

[Keith1010]

That's correct. On a seven day cruise most things will be the same. But, don't worry about that. You'll have a different itinerary, many new passengers to meet and you can try things on the menu that you didn't try on the first cruise.

 

Keith

[Char]

Im already asking questions like if we buy booze in a port will they still deliver it the last night of the first leg so that we can have it for the next leg? (my bad)

It has been our experience that you DO get the duty free purchases delivered to you room at the end of the first leg. :D

 

The cruises are considered 2 seperate sailings and the first one has to be closed out. You will also get your onboard bill for the first week and start on a new one.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have done quite a few back-to-back cruises on various cruise lines.

 

The menus were the same - sometimes in a different order because of port times.

 

The production shows were the same. Sometimes we had different comics, etc - depends on when their contracts were up.

 

Activites - most were the same - but sometimes some were different and at different times - again because of the ports and time in ports.

[Keith1010]

It has been our experience that you DO get the duty free purchases delivered to you room at the end of the first leg. :D

 

The cruises are considered 2 seperate sailings and the first one has to be closed out. You will also get your onboard bill for the first week and start on a new one.

 

In terms of tips, one should think about this as two different sailings. (eg., be sure to tip at the end of each sailing).

 

In terms of bills precisely how it works can differ by criuse line. For example, when we have sailed on multiple back to back sailings on Crystal Cruises while we get a bill at the end of the cruise the balance is carried over to our next sailing and our charges do not hit the credit card until we disembark the ship at the end of the final segment.

 

Keith

[lostie]

I'm doing back to back in August. I intend on trying the activities that interest me, if 2 occur at the same time, no biggie, I'll hit it the next week! Also if there is something that was great, I can do it again (eg. wine tasting). Same with foods, if I try one food and LOVE it, I'll get it again the 2nd week. If the food doesn't appeal one night, I'll go to a specialty restaurant or the buffet. ;)

 

Firefly, I was thinking the same thing about alcohol and Char answered my question. I LOVE twisted tea and was going to buy a case in our first port hoping they would return it at the end of the first leg so I can enjoy it the 2nd leg. :cool:

[Keith1010]

I'm doing back to back in August. I intend on trying the activities that interest me, if 2 occur at the same time, no biggie, I'll hit it the next week! Also if there is something that was great, I can do it again (eg. wine tasting). Same with foods, if I try one food and LOVE it, I'll get it again the 2nd week. If the food doesn't appeal one night, I'll go to a specialty restaurant or the buffet. ;)

 

 

Exactly. You have the right approach.

 

Keith

[Handsome58]

Do you have to get off the ship while they clean the cabins or do you get to stay on?

[Keith1010]

We would vacate our cabin as we did on any day to allow them to clean the cabins. So, for us it was like any day. Of course, it's a busy day for the cabin stewards and the rest of the crew as they are getting the passengers off and readying the ship for the next group of new passengers.

 

Keith

[lostie]

Do you have to get off the ship while they clean the cabins or do you get to stay on?

 

I'm going on NCL and you do NOT have to get off the ship. There is a special room for back to backers to do customs so they don't have to get off.

[firefly333]

It has been our experience that you DO get the duty free purchases delivered to you room at the end of the first leg. :D

 

The cruises are considered 2 seperate sailings and the first one has to be closed out. You will also get your onboard bill for the first week and start on a new one.

 

I read a thread and some did and some did not get their booze at the end of the first leg, even on the same cruiseline.

 

I was wondering maybe it is if they notice and give you a letter with directions where to meet at the purser's desk and all. Sounds like it is not a certain thing, so that's why Im not counting on it for sure and certain. Forget where I read the thread, maybe on RCI threads.

[Greselda]

My DH and I will be going on our first B2B in January, but with a twist;) We will be going on the Carnival Miracle to the southern Carribean for 8 days, disembarking for one day on land, and then embarking on the Carnival Liberty to the western Carribean for another 8 days......

 

That way we get the best of all worlds.....2 completely different ships doing 2 completely different itineraries!

 

Of course we have booked a hotel for the one night in between our cruises, but I will be using that evening for laundry:p

 

Has anyone ever done this type of B2B before? Would love to hear from you!

 

Rick and Janine

[lostie]

My DH and I will be going on our first B2B in January, but with a twist;) We will be going on the Carnival Miracle to the southern Carribean for 8 days, disembarking for one day on land, and then embarking on the Carnival Liberty to the western Carribean for another 8 days......

 

That way we get the best of all worlds.....2 completely different ships doing 2 completely different itineraries!

 

Of course we have booked a hotel for the one night in between our cruises, but I will be using that evening for laundry:p

 

Has anyone ever done this type of B2B before? Would love to hear from you!

 

Rick and Janine

 

No, but it sounds heavenly! :) Please review when you come back! ;) Did you get a discount? I got a hefty one but my cruises are on the same ship.

[SC LTC]

How does you go about booking a cruise B2B it sound great:p

[LHT28]

My DH and I will be going on our first B2B in January, but with a twist;) We will be going on the Carnival Miracle to the southern Carribean for 8 days, disembarking for one day on land, and then embarking on the Carnival Liberty to the western Carribean for another 8 days......

Rick and Janine

 

Not really a B2B.....it is 2 cruises

a B2B is usually on the same ship

[LHT28]

We did a B2B in the Baltic...we could stay onboard but we took in a few sights in Copenhagen on turn around day.

 

We did one this year ...We had to disembark in L.A. for about 1 hr something to do with immigration ...we did clear immigration on the ship so not sure what the reason was.

will find out next year as we are doing another B2B out of Miami

[sail7seas]

We just returned from B-to-B on HAL's Maasdam. It was great.

 

Because we had the same cabin, we did not have to do anything on 'turnaround day' except enjoy ourselves.

 

We didn't even have to do Immigration Inspection as the whole ship did it the day before we returned to Boston.

 

We received a copy of our bill for the first week but it carried forward for the second week.

 

Menus were the same. That is a plus IMO as you can enjoy a favorite dish a second time or get to try the dish you wanted to taste the week before but ordered something different.

 

We've done many b-to-b's through the years and absolutely love them.

 

 

[isujim]

Im already asking questions like if we buy booze in a port will they still deliver it the last night of the first leg so that we can have it for the next leg? (my bad)

 

We are taking our first B2b in April on the Voyager.........the RC boards at least are not consistent with the answers to this.........some say yes, some say no.......but somebody suggested getting someone from your first roll call NOT on the next leg to buy it and have it delivered to their stateroom on the last night of the first leg.:)

[sail7seas]

On HAL ships, any liquor purchased (or confiscated and held) is delivered to your cabin the last night of your cruise. If you are on back-to-back, you will have the use of it for the subsequent sailing.

 

[SheriNtexas]

My DH and I will be going on our first B2B in January, but with a twist;) We will be going on the Carnival Miracle to the southern Carribean for 8 days, disembarking for one day on land, and then embarking on the Carnival Liberty to the western Carribean for another 8 days......

 

Rick and Janine

 

 

OMG, that sounds wonderful!!!:)

[hajekfam]

We are doing a back to back - 14 days Venice,Italy to Barcelona and 14 days Barcelona to Ft Lauderdale with a pre stay in Venice and a post stay in Ft. Myers, FL! I figure that the only thing that will get me off the ship after 28 days is that I will be seeing my two precious granddaughters (and my son and daughter-in-law) in Ft. Myers in a couple of hours. But time down there will be short as we have to get back home for Christmas as my daughter, son-in-law, and four grandchildren should be arriving in Chicago from Houston at about the same time we are. So I really won't have time to have post-cruise blues.

Currently, we have to change cabins, but we are waitlisted for the cabin we have on the transatlantic (the one we really wanted). Luckily our cabin for the Med is next door to the one for the transatlantic so we won't have far to move.

What can top 28 days? We are currently looking into taking a world cruise!

[Keith1010]

We are doing a back to back - 14 days Venice,Italy to Barcelona and 14 days Barcelona to Ft Lauderdale with a pre stay in Venice and a post stay in Ft. Myers, FL! I figure that the only thing that will get me off the ship after 28 days is that I will be seeing my two precious granddaughters (and my son and daughter-in-law) in Ft. Myers in a couple of hours. But time down there will be short as we have to get back home for Christmas as my daughter, son-in-law, and four grandchildren should be arriving in Chicago from Houston at about the same time we are. So I really won't have time to have post-cruise blues.

Currently, we have to change cabins, but we are waitlisted for the cabin we have on the transatlantic (the one we really wanted). Luckily our cabin for the Med is next door to the one for the transatlantic so we won't have far to move.

What can top 28 days? We are currently looking into taking a world cruise!

 

Your last sentence is identical to what we did. We did a back to back cruise for 28 days and throroughly enjoyed it. Up until that point it was our longest cruise. We decided that we liked it so much that we would go on a world criuse which we just did this past January thru early May. It was a wonderful experience.

 

Keith

[sail7seas]

On which ship did you do World Cruise, Keith? Happy you said it was wonderful.