B2B VS. Longer cruises

[Eddie4Paws]

This past March I took the Islander Adventurer, 2 week cruise. It was wonderful and I loved every minute of the 14 days! :) I am looking for another 14 days cruise, departing/returning from Ft. Lauderdale. My question to all of you seasoned cruisers is this: What are the differences between a back-to-back 7 day cruise and a 14-day? What are the pros/cons of each? In your opinion, which is better?

 

Thanks and I look forward to your insight and experience.

[Toto2Kansas]

B2B cruises you will normally have menus and entertainment repeat themselves. That is the main difference we have found in booking a longer cruise vs B2B.

[Another Cruise]

The other thing you might want to consider is that you will have that one turn around day when you will basically be back in Ft Lauderdale, Miami, LA, etc. We got off the ship, went to the Ft. Ld. Marriott for brunch and had the taxi driver take us to a store to buy wine, diet cokes, etc. Later when we thought about it, we decided we would rather be taking a cab on some island to see something we hadn't seen before. You really loose a day of cruising. I know some will tell you that you have the whole ship to yourself, but that is only for the few hours between when the last passenger from one cruise gets off and the new group starts getting on, and I would still rather be on a tropical beach or a day at sea. I'll share the ship! We are going from a 16 day B2B (8 days each) to 19 straight on the Island Princess so we will see.

[cactusrose]

It's usually, but not always, more expensive to book two shorter cruises than it is to book one longer one.

 

Some B2Bs will go to the same, or some of the same, ports.

 

Depending on when you book, you may have to change cabins on a B2B.

 

On a Princess B2B you can buy liquor from the duty free shop on board and it will be delivered to your cabin at the end of the first leg.

 

Depending on the number of days you have cruise on Princess it may be more beneficial toward you Captains Circle status to do a B2B to get an extra cruise in. For example if you have 3 cruises but only 21 days taking a B2B will get you to Platinum level where the single 14 day cruise would not. You would need to weight this advantage against the additional cost, if any, of taking two cruises.

[JLC@SD]

This past March I took the Islander Adventurer, 2 week cruise. It was wonderful and I loved every minute of the 14 days! :) I am looking for another 14 days cruise, departing/returning from Ft. Lauderdale. My question to all of you seasoned cruisers is this: What are the differences between a back-to-back 7 day cruise and a 14-day? What are the pros/cons of each? In your opinion, which is better?

 

Thanks and I look forward to your insight and experience.

 

With B2B......you get the same menus and shows on the second cruise.......on the 14 day.......you do not get the same thing twice.

 

We have not been on a 14 day......just 12 days......and you get lobster once.......on the B2B.....you get lobster twice....:)

[PescadoAmarillo]

We've done a lot of both B2Bs and longer cruises. My opinion is that I like longer cruises better, for some of the reasons that have been cited above (menu and entertainment primarily). My husband would strongly disagree. He likes B2Bs best. He loves the feeling the last night of the first cruise that we don't have pack and set suitcases out. He loves the greetings from crew when they realize we've stayed on. And he likes the energy and enthusiasm that a new group of passengers brings on board.

 

The interesting thing is that B2B cruises on the same ship with similar itineraries can be very different experiences. I've talked with cruise staff about it and they agree. Some cruises just seem to "gel"; others don't.

[Eddie4Paws]

Some very interesting input here. I can see where the menus/entertainment will be the same on the 2nd week as the first. On a B2B from Ft. Lauderdale, well, I live there. I would be tempted to get off the ship and check out things at home, and really..that would be a bummer to do that! I'd definately loose my "cruise high", and would have to regain it once back on the ship. But how could I be away from my house for a week, come back into town, and not check and make sure everything is okay there?

 

Another thought on a B2B, if I buy a soda card when I first get on the ship and pay the 7 day cruise price, would I be able to use it for the second week, too? Has anyone here had experience with that? It's not a matter of the $$, just looking to weigh ALL the factors.

 

Thanks.

[wrecks]

Another plus for B2B's (at least for us) is we can have family or friends cruise with us if they don't have the time avaliable to be gone for 2 or more weeks.

[PescadoAmarillo]

Another thought on a B2B, if I buy a soda card when I first get on the ship and pay the 7 day cruise price, would I be able to use it for the second week, too? Has anyone here had experience with that? It's not a matter of the $$, just looking to weigh ALL the factors.

No, they will change the sticker color/type that they place on your new ship card. For example, it might go from a red Coke sticker to a white Sprite sticker. You'll need to buy a sticker the first day of both cruises. But it doesn't make a difference in total price...for the past couple of years, a soda sticker on Princess has been $3.95 per day plus 15% gratuity, B2Bs vs. one long cruise is irrelevant.

[Eddie4Paws]

No, they will change the sticker color/type that they place on your new ship card. For example, it might go from a red Coke sticker to a white Sprite sticker. You'll need to buy a sticker the first day of both cruises. But it doesn't make a difference in total price...for the past couple of years, a soda sticker on Princess has been $3.95 per day plus 15% gratuity, B2Bs vs. one long cruise is irrelevant.

 

Thanks for that info. As I said, it's not a bid deal. I'm not looking to cheat Princess, just trying to weight all the pro's and con's and each little bit of information weighs the scales one way or another. :)

[ccrain]

On low season 7 day cruises you can get some pretty good deals. Look at the Caribbean 7 days after Thanksgiving and before Christmas and in early January. The mythical $100 pppd for a balcony is very achievable.

 

Princess used to run alternative Eastern-Western 7 day Caribbeans so the same ship visited different ports. Last May we did a semi-B2B switching from the Star to the CB after spending a laundry night in Fort Lauderdale. It actually worked out well being on two different ships and two different itins. But we would have gladly stayed on the Star and did it all over again. B2B's that do different itineraries or ones that visit ports in which there is a lot to do (e.g, Med cruises) are also good ways to see everything and only pay one air fare. On the Island last year we did a B2B north/south Alaskan. Now that was the best way to see Alaska. There is always too much to do on each port, so we were able to visit each port twice and do almost everything we wanted. Besides, its hard to beat watching and waving to everyone getting off.

 

The longest cruise to date for us was an 11 day Mexican Riviera - low season. You will find less families and an older crowd the longer the cruise. The menus change, the shows change, the entertainment changes a bit.

 

Longer cruises tend to stay higher in price, except for long repo cruises, but bargains can be had.

 

For us, right now, we are trending towards B2B's to build up to elite status. Then, having earned that free laundry, we are headed for the longer cruises. But I basically shop by price. For example, I am shopping for Nov/Dec 2008 and am considering the Grand Transatlatic (21 days), a Ruby/Crown B2B, an Emerald B2B or an Emerald/Crown B2B.

 

The Grand price is good, except for the airfare. I can get FF tickets to FLL or MIA and you can't beat free, so I am leaning towards Florida. Its the ship experience we're after, not really the ports too much.

 

Either way you go, I don't think you'll go wrong.