Back to Back Cruises

[dthogue]

We are currently booked for a 4-night cruise in February and then plan on spending 3 nights at WDW doing the parks.

I've been toying with the idea of adding on the 3-night cruise and doing the 4 and 3 b2b.

For those have done this in the past can you share your experiences with me. I read in the FAQ that we will have to disembark at PC by 9am, then reboard around 10:30 - is this accurate? We would be switching rooms - what about our luggage?

Besides the obivious pros and cons - would you do it again? What did you like, what didn't you like. Please keep all the details so I can make a choice. Cost wise, it will be about the same - 3 nights at WDW or the 3-night cruise.

Thanks,
Tammy

 

[OurOhana]

Hi there. We just did it, and enjoyed the back-to-back cruises. We had a good deal on the three night, but haven't done anything less than a 7-night previously. That's why we did B2B. We'd prefer a 7 night because of the loss of time when the ship prepares for the second cruise, but it had it's benefits too.

I just wrote this when we got back last month, with pros and cons. The B2B comparison is on the bottom:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=33817926#post33817926

I've also given some more detail and photos in our trip report, linked below in my signature.

 

[clten]

I read in the FAQ that we will have to disembark at PC by 9am, then reboard around 10:30 - is this accurate? We would be switching rooms - what about our luggage?

We've done 3 B2B's and it's never taken 1 1/2 hours to do the off and on thing. The note you get will tell you to be off with the last guests, around 9. (When there's been more than one party doing B2B's, we've had someone escort us off.) Rarely do we actually leave by 9, more like 9:15, 9:30. You do the walk around to the escalators back up and wait for them to get the computers up. This will depend on if they have cleared everyone off the ship and closed the prior cruise. Once that's done, they'll check you in, take pictures and let you back on. The longest this has ever taken us has been about 1/2 an hour. That was because they were having computer issues.

As far as your luggage, you will be told what to do with it. (Sometimes they have you leave it in your stateroom, more often they have you bring it down to Guest Services. They will put it back in your new stateroom by 1:30.)

Even though there aren't any services for a few hours, we find it enjoyable to have the ship basically to ourselves. It's a different experience. We like being able to wave to the people who are on the pier waiting to get on.

 

[kcashner]

As above...we've done the B2B on the Wonder. You get off a few minutes after 9 and are back on before 10...before they open the terminal to new people. You're off about 45 minutes total.

Luggage...do be aware that the exact instructions have varied from cruise to cruise. You will receive an instruction sheet in your room on the last night. We were told to call Guest Services in the morning about 9 for luggage assistance. Yeah, that was a joke; no one answered. We rolled our luggage down there, but I refused to get into mega line. We stood off to the side, and within a few minutes, an officer came out from the GS area. I pulled an "excuse me, sir" and our luggage was immediately taken to the storage area behind GS. I next saw it at 1:30 in our new room.

Since you are changing rooms, you will not have access to your new room until 1:30. Pack anything you want/need before then in your day bag that you will keep with you. The Cove Cafe will be open for snacks, and the beverage station is open. Really, you have so little time that you (or we) didn't get any more food. Lunch opens at 11:45.

Dining services called us on the last night asking if we had any requests or wanted Palo ressies for our second leg. We told them that we'd like to keep our head server, but would like a faster serving team...and we did decide to do Palo. Honestly, dining was amazing. We were treated like royalty (thank you, Alan!) Others have reported being offered high priced upgrades on the last day....we tried to upgrade at the port for the second leg (remember you'll be the first one there!) but nothing was available. We were able to purchase an upgrade for the first leg.

A hint....if they call and offer you an upgrade on the last night, turn it down. It will be cheaper the next day and you KNOW it's available.

 

[dthogue]

Thanks everyone for the replies - one question - will the pools be open so that DD's can swim???

Tammy

 

[samily]

I think this depends how quickly they can get them cleaned as some have reported the pools were closed; however on our b2b in January, the pools were all open. The time between cruises goes surprisingly fast. Before we knew it boarding had begun.

If you can book the same stateroom for both cruises you won't have to pack up between cruises.