Back to Back Cruise

[PegIra]

We are doing a back to back on the Fantasy in January. Just wondering what others who have done it think of it. Did you like it? Is there anything you didn't like about it? It sounds like it would be so relaxing, rather than trying to fit everything in, in one week. This will be our celebration for our
55th wedding anniversary, so we wanted to do something special.

We would love to hear about all of your experiences and opinions.

Thanks for any help.

Peg

 

[Pooh001]

Sounds like a great time! Just curious- do you have to leave the boat after first cruise and check in again?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Sounds like a great time! Just curious- do you have to leave the boat after first cruise and check in again?

Yes, on a cruise with the turn around day being a US port, you must disembark to re-checkin. The ship has to "zero out" before allowing guests onboard again.

 

[owensjro]

We did B2B 5night cruises on the Wonder and loved it. Although the second cruise wasn't an exact duplicate we liked having the same shows, dinners, etc as it meant we could do other things during those times or try new things without feeling like we missed out.

Yes you have to get off the ship, but it's for a short time. You can be the last ones off and get back on in around 30-45 minutes and then be on a nice empty ship for a little while.

If you get the same cabin it's really great as you aren't having to pack up at the end of the first cruise. More time to enjoy!

We liked it so much we're doing back to back eastern/westerns in 5 weeks!

Jim

 

[NWmom]

We did this in December. It was very nice having the time to really get to know the ship. Nice to know we did not have to get off at the end of the first week.

Negatives- we missed home being gone so long.
We still had to leave the ship.

Would I do it again. Yes, but for us it was the trip of a lifetime.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We did this in December. It was very nice having the time to really get to know the ship. Nice to know we did not have to get off at the end of the first week.

Negatives- we missed home being gone so long.
We still had to leave the ship.

Would I do it again. Yes, but for us it was the trip of a lifetime.

We did a Med/WBTA B2B in 2010 (24 nights). I would so do it again in a heartbeat (if we could come up with the cash).

 

[PegIra]

We are really looking forward to it. We are doing an Eastern Caribbean and then the Western Caribbean. I am under the impression that since we will have the same room on both cruises, we do not have to pack up, but we will have to leave the ship and go to the terminal for a short time. Sounds good to me !!

We were just on the Fantasy in January, so we really don't need to go sight seeing, but we can really enjoy our time on the ship and do everything we didn't find time to do in one week. We definitely want to do Palo's dinner and brunch, but since we will be celebrating, our 55th wedding anniversary, I am thinking of doing a dinner and possibly a brunch at Remy's. The price seems high but I hear it is worth it.

Looking forward to January. Thanks for everyone's advice. We do appreciate everyone who takes the time to answer any of our questions. This will be our 8th and 9th Disney Cruise, but there are still lots to learn from others.

Thanks again,

Peg

 

[tinkerone]

We are doing a back to back on the Fantasy in January. Just wondering what others who have done it think of it. Did you like it? Is there anything you didn't like about it? It sounds like it would be so relaxing, rather than trying to fit everything in, in one week. This will be our celebration for our
55th wedding anniversary, so we wanted to do something special.

We would love to hear about all of your experiences and opinions.

Thanks for any help.

Peg

55 years! congrats!!! that is awesome and inspiring. we are doing a b2b in October to celebrate our 40th and I thought that was good. doesn't even compare.
have a great time and enjoy the next 55 years.

 

[PegIra]

Congrats to you too. Forty years is a great milestone also. We are really looking forward to the trip. Have a great time on your trip also !!!

Peg

 

[noahsmom]

We did back to back on Fantasy last July. It was wonderful! We celebrated our 25th anniversary during the 2nd cruise.

Pros:

• had the same room so didn't have to pack
• great room host
• got to know some of the crew
• lots of time to relax

Cons:

• 4 night cruise will never be long enough now
• Port Canaveral day between the 2 cruises was confusing. We didn't get any instructions on what to do or where to go. I had to keep asking and got conflicting answers. It took about 2 hours before we were back on board.
• not sure a 7 night cruise will be long enough now
• the menus got old the 2nd week, we'd prefer a longer (14 night) cruise for this reason

Even though we were on Fantasy for 2 weeks there are still things we did do. We only went to 2 shows, we never got the detective thing in, we didn't spend nearly enough time at Satellite Falls. The night of our anniversary we ate at Remy. It was very nice but not something we need to do again. Palo is perfect for us.

Have a wonderful time and happy anniversary!!

 

[tinkerone]

We did back to back on Fantasy last July. It was wonderful! We celebrated our 25th anniversary during the 2nd cruise.

Pros:

• had the same room so didn't have to pack
• great room host
• got to know some of the crew
• lots of time to relax

Cons:

• 4 night cruise will never be long enough now
• Port Canaveral day between the 2 cruises was confusing. We didn't get any instructions on what to do or where to go. I had to keep asking and got conflicting answers. It took about 2 hours before we were back on board.
• not sure a 7 night cruise will be long enough now
• the menus got old the 2nd week, we'd prefer a longer (14 night) cruise for this reason

Even though we were on Fantasy for 2 weeks there are still things we did do. We only went to 2 shows, we never got the detective thing in, we didn't spend nearly enough time at Satellite Falls. The night of our anniversary we ate at Remy. It was very nice but not something we need to do again. Palo is perfect for us.

Have a wonderful time and happy anniversary!!

so you didn't get any information left in your stateroom on what you needed to do for the turn over? were you the only ones who did the b2b? i thought they were to leave some sort of information sheet in your room to tell you what to do and where to meet up.

 

[noahsmom]

We were the only family doing b2b. There was no information left in our room the night before so I went to guest services for directions. The next morning I asked for verification and got slightly different instructions. So we left the ship around 9 (there were still a lot of people in the luggage area). Went through customs and then told the security man by the escalator that we were booked on the next cruise and he let us go up to the lobby. We were alone in the lobby for about 20 min. When a CM came out by the check-in counter I went over and asked what we were to do. He told me that they had to close out the cruise we just ended and then they could open the next one and we'd be checked in. He told us to sit by the TV's until they were ready. It took about an hour, then we were taken onboard. No fanfare, no pictures, no CM's to great us.

Remember to fill out the customs form and take all of you paperwork with you when you get off to reboard. You will need passport or ID/birth cert's to get back on. Thankfully I took the customs form with us. I'm sure all of that would have been in the instructional letter we never received.

I asked about doing laundry and was told that was fine. The laundry room on our deck was locked (took the laundry down 3 times before I could get in). It was nice to have the ship to ourselves. I'd heard there was snacks at the Cove cafe for b2b's but we didn't see any. Could be that we were the only family.

 

[tinkerone]

We were the only family doing b2b. There was no information left in our room the night before so I went to guest services for directions. The next morning I asked for verification and got slightly different instructions. So we left the ship around 9 (there were still a lot of people in the luggage area). Went through customs and then told the security man by the escalator that we were booked on the next cruise and he let us go up to the lobby. We were alone in the lobby for about 20 min. When a CM came out by the check-in counter I went over and asked what we were to do. He told me that they had to close out the cruise we just ended and then they could open the next one and we'd be checked in. He told us to sit by the TV's until they were ready. It took about an hour, then we were taken onboard. No fanfare, no pictures, no CM's to great us.

Remember to fill out the customs form and take all of you paperwork with you when you get off to reboard. You will need passport or ID/birth cert's to get back on. Thankfully I took the customs form with us. I'm sure all of that would have been in the instructional letter we never received.

I asked about doing laundry and was told that was fine. The laundry room on our deck was locked (took the laundry down 3 times before I could get in). It was nice to have the ship to ourselves. I'd heard there was snacks at the Cove cafe for b2b's but we didn't see any. Could be that we were the only family.

thanks for the reply. hope it goes smooth for us. being the only ones would be nice but i like to have 'direction'.
again, thanks.

 

[BrettW]

A B2B is better than a short cruise but not as good as a single cruise of the same length.

We've done 3+4 and 7+7 night b2b's. You lose most of the changeover day--hectic fast food breakfast, having to leave the ship, wait in PC and get back on board, no pool or activities until the afternoon, etc. You also lose the "rhythm" of the longer cruise, not only because of the repeats of ports, shows, activities, but because the cruise is set up for the shorter period.

I'd do a b2b again, but not if there is an available longer cruise.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[dizney-cruiser]

We did B2B on the Fantasy in Nov of last year. We loved it! One of the fun things was the reaction of the cm's that remembered us! We didn't tell our serving team and our server had the biggest smile as he walked towards us shaking his finger...he said he was going round and round with the head server telling him he was wrong because we just got off the ship!

 

[kesnewkins]

We just book a b2b on the dream aug.'14. Because of a family reunion scheduled on the first round. But hubby says if the reunion falls thru he will just rebook for a longer trip. Anyway that it happens I will be glad to be back on ship.