Are B2B cruises worth it?

[Disneygirlxo91]

We are thinking about booking a 5 and 4 night cruise out Miami in December 2022 on the dream.

I like the idea of going on the dream but 5 nights is too short for us and if we choose to do a 7 night on the fantasy we will be doing the exact same cruise as we did in April and October Eastern to Tortola, St Thomas, and castaway the ports aren’t a huge issue to us so I’m fine doing the eastern again it is more so my husband who is hesitant to do the exact same cruise again.

My concerns about doing a B2B on the dream out of Miami are we will be repeating menus, shows, activities, and concerned that the 4 night will be crowded compared to the 5 night given that the 4 night I believe is a Thursday - Monday 15th - 19th so I worry a lot of people out of Miami will be fitting in a 4 night cruise before Christmas.

 

[holula]

I would do the b2b. The Dream is actually my least favourite ship, but mostly because the first two times I sailed her (back in 2012, did a b2b) the service was poor. I had a fantastic cruise in December on her and would happily sail her again!

For me, Beauty and the Beast is better than any of the shows on the Fantasy. It’s basically a shortened version of the actual Broadway show, instead of a Broadway quality adaptation. I don’t worry about repeating activities since normally there is too much stuff to do. I love the Aquaduck so while everyone is in the show I did that on the second half of the b2b and had it basically to myself. If you’re a character person, you can run around and do characters on one cruise and then do other stuff the following cruise. It also gives you time to do Palo and Remy without skipping a menu. The only thing that would really draw me to the 7 night is that I absolutely hate the Crush show in AP on both of those ships - at least on the Fantasy you also have the drawing rotation.

If the cruises were exactly the same length, I’d probably do the Fantasy but for two extra days the Dream would absolutely win.

 

[Disneygirlxo91]

I would do the b2b. The Dream is actually my least favourite ship, but mostly because the first two times I sailed her (back in 2012, did a b2b) the service was poor. I had a fantastic cruise in December on her and would happily sail her again!

For me, Beauty and the Beast is better than any of the shows on the Fantasy. It’s basically a shortened version of the actual Broadway show, instead of a Broadway quality adaptation. I don’t worry about repeating activities since normally there is too much stuff to do. I love the Aquaduck so while everyone is in the show I did that on the second half of the b2b and had it basically to myself. If you’re a character person, you can run around and do characters on one cruise and then do other stuff the following cruise. It also gives you time to do Palo and Remy without skipping a menu. The only thing that would really draw me to the 7 night is that I absolutely hate the Crush show in AP on both of those ships - at least on the Fantasy you also have the drawing rotation.

If the cruises were exactly the same length, I’d probably do the Fantasy but for two extra days the Dream would absolutely win.

Thanks for the advice out of all the shows on DCL beauty and the beast is my favorite! We went both nights last time on the dream. Two days at castaway also sounds great! We did a 5 night double dip to castaway last year on the magic and it was wonderful.

 

[holula]

I love Tangled the most but I think BATB is the second best. And yes if you’re a CC person you get to go twice - in December that may be a good thing since it can be cool and windy in December, so you’ll get a second chance at a hot day.

 

[tidefan]

Here is a vote against a B2B. We did this once, actually on the Dream. You are correct, the second cruise very much seems like a repeat of the first one. Same menus, same shows, same activities. I mean, you’re still on a cruise, so it’s great, but it lacks something. And, it means you have to suffer through 2 Pirate night menus…

Personally, I’d prefer a bit longer cruise on a different ship.

 

[CamColt]

We've done B2Bs twice and enjoyed them every time. The repeats gave us the flexibility to do something different that we may have missed the first time. Palo dinner didn't make us miss a regular dining room menu. 2 stops at CC (or 3 once as 1 was a DD) was wonderful as that is the only port we care about. Also the last time, being Platinum we got 1 complimentary Palo on each cruise so we did brunch and dinner.

With that said, now hearing you have to pack up between cruises, may have changed my mind. The best part was NOT having to pack up.

 

[Stitch'sCousin]

We’ve done two B2B‘s on the Dream and really enjoyed both of them. Like CamColt, we liked being able to not worry about trying to do everything on the first leg knowing that we would have a chance to do it on the second leg. Our B2B’s were 3N/4N and not having to pack up in the middle of the cruise was definitely a plus as they felt similar to the 7N cruises we‘ve done on the Fantasy. With the new procedure of packing your bags between B2B, if you were looking at 3N/4N, I would probaby go with the 7N Fantasy. However, since you are getting an extra two nights by doing 4N/5N, the Dream would be my choice. On one of our B2B, we missed the 2nd stop at CC due to Hurricane Irene, so having two chances to get into CC is definitely a plus.

 

[Kwami]

Keep in mind that the new rules about packing might change by December. I wouldn't worry too much about that unless having to pack up is a huge deal breaker for you.

I've only done one B2B cruise and it was a 4N/3N on the Dream this past February. I'd been on the Dream before, so it wasn't new to me, but I still had a great time. Having the same evening shows twice actually meant that we had more freedom to do some of the other activities that we always miss because they occur at the same time as the shows. We had more time to relax on the top deck, get a gelato racer at Vanellope's, and do more trivia and crafts. It was actually quite nice! We also fit in both a Palo brunch and a Remy dessert experience without feeling too rushed since we did one of those on each cruise. Plus, you get free snacks and drinks at Cove Cafe and the captain signs a little letter for you. They try to make you feel special for a few hours, at least. And of course, two days at Castaway Cay!

The only downside was worrying about the PCR test between cruises, but it all worked out.

As you predicted, the second leg of the cruise had a much... "louder" crowd because it was Friday-Monday. They were noisier, ruder, drunker, and generally more obnoxious than the Monday-Friday crowd. Not enough to ruin the cruise or anything, but the difference was noticeable. You might not have the same problem with a Thursday-Monday cruise near Christmas, though, since starting on a Thursday would make an extra-long weekend and since a lot of folks use their vacation time for the holidays at the end of the year.