B2B.....did I make a mistake?

[tigerchic89]

We have our 1st B2B booked, a 4 and 3 night. The B2B was half the price of a 7 night the same week. I'm hoping that we won't feel "pressured" into doing each MDR dinner and show since we'll have an opportunity to repeat if we miss something on the 1st leg.

I'm also looking forward to the last evening of the 1st leg. One of my most dreaded cruise related things is packing up the night before, choosing what need to be in a carry on and what needs to be in the hallway with the tags by 9pm... as the mom it seems like that night I am responsible for helping my kids to ensure they have clean underwear and a toothbrush kept speperate from their checked luggage. :-0 I am so excited about being able to relax that night while watching all of the other poor souls who are gong through that torture!!!

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

I'm intrigued... we love the 7 night cruises, part of it is the itinerary.. but B2B sounds cool too with 2 stops at CC.
Is it really cheaper to do a 3 night and a 4 night on Disney dream than 7 nights on the fantasy?

 

[Cackyschmackers]

@HappilyEverAfter80 We are doing a 3-nt /4-nt B2B for less $$ than a 7-nt AND we are getting 2 rooms each leg (as opposed to just one on 7-nt ). Now, don't get me wrong, I honestly do not expect the B2B to identically replace the 7-nt, what with minimal and repeated ports on the.B2B. However, we have already sailed on three 7-nt Eastern and Western itineraries on DCL so we were ready for a change. Also the staterooms are not what we would normally choose on our previous 7-nts. But this is a good chance for us to check out the different accomodations. We are really excited, we just couldn't swing the 7-nt, and the schedule didn't work out either. We're just going into this with a different mindset than the others. I think it'll be a fun change!

 

[Cwusinbunny]

we just got home yesterday from our first b2b on the Dream (3 +4) and LOVED it - yes there were the same stage shows but that meant that we had time to go to the movies too! We did have the same stateroom so no unpacking - we got off teh ship around 9:30 ish and then back on by 11:15 - ran to the room, got into our suits and off to the pool deck - it was a great afternoon! We would do it again in a hearbeat!

 

[magicmommy]

We did our first B2B (3+4) on the Dream last April. We loved it and are doing it again this October. We had to move last time, since the same cabin was not available in Concierge, so we decided to try a cabin on deck 10 forward, for the 3 night, before moving to Concierge for the 4 night. It was an easy move since it was just DH and I. We just had to put the luggage out before we disembarked and our host arranged for our luggage to be moved. We got off the ship and only had to wait about 1.5 hours to get back on the ship. This time we are staying in the same cabin so we won't even have to pack our luggage.

 

[sefowler1]

Along with Cwusinbunny, we just did the B2B last week. It was just ok for us. We would rather pay the extra money and have one longer cruise.

Pros:
Cheaper

Cons:
Same menus
Same shows
Same ports - we did not get off at Castaway either time, and only during 1 stop at Nassau. This was due to health reasons.
Fewer movies -or so it seemed. I thought our 7 night had more variety, but these cruises only showed 3 movies, repeatedly.
Wasted time in Port Canaveral. Once we got back on board, we did laundry. Within an hour, others were on the ship. We were very careful not to let others see us going under the ropes to the stateroom/laundry. We didn't want others thinking they should do that too. Even if we had gone to the pool deck, I don't think that little bit of quiet time would have been worth it. Before we knew it, everyone was on board and cabanas was packed.

It really felt old and tired by the second leg. We changed dining rotations and servers just to get something new. By day 5, we felt a little bored. It just lost a little magic thinking, "oh, it's pirate night again. It's the same fireworks again. etc"

 

[Imahikergirl]

We did a B2B on the Dream at the end of January - same room so no packing in between. The first embarkation morning we hung out at Vista Café and met some other back to backers, who became fast friends. (We are hoping to cruise with them again!) A CM popped up there when the ship was close to empty and got us to disembark. The terminal we sat and all chatted and made friends, it was nice. When we were allowed back on it was lovely. Went to guest services and applied our gift cards to our new account, went to Cove Café and hung out a bit,went to lunch together (no carryons to worry about), then headed to our rooms to change and hang out. Hubby wanted to leave the room and head up to the pool deck just before rope drop, just because we could The first time on Nassau, we did a Cultural and Food Tour that I'd found on TripAdvisor, which was wonderful. The second time, we went ashore with another set of B2Bers and got our passports stamped, walked to the John Watling's distillery and then showed them some of the places we knew of in Nassau. It was a fantastic day and they were glad they had decided spur of the moment to go with us. We loved that we didn't "have" to do something if we didn't feel like it, because we'd have another shot in a few days. The weather was less than ideal first CC day and perfect the second. We have no regrets about doing a B2B. Although we would have liked to have stayed a third leg with the ladies doing a B2B2B - they chose to do three different rooms. One normal verandah, one aft extended and then one concierge. That sounded fun as well.

 

[cruiser21]

I did some research and according to a thread on here from 2015 if you book a b2b on board you can OBB benefits for both cruises. Is this still the case or have the rules changed?

 

[melissajx3]

I did some research and according to a thread on here from 2015 if you book a b2b on board you can OBB benefits for both cruises. Is this still the case or have the rules changed?

still the case, for my B2B next week I used 2 placeholders to book the 2 cruises

 

[Imahikergirl]

They are considered two separate cruises for OBB purposes. That said, I reshopped a future cruise on my first leg and got a placeholder on my second, so I was pretty happy.

 

[cruiser21]

still the case, for my B2B next week I used 2 placeholders to book the 2 cruises

Did you book both place holders on one cruise or two.

 

[cruiser21]

They are considered two separate cruises for OBB purposes. That said, I reshopped a future cruise on my first leg and got a placeholder on my second, so I was pretty happy.

So if I booked the Britisish Isles cruise I could re shop it on board and then book a place holder for the wbta? I'm confused?

 

[Imahikergirl]

I have a cruise booked for Dec. We went on our B2B in Jan.

On our first leg, I ended up rebooking the December cruise in the same category. It was only saving $26 over when I first booked it, due to price increases and then the 10% off, but I also get the $200 OBC with the OBB.

The second leg, I went back to the desk and got a placeholder. I used my placeholder the other day for a summer 2018 cruise and get the OBB for that cruise.

 

[cruiser21]

I have a cruise booked for Dec. We went on our B2B in Jan.

On our first leg, I ended up rebooking the December cruise in the same category. It was only saving $26 over when I first booked it, due to price increases and then the 10% off, but I also get the $200 OBC with the OBB.

The second leg, I went back to the desk and got a placeholder. I used my placeholder the other day for a summer 2018 cruise and get the OBB for that cruise.

It appears I cant do this then. There's a couple of threads on here 2015 and 2016where people say they were able to book a b2b on board and get the Obb benefits for both cruises because DCL considers it one cruise. Also the reservations are linked and you're r not allowed to separate them. Others say no. I wonder if it's up to the cm at the desk?

 

[Imahikergirl]

It appears I cant do this then. There's a couple of threads on here 2015 and 2016where people say they were able to book a b2b on board and get the Obb benefits for both cruises because DCL considers it one cruise. Also the reservations are linked and you're r not allowed to separate them. Others say no. I wonder if it's up to the cm at the desk?

It was definitely two separate cruises. On my cruise last Oct, I could only reshop one leg of my B2B. I chose the 4 day as it was the more expensive of the two. Our folios were completely separate as well.

 

[Stitch'sCousin]

Just to confirm what Imahikergirl said, we booked a B2B last summer when we were on a 7 day cruise and only one of the cruises was eligible for the 10% discount and the $100 OBB. The second cruise did not have any discount or obb. They are definitely treated as two separate cruises with 2 different confirmation numbers. This is a fairly recent change as we previously received the discount and obb on both legs of our B2B in 2011, however, that no longer is the way things are done.

 

[kiford]

We really liked it. We didn't consider the repeat of shows and menus to be an issue. We don't always want to go to a show every night so we were able to choose when to go so we went about every second night. I liked having repeat menus. Some items I ordered again because I liked them so much (pasta pursiettes - Animators Palette) and other times it gave me a chance to try something I wanted to the first time but couldn't.

We didn't find the turnaround day to be that much of a waste. We were asked to leave the ship about 9 am (we left about 9:30 am) and go through customs. Because we waited to be the last-ish off and didn't have to pick up luggage, it didn't take long to get through. Then back up, waited about 2 minutes to check back in again, chatted to the CM for a bit about what they have to do to close out the last cruise, got some stories from her about times when they've been delayed and other things. They put us in the concierge lounge to wait (that was about 10 am). Two more families came in just after us. At 10:30 they let us back on before they opened the terminal for new passengers. While we waited in the lounge we read. Then we went up to the Cove Cafe, got a coffee and read some more. The next time we surfaced from our reading it was nearly noon and time for lunch. Pretty much what we would have been doing had it be an at sea day.

We had the same servers for both legs because they were great. In fact, I'd say our assistant server was probably the best we've ever had. I'd swear she was psychic. I'd just start thinking that maybe I'd like another cocktail and just as I was about to catch her attention she'd be asking me already. At breakfast after the first leg I was about to ask her for some more coffee because I'd seen her pour some for DH only to realize that she'd already filled my cup. Our server did magic tricks every night driving one of our tablemates crazy as he'd try to figure out how it was done. I don't eat dessert - usually just a liqueur instead - and he'd try to guess every night what I was going to order as it was different every night. Fantastic service.

I'd definitely do it again. I would recommend trying to get the same cabin so you don't have to pack.

 

[cruiser21]

Just to confirm what Imahikergirl said, we booked a B2B last summer when we were on a 7 day cruise and only one of the cruises was eligible for the 10% discount and the $100 OBB. The second cruise did not have any discount or obb. They are definitely treated as two separate cruises with 2 different confirmation numbers. This is a fairly recent change as we previously received the discount and obb on both legs of our B2B in 2011, however, that no longer is the way things are done.

Thank you this explains everything. It seems like DCL just keeps taking away benefits.

 

[CamColt]

We have done B2Bs twice now and I'm looking to do it again in 2018. I am one who cruises for the cruise experience, not so much the ports. The only port I care about is CC, so getting there twice is a bonus for me. I also like the repeating menus and shows as it gives me a chance to do something different on the 2nd cruise and I'm not so much worried about missing something.

I don't mind the in between day so much as it feels like an uncrowded sea day for me. I get my chair on deck before everyone else, I'm already unpacked and we really do enjoy the sail away party so redoing that isn't bad. Its also a good chance to get some laundry done without having to fight for a washer.

 

[girliesj]

Thanks everyone! I still wish we could do one 7-day, but since it's not possible it seems like we'll enjoy this one If anyone is doing B2B in April 2018 (the 9th and 13th), I'd love to "meet" you!