Back to Back DCL Cruises

[SimplyMagical]

Anyone ever done back to back disney cruises, i.e., 4 day then 3 day? If so, what did you think? If you have the same cabin reserved, can you leave your things on board during the change? Considering possibly doing this.

 

[I Love Thumper]

If you have the same stateroom for your back to back, you can absolutely leave your things in the room. You will be required to debark and go through customs (with your docs), after which you'll go back upstairs into the terminal where CMs are available at about 9:30am to re-check you in, issue new KTTWs, and take more security photos. Typically, you'll be able to re-board as early as 10am, as long as the ship has been cleared by customs.

 

[tvguy]

Why back to back 4 and 3 day cruises? Why not a 7 day? Others have posted, and I have not checked it myself, that it's cheaper, and you don't have that part of a day in limbo between the two cruises.

 

[lbgraves]

I have read more people are considering this on the Wonder in summer 2010 since the Magic will not be available. Actually, I priced out cruises a month ago for late July on the wonder and with the kids 50% deal we could have booked a 3 & 4 day for around $3200 in a cat 12 for the four of us which is much less than some of the 7 day cruises this summer. I considered it for a few days but we decided to skip it this year.

 

[plutoinny]

Why back to back 4 and 3 day cruises? Why not a 7 day? Others have posted, and I have not checked it myself, that it's cheaper, and you don't have that part of a day in limbo between the two cruises.

B2B 7 night is very very expensive. We tried this instead of going for 2 cruise & separate months but for some reason the rates arent great. We cruised March and June and we got better rates than doing B2B in March or even June.

 

[kcashner]

Yes, we did just this.

Why do it--we couldn't get to port until Saturday night and we wanted a 7 day cruise. In addition, it was cheaper for us than a 7 day cruise (this was only by about $150, and would not have made the decision for us.)

If you have a selected cabin booked, you can get the same cabin for both legs, which makes your life much nicer. We had a cat 12 booked, did not get upgraded, but were required to change rooms. I asked the TA to call DCL about this and she supposedly did--response was that both sailings were full, etc., couldn't be done. We bought an upgrade at the port for the first leg, so I didn't really care about needing to move.

We were treated like royalty. Before the second leg, we got a call from Dining Services asking if we wanted Palo or had any seating preferences for our second cruise.

That said, I wouldn't choose to do it again. It is the same shows, same menus, same ports. Everything on the short cruises, especially the 3 day, is very crammed together. You miss the Art of Entertaining series, the character breakfast, etc. Unless there is a good reason (like we had) for doing a 3+4 or 4+3 I'd choose to do the 7 day.

We actually had a great time on the second embarkation day. We met another guest in the terminal who was doing the same thing and spent the 4+ hours together. It was a totally good mix, so we arranged to be seated together for our dinners for the remainder of the cruise.

Under normal circumstances, the services on the change over day will be very minimal for about 3 hours. You can hand in the Cove Cafe (open to all ages for those 3 hours) with minimal snacks. You can use the pools when they have finished cleaning them, but there is no lifeguard and the slide will be closed.

As to B2B 7 day being "very expensive," it again depends on the cruise dates. You can do October 3 and 10 or December 5 and 12 relatively inexpensively. If your selected dates include a high season date, it will be a "very expensive" trip. If they are both low season, you can get great rates.

 

[RedSox68]

We did a back-to-back in 2007 -- the 10 day Med and the 14 day transatlantic. We still talk about what a great experience that was -- being onboard and watching everyone debark while we hung around the 5th floor atrium deck. I especially loved going to breakfast with no carryons or that rushed feeling -- then going back to our rooms to get our bathing suits and having the adult pool completely to ourselves for two hours! We watched the workers cleaning up and organizing and it was just so relaxing. We were allowed to go back and forth to our room, but there were no food services open during that time.

Also -- and this may be special because of where we were -- we were not required to get off the ship and board again. They gave us papers the night before to fill out and leave at guest services. We did, however, get off so we could get our embarkation picture taken for the second leg of our cruise since we had had special t-shirts made for our group. But we did it before the next sailing group started arriving and there was no one in the terminal. We did, however, get a fantastic picture with my daughter and Minnie Mouse dressed in her Spanish dress.

We had a terrific stateroom booked for back-to-back cruises next year for 20-days in the Baltic -- but alas, had to give in to the fact that Disney's price is not justifiable and we went with a 20-day cruise on HAL with almost an identical itinerary instead (I feel like I'm cheating on Disney).

However, I'd say if it is cost effective for your family, definitely consider a b-2-b -- just make sure they assign you the same stateroom or you will have to move.

 

[anokaba]

Yes, we did just this.

Why do it--we couldn't get to port until Saturday night and we wanted a 7 day cruise. In addition, it was cheaper for us than a 7 day cruise (this was only by about $150, and would not have made the decision for us.)

If you have a selected cabin booked, you can get the same cabin for both legs, which makes your life much nicer. We had a cat 12 booked, did not get upgraded, but were required to change rooms. I asked the TA to call DCL about this and she supposedly did--response was that both sailings were full, etc., couldn't be done. We bought an upgrade at the port for the first leg, so I didn't really care about needing to move.

We were treated like royalty. Before the second leg, we got a call from Dining Services asking if we wanted Palo or had any seating preferences for our second cruise.

That said, I wouldn't choose to do it again. It is the same shows, same menus, same ports. Everything on the short cruises, especially the 3 day, is very crammed together. You miss the Art of Entertaining series, the character breakfast, etc. Unless there is a good reason (like we had) for doing a 3+4 or 4+3 I'd choose to do the 7 day.

We actually had a great time on the second embarkation day. We met another guest in the terminal who was doing the same thing and spent the 4+ hours together. It was a totally good mix, so we arranged to be seated together for our dinners for the remainder of the cruise.

Under normal circumstances, the services on the change over day will be very minimal for about 3 hours. You can hand in the Cove Cafe (open to all ages for those 3 hours) with minimal snacks. You can use the pools when they have finished cleaning them, but there is no lifeguard and the slide will be closed.

As to B2B 7 day being "very expensive," it again depends on the cruise dates. You can do October 3 and 10 or December 5 and 12 relatively inexpensively. If your selected dates include a high season date, it will be a "very expensive" trip. If they are both low season, you can get great rates.

December 5th and 12 are NOT inexpensive. We booked these dates for Category 11 - 2 adults and 2 kids. You dont want to know how much we pay coz I am still saving money to pay this off but it is our holiday present for each other and never went on vacation this year just to save money for this. Now, looking at 2010 dates for same category, I think it will be cheaper for us to go to Med cruise for 10 nights but of course realized with the airfare it might be the same and we will miss going to Castaway Cay which is our favorite. I dont know how people can afford B2B. I guess it depends what you do for a living. From our experience booking this, it is just way too expensive but we are just doing B2B once..once in a lifetime!! I am sure we cant afford this B2B again in the future unless we win the lottery.

 

[Aurora2009]

I agree that December 5th is not cheaper. Cheaper than dates a lot closer to christmas, yes but absolutely not nexpensive. We are going to this one and booked cat12 and still a lot of money. We dont have plans doing B2B. We rather do 7 nights this year and if we can afford it cruise again next year. #1 it is a lot of money to spend at one time. #2 at least if we book again next year it is something we have to look forward to and get excited about. #3 we can start saving money again for the next cruise.

Anokaba, you are right, unless we win the lottery then we'll do B2B. Other than that it is impossible for us to afford it. Ou rfamily have good jobs but not enough to afford B2B. Love the idea, jealous with people who can afford it but not if we will be in so much debt.

 

[kcashner]

You're right that cheaper is a matter of "cheaper than what." I just looked up the prices for Dec. 5 and 12. Dec. 12 is currently $600 MORE for a cat 11, 2 people than what I paid for it. Dec. 5 is $200 less than Dec. 12....don't know if it might have been cheaper earlier.

While my ideal is to pay a little over $100 per person per day, I consider anything under $1000 for a 7 day cruise for an adult to be reasonable. Of course, then we add tips and "extras."

 

[MarcyIn Florida]

B2B 7 night is very very expensive. We tried this instead of going for 2 cruise & separate months but for some reason the rates arent great. We cruised March and June and we got better rates than doing B2B in March or even June.

I think tvguy meant why not do one 7 night cruise instead of 2 b2b Wonder cruises?

We almost did a b2b last summer when the Magic wasn't sailing out of Canaveral. This is the only reason we'd do a 4/3 b2b. Otherwise, I love the Magic 7 day activities and the passengers too much to do a 4/3 split.

 

[TiggerTails57]

We booked a $99.00 bounce back 3 night, and added a four night as we thought 3 nights was not long enough......

 

[barney4liz]

We booked a $99.00 bounce back 3 night

That sounds like an awesome deal, but what exactly is it?

 

[TiggerTails57]

That sounds like an awesome deal, but what exactly is it?

The bounce back voucher was left in our stateroom on our April cruise, for sail dates Aug13-Dec 17, 2009. We were able to book a 3 night cat 6 for $99.00 + tax.
We just sent in the voucher and DCL applied it.

 

[barney4liz]

The bounce back voucher was left in our stateroom on our April cruise, for sail dates Aug13-Dec 17, 2009. We were able to book a 3 night cat 6 for $99.00 + tax.
We just sent in the voucher and DCL applied it.

Wow! That is an amazing deal.

 

[TiggerTails57]

Wow! That is an amazing deal.

Then we added the 4 night LOL $$$
We did manage to get the military discount applied to the four night cruise. I worked it out per night for seven nights, it is $121.00 dollars each (for DH and Me) room/board/entertainment. Not bad!

 

[barney4liz]

Then we added the 4 night LOL $$$
We did manage to get the military discount applied to the four night cruise. I worked it out per night for seven nights, it is $121.00 dollars each (for DH and Me) room/board/entertainment. Not bad!

Not bad is right!

I wonder if they will have similar offers in the future.

 

[TiggerTails57]

Keep checking mousesavers and the DIS.......with the economy the way it is. Plus, adding two more ships in the near future. We can only hope.

 

[mbo516]

weve actually considered this before..but dont you end up getting the same shows, activities, islands, etc. plus having to do the life jacket drill again and all that..i mean is it really worth it. we love the cruise but i just think the repetitiveness would be a disappointment so soon after the other.

 

[barney4liz]

Keep checking mousesavers and the DIS.......with the economy the way it is. Plus, adding two more ships in the near future. We can only hope.

But it sounds like that was probably something that was offered only to guests while they were onboard -- like the bounceback offers at the resorts?

I will read all of the cabin literature very carefully.