So far I can’t get my husband away formore than 4. Got any tricks lol. Teach me your ways!
Does he like
Castaway Cay ? If you do a B2B on the Dream you get two stops at Castaway Cay
And for us this last set: for each cruise when we got on board we went to guest servies and asked to be put on the wait list for a cabana on Castaway Cay. For the third cruise we were the second in line at GS when they let the B2B'ers board. The couple in front of us only wanted a Serenity Bay cabana if one was available. We said we would take whatever they had, family or adult beach. Well, the night before Castaway Cay we got a call from Conceirge Services -- they had a family beach cabana for us.
It was an absolutley magical way to end 10 days on board.
As we are only gold (8 cruises now, including this last batch of 3) and not sailing concierge, I had stalked the website for a cabana for each cruise but not been luck before the cruise, so this was the only way we could have gotten one. Of course a B2B contributes counts towards reaching a higher
Castaway Club status.
One of the other nice things is we were able to pick and choose which shows we went to. So for the first cruise we actually did no shows ;-) We split the shows between the last two cruises. We did something similar when we did a B2B on the Dream previously -- divied up the shows. As an example, it let us watch a movie one night instead of go go the show. We also got to watch a bunch of movies without feeling like we were seriously cutting into cruise time, whether in the theatre or in the stateroom (and the on demand movies remember your "place" so we watched Big Hero 6 over about a half dozen actual viewing sessions ;-) ).
There are some downsides of course.
You have turnaround day at Port Canaveral which takes up some time. But also gives you some time on the ship with almost no other guests aboard. We went to Cove Cafe, got drinks and sat for a bit, then went to our stateroom and watched a movie until we snuck out for lunch.
As part of turnaround day, the first time we got off at a bit after 9 and wow the lines to get off the ship into the terminal [at one point on the "bridgeway" we stood in the same place for over 15 minutes as they were not letting more people into the terminal itself], and then the line for customs were both horrible, slow, and long. The next cruise we got off about 8:15 and sailed off the ship [no line like before to the terminal] and then the customs line though not quite as long, was constantly moving. So when you get off for turnaround makes a big difference. It also made the guidance for getting off the ship if you are using
DCL transfers to WDW make sense -- you need some time in there to clear everything.
The other major downside was the crossing from FL to Bahamas. The first cruise it was smooth sailing with 2-3 foot waves. The other two, it was not. The ship was rocking and even my sister who does not get motion sick was feeling it. We had that fun for the last two cruises, in both directions.
And of course, the menus repeat - but it is also a chance to try something different or to "not repeat" that dish that you weren't fond of. our serving team was great and having them for the whole time was quite nice [we could have changed them if we wanted to].
As for just length of cruise without a B2B.
We found the 3 day very rushed. The 4 day is a bit better. We have done two 7 days on the Fantasy and like that length, you really get to settle and relax more and experience more sea days. For the 7 days we've also had some great port excursions, whereas with stopping in Nassau to be honestly we usually stay on the ship.
SW
That was the first time in the three times we've done MDR for embarkation day lunch that such slow service had occurred. Hopefully just a fluke!
