Positives and Negatives of Back to Back cruising on DCL?

[su_A_ve]

You cannot do Galveston to San Juan and then to PC. Maritime laws.

Regarding wait staff, that can definitely be different if they happen to finish their contract or go on break.

 

[Tigerladyd]

This sounds like an experience I need to have. Thinking b2b out of Port Canaveral in 2017 might be in my plan for the next round of vacation planning.

 

[jenhelgren]

Thank you to all! I guess I should have to looked into the B2B laws before getting my family excited

 

[jrabbit]

Thanks for all the input. It really helps to hear everyone's opinion and I forgot about 2 fireworks shows!!
I probably should have mentioned that the cruises we are looking at are the Galveston to San Juan and San Juan to Port Canaveral. I am assuming there will be a ton of B2B cruisers for these cruises. The 6 night does not stop at Castaway-so we would only get 1 CC stop
...

You cannot do this "cruise" as you would be sailing from one US port to another US port without visiting a "Distant" foreign port. We checked with DCL on opening day and the person that answered the phone booked them for us, then we asked him to talk to a supervisor. And he returned with the correct answer - NO (so we cancelled). The same thing was true last year, you could not sail from Hawaii to Vancouver BC and continue on to San Diego (I don't think you could have done this even if you were continuing on through the panama canal to...?? where ever the PC cruise terminated??. The US government considered that traveling from Hawaii to San Diego. Stupid laws!!!

Therefor there won't be a ton of B2B cruises on these cruises, there will be "none" (the crew doesn't count).

 

[PrincessShmoo]

You cannot do this "cruise" as you would be sailing from one US port to another US port without visiting a "Distant" foreign port. We checked with DCL on opening day and the person that answered the phone booked them for us, then we asked him to talk to a supervisor. And he returned with the correct answer - NO (so we cancelled). The same thing was true last year, you could not sail from Hawaii to Vancouver BC and continue on to San Diego (I don't think you could have done this even if you were continuing on through the panama canal to...?? where ever the PC cruise terminated??. The US government considered that traveling from Hawaii to San Diego. Stupid laws!!!

Therefor there won't be a ton of B2B cruises on these cruises, there will be "none" (the crew doesn't count).

Most Panama Canal cruises do hit a distant foreign port. I believe the 2015 one went to Cartegena, Columbia. That's a distant foreign port, so a Hawaii/Vancouver/San Diego/Galveston would be allowed. Although I believe I read that Disney was only allowing 2 B2B bookings and Hawaii/Vancouver/San Diego wasn't allowed.

 

[jrabbit]

Well technically, ALL PC cruises go to a Distant Port - otherwise DCL and the other cruise lines would not be able to sail between the West Coast and East Coast through Panama.

On our last PC cruise we stopped in Cartegena, AND were at the Square in Old Town where last weeks Amazing Race had their pit stop!!! (No we were not there when the Amazing Race was there).

 

[hygienist999]

We did a B2B with the Norway and Northern European Cruises last June. For us the feeling of living the Ground Hog Day movie came to mind. We did not like the repeat of the 1st cruise for the 2nd cruise. Others love it, but for me and my DH B2B's aren't for us.

 

[Birdie dog]

We've done one back to back CL on the Dream. Both four nights and both in the same room. We got up and left our room intact, waited in the lounge and then debarked. We checked back in and waited in the concierge area until we were cleared to get back aboard. We then sat on the upper deck of the adult area with no other guests (that we could see) onboard. A staff member greeted us and asked if there was anything she could do for us. We asked if it was possible to see a Royal Suite - since I'm not paying THAT much to stay in one myself. So, she checked that the room had been cleaned and walked us through. That was kind of cool.

I don't think (IMO) there are a lot of negatives to B2Bs if you're just doing them as a relaxing getaway. Obviously, one on the Dream you're never going to see anything new. I liked that if I didn't feel like going to a show, I could skip it and hit it on the next cruise. I liked multiple Palo reservations. I liked hanging out in the lounge for 8 days.

I'd do it again.

 

[squirk]

Maybe somebody already said this and I missed it, but two short B2B cruises could move you further toward Gold/Platinum Castaway Club status than a single long cruise, right? Not that the Gold perks are all that awesome, but I could see leveraging B2B for the sake of Platinum.

Which raises a question in my mind - generally speaking, how much more/less expensive is it to sail two B2Bs vs. doing a single cruise over the same time frame? Let's assume, for simplicity, that all cruises are in the same "season" (high, low, shoulder, whatever), the same ship class (here, Dream-class), and none of them are special/holiday sailings (SWDAS, Xmas, Spring Break, etc.). In short, "all things being equal.....".

I am assuming B2Bs have a duplication of things like port fees and such, but overall, is it a wash in terms of price? A 3-day + 4-day B2B on the Dream costs the same as a 7-day on the Fantasy?

 

[iambrink]

I am assuming B2Bs have a duplication of things like port fees and such, but overall, is it a wash in terms of price? A 3-day + 4-day B2B on the Dream costs the same as a 7-day on the Fantasy?

For dates i have considered, i have always found that B2B on the Dream has been cheaper than 7 night on the Fantasy. I haven't booked one yet, but have checked the prices numerous times.

 

[Saimaeve]

For dates i have considered, i have always found that B2B on the Dream has been cheaper than 7 night on the Fantasy. I haven't booked one yet, but have checked the prices numerous times.

This is us and why we switched from a 7 Night Fantasy to a 3/4 B2B on the Dream. We saved nearly $1000.

 

[CM Dad]

The negative that would bother me in doing it again, is we would only get our OBB benefits on 1 of the cruises so it would likely be less expensive to do a 7 nights and get more of an OBC.

We have only done on B2B, but booked them before they changed their policy, so we did get the discount and OBC for both legs.

Another pro of doing a B2B cruise is the you can book future cruises with OBB benefits on both cruises. You could end up with future reservations for 4 staterooms on one future cruise or 2 staterooms each on separate cruises

 

[CM Dad]

I'm not sure if there is already a thread similar to this question but we are considering our first back to back cruise on DCL and I am trying to think out the pros and cons of cruising back to back. If you have the same cabin for both cruises-do you always keep the same wait staff or does it vary? Having the kids club closed most of the first day and participating in double safety drills before sail away are some instant negatives that pop into my mind. Are there any perks besides possibly getting a better price on two shorter cruises than we would get on a longer cruise?

Towards the end of our first cruise the Head Waiter asked if we wanted to keep the same servers, and if we want to switch to a private table for my wife and I. On the first cruise there were 3 other couples assigned to our table, although one couple never showed up and another couple had Palo or Remy dinner most nights. My wife has some dietary restrictions, and since she had the servers broken in ( ;-) ), we wanted to keep them. Opted to go with shared dining for the second cruise as well.

 

[CM Dad]

Most Panama Canal cruises do hit a distant foreign port. I believe the 2015 one went to Cartegena, Columbia. That's a distant foreign port, so a Hawaii/Vancouver/San Diego/Galveston would be allowed. Although I believe I read that Disney was only allowing 2 B2B bookings and Hawaii/Vancouver/San Diego wasn't allowed.

I though I had read the the Hawaii/Vancouver/San Diego/Galveston was NOT allowed because of the Hawaii/Vancouver/San Diego part of the cruise. Vancouver/San Diego/Galveston should be OK, since the PC cruise does go to a 'distant' foreign port.

Silly laws.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I though I had read the the Hawaii/Vancouver/San Diego/Galveston was NOT allowed because of the Hawaii/Vancouver/San Diego part of the cruise. Vancouver/San Diego/Galveston should be OK, since the PC cruise does go to a 'distant' foreign port.

Silly laws.

The way the PVSA is interpreted, they look at the embarkation port and the debarkation port. In the case of the B2B2B those would be Hawaii and Galveston. As long as a distant foreign port is visited during that cruise (the PVSA views it as one cruise, not 3), it's legal.

The issue was DCL had problems understanding the PVSA legalities, and they got a little gun-shy about what's allowed for those B2B cruises, and said (as far as I know) that the Hawaii/Vancouver/San Diego/Galveston B2Bs would not be allowed and therefore didn't let people book them.

 

[CM Dad]

The way the PVSA is interpreted, they look at the embarkation port and the debarkation port. In the case of the B2B2B those would be Hawaii and Galveston. As long as a distant foreign port is visited during that cruise (the PVSA views it as one cruise, not 3), it's legal.

The issue was DCL had problems understanding the PVSA legalities, and they got a little gun-shy about what's allowed for those B2B cruises, and said (as far as I know) that the Hawaii/Vancouver/San Diego/Galveston B2Bs would not be allowed and therefore didn't let people book them.

I am not a lawyer, so I'll leave the interpretation up to Disney and the govt, but taking a quick look at the cbp.gov site it does not appear that it is just determined by embarkation/debarkation.

'Second, a non-coastwise-qualified vessel transports a passenger on a voyage solely to one or more coastwise ports and the passenger disembarks or goes ashore temporarily at a coastwise port. (19 CFR § 4.80a(b)(1)). For example, a non-coastwise-qualified vessel that embarks a passenger in Los Angeles and transports him/her to one or more of the Hawaiian Islands where he/she goes ashore temporarily and returns to Los Angeles where he/she disembarks, violates the PVSA"

This seems like it would apply when the passengers that travelled from Hawaii to Vancouver to San Diego would disembark temporarily before reboarding for the final leg to Galveston

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I am not a lawyer, so I'll leave the interpretation up to Disney and the govt, but taking a quick look at the cbp.gov site it does not appear that it is just determined by embarkation/debarkation.

'Second, a non-coastwise-qualified vessel transports a passenger on a voyage solely to one or more coastwise ports and the passenger disembarks or goes ashore temporarily at a coastwise port. (19 CFR § 4.80a(b)(1)). For example, a non-coastwise-qualified vessel that embarks a passenger in Los Angeles and transports him/her to one or more of the Hawaiian Islands where he/she goes ashore temporarily and returns to Los Angeles where he/she disembarks, violates the PVSA"

This seems like it would apply when the passengers that travelled from Hawaii to Vancouver to San Diego would disembark temporarily before reboarding for the final leg to Galveston

Except that Hawaii/Van/SD also involves (as you describe it) "temporarily going ashore" since, in effect you must debark the ship in Vancouver. And, in the past, that's not been allowed due to the PVSA. Typically the "temporarily going ashore" doesn't mean just getting off the ship and back on, it means getting off the ship to stay for a short time - like overnight, or for a couple of days.

 

[sabrecmc]

We have done 2 B2B cruises now. The first was LA-Vancouver-Alaska, the second was the Baltic-Norway. Loved the whole experience of it. It didn't feel so crammed with trying to accomplish everything, since I knew I could do it the next week. Way more relaxing. I got to have time to try things that I probably wouldn't have done otherwise, but ended up really enjoying. I "saved" money on flights versus two separate week long vacations, since our whole vacation was right there in that two weeks.

I am sure a lot depends on whether you just love the cruises or not. I can see that if you didn't find enough to do the first time, you'd be bored (though I still don't see how, but people say this happens!). We are on the B2B Fantasy Eastern/Western in May! Can't wait.

 

[KingRichard]

Just did the Magic B2B for the first time and loved it.

CC 2 times. Wife loved it(and us).

Saved $1800.00 and I loved it(Fantasy).

Tricked DD(8) and didn't tell her about second cruise(we all loved it) lol.

2 fireworks shows. For the first time we watched from our Veranda and loved it.

Some down sides kind of.

Yes menus repeat, but there is so many choices it doesn't matter. Make it easier to try more things.

Shows repeat, but as others posted it gives you more time to do other things.

The only thing I didn't like was no extra acts on 3 niter(magic acts, comedians).

We did meet in a club at 9:15 with about 20 other people and was the last off the ship with no lines and brought upstairs and waited about 50 minutes.

Terminal empty and got some great pics.

First on the ship!

Went on empty ship and great pics with no one in them.

Did laundry with one other person(B2B).

No rush for food. First in line.

Empty pool as others were eating.


Went on Aqua Dunk 5 times in a row with no one else in line. Pool and dunk didn't open till noon, but everyone else was getting food and still boarding.

For that kind of saving I would do it again!

 

[WiscBill]

We have done two back-to-backs: two five days on the Wonder out of Miami and a 3 day-4 day out of Port Canaveral on the Dream just two weeks ago. The experiences were slightly different on both, but both were pleasant in their own way. In both cases, the cruises were cheaper than the corresponding Fantasy cruise (including the 10 days on the Wonder) by over $1000. The Wonder had two different itineraries which made the experience more enjoyable. Yes, the shows and menus were duplicated but only one port was a duplicate (Cozumel) and the special menus were slightly different. We also had four sea days which we love. The Dream was Nassau-CC twice each with only one sea day, so it had more repetition. I guess I would say the Wonder cruises were like a nice 10 day cruise while the Dream experience was more like spending 7 days in an all inclusive resort. The other big difference was in how we were treated during the turn around day and as back-to-back cruisers. As others have mentioned, on the Wonder, we reported to a lounge by 9 PM. We were told we could wait in the Cove Cafe until then (drinks were free). From there we were escorted off the ship, checked in, and brought back on. All drinks in the Cove Cafe were still free that morning and they had placed the sandwiches and breakfast rolls which are normally at the quick service restaurant out. It was very relaxing. When we got to our room, the hotel director had arranged for basket of fruit to be placed in the room and the cruise director gave us three DCL hats. On the Dream, we were just told to get off by 9 and walk back upstairs. No help whatsoever. We were let back on at 1030 right before Concierge and the family of the day started to board. We needed to do laundry so we went to our room. We could not leave and go up to the deck until all the rooms were opened around 1:30. This was fine as were all tired and needed to nap. However, if we had wanted anything to drink or eat, we were out of luck. There were no welcome back aboard gifts, only a letter from Karl Holtz. It was fine and we enjoyed ourselves, but nowhere near the experience we had on the Wonder.

In addition to all the other pros and cons listed above, I would add that you feel under no pressure to get everything in. You have another chance if you want to skip a show and do a movie instead. You can also go do things in a relaxing way while others are scrambling to get it all in. I was able to go to the fitness center at uncrowded times and ride the Aquaduck when it was uncrowded on the last cruise. You'd be surprised on how empty the ship is on the morning of CC day. I still got to the beach by noon and had a great time, but didn't feel the need to hurry off an find my spot. In summary, I would do a back to back again, but I don't think it would be one where the itineraries are so similar.