Why B2B instead of booking one longer cruise?

[OpieDoodle]

I've seen so many people talking about B2B cruises and all the hype but I am really wanting to understand why do that over a longer cruise? I see so many people loving the B2B idea!

For example:
Wish in a Verandah and it was $6594 for the two cruises (3 night and 4 night) combined keeping the same type of room/location for both cruises
Fantasy 7 night same week is $4104 in the same type room

Ironically, I could actually take the 7 night Fantasy AND almost pay for the 3 night Wish for the same price as the B2B Wish cruises. (The 7 night is $4,104 and the 4 night is $3,739, so very close in price)

I like the idea of the B2B but what makes it worth it pricewise for those who have done it?

 

[Calantha]

I like the idea of the B2B but what makes it worth it pricewise for those who have done it?

Haven't done it yet, but I can tell you why I've decided to do one.

1. We do a full family trip every other year. Last year, we did the 9 night Fantasy. All have collectively decided 7-9 nights is too much for the 12 of us together (and much more expensive for some than others). We also want to see Lighthouse Point, so 5 nights it is in 2024.
2. BUT, me and DS love a longer cruise, so after discussions with DH, we decided that DS and I will stay on for the cruise afterward (and DH will head home with the rest of the family). It means I don't have to pay to fly to FL again, get a hotel, etc. but we still get our extended time on the cruise.

I wouldn't do a 3/4 night B2B although I do know people who have. If you're trying to get status quickly, it would be helpful!

 

[NephieRN]

I’d imagine people doing b2b on the Wish are doing it because they want to sail on the Wish but 3 or 4 nights by themselves are too short. We’ve done a b2b before on the fantasy because we wanted a long trip and the 14 night sailings are few and far between.

 

[Love2Cruise2015]

My family and I are doing a B2B on the Wish this August because we want to sail on the Wish and that is the only way that we can sail on the wish (as of right now) and get the number of nights we enjoy sailing (7 nights) but if the Wish offered a 7 night sailing we would do that vs a b2b. I also feel people do b2b's for many reasons like itinerary offered, sail dates offered, your vacation time, the number of nights you enjoy sailing, expense, etc. etc

 

[Kwami]

We did a 3-night/4-night B2B on the Dream last year because weather forced us to cancel our 7-night Fantasy cruise. I enjoyed the turnaround day. The crew were all extra nice that day, we got free snacks and drinks, and the ship was so quiet for a while! The price was almost the same, too. I think I paid about $100 extra for the B2B cruise vs. the 7-day cruise.

I don't think that I'd intentionally book a B2B instead of a single cruise, though. Repeating menus and destinations isn't great. Unfortunately, if you want to sail on the Wish, then it's B2B or settling for a really short cruise.

When you're looking at prices, keep in mind that Disney charges a premium for the Wish over other ships. When the Dream was running those 3-night and 4-night Bahamian cruises, the prices were much lower. The Fantasy has pretty much kept those lower prices, but I expect the price for a 7-night Caribbean cruise to go up quite a bit when the Treasure takes over.

 

[holula]

Reasons I’ve done a b2b:

1) Wanted a 7 days experience on the Dream
2) Did the UK staycation cruises which didn’t offer a 7 night
3) Wanted to go to Disneyland so sailed from the West coast and there was only a 3/4 night being offered at the time

So basically if there had been a longer cruise option I’d have taken it.

 

[John VN]

I've seen so many people talking about B2B cruises and all the hype but I am really wanting to understand why do that over a longer cruise? I see so many people loving the B2B idea!

For example:
Wish in a Verandah and it was $6594 for the two cruises (3 night and 4 night) combined keeping the same type of room/location for both cruises
Fantasy 7 night same week is $4104 in the same type room

Ironically, I could actually take the 7 night Fantasy AND almost pay for the 3 night Wish for the same price as the B2B Wish cruises. (The 7 night is $4,104 and the 4 night is $3,739, so very close in price)

I like the idea of the B2B but what makes it worth it pricewise for those who have done it?

Our B2B assured a double dip at CC that was always welcomed.

Now we (DW and I) enjoy B2B even more because our cruise line of choice includes an OVER NIGHT at their Island on 4 night and even some 3 night cruises.

 

[onesam319]

We like a longer cruise too. Originally, we just had a 4 night Wish scheduled, but several months later we decided to add 3 nights before the original dates. An added bonus is making gold status after the first leg.

I think the Castaway Club status ought to be based on number of nights sailed instead of number of cruises sailed.

 

[Atlantix2000]

I've seen so many people talking about B2B cruises and all the hype but I am really wanting to understand why do that over a longer cruise? I see so many people loving the B2B idea!
<snip>
I like the idea of the B2B but what makes it worth it pricewise for those who have done it?

For B2B, there may not be a price benefit on the cruises themselves but you may save money by not traveling to/from the port multiple times. (Not really an issue for those living nearby, but if you have to fly, it's less flights.)

There's also not a lot of longer options in DCL's itineraries. If you want a 7 night cruise on the Wish, your only choice is B2B because all it does right now is alternate 3 and 4 night cruises. If you want to cruise longer than 7 nights on any ship, there aren't a lot of options for a single cruise and you might be unable to plan your vacation time to match those so you end up having to choose a B2B.

 

[MillauFr]

It is all about two stops at Castaway Key. Many of the other stops like Nassau are a complete waste of time and we just stay on the ship and enjoy less crowded pools.

 

[o&smom]

We have only ever considered b2b on ships that had shorter itineraries. We are excited to sail the Dream this summer on an 11 night. We had a b2b scheduled on the Wish to make it a 7 night, but the ship was delayed and we got cancelled. We have other plans for longer cruises for now, but would consider b2b on the Wish in the future, or in combination with the Treasure.

 

[JoeFromSeoul]

We are doing our first B2B this summer. We travel from South Korea, so a shorter cruise doesn’t make sense to us. However, we want to sail on the Wish so complete the set. So we get seven nights and the Wish by doing B2B.

 

[tink1970]

I've seen so many people talking about B2B cruises and all the hype but I am really wanting to understand why do that over a longer cruise? I see so many people loving the B2B idea!

For example:
Wish in a Verandah and it was $6594 for the two cruises (3 night and 4 night) combined keeping the same type of room/location for both cruises
Fantasy 7 night same week is $4104 in the same type room

Ironically, I could actually take the 7 night Fantasy AND almost pay for the 3 night Wish for the same price as the B2B Wish cruises. (The 7 night is $4,104 and the 4 night is $3,739, so very close in price)

I like the idea of the B2B but what makes it worth it pricewise for those who have done it?

It sounds so silly now but I'd read so many negative reviews of the Wish and how confusing it was that when I booked our B2B I figured it would take us a good 3 or 4 days to figure it out so my logic was 1 cruise to get the lay of the land (so to speak) and then the next cruise we'd be familiar enough we could really enjoy it. That was how I sold it to DH, anyway . The reports on the super confusing layout were pretty inaccurate for DH and me and we didn't need more than a day or so to acclimate -a 4 night cruise would've been fine. Live and learn and we've now done a B2B and don't need to repeat the experience. On the bright side, we had credit from a cancelled 2020 cruise so it wasn't too much out of pocket. And really, 7 nights on a cruise is not a bad thing...

 

[CamColt]

I've done B2Bs 3 times. The price difference between a 7 nights was never that much for those. In fact once I remember B2Bs came out about 100.00 less.

Pros for me are...
-2 stops at CC (once it was 3 as the 4 night was a Double Dip). CC is the only port we really care about.
-Once we wanted to sail on the Dream when it was new, but they only had 3/4 nights. So a new ship was the pro then.
-Being Platinum we get 1 free Palo meal per cruise. With B2Bs we do brunch 1 cruise and dinner the other.
-While I often hear people say that in between day is a waste, I don't feel that. I spend most days sitting by the pool so being able to be out there nice and early with my pick of chairs is exactly what I want.
- One of my favorite parts of the cruise is sail away so we get that twice
- With repeat menus and shows it gives us the option to do other things during the show time and still see the ones we like, or dine at Palo without missing one of the MDR meals.

Overall our reasons for sailing DCL is to enjoy the ship and CC. Doing B2Bs lets us do that. And as I noted, the times I've done it, the price has been comparable to the 7 night. If it were a large difference it may not have been worth it for us.

 

[JM_97]

I’d imagine people doing b2b on the Wish are doing it because they want to sail on the Wish but 3 or 4 nights by themselves are too short. We’ve done a b2b before on the fantasy because we wanted a long trip and the 14 night sailings are few and far between.

One day (if I have the money for it) I want to do a B2B on the Fantasy. A B2B on the Wish would get old because you go to the same places. With a Fantasy B2B, you'd get a new itinerary for Week 2.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

One day (if I have the money for it) I want to do a B2B on the Fantasy. A B2B on the Wish would get old because you go to the same places. With a Fantasy B2B, you'd get a new itinerary for Week 2.

That's why we did the Fantasy B2B several years ago. First Eastern, then Western Caribbean. We also did a Dream 4 nighter just before it (with 2 days at WDW between). Made it seem like a nice, long cruise (our preference).

 

[kathi]

Our last B2B was 14 nights on the Fantasy over Christmas/New Year 2021.

 

[cvjw]

We’ve done a B2B on the dream in august of 2021. We like longer cruises, but chose the B2B because that was our only option as the dream was the only ship sailing from Port Canaveral at the time.

A B2B on the fantasy has always been on our bucket list. After our sailing last week, we are having second thoughts. I caught covid and started feeling sick on Friday. We were so happy we didn’t have another cruise the next week. It can be a while before you test positive for covid, so I don’t know what the refund policy is at the moment. Feeling sick or being quarantined on the next cruise would be heartbreaking.

 

[TBLaube]

I agree with many of the reasons already listed. Another common one is for one-way repositioning cruises. For example, 7-nt round trip Southern Caribbean and add on the 4-nt transit back to Miami. On the first trip, we get five different and not very common (on DCL) ports, another different Caribbean port, and a Castaway Cay visit on the second. The first leg is so port intensive and tiring from being in the sun and on beaches/water (oh, the rough life) all day. It is nice to be on longer to enjoy the ship on the second cruise.

 

[otten]

We like a longer cruise too. Originally, we just had a 4 night Wish scheduled, but several months later we decided to add 3 nights before the original dates. An added bonus is making gold status after the first leg.

I think the Castaway Club status ought to be based on number of nights sailed instead of number of cruises sailed.

At 32 sailing nights but still silver I agree lol.