Back-to-Back Cruising: 5 Reasons Your Next Cruise Should be a Back-to-Back Cruise

Cruising to your favorite destinations is a dream, but back-to-back cruising is definitely living the dream for a traveler.

On the last day of your cruise, have you ever said to yourself, I wish it wasn't ending, or I wonder what it would be like to stay on the ship?

I love cruising on back-to-back cruises! So, let's talk about what back-to-back cruising is and 5 reasons why your next cruise should be a back-to-back cruise.

Back-to-Back cruising and 5 reasons you should book this regardless of your cruise line choice.

Back-to-Back Cruising

What is a back-to-back cruise?

• Back-to-back cruising, also referred to as B2B in many social media platforms such as Facebook, is booking two or more consecutive cruises, one right after the other. 
  

• Typically, a back-to-back cruise is booked on the same ship.
  

• You can book a repositioning cruise right before or after another cruise. 

What is repositioning cruise?

• A repositioning cruise is a one-way cruise when a cruise ship leaves one port and docks at another. You can choose to fly home from there or take another cruise with a different itinerary. itinerary

1. Back-to-Back Cruising Can Save You Money

Back-to-back cruising can save you money in the long run rather than booking two or three separate cruises individually.  For instance, you will save on airfare and hotel stays since you only have to book that once. Let's face it that can really add up. 

Plus, you might be able to get a better choice of cabins.

• Tip: When booking your back-to-back cruise, talk to the cruise line or your travel agent and let them know you want to book a back-to-back cruise and see if they have any deals or special rates you can take advantage of. 
  

2. You Will Have More Time to Explore the Ship

Let's face it: even if you're on a seven or eight-day cruise, there's a lot to see and do on a cruise ship. Booking a back-to-back cruise will allow you to relax and take it all in as you choose without feeling rushed. If you are on the ship for another week, you won't feel like you have to see and do everything all at once, leaving you more time to live the dream. 

Docking in Nassau

Now, I will say when I did my back-to-back cruise on the Carnival Liberty, we were the only ones on the ship for almost an hour before everyone else started coming on. 

• Tip: Take advantage of this time being on the ship with fewer people. This is a time you can take pics or just look around the ship. 
  

3. Opportunity for a Different Itinerary 

Back-to-back cruising can allow you to see new destinations by choosing two cruises with different itineraries. For example, you could find a cruise ship headed to the Western Caribbean one week and then to the Eastern Caribbean the next. There are a lot of destinations to see in the Caribbean alone. So, if you cruised to the Eastern Caribbean the first week and headed there the second week, you might still hit a different port in that area. 

Nassau, Bahamas

What if I can't get a different itinerary?

Unfortunately, sometimes cruise ships have the same itinerary back-to-back weeks, and if you don't have the flexibility to change those travel days, you might end up with the same itinerary both weeks. Is this a bad thing? Absolutely Not! I love getting the same itinerary and visiting the same places multiple times. 

In fact, I did it for five weeks when we did our five-week back-to-back Alaskan cruise.

The same itinerary can offer you the following:

• Save money on excursions. Book one excursion for one week, then the next week, explore the area without an excursion.
  

• Explore New Entries: Returning to the same port allows you to explore new places to eat.
  

• Stay on the Boat: Many avid cruisers will say they love the opportunity to stay on the boat on port day and enjoy the boat with fewer people. The cruise ship usually still offers different activities on port days for those staying on, such as trivia. 
  

4. Unpack Once

The benefit of back-to-back cruising is that you only have to unpack once. 

However, if you have to change staterooms, you must pack up to move rooms. 

Unfortunately, this is always me on a back-to-back cruise. Since I book my cruises with casino cruise offers, I book at the last minute and rarely can find the same room available two weeks in a row.

• Tip: Let your steward know you are doing a back-to-back cruise. If you have to change staterooms, they will take your luggage to your next room. 
  

• Tip: You can request to have the same room when booking your cruise
  

• Tip: If you want to try and get the same room, I recommend booking early
  

5. Earn Cruise Loyalty Points

You can rack up your cruise points for that cruise line when back-to-back cruises. For instance, we went from a Red card to a Gold card while doing our back-to-back cruise on the Carnival Liberty. 

 Loyalty points and rewards are different for each cruise line. 

What should I expect on Debarkation Day?

This day is really exciting when you are doing a back-to-back cruise. You don't have to pack up and wait in lines to leave the ship.  

So, what is the process for back-to-back cruising? 

Embarkation Day on a B2B

My process when back-to-back cruising with Carnival:

• They will leave you a letter in your stateroom or mailbox the day before about debarkation day.
  

• Usually, all back-to-back cruisers meet in a central location like the theatre.
  

• On a couple of my cruises, we had to wait until all passengers were off the ship. When cruising out of Seattle, that was not the case. We were already checked back into our next week of cruising while passengers were still disembarking.

• When walking off the ship, we walked back through the terminal, passports were checked, and then we walked right back on.
  

That's it! - Sometimes, this process can take a few minutes or a couple of hours. 

My B2B on my Alaskan cruise was a little different.

We cruised out of Seattle for our Alaskan cruise, and you don't have to leave the ship at all if you are cruising out of Seattle.

The great thing about this is you can go right back to your room and relax once you have scanned your sail and sign card; you're all good.

I was really impressed with the back-to-back process on our Alaskan cruise out of Seattle.

Carnival Treats Their Back-to-Back Cruisers

When we returned to the ship, we received a mimosa from the bar. Carnival will also take your picture. 

When we were on the Liberty, they took it right before we went off and back on the boat, and when we did our B2B on the Celebration, they gave us a voucher for a free picture. 

Later that day, champagne and fruit were delivered to our room. 

Ready to book your B2B?

Check out my YouTube channel for more cruising fun and tips, along with ship reviews to help you decide if a B2B is right for you.

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