Back 2 Back

DebbieandJerry · June 2, 2009

We did the Carnival Miracle back to back November 2007. When we booked the cruise with Vacationstogo, we made sure that we had the same staterooms for all 16 days. The TA was fabulous in taking care of that for us (and there were two rooms next to each other, balcony cabin).

We told our room steward and waiter that we were staying. Both of which got switched after the first 8 days (bummer but we adjusted).

When we got back to Miami, we were told that we could pretty much do whatever on the ship until everyone else had left. We had a very leisurely breakfast and went to a lounge to get our "number" to be able to leave the ship (check out) and check back in. There were about 20-25 of us that were doing the back to back. That procedure took all of 5 minutes. We went down the stairs, with this card in our hand. We presented the card to customs (the ship had taken our customs declaration at the lounge). They told us to enjoy ourselves. We had the option to leave the ship or stay on board. We opted to stay on board. We did laundry. We pretty much goofed off. I remember that Marcy, James and I were working out in the gym. About 30 minutes in to the weights, someone asked us if we were staff. When we said no, they politely asked us to leave and come back later in the day (no biggie).

Our new sail and sign card was waiting for us in our room cabin along with a lovely fruit, nut and snack basket from the ship concierge thanking us for doing the back to back. (Both rooms got this basket).

It truly was worth it and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

lindasuelucas · September 27, 2009

i would love to do this if i ever get the time and the money!! :biggrin:

bowlcoach · September 27, 2009

We had a back-to-back on the Costa Romantica; Eastern and Western Caribbean. We generally book 12-15 months in advance so we requested that we have the same stateroom for both cruises and, indeed, that was possible. The only drawback on this particular cruise (which, by the way, was in 1999), was the entertainment remained the same on each of the 7 day legs, AND, we had to listen to the lifeboat drill instructions twice (in 5 languages EACH time). Other than that, no big problems with back-to-back. The UP side was the cost savings.

DebbieandJerry · September 28, 2009

Linda, we were able to negotiate a sweet price (a smidge less than $1300 per person for both legs including port fees, taxes, gov't fees, ship board credit and a balcony). The deals can be found; especially in this economy.

And, because it is so far out (at the time 16 months in advance) if the pot sweetens and we haven't paid in full, we can take advantage of all the new perks!