Back to Back Cruises, What Do You Need to Know?!

Have you ever thought about taking back to back cruise? Did you know that that was even a thing?! Well that’s what we did at the end of November and into December and we’re here to tell you ALL about it!

**Important, there are some times that back to back cruises are not an option.**

-- “The Jones Act (also known as the Passenger Services Act) prohibits ships of Non-U.S registry from embarking and debarking guests at two different U.S ports. Such travel would constitute point-to-point transportation between two U.S ports, which is prohibited on foreign flagged ships.”

We’ve talked a lot about cruising before because it is the perfect family vacation – well, it’s the perfect vacation for our family. There is a ship and an itinerary for everyone! If you’ve ever sailed with Disney you know how amazing it is! Now imagine doing two cruises in a row. Double the fun, double the magic!

We spent a total of 14.25 days onboard the beautiful Disney Wonder – the quarter of a day is for the last day of the second cruise where we ate breakfast and disembarked to head home. We sailed two different itineraries, Bahamas out of Galveston and Western Caribbean out of Galveston – both sailing were Very Merry Time Cruises. Over the course of the two cruises we visited six ports in five countries and had six relaxing days at sea. Overall, we had an amazing time.

So what are the advantages to taking back to back cruises? First, we got to experience two itineraries without having to wait months or even years to do so. Taking two cruises got us closer to the next Castaway Club level. (These were our fourth and fifth cruises, so on our next sailing we’ll be Gold!) We got to stay with the same dining team for both sailings, which was great because we loved them, and there was no period of getting to know a new server at the start of the second cruise. If you’re able to book the same room for both cruises, which we were not, you can just leave your bags in your room and not have to worry about them or adjusting to a new rooms.

Lastly, what we thought was the best part, is that you don’t have to miss anything! While the itinerary and the ports of call changed the onboard activities – the character meet and greets, shows, Very Merry Time activities – didn’t change, so if we were unable to do something on the first sailing, we didn’t have to worry, we could just do it the next week. We did this with the Pirate Party, which was perfect. On the first sailing Pirate Night fell on our day at Castaway Cay which was a long, fun filled day of playing at the beach, running and riding bikes. There was no way that Christian, or any of us really, were going to be stay up for the party that started at 10pm, especially since the next day was an early day in Nassau. On the second sailing Pirate Night fell on Falmouth, Jamaica day which was much more laid back, which a sea day after it, and we were able to enjoy the party, the fireworks and the buffet afterwards.

So, how does this all work?

First you need to book two cruises that leave back to back. So, the day that the first cruise ends is also the day that the second cruise begins. When you do online check in you also need to sure to mark that your destination after your first cruise is another Disney Cruise and to mark the ship.

Before you arrive at the port be sure to research parking options, including if there is anything special that you need to do to park for two cruises worth of time. Each port is different.

Our experience, at the port of Galveston, may be different from your experience at a different port and each day can bring about changes, but this is our experience.

On the last evening of our first cruise we received a letter with instructions for the next day. We were to pack our bags, like normal, because we did not have the same stateroom for both sailings, but instead of leaving them in the hallway to be taken off the ship we were to fill out the provided luggage tags with our reservation number as well as our stateroom number for the second sailing. When we left for breakfast the next morning our bags were left in our room and the stateroom host team moved them to our new room instead of them being taken off the ship.

Boarding documents, including a special boarding card, our passports and a day bag were all that we took with us.

Following breakfast, while everyone else was disembarking we tried to stay out of the way as much as possible until 9:30am when we met with the one other family that was getting right back onboard as well as some crew members. At this point everyone else that had been on our first sailing had left the ship. We were lead off the ship and to the Customs and Border Protection agents. There we showed our passports before being led back to the cruise check in.

Once the check in people were ready we were checked in like normal, received our new Key to the World cards, the day’s Personal Navigator and new lanyards. From there we made our way upstairs to the large waiting area where we waited for about 10 minutes. Since we were sailing back to back we boarded with the other family and a group that was touring the ship.

Just like normal, after the ship is emptied of cruisers, repairs are made and the ship is cleaned. That means that while you can explore the hallways and play basketball the pools, restaurants and clubs are all closed until everyone else begins to board the ship around noon.

As I said, our experience may not be the same as yours. However, we were only off the ship for about 30-45 minutes total before we were back on and hanging on deck four for Christian to take a nap.

We had an amazing time on both cruises and really enjoyed being able to relax for two straight weeks and to not have the sadness on our faces and in our hearts on the last day of our first cruise like everyone else who was leaving the magic of Disney Cruise Line that day. Would we do it again? YES!

Start planning your next magical vacation! I’d be happy to help you plan a trip on land or at sea for no additional cost to you, and at the same time you would be helping a small business! Contact me at miriyawhitaker@worldofmagictravel.com to get your FREE quote and to start planning. For more Disney and travel information follow me on Facebook.