Benefits Of Back-To-Back Cruises

Crystal Serenity (Courtesy of Crystal)

By GEORGINA CRUZ
Special to North Palm Beach Life
Photos by Georgina Cruz

            “Now that we know where everything is on board the ship, we have to get off!” More than one cruise passenger has been heard to say these words during the last morning of a voyage. And, of course, it is hard to have to disembark when we feel comfortable already on the ship: knowing well what is the best way to get to the Spa and the gym from our cabin, where the card room is located, and which is the best elevator to take to go to each of the alternative restaurants of the ship. And we also know many crew and staff members and they know us and our likes and dislikes, making us feel like we are part of a family.

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            What can we do so as not to feel sad at the end of a cruise? The remedy is easy: Take two consecutive cruises! My husband, Humberto, and I have done it several times including two back-to-back cruises on the Crystal Serenity sailing from Miami to idyllic Caribbean ports and we noticed that in addition to feeling very lucky instead of sad at the end of the first sailing, we also have some other important benefits.

            Among these benefits are financial perks. It is, for example, often cheaper to take two back-to-back cruises than two separate cruises as some cruise lines offer discounts on the second of two back-to-back voyages. In the case of the Crystal Serenity, a luxury ship, we saved $680 from the price of the second itinerary thanks to the back-to-back cruises discount the line offers.

            The same thing happened when we reserved back-to-back cruises on the Regent Seven Seas Grandeur, where the line gave us 5% off on the second cruise. Other savings include transportation costs: we incur charges for flights or other transportation only once to embark on Crystal Serenity for our back-to-back cruises instead of twice if we had taken two separate cruises during the year.

Our butler with fruits in our suite

Mancin, the dining room waiter,with ice cream dessert

Our tea waiter with treats

 Other benefits of back-to-back sailings include that our room attendants, Lohe, from India, and Leanne, from the Philippines, already knew our routines and likes at the very start of the second cruise: things like that we like to have breakfast early, so they make up our suite quickly in the morning. And other staff in the restaurants also knows our preferences: Peter, from Poland, the maitre d' in Waterside, the main restaurant, knew what table we prefer and our waiter, Marcin, also from Poland, knew how we like our ice cream and toppings and what dressing we like with our salads, etc. And Deniz, an afternoon tea host already knew that we enjoy green tea and gluten-free treats. Our butler, Gary, from South Africa, also already knew what items we like stocked in our mini-fridge and that we prefer fresh fruits instead of the customary afternoon canapes delivered to our suite.

            Also, very important is that back-to-back cruises offer the opportunity to know more of a region as more ports are visited in the area. For example, in our two itineraries on the Crystal Serenity, in addition to visiting popular ports like Puerto Rico, Barbados, Antigua and St. Lucia, we also stopped at seldom visited jewels like Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands and at the pristine French islands of Deshaies and Les Saintes. When sometimes ports are repeated on back-to-back cruises it gives us an opportunity to explore more extensively.

Us in St. Bart's

​On our two itineraries on the Crystal Serenity only one of the ports was repeated: the lovely French island of  St. Bart’s where I would like to go not just two times but 200! That way on the first visit to that port which is a playground of the rich and famous like Beyoncé and Jay Z, and Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez, we could orient ourselves with a tour around the island to enjoy the sights of its red-roofed, picturesque towns like St. Jean, its beautiful beaches including Grand Cul de Sac, and its incredible airport with just one runway that ends practically at the sea, and on the second visit we could take our time in the beautiful port of Gustavia, the capital, shopping for French goods including fashions in boutiques by Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Bvlgari, Ralph Lauren and other famous designers on the Quai de la Republique, steps from where the ship’s tenders drop passengers off. We could also enjoy a tour via semi-submersible to see some of the marine life of the area including turtles that frequent a reef near the port.

             And all this having to pack and unpack once, not twice. Similarly, there are social benefits as well. When other passengers hear that we are on the second of back-to-back cruises they want to chat about life on board including what we thought of the alternative restaurants and what was good to eat there, and what we saw in the ports. A passenger who had taken several back-to-back cruises told us that he would buy on the first cruise T-shirts in the repeated ports and wear them ahead of arrival at the port in the second voyage and “always the ladies would ask me how I liked the port and what I recommended that they see,” he said. and that way he made friends.

          Other benefits? The passengers who go in the second of two back-to-back cruises are treasured members of trivia teams as frequently some of the quizzes’ questions are repeated and they already know the answers!

          As with everything in life, in addition to pros, there are cons when taking back-to-back cruises. One of them is that often entertainers are repeated. For example, we took back-to-back cruises on a Holland America ship to Canada and New England and the same guest magician put on the same show on both cruises. This does not bother us: when we see that a guest entertainer is repeated, we go to a lounge where there is music for dancing, or for a stroll on deck under the stars, or to watch a movie in our room, but some people may be bothered by this when shows are repeated.

          It is a good idea to consult a travel agent who specializes in cruises to get information about offers and discounts available when you plan to cruise.  In addition to being able to inform us about the discount on the second of two back-to-back cruises, our agent could tell us about upgrade offers available including one for our sailing which featured a complimentary upgrade to one of Crystal's Sapphire Suites if you booked a lower-priced Aquamarine Suite. Our Sapphire Suite, 9032, is 430 sq. ft. with a wonderful 107 sq. ft. veranda --the living room is chic and spacious and has a sitting area with sofa, a dining table with two chairs, walk-in closet, two big screen televisions, comfortable bedroom and a bathroom to write home about with a shower equipped with a hand-held head, rain shower and two sets of fountain-like jets. The shower is so big one passenger joked that you could "host a party in it!"

IF YOU GO -- For information about Crystal, visit www.crystalcruises.com.

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