Back to back cruise questions

[Liverpoollovely]

Hiya

My family and I are sailing on the freedom on 23rd February on our first ever back to back and we have a few questions ,..

 

1) if we buy any alcohol on the first cruise will the process of returning alcohol on the last night of the cruise or will it be delivered to us on the last night of the second part of the cruise?

 

2) we are staying on the same ship and cabin number on the freedom so when it comes to the last day of the first week what do we have to do? What is the process for back to back cruisers?

 

3) will we be entitled to a second free drink on the second cruise? As we are red card level cruisers

 

4) my sister and I are currently on 14 points when we go on our eight day cruise we will have accumulated 22 sailing points when it comes to the second cruise will we get our gold card as we will have reached 25 points three days into the cruise ? Or will this be given on any future carnival cruise we do?

 

5) any tips or advice you have for a newbie back to back cruiser? :D

 

Thanks

[cv322]

Hiya

My family and I are sailing on the freedom on 23rd February on our first ever back to back and we have a few questions ,..

 

1) if we buy any alcohol on the first cruise will the process of returning alcohol on the last night of the cruise or will it be delivered to us on the last night of the second part of the cruise? I did a B2B on the Miracle this past April...& they deliver the liquor to your cabin the night before disembarkation of the 1st leg.

 

2) we are staying on the same ship and cabin number on the freedom so when it comes to the last day of the first week what do we have to do? What is the process for back to back cruisers? You just enjoy your day & evening a little more than your fellow pax...because you're not packing to go! You will get a letter to your cabin advising you to meet in a certain place (lobby usually) to be escorted off & then on again.

 

3) will we be entitled to a second free drink on the second cruise? As we are red card level cruisers Yes, you should get the coupon 2nd leg also.

 

4) my sister and I are currently on 14 points when we go on our eight day cruise we will have accumulated 22 sailing points when it comes to the second cruise will we get our gold card as we will have reached 25 points three days into the cruise ? Or will this be given on any future carnival cruise we do? I believe it'll happen AFTER this cruise.

 

5) any tips or advice you have for a newbie back to back cruiser? :D You will love it...it's the best!

 

Thanks

 

Enjoy your cruise! :D

[Liverpoollovely]

thank you .. i am looking forward to the b2b experience

[PunkyH]

We did a B2B a few weeks ago. The answers above are correct. Another couple was also doing a B2B and she said she was supposed to hit platinum on the second leg and they gave it to her on both legs.

Have fun. We had to change rooms and it still was easy.

[Kamloops50]

If you buy Internet time ask the manager to see if you can carry any used time into the next cruise.:)

[Walkenkeg]

In the casino if you get the "drinks on us" card the 1st week, ask the Casino Host if he/she will carry it over for the next cruise. They did this for me last Sept.

[scgamecock]

1) if we buy any alcohol on the first cruise will the process of returning alcohol on the last night of the cruise or will it be delivered to us on the last night of the second part of the cruise?

 

To be safe, just go buy your alcohol the last night of the first cruise and take it back to the cabin with you. (I have friends who bought alcohol early in the 1st cruise on a recent b2b and they didn't get it until the end of the 2nd cruise.)

[Liverpoollovely]

Thank y everyone for replying :)

 

I was asking about if u buy any booze on the first leg mainly for packing reasons as I like to start packing on the second to last day of the cruise up the clothes and items we won't be needing such as presents and the like :)

[Betsybill]

We are planning a b to b out of NOLA, after we go to the lobby for the second cruise, can we get off just like a regular port of call, and can we get back onboard without going through the lines of new passangers?

[mississauga]

It sounds like you got 2 different answers regarding your status so just to clarify. On the first cruise you will be RED as you will have 22 days upon completion of that cruise. On the 2nd cruise, you will have 25 days during that cruise so you should be given a GOLD card to begin your 2nd cruise.:)

[Paul Bogle]

It sounds like you got 2 different answers regarding your status so just to clarify. On the first cruise you will be RED as you will have 22 days upon completion of that cruise. On the 2nd cruise, you will have 25 days during that cruise so you should be given a GOLD card to begin your 2nd cruise.:)

 

As I understand the program points accrue to your account within fourteen days of completion of a sailing. You will not enjoy a change in status during a sailing. In this case the OP may not even receive credit for the first cruise until a week after the second cruise ends. :(

[Liverpoollovely]

Thank you all for answering :) I think I will look at it that our card may stay red for the two cruises it just means we have something to look forward to on future cruises after march :)

[lifeisgoodPat]

Thank you all for answering :) I think I will look at it that our card may stay red for the two cruises it just means we have something to look forward to on future cruises after march :)

 

Love your attitude! You are the kind of cruiser that will always have fun and enjoy your cruise. I try to keep that same attitude and ALWAYS have a great time! Good luck and happy cruising .:D:D

[Mom2JJandJ]

As I understand the program points accrue to your account within fourteen days of completion of a sailing. You will not enjoy a change in status during a sailing. In this case the OP may not even receive credit for the first cruise until a week after the second cruise ends. :(

 

According to the Carnival FAQ:

 

"Guests graduating into a new level during a cruise will receive the benefits of the new level they are graduating into from the beginning of the cruise (e.g. those graduating to Gold on the 3rd day of a 5-day cruise will receive Gold benefits for the entire duration of their cruise)."

 

You SHOULD get your Gold card at the beginning of the 2nd leg of your trip. IF you don't (and you really WANT it), you can go down to Guest Services and they can straighten it out for you.

 

I would take a print out of your current cruise history with you though, just to make it easier to straighten out on the ship, should you choose to.

 

Have a great time! :)

[Paul Bogle]

According to the Carnival FAQ:

 

"Guests graduating into a new level during a cruise will receive the benefits of the new level they are graduating into from the beginning of the cruise (e.g. those graduating to Gold on the 3rd day of a 5-day cruise will receive Gold benefits for the entire duration of their cruise)."

 

You SHOULD get your Gold card at the beginning of the 2nd leg of your trip. IF you don't (and you really WANT it), you can go down to Guest Services and they can straighten it out for you.

 

I would take a print out of your current cruise history with you though, just to make it easier to straighten out on the ship, should you choose to.

 

Have a great time! :)

 

That's interesting. My reply was based on the Carnival website also.

 

Except as otherwise stated herein, VIFP Points are credited to a Member’s Account within fourteen (14) days of completing a Cruise. Members can check their VIFP Point balance by logging into their Account at the Site. CCL may, from time to time, offer opportunities to earn extra VIFP Points through participation in different promotions, contests or sweepstakes.

 

http://www.carnival.com/loyalty/faqs.aspx#q-1197347

 

As always Carnival supplies the answers everyone wants to here. :D

[Dicedlr711]

We did a B2B on the Magic this past summer and like you would have earned our gold status on the second leg of the cruise. They gave us the gold card on the first leg. They also gave us the gold pin on both cruises.

[2BSailin]

How wonderful that you get to do a B2B!! Have a wonderful time! :D

[moore4220]

Once you make your final payment, your account will display your VIFP status. We currently have 22 days. Will reach 25 on our cruise in January, & our documents have us classified as gold.

[Liverpoollovely]

Love your attitude! You are the kind of cruiser that will always have fun and enjoy your cruise. I try to keep that same attitude and ALWAYS have a great time! Good luck and happy cruising .:D:D

 

 

Thank you :) I am just grateful and happy to be cruising theres also a reason as to why we are cruising a back to back as it is mothers day over in the UK and we wanted to escape the build up to Mothers day

 

 

 

Thank you to everyone who has posted on this I seem to have posed a head scratcher question hehe ... we have made the payments in full anyway for both the cruises ... as it stands we are still classed as red :) but no mind its no biggie really just my sister thought of that question as she wanted to know if anyone else had been through this situation and what happend out of interest :)

[Paul Bogle]

I sure hope you receive your higher status. The change to the new program has been filled with questions since it's roll out six months ago. Let us know how things work for you.

 

Have a great cruise(s) :)

[Liverpoollovely]

I sure hope you receive your higher status. The change to the new program has been filled with questions since it's roll out six months ago. Let us know how things work for you.

 

Have a great cruise(s) :)

 

 

Awe thank you so much :) hopefully the program will over time be straightened out so everyone doesnt has as many conflicting queries hehe

[Pom Lover]

We did our first B2B on the Breeze last month and have another one planned for next month on the Liberty. We had the same cabin and it was awesome. We just made sure our Room Steward knew we were on a B2B and that was it. Since we were on a B2B we were permitted to bring on twice the amount of wine when we boarded the first cruise. I just made sure to have both boarding passes with us.

[mickym]

We are in the same situation on our B2B in Jan. We will be red on the first and should turn gold on the second. We are bringing our cruise history along and showing it to them at the desk (as instructed to do here on the boards). This is supposed to work to have you moved up for your second cruise. We'll see. As you said not really a big deal. This is our first B2B also and we're really looking forward to it!!

[mswmurf]

I just got off the freedom doing a b2b and it truly was a nightmare, considering I had done a b2b on the glory before and it was a piece of cake.

 

First of all for some unknown reason they didnt realize i was doing a b2b even though i went to guest services several times giving them the room numbers of all of us doing b2b. ( there were seven cabins). I was told repeatedly that something was going to be delivered to my statement during the week to explain the process, well i never got it. When i inquired about this on the last day and reminding them i had been to guest services multiple times. they asked me who had i spoken to, which i didn't remember. So, please make sure you write down the person's name.

 

Fortunately we told our cabin steward making him aware, but unfortunately for our daughter, her cabin steward started waking her up at 7:00 telling her she needed to be out the room in an hour. When she finally told him she was doing a b2b, he apologized saying he didn't know and if she needed help packing, which she didn't as she was staying in the same room.

 

My brother did receive something about his b2b and he never went to guest services to tell them. Since i didn't receive anything, i cannot tell you what it was, something about a pass if he wanted to get off the ship. He also received the instructions of meeting in a special room at 10:00 and to bring your passport or birth certificate.

 

Fortunately my brother gave me the information and all of us were able to go to the special room at 10:00, where we waited and waited for two hours as they were still calling people to leave the ship. Once everyone was off the ship, we had to leave the ship and go through customs , which was just showing our id to one custom person and we had to wait another twenty minutes to get back on the ship. This entire process took about three hours, which is sad considering it only took us forty five minutes to get on the ship the first time.

 

While we were waiting in line, we were given our new cards, but they didnt take a credit card, so i went to guest services to ask if my credit card was going to carry over from last voyage, which i was told no. Some of the seven cabins didnt go to guest services and tried using their card and was unable to do so until they went to guest services. We were traveling with some first time cruisers and there card did not change colors.

 

The alcohol was delivered to my cabin the night before as they did not have me as b2b. One of the cabins did not get their alcohol as they had them scheduled for the b2b. The suggestion of going on the last day and picking up the alcohol is a good idea.

 

Anyway that was my experience and fortunately like i said it was a nightmare. The b2b on the glory was totally opposite and took about fifteen minutes and we felt like royalty having the ship to our self. I hope this information helped.

 

Despite what occurred we still had a wonderful time on the Freedom as this was our second time on her. We cruise often and our motto is a :a bad day on a cruise beats a good day at work any day"

 

Enjoy your cruise!!!!

[Liverpoollovely]

Pom Lover - so glad you enjoyed the cruise a lot of people have been complaining on the boards about the breeze so its good to finally hear nice things said :) I enjoyed being on the Liberty this month it was lovely :) thank you for your advice I will make sure to bring both boarding passes checking in twice ... thankful i am the one doing it haha bless my sister she hasnt the patience for all the "online stuff" as she puts it :) thanks for replying its good to hear peoples experiences on B2B cruises enjoy your B2B cruise on the liberty

 

mickym - ohhhh!! enjoy your B2B i am so excited two weeks on a ship! I will be doing that also just to ensure theres no issues in accumulating points after the cruise enjoy your time on your B2B! and thanks for replying

 

mswmurf - oh dear i am so sorry you had an awful time in the process of gaining information about your second stage of the cruise ... it sounds like a terrible catelogue of errors. but I am glad you enjoyed your time on the cruise and that you shared your experience with me so i can hopefully learn from your experience ... i guess these things happen and the bright scheme of things ... its a double cruise regardless :)