B2B cruises

[LHT28]

On a B2B do you just go back onboard as soon as you are allowed?

If so what do you do ?

 

We are considering just going right back onboard (when we are allowed) but not sure what there will be do do

 

Usually we just go ashore for a few hours then return to the ship after Noon

Even then I feel like I am in the way of the crew trying to clean etc... for the new passengers

 

Lyn

[Rickey 88]

You can do pretty much as you want while in port. Life on board ship continues, and your suite will be cleaned as usual - no, you do not leave or have to pack and unpack.

 

Should you wish to go ashore, leave at your leisure and come back whenever you choose. Just remember that cleaning goes on - and it may not be possible to get into your room at that particular time.

 

All other services continue except the GDR may not open, but Terrace will be serving.

 

You will enjoy your B2B, Oceania makes the transition as simple as possible......;)

[LHT28]

Thanks Dick

Yes we have done a few B2B but as I said we just go ashore till NOON or later

 

We did get on earlier one cruise before other passengers were allowed but it was a ghost ship, nothing was open..they were busy preparing for the new arrivals

We were able to get a coffee from the self serve in The Terrace that was it ;)

We just dropped off our jackets as it had warmed up since the 9 am departure from the ship & headed back out

 

Thanks for the input

 

Lyn

[cbb]

All of our O cruises have been b2b and we have done 1 of 2 things:

 

1) have breakfast at the Terrace, tell our room attendant that we are going to breakfast and then off board so she can get an early start on our room. (sometimes we even arrange a time with her the night before)

 

We then leave and go see the port sights, come back aboard, eat lunch at the Terrace and then stay in our room out of everyone's way.

 

or 2) tell our attendant that we are staying on board and ask her when she wants us out. We usually go have breakfast and then return to the room and stay there out of everyone's way. I have, however, twice helped shelf books in the library but then I knew the Asst Director so she was glad for the help!

 

Regardless, we tell our attendant that all we need is the bed made and fresh linens and to heck with the sweeping, dusting, etc. We've been told that really helps.

 

b2b are wonderful and I highly rec'd them! Enjoy! c

[orchestrapal]

You can do pretty much as you want while in port. Life on board ship continues, and your suite will be cleaned as usual - no, you do not leave or have to pack and unpack.

Should you wish to go ashore, leave at your leisure and come back whenever you choose. Just remember that cleaning goes on - and it may not be possible to get into your room at that particular time.

All other services continue except the GDR may not open, but Terrace will be serving.

You will enjoy your B2B, Oceania makes the transition as simple as possible......;)

 

We have been on on 10 b/b on O. In most ports you do not have to leave the ship at all unless you want to. I believe the exception is US ports. We have both had lunch in the MDR as well at several special lunches for b/b cruisers. These are lovely events when they have them.

[muth cruiser]

We are booked for a 32 day cruise fron Sydney to Papeete. It was booked as a single cruise but it is actually a b2b. My question is: Will we be allowed to make 4 or 8 reservations in the special restaurants? I am assuming that even though it was booked as a single cruise we will still get the allotted 4 reservations per cruise.

[Jancruz]

On a B2B do you just go back onboard as soon as you are allowed?

If so what do you do ?

 

We are considering just going right back onboard (when we are allowed) but not sure what there will be do do

 

Usually we just go ashore for a few hours then return to the ship after Noon

Even then I feel like I am in the way of the crew trying to clean etc... for the new passengers

 

Lyn

 

OK dont laugh, I do my laundry..it is wonderful, I use all the machines and I am done in no time at all..it is the perfect time..BTW while it is washing and drying I am up on deck by the pool reading a great book!!

Jancruz1

[cbb]

I have also walked the track for 2-3 miles and, feeling righteous, have 2 desserts! (oh, all right...3...but they're little)

[no fuss travel]

We are booked for a 32 day cruise fron Sydney to Papeete. It was booked as a single cruise but it is actually a b2b. My question is: Will we be allowed to make 4 or 8 reservations in the special restaurants? I am assuming that even though it was booked as a single cruise we will still get the allotted 4 reservations per cruise.

 

8 reservations. 4 for the first part of the cruise and 4 for the second part of the cruise. I just did this for the Papeete to Sydney cruise which is before yours. You will be embarking as I am disembarking. I had problems with the website and ended up phoning Oceania and they booked the remainder for me. I should have just done everything with them in the first place as they could tell me what times were available in each of the specialty dining rooms.:)

[LHT28]

OK dont laugh, I do my laundry..it is wonderful, I use all the machines and I am done in no time at all..it is the perfect time..BTW while it is washing and drying I am up on deck by the pool reading a great book!!

Jancruz1

That is a good plan :D

 

Lyn

[oceansandseas]

DH and I took B2B in 2010 2nd cruise starting in Miami. We had to change cabins even though Oceania had a year to find the same cabin for both cruises. Our TA said that her clients had changed rooms and they come and help and bring the clothes hanger (big roller thing to hand clothes) so I would not have to pack everything.

 

We waited in our cabin after breakfast for someone to come and help. Stewardess kept trying to find the person to help us. After some time we got a phone call to tell us that we had to get off the ship. We left our belongs and went to get off the ship. However, all of the doors leading to the steps were closed and we did not know how to get out. We returned to our room and asked for help in getting out. When we got down to check out, the security people were not too happy that they had to wait for us. We were the last passengers on the ship.

 

We went into the terminal and had to wait for over an hour before we could get back on the ship. We sat in the lounge and waited. People from the next cruise were signing in and waiting to get on.

 

We were the first on that second cruise. At least I can say that I was first passenger on a cruise.

 

Returned to our cabin and there was still no one to help. Talked to stewardess and she investigated. No one was available to come to help us to change cabins. There was a man in the hall who did help by taking one suitcase, however, I had all of the clothes on hangers. We were going from starboard aft balcony to port forward and up a deck to concierge.

 

Never again book B2B if you have to change cabins. We wasted a whole morning of a cruise because of this.

 

On the first of the B2B cruise, a fellow passenger said not to worry. The previous year they had changed cabins and Oceania had moved everything for them. She left the cabin and when she arrived at the new cabin everything was in the same place. She said that even her makeup was set up on the counter the way it had been in the old cabin.

 

This was at a US port (Miami). We had previously been on B2B staying in the same cabin on another cruise line with change around port being Southampton, and we just carried on as if it was a usual day, which was nice.

[LHT28]

DH and I took B2B in 2010 2nd cruise starting in Miami. We had to change cabins even though Oceania had a year to find the same cabin for both cruises.

We have been lucky to get the same cabin on all of our B2B cruises

Our TA does her best to get us what we want but sometimes we have to compromise & change cabin Cat

I am NOT moving cabins...if I cannot get the same cabin we are NOT on the cruise

That is just me though

 

Lyn

[LHT28]

I think we have decided to visit a friend of DH if they are in town on that day

They have a condo in South Beach & usually spend the winter in Florida ...he may fly back for business sometimes

DH will check if they are there & we will work from there

Thanks to all for the suggestions

 

 

Lyn

[cbb]

Oceanandseas, that's a shame you had a poor experience.

 

Our TA knows when he makes our reservations for b2bs that having the same cabin is essential. We always make our reservations at least a year ahead so acquiring the same cabin is not difficult, especially since we don't require a certain cabin #, only a category and general location.

 

We've even turned down awesome upgrades since we could only get that cabin for one leg of the b2b. Just not worth the effort to move! c

[JimandStan]

Having just read Oceansandseas tale of woe, I am reminded that our last two (four??) Oceania Cruises were both B2B where we changed rooms, and one of those turnarounds was in Miami.

 

In both cases, the staff was just wonderful. We did not lift a finger to move anything, even though we travel like Ottoman Sultans, and they had to make 3 or 4 trips with that rolling rack (one just with the toiletries!).

 

When there was an issue with our second segment World Cards, the replacements were hand delivered to our stateroom within half an hour.

 

The key to our success, was in our being proactive during the first cruise, thus insuring that our move was "on the to-do list" for that very busy port day.

 

It is true that we had to get off of the ship in Miami for a few hours in order to satisfy some Customs Regulation or other, but because we knew that our "stuff" was already sorted, we walked off with just our passports and Blue Booklets, and were back on the ship and sitting on "our veranda" just two hours later.

[traveler916]

OK dont laugh, I do my laundry..it is wonderful, I use all the machines and I am done in no time at all..it is the perfect time..BTW while it is washing and drying I am up on deck by the pool reading a great book!!

Jancruz1

 

You do laundry???

 

Hehe. We are going to have to deal with that in the near future...I guess we first need to find where the washing machines are on Marina :).

 

gary

[Mura]

No problem, Traveler ... on Marina and Riviera they're all over the place!

 

The only B2B we ever did on O was our first cruise(s) on O back in early 2004. I've been interested in the responses because back then we were STRONGLY encouraged to get out of Dodge until the afternoon ... O scheduled various tours for us (I don't recall if we had to pay for them or not, but probably we did because we were in a very out-of-the-way port in Costa Rica and nothing was immediately in the vicinity).

 

I'm entranced that Jan does her laundry at these times!

 

On that cruise, we were supposed to have to change cabins ... we'd been upgraded to a PH on the first leg but it was a different room from the one we'd booked for the second leg. That first leg was very underbooked (550 passengers on Regatta) which was why we got the upgrade. My Mom was on the same cruise and she was upgraded from an "E" to an "A"!

 

But I asked if we could stay in the same room and after a wait, they said yes. That second leg was pretty much sold out (it was a Panama Canal cruise) so I guess we were lucky. We would have changed rooms if necessary but were glad not to have to do so. MAYBE we lucked out because the originally booked PH on the second leg had been more midships and the room we were already in was further aft.

 

From what I have seen, few people have had problems even when switching rooms ... so it sounds like OceansandSeas had a particularly bad run of luck! My sympathies. This does not appear to be the typical situation, but that doesn't mean it couldn't happen to someone else! Perhaps it depends on the port where you are, as well. I've heard that Miami is particularly difficult.

 

Mura

[oceansandseas]

Jim and Stan

You said "the key to our success, was in our being proactive during the first cruise, thus insuring that our move was "on the to-do list" for that very busy port day." What more should we have done? I was assured that we would get help and they would bring a roller cart. I trusted them but they did not come through.

 

I mentioned to the stewardess that we were on B2B and would have to change cabins. She assured me that we would be helped. I mentioned it to other travellers and as I quoted, one of the ladies said that everything was moved for her. However when the time came for the help to arrive, we waited and waited. After we reboarded the ship, the stewardess said that there was no one to come and help us. What would you have done in this situation?

 

We therefore had to do it by ourselves. I will never take a back to back where I have to change cabins again.

[orchestrapal]

"We therefore had to do it by ourselves. I will never take a back to back where I have to change cabins again."

 

Sounds like lesson learned.

We have only had to move once in all the times we have take b/b cruises and with the help of wonderful butlers on both ends it was about as painless as it could possibly be. What also helped was that we travel very light and had everything prepared for them to make the move. That being said, we will never take different cabins for a b/b in the future.;)

[hondorner]

Jim and Stan

You said "the key to our success, was in our being proactive during the first cruise, thus insuring that our move was "on the to-do list" for that very busy port day." What more should we have done? I was assured that we would get help and they would bring a roller cart. I trusted them but they did not come through.

 

I mentioned to the stewardess that we were on B2B and would have to change cabins. She assured me that we would be helped. I mentioned it to other travellers and as I quoted, one of the ladies said that everything was moved for her. However when the time came for the help to arrive, we waited and waited. After we reboarded the ship, the stewardess said that there was no one to come and help us. What would you have done in this situation?

 

We therefore had to do it by ourselves. I will never take a back to back where I have to change cabins again.

After a certain amount of time, after my stewardess had conveyed her difficulty in fining someone, I would have gone down to Reception. The room attendants want to help, and I have no doubt your stewardess was even more frustrated than you in not being able to locate someone to help, but the stewardess has only a limited ability to "shake the tree".

 

I would have informed Reception that I was leaving the ship as required, that my stewardess was not having any success finding someone to move my stuff, and that I expected it to be moved by the time I returned. I would not have been belligerant, but definitely assertive. If it wasn't moved when I returned, I would have gone back to Reception and explained that I was trying to avoid being annoyed.

 

Reception would have gotten the message to someone -- General Manager, Concierge, Housekeeping Chief, who would have found someone or, in my experience, done it themselves. They genuinely want to keep the guests happy.

 

There are usually not many people on b2b, and there is certainly enough help if you let someone in authority know there is a potential problem. I think that's what Jim meant by being proactive.

 

At the very least, did you let them know what happened afterwards? I'm appalled at the thought that you carried your own stuff, and I'm certain the top staff would be, also.

[Offroad911]

OK dont laugh, I do my laundry..it is wonderful, I use all the machines and I am done in no time at all..it is the perfect time..BTW while it is washing and drying I am up on deck by the pool reading a great book!!

Jancruz1

 

What a FABULOUS idea! You are genius.

[Jancruz]

What a FABULOUS idea! You are genius.

 

Thank you, can you please tell my DH that..LOL

Jancruz1

[oceansandseas]

Oh Hondorner!! I would never say or do that!!!

 

 

Yes we were told that we would have help moving between cabins and we wasted a lot of time waiting only to be told that no one was going to help. We were very disappointed, but I would never do as you suggested. They would probably throw me off the ship. Many times things go wrong.

 

 

I am sure that it was mentioned in my final survey. We mentioned it to our TA when we returned. However, she thought something else was more important. We were to get our 5 cruise pins on the cruise. When we had not been informed by the morning of the party, we went to Cruise Director to ask about it. Guess what. The records only had our present cruise. Nothing could be found of our previous cruises. We were given our 5 cruise pins as CD believed us, but when we went to go to dinner with people we sat with at the party who had just received their pins, the Social Director told us that since we did not receive a letter, we could not have dinner with the Captain/Officers. We did not argue with her but went to the dining room for the regular dinner. After all, we did have the same menu as they did. lol

 

 

I wonder what you would have done about that situation Hondorner. You do not have to answer. lol

 

 

Therefore, our TA was more interested in getting us our credited cruises than to inquire why we had not been helped during the changing of cabins. She got the number of cruises straightened out. However, we never did get the $200.00 OBC for those who take their 5th cruise.

 

 

Things like this are noted in our minds when booking a cruise. Oceania is a lovely cruise line with very nice ships. It is great cruising when everything goes the way that it should. Not so good when you do not get the service that you see, or hear of, others receiving.

 

However Oceania is not the only cruise line. Last year our B2B was with another line and we only had one Oceania cruise. This year we have not booked a cruise with Oceania. Maybe next year.