Back To Back Cruise Question.

[PWCmum]

We are planning on sailing with NCL on the Norwegian Sun from Vancouver after her last Alaskan run at the end of Sep 2014. When the ship arrives at San Pedro, she is then chartered out to (LRBC) The Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise for a 7 nt cruise to Mexico.

 

We have taken this chartered cruise twice before, on HAL, and flew from YVR to SAN Rtn, but since we live less than 2 hrs away from the port of Vancouver thought that this would be a great opportunity to start our journey sailing, with only one flight, on the way home from LAX.

 

But, my question is this..does anyone know if we would need to disembark the ship due to customs regulations, or those because of the second portion being a charter? We have sailed the Med on a back to back, but the cruises were both booked directly with the cruise line, not a separate company.

 

Being able to book the same cabin, and leave our belongings in it I assume will be another matter.

 

I had sent an email sometime ago to NCL but did not receive a reply.

 

Being a retired travel/cruise consultant for many years now, I do not have a dept name to contact directly, so thank you for any suggestion you may have.

[Starry Eyes]

Are you just concerned about whether you will have to disembark and undergo customs and immigration formalities in LA? If so, I would predict that, yes, US authorities will likely insist all passengers exit the ship and go through formalities. While other nations might not insist upon this, the US seems consistent about it. Often it is a quick trip off and back on, though I do not know if the charter change or complicate the rebounding process; I'd hope not.

[PWCmum]

Thank you for your reply, we don't so much mind the getting off and on the ship, it's packing all of our things into the luggage and having to carry if all off with us.

 

I'm going to put in a call to the 1-800 number for NCL tomorrow. I'll post back when I get the answer.

[Starry Eyes]

While the charter makes your situation slightly different than average, I'd be surprised if it changed the luggage issue. I'd predict that if you keep the same cabin, your stuff will stay in the cabin undisturbed on turnaround day. If you change cabins, the stuff will have to move, but I do not expect you'll have to cart it all off the ship on turnaround day. The US authorities ask to see the people on turnaround days; so far they have not wanted to see my luggage that day. If you wish to read about other people's experiences, search B2B on this forum.

[HokiePoq]

Thank you for your reply, we don't so much mind the getting off and on the ship, it's packing all of our things into the luggage and having to carry if all off with us.

 

I'm going to put in a call to the 1-800 number for NCL tomorrow. I'll post back when I get the answer.

 

The packing up will depend on whether you can keep the same cabin.

If you can't, I'm pretty sure the stewards move it for you. We were lucky to keep the same cabin on our B2Bs on NCL but that is what happened on our recent RCCL cruise.