Help with back 2 back questions

[thmpsn]

We have booked b2b cruises on the Constellation next Feb. 2016. Can you tell me how it works? We have to change rooms for second cruise and I would like to hear what exactly we must do and what the room steward will do for us to help with the move. Any hints or suggestions to make this move easier would be greatly appreciated.

Karon

[Snit13]

We have booked b2b cruises on the Constellation next Feb. 2016. Can you tell me how it works? We have to change rooms for second cruise and I would like to hear what exactly we must do and what the room steward will do for us to help with the move. Any hints or suggestions to make this move easier would be greatly appreciated.

Karon

 

We did B2B on Silhouette in 2013 but did not have to change cabins. You will be given written instructions to assemble at a given location and you must get off the ship and show your passport and then reboard the ship. It only took a few minutes but we did have to walk into terminal and then back to ship. An issue for those of us with mobility problems. I don't know about help changing cabins. Why didn't you work to get same cabin for both?

[thmpsn]

It just did not work out that we could get same room for both cruises. Still wondering how the move is handled. Anyone have that experience to share?

Karon

[Phxazzcruisers]

You can leave everything on hangers in the closet. The room stewart will move those. Everything i drawers needs to be put in the suitcases and they will also be moved for you. Not as easy as staying in the same room, but they try to make it as easy as possible.

[cruzzzinma]

We changed cabins last year on a back to back cruise.

 

We received a letter midway through the first leg advising that there'd be a meeting for all the B2Bers. We went but what they had to tell us could have easily been put in a letter.

 

We received our new stateroom Seapasses on the last night of the first leg. We were in Honolulu and had cleared US customs in Vancouver so we didn't have to go through customs. We had the option of staying on board or getting off. If we opted to stay onboard, we had to go to one of the bars to get new pics taken for the second leg. We waited to disembark so we got new pix onboard. It took about 30 seconds.

 

They gave us "skip the line" transit passes for the cruise terminal so we didn't have to wait to reboard when we came back. The only line we had to stand in when we returned was the security scanner line.

 

The cabin steward will help you move. Our steward was also the steward for the new cabin. He told us he'd clean our new cabin as soon as it was vacated.

 

We packed all the loose stuff - I put the contents of each drawer into a packing cube so that we could put the same stuff into the same drawer location. I hung everything that could be hung or draped on hangers.

 

We wanted to move our things before we left for the day. We had the option of getting everything packed and letting the steward deal with it. The steward and his assistant carried all our hanging items to the new cabin. We rolled our suitcases down the hall and put our cabin together. Then we played tourist for the day.

 

I recommend you keep checking cabin availability, especially after final payment. We actually had the same cabin booked for both cruises. One of the hump cabins on the Solstice popped up just after final payment on the second leg. I snagged it immediately. Later I changed us to a more desirable location on the first leg.

Edited May 3, 2015 by cruzzzinma

[thmpsn]

Thank you so very much for your quick response. It is just what I was looking for. Sounds like a pretty painless experience. The problem is we booked the first leg of the b2b months ago and it is now sold out except for inside rooms. And we just decided yesterday to add the second cruise which has all rooms available, so we opted for AQ on it. Of course I can keep checking back, but with all but the inside cabins sold out, I would have to be very quick and lucky to snag the same room should someone cancel on the first cruise. I am happy with what I have, just was curious how it is handled since all our b2b experiences in the past have had us staying in the same room.

Thanks again, I appreciate your input,

Karon

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I've done it several times and it's pretty painless. The stewards will move for you. Re hangers--best to have your steward bring you lots of wire hangers. Your new steward will take them away from your new cabin if you don't want them. Put all your hanging things on those and they can easily slip them on the hanging bar on the cart. Those crazy hangers with the little nub on the end that clip into a fixed thing on the hanging bar obviously won't work.

 

Please remember to tip the stewards extra for this service.

 

You will get instructions as to whether or not you leave the ship. Sometimes there will be excursions offered for the B2B folks.

 

[atlantabri2]

We, too are doing b2b for the first time. We will be ending leg 1 and beginning leg 2 in Rome. Any information about this location's specifics for b2b? What about dealing with valuables - we are wanting to use our limited time in Rome that day - is it possible to have guest services lock up valuables instead of keeping them with us if we are trying to leave as early as possible? Much thanks in advance for the help!

[Northern Aurora]

We generally do B2B or B2B2B cruises since we live in the middle of Alaska and fly to every cruise embarkation port. Just seems a better use of air fare to do a B2B.

 

Just to add to the general comments re the B2B procedure, when those poor souls who will be disembarking receive their disembarkation packets the B2B passengers will receive a succinct letter of instructions regarding the turnaround day. There may or may not be a meeting for the B2B passengers, you may receive your new sea pass card the night before the turnaround day or on the turnaround day. There are a number of variations as to how the turnaround day procedure is handled given the number of B2B passengers, customs and immigration regulations, and sometimes I think just the personal preference of the officer assigned to handle the process.

 

 

We, too are doing b2b for the first time. We will be ending leg 1 and beginning leg 2 in Rome. Any information about this location's specifics for b2b? What about dealing with valuables - we are wanting to use our limited time in Rome that day - is it possible to have guest services lock up valuables instead of keeping them with us if we are trying to leave as early as possible? Much thanks in advance for the help!

 

I have never heard of Guest Relations locking your valuables. Generally a stateroom attendant will take you, with the items you want to secure in the safe, to the "new" stateroom once the prior occupants have left, unlock the door, and then turn their head as you program in your security code in the safe. The room frequently has not yet been prepared for you so they are not moving all of your belongings at this point.

[clbkatz]

I am doing a back to back in July on the Equinox. Does anyone have any idea of what time we would be allowed to get off of the ship that day? I have a private tour set up and I am not sure what time I should tell them to pick us up. Thanks!

[4774Papa]

We switched on a B2B between a transatlantic and a British Isles cruise in Harwich, UK. We went on an excursion to Cambridge that day and our room steward moved us.

 

Because we were away from the ship during the move, he asked that we pack all our clothes (nothing on hangers).

It was not a big deal, I simply folded my hanging stuff (still on wire hangers that I brought) into my large suitcase.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

We switched on a B2B between a transatlantic and a British Isles cruise in Harwich, UK. We went on an excursion to Cambridge that day and our room steward moved us.

 

Because we were away from the ship during the move, he asked that we pack all our clothes (nothing on hangers).

It was not a big deal, I simply folded my hanging stuff (still on wire hangers that I brought) into my large suitcase.

 

We were on the same cruise and also did an excursion on turnaround day. No problem having the cabin attendants move us with all our clothes on hangers. You may have had a lazy cabin steward. I would never change cabins if I had to re-pack all my stuff.

 

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

We switched on a B2B between a transatlantic and a British Isles cruise in Harwich, UK. We went on an excursion to Cambridge that day and our room steward moved us.

 

Because we were away from the ship during the move, he asked that we pack all our clothes (nothing on hangers).

It was not a big deal, I simply folded my hanging stuff (still on wire hangers that I brought) into my large suitcase.

 

duplicate post

 

Edited May 3, 2015 by Happy Cruiser 6143

[varoo]

...... No problem having the cabin attendants move us with all our clothes on hangers. You may have had a lazy cabin steward. I would never change cabins if I had to re-pack all my stuff.

Same for us.

 

We have done a number of B2Bs where we needed to change cabins. We always leave as much clothing as possible on hangers and have never needed to pack anything that was on hangers.

 

If going on an excursion that day, you just pack up all the loose stuff from the shelves and drawers and walls and they move everything for you.

 

They will provide big plastic bags upon request (the type they use for linens and towels) that can be handy for tossing in miscellaneous odd shaped stuff, like shoes, snorkel gear, bungee cords, backpacks.

 

Things don't need to be packed up neatly the way you would pack for an airplane trip. Just put all loose items into some type of suitcase, box or bag that can easily be loaded on the luggage cart for the move.

 

[smtcan]

We had to change cabins on our Century B2B last month. We had the hangers without hooks, and our steward piled our clothes on hangers onto his cart. He counted the hangers and took the appropriate number from our new cabin then hung our clothes in the new closet. We were able to move our items from the safe into the new safe right away. We moved from deck 3 to deck 9 and it was really painless.

 

Sheila