Booking Back to Back Cruises

[travelplus]

It would be nice if they can keep you under one folio and  same SeaPass card if not changing staterooms. At a Timesahre resort I can stay there for two weeks and they can merge my  reservations staying in the same room and my  credit card info is just copied over to the next reservation.

 

Its a backend system that lets you transfer the folio to the next booking and activate the new SeaPass offers for the 2nd cruise.

 

One could merge the reservation#s into  one reservation and mark you as "In Transit"  The "In Transit" status gets removed once the ship departs on the 2nd leg of the B2B. 

 

Honesty I think cruiselines could allow you to keep the same room  for B2B cruises on one reservation#.  Once you book two weeks if you can't get the same Stateroom your reservation# gets moved to the new stateroom with a waitlist to keep you in the same stateroom. The cruise would set the prefence to keep you in the same Cabin and Category unless you chose otherwise and offer a B2B discount for doing so.

Thougths?

[Ourusualbeach]

12 minutes ago, travelplus said:

It would be nice if they can keep you under one folio and  same SeaPass card if not changing staterooms. At a Timesahre resort I can stay there for two weeks and they can merge my  reservations staying in the same room and my  credit card info is just copied over to the next reservation.

 

Its a backend system that lets you transfer the folio to the next booking and activate the new SeaPass offers for the 2nd cruise.

 

One could merge the reservation#s into  one reservation and mark you as "In Transit"  The "In Transit" status gets removed once the ship departs on the 2nd leg of the B2B. 

 

Honesty I think cruiselines could allow you to keep the same room  for B2B cruises on one reservation#.  Once you book two weeks if you can't get the same Stateroom your reservation# gets moved to the new stateroom with a waitlist to keep you in the same stateroom. The cruise would set the prefence to keep you in the same Cabin and Category unless you chose otherwise and offer a B2B discount for doing so.

Thougths?

Lots of other cruiselines offer two week or longer itineraries that are really just multiple cruises joined together. Princess and MSC are 2 that do this and it is cheaper than booking each individually. 

 

I guess Royal doesn’t feel the need to discount  their product like this as their ships continue to sail way above capacity.  

Edited May 22, 2019 by Ourusualbeach

[OCruisers]

4 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Princess and MSC are 2 that do this and it is cheaper than booking each individually. 

 

 

Can assure you that it's no less expensive on PRINCESS to book a B2B than it is to book individually.  

 

[Ourusualbeach]

4 minutes ago, OCruisers said:

 

Can assure you that it's no less expensive on PRINCESS to book a B2B than it is to book individually.  

 

Thanks, I was sure I saw some that were cheaper however I just looked again and I was mistaken.  

[OCruisers]

1 minute ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Thanks, I was sure I saw some that were cheaper however I just looked again and I was mistaken.  

 

No Problem.  Gosh, we also wish they were!  

[Merion_Mom]

35 minutes ago, travelplus said:

It would be nice if they can keep you under one folio and  same SeaPass card if not changing staterooms. At a Timesahre resort I can stay there for two weeks and they can merge my  reservations staying in the same room and my  credit card info is just copied over to the next reservation.

 

Its a backend system that lets you transfer the folio to the next booking and activate the new SeaPass offers for the 2nd cruise.

 

One could merge the reservation#s into  one reservation and mark you as "In Transit"  The "In Transit" status gets removed once the ship departs on the 2nd leg of the B2B. 

 

Honesty I think cruiselines could allow you to keep the same room  for B2B cruises on one reservation#.  Once you book two weeks if you can't get the same Stateroom your reservation# gets moved to the new stateroom with a waitlist to keep you in the same stateroom. The cruise would set the prefence to keep you in the same Cabin and Category unless you chose otherwise and offer a B2B discount for doing so.

Thougths?

 

I see no problem with the way that they do it, keeping the two cruises separate.  How does it affect you negatively?  To me, it seems to be a TOTAL non-issue.

[Merion_Mom]

3 hours ago, neverbeenhere said:

You will get them when you come back to the ship. Follow the "normal" embarkation procedure and they will get you new cards. Done it dozens of times. 

This has not been my experience at all.

 

You should receive your new SeaPass card either the night before or the morning of disembarkation from the first cruise.

 

If not, they are given out at the gathering of consecutive cruisers on disembarkation morning.

 

If all of that should fail, as Bob said, go to Guest Services and ask for your card.

 

I have never been given my new card "later".

[steveru621]

5 hours ago, Ohio State Fan said:

What time is the “meeting” over or what time can we count on getting to disembark. Would like to sightsee or do laundry.

 

Any meeting will be the day before Debarkation.

[cruisegirl1]

38 minutes ago, steveru621 said:

 

Any meeting will be the day before Debarkation.

 We’ve  taken many back to back and have never had a meeting prior to the turnaround day.

 

We get a letter explaining the process. The process is somewhat different at different ports but the letter is pretty self-explanatory. 

 

 Generally we meet about 9:45, wait for the ship to clear, and then we are either escorted off and escorted by back on, or we are escorted off and wait a little while and then take them back on the ship. We are brought back on the ship just a few minutes before the first boarding group. Any time on the “empty ship“ would be before the  specified meaning time on turnaround day. 

 

Enjoy

 

[Merion_Mom]

40 minutes ago, cruisegirl1 said:

 We’ve  taken many back to back and have never had a meeting prior to the turnaround day.

 

We get a letter explaining the process. The process is somewhat different at different ports but the letter is pretty self-explanatory. 

 

 Generally we meet about 9:45, wait for the ship to clear, and then we are either escorted off and escorted by back on, or we are escorted off and wait a little while and then take them back on the ship. We are brought back on the ship just a few minutes before the first boarding group. Any time on the “empty ship“ would be before the  specified meaning time on turnaround day. 

 

Enjoy

 

 

I've taken many back to back cruises and have had a meeting prior to turnaround day quite a few times.

[cruisegirl1]

7 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

I've taken many back to back cruises and have had a meeting prior to turnaround day quite a few times.

Interesting.  What do they tell you in the meeting that is not in the letter  or that you need to know prior to arriving at the scheduled time?    

 

I know from your posts that you have quite a few b2B  and even multiples.  I’ve only had somewhere between 12 and 15 ( i’m too lazy to look back at my paperwork ) and only two B2B2B and have never had a meeting.  The letter tells us when/where to show up, so we arrive at the appointed place and time. Then, they tell us the process.    All of our back to backs have been at US ports (Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, Port Canaveral, Miami)   Not sure if that is the difference. 

 

M

 

 

[Clarea]

3 minutes ago, cruisegirl1 said:

Interesting.  What do they tell you in the meeting that is not in the letter  or that you need to know prior to arriving at the scheduled time?    

 

I know from your posts that you have quite a few b2B  and even multiples.  I’ve only had somewhere between 12 and 15 ( i’m too lazy to look back at my paperwork ) and only two B2B2B and have never had a meeting.  The letter tells us when/where to show up, so we arrive at the appointed place and time. Then, they tell us the process.    All of our back to backs have been at US ports (Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, Port Canaveral, Miami)   Not sure if that is the difference. 

 

M

 

 

 

We've had a few meetings. usually when there are a large number of B2B guests.  Last one I can remember was on Adventure.  They cover the same stuff that's in the letter.  Maybe it's a reading comprehension thing, but some people still have questions.

[Merion_Mom]

Yes, the meeting covers the same information that is in the letter, but honestly the letter is not always very clear on a lot of issues.  The meeting gives people the chance to ask questions, and while some of those could be answered by reading the letter, not all of them can.

 

I have had these meetings both in the Americas and in Europe.

[island lady]

One thing I do, if I have the same cabin (which I try hard to do so)...is to let your cabin attendant know that you don't need "turn around service" which is the extensive cleaning they do in between cruises.   This also gives you no problems getting back into your cabin.  I just ask for clean towels.  

 

I do make sure my next leg of "goodies" like wine, water...etc.  are supplied again,  and I do make sure I let GS desk know I am consecutive cruiser to be sure I am on the list.  

[fdthird]

While we did have a meeting on our last B2B, on the recent one on Liberty out of Galveston we just got the letter!  Missed the mimosas during the meeting!  We decided to get off on turnaround day, and had our new sea pass cards, and “in transit” cards  (which they let us use to go through the Key security line at Galveston terminal) before we left the ship.  

 

We had no issues having the cruise as two separate reservations.  We made sure our TA found a room in our desired location that was open for 2 weeks and she booked it. No problem honestly with separate folios.   I have to agree with someone who said it was a non issue. 

[mugtech]

Many of the C&A benefits are per cruise, so two smaller cruises are better than one big cruise.

[ciscodog]

When you get off the first cruise, can you go and buy 2 bottles of wine to bring on like you can the first week? We have the same stateroom both legs. Can we keep our water in fridge and stuff in safe?

 

[Clarea]

5 minutes ago, ciscodog said:

When you get off the first cruise, can you go and buy 2 bottles of wine to bring on like you can the first week? We have the same stateroom both legs. Can we keep our water in fridge and stuff in safe?

 

Yes and yes.

 

You can also bring on 4 bottles before the first cruise.  Show the security people documentation for the second cruise if they ask about the 2 extra bottles.

[davekathy]

9 minutes ago, ciscodog said:

When you get off the first cruise, can you go and buy 2 bottles of wine to bring on like you can the first week? We have the same stateroom both legs. Can we keep our water in fridge and stuff in safe?

 

Make sure to have your in transit pass before you leave the ship. Everything remains in your cabin. 

Edited May 23, 2019 by davekathy

[ciscodog]

Thanks for the replies! Good to know about the 4 bottles of wine on the first leg!

[bonsai3s]

2 hours ago, ciscodog said:

Thanks for the replies! Good to know about the 4 bottles of wine on the first leg!

 

You could also purchase liquor onboard the first week of your B2B. It will be delivered the last day of the first cruise. You can then enjoy some spirits the second week. Happy Sailing.

[ciscodog]

We are definitely going to buy liquor on the last day of the first cruise! With our perks from being in a Boardwalk Balcony, we can get free soda and make mixed drinks!

[island lady]

21 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

Yes and yes.

 

You can also bring on 4 bottles before the first cruise.  Show the security people documentation for the second cruise if they ask about the 2 extra bottles.

 

Great info...did not think of that.  Just assumed had to go out and buy bottles at turn around day.  🙂  

Edited May 24, 2019 by island lady

[grandgeezer]

We get an extra $100 total, not each segment, from our TA. Not a lot but every little bit helps.

 

[davekathy]

4 hours ago, grandgeezer said:

We get an extra $100 total, not each segment, from our TA. Not a lot but every little bit helps.

 

That's $200.00 more than what we get. 😥