How does back to back booking work?

[FrankieSue]

If you book a back to back cruise, do you get 2 booking numbers? Do you have to pay 2 deposits? Do you get the benefits listed on each segment? Do you get to bring your 1 bottle of wine each on each segment? Do they close your onboard account after each segment.  I am curious to hear how it works as we are looking at possibly booking our first back to back itinerary.  Thanks in advance for your comments.

[rucrazy]

30 minutes ago, FrankieSue said:

1)If you book a back to back cruise, do you get 2 booking numbers?

2)Do you have to pay 2 deposits?

3)Do you get the benefits listed on each segment?

4)Do you get to bring your 1 bottle of wine each on each segment?

5)Do they close your onboard account after each segment.

 I am curious to hear how it works as we are looking at possibly booking our first back to back itinerary.  Thanks in advance for your comments.

1) Yes 

2) Yes

3) Yes

4) Technically Yes

5) Yes

Answers are based on a true classic B2B bookings

[richwmn]

Posted 9 minutes ago

47 minutes ago, FrankieSue said:

1)If you book a back to back cruise, do you get 2 booking numbers?

2)Do you have to pay 2 deposits?

3)Do you get the benefits listed on each segment?

4)Do you get to bring your 1 bottle of wine each on each segment?

5)Do they close your onboard account after each segment.

 I am curious to hear how it works as we are looking at possibly booking our first back to back itinerary.  Thanks in advance for your comments.

1) Yes 

2) Yes

3) Yes

4) Technically Yes

5) Yes

Answers are based on a true classic B2B bookings

I would not give those as hard and fast answers. You can book a B2B with 1 or several booking numbers. That will change the other answers. While #4 might  be technically yes, it would depend on security on the ship. They might let you do it, but maybe not. Again with #5, it may depend on how you book it, but would be up to the front desk on the particular ship.

 

[rucrazy]

3 minutes ago, richwmn said:

I would not give those as hard and fast answers.

The answers I provided were for once again a TRUE CLASSIC B2B

[Riversedge]

We've never had a problem bringing another bottle of wine on embarkation of our second cruise.  With us we have always been treated as if it were two different cruises.  Maybe there are incidences where it is different.  It's nice if you have two future cruise deposits because you can get OBC on both cruises.  

[FrankieSue]

Thank you very much. Your answers are very helpful.

[FrankieSue]

Here is a tricky one: if you have a future cruise deposit, I assume that you can use that on one of the segments and if you book within 60 days of your return from your last cruise, do you think that you could apply the ZPM code on the second segment? If that was possible, you would double your OBC.

[awhcruiser]

Our cruise is 14 days but can also be taken in 2 one week segments.  I paid one deposit for the entire 14 days as the cruise was also offered as one lasting 14 days.

Edited June 24, 2019 by awhcruiser

[cowmilker]

We did the same thing, awhcruiser.  Lots of times cruises are offered as one long trip or broken into segments and can be booked that way.

But I'm getting ready to book three B2B cruises, on the same ship, that are not segments but truly separate cruises. I assume when I do this that I will pay three separate down payments and have three different booking numbers.  If that is the case, then I will assume that everything else, including wine bottles, will be treated as three different cruises. If not, I will be finding out why. 🙂

I don't know about HAL, as I've never done it, but when we've done this before (NCL) we got new key cards for each of the B2Bs (we did four of them).

[rucrazy]

16 minutes ago, cowmilker said:

We did the same thing, awhcruiser.  Lots of times cruises are offered as one long trip or broken into segments and can be booked that way.

I don't know about HAL, as I've never done it, but when we've done this before (NCL) we got new key cards for each of the B2Bs (we did four of them).

Every time we have done a true B2B we were instructed to meet at a specific location with others doing b2b where HAL presented us with new cards we then were  escorted off the ship with the old card to ZERO out pax count, and almost immediately escorted back on board using the new card.

[cowmilker]

That is exactly what we had to do with NCL.  We kept our same cabin, didn't have to pack or move anything, but we had to leave the ship briefly.

 

Frankly, it was a good feeling to do that.  Everyone else was leaving (poor people!!) and we were the lucky few who were staying on board.  LOL

Edited June 24, 2019 by cowmilker

[drowelf]

Sometimes cruises are offered as 1 longer or 2 or more shorter segments. When we booked our first upcoming B2B for 28 days in Asia, you could do it either as 2 of 14 days or 1 of 28 days. I had the FCC work up both options to see which worked best. It turned out that doing it as 2 14 days was the best price, (by several hundred $$). Another benefit is that it allows us to apply our stockholders OBC to both segments, which netted and extra $250 OBC overall. 
 

We booked it as 2 and have the same cabin for both segments, so we won't have much to do on turn-around day, expect get to enjoy Hong Kong!

 

Cheers, 

[rucrazy]

19 minutes ago, cowmilker said:

Frankly, it was a good feeling to do that.  Everyone else was leaving (poor people!!) and we were the lucky few who were staying on board.  LOL

Somethings in life are "priceless"

[Krazy Kruizers]

Years ago there weren't any Collector Cruises.  We had to book each cruise separately and did get 2 different confirmation numbers.  Most ships did close our account at the end of the first cruise.  Any shipboard credit that was left on the first cruise did not carry over to the second cruise.  And we were issued new ID cards.  

 

But after a years HAL changed a couple of things on the back-to-back cruises.  We were given one ID card to cover both cruises and our shipboard account was not closed at the end of the first cruise.

 

OP -- have you checked to see if your cruises are offered as a Collectors Cruise?  As a rule when they are offered as a Collectors Cruise, they are a little cheaper.  And then you only have to make 1 deposit and if you are entitled to any shipboard credit, it will be higher amount as the cruise is longer.

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

We usually do several b2bs strung together, and our experience has been different the last three years.  When we boarded the ship, our cruise card showed the embarkation date and the disembarkation date, which was the day we were to leave after the last cruise.  The only time we had to get a new card was when we changed cabins or if the card stopped working.

 

For the pats several years, our ship board account rolled over from one segment to the next.  However, if there were any problems with the account, they had to be straightened out before the end of the cruise.  So I would recommend checking your account during the cruise.

 

We had to pay a deposit for each cruise, but using our future cruise deposits on each segment we got the obc and other offers on each one.  We also get CCL stock obc on each segment.

 

We'll see if this is still case when we board the Veendam next Tuesday for b2b2b cruises.

 

KK posted much of what I said while I was typing.  Sorry about the repeated information.

Edited June 24, 2019 by Quartzsite Cruiser

[FrankieSue]

I just went ahead and booked the back to back that we were interested in. I received 2 booking numbers and I was able to cancel the cruise that I had booked onboard and apply the $100/each deposit plus the double shipboard credits received to the first segment, and I paid the deposit for the second segment.  All other matters such as wine allowance , key card and onboard account, we will find out when on the cruise(s)... i will keep you posted... this board is always great for info. My next question is:  will any shipboard credit not used at the end of the first segment be transferred to the second segment (different booking number)?

Edited June 24, 2019 by FrankieSue

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

Our ship board credit has been transferred from one cruise to the next.  However, I suggest you talk to Guest Services during the first cruise to make sure this will happen.  Some obc is not refundable at the end of a cruise, and may not transfer.  In that case, they probably can arrange for it is used first.  Fortunately, we have not had that situation, and our obc has always transferred -- that is if we have any left.

[FrankieSue]

i will let you know if my experience with left over OBC is different than yours,  Krazy Kruzers and Quartzsite Cruiser.

Edited June 24, 2019 by FrankieSue

[awhcruiser]

5 hours ago, rucrazy said:

Every time we have done a true B2B we were instructed to meet at a specific location with others doing b2b where HAL presented us with new cards we then were  escorted off the ship with the old card to ZERO out pax count, and almost immediately escorted back on board using the new card.

This is good to know as I am thinking this will be the procedure once we get back to FLL after the first segment.

[awhcruiser]

6 hours ago, cowmilker said:

We did the same thing, awhcruiser.  Lots of times cruises are offered as one long trip or broken into segments and can be booked that way.

But I'm getting ready to book three B2B cruises, on the same ship, that are not segments but truly separate cruises. I assume when I do this that I will pay three separate down payments and have three different booking numbers.  If that is the case, then I will assume that everything else, including wine bottles, will be treated as three different cruises. If not, I will be finding out why. 🙂

I don't know about HAL, as I've never done it, but when we've done this before (NCL) we got new key cards for each of the B2Bs (we did four of them).

Please report back once you book your three B2B's as I have never done that many and would like to know how it works!

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

Please read my post #15.  While I mentioned segments, I was referring to each cruise booked as b2b cruises.  We have booked as many as five or six b2b and what I described was what took place on these cruises over the past several years.