How does B2B actually work?

[JamieLogical]

If I do the solo cruise first and I get priority boarding for the second cruise, can the rest of my family board with me or do I need to wait for the regular boarding if I want to board together.

[el barco]

We did a b2b on Norwegian Sky last year, tried hard to find out in advance what we needed to do. We visited guest services twice and we were told not to worry about it, our cabin steward would help us.

On the last night of the cruise we received a letter stating that we had to pack all our belongings, but to keep the cases inside the cabin on the last night and only to put them out in the morning. This letter arrived whilst we were out for dinner, so we did not actually see it until 10.30pm when we returned after the show. Fortunately I had taken the lack of instruction with a pinch of salt and had packed our cases anyway.

The next morning when the cabin steward knocked on our door to see if we had vacated yet, we told her again that we were B2B and she  was supposed to help us move our stuff. She looked horrified, and definitely would have had no intention of moving clothes on hangers from one room to another. We therefore put our cases outside the room and went to the meeting point.

This was very straight forward, we were all issued new cards and walked off and back onto the ship.

Then on the advise of another back to back cruiser we went and collected our own cases and walked them upto our new cabin, as they were still stood in the corridor where we had left them.

The cruise was fantastic and we would fully recommend doing the B2B, but would appreciate receiving the information as to what to do further in advance. They must have had a copy of the letter regarding B2B at guest services when we asked, but they did not give us any information.

Hope you enjoy your B2B, but be prepared, dont rely on your cabin steward.

 

[JamieLogical]

I think I am really going to do it! Just put in my request for the time off from work. I will call my PCC on my lunch break to cancel our October cruise (we were gonna cancel that one anyway) and transfer those CruiseNext deposits to pay for this sailing. If that all goes smoothly, I will book my flight! A direct flight the morning of is only $88 right now and I can use my travel credit card points to pay for it, so it's really just free. The major travel expense will be ground transportation from JFK to the cruise terminal.

[Sweetnspicy]

48 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

I think I am really going to do it! Just put in my request for the time off from work. I will call my PCC on my lunch break to cancel our October cruise (we were gonna cancel that one anyway) and transfer those CruiseNext deposits to pay for this sailing. If that all goes smoothly, I will book my flight! A direct flight the morning of is only $88 right now and I can use my travel credit card points to pay for it, so it's really just free. The major travel expense will be ground transportation from JFK to the cruise terminal.

Yay!!!!!!

[Newleno]

Every B2B is different based on ship/port/staff, once we had our cards delivered to our state room, a few times we had to meet in a gathering spot and they made our cards on the spot, another time our cards were waiting for us.  I think every time we were told to leave our bags in the room, (not outside the room) and the stewards would take care of moving them to the new room.  (a few times we just moved the bags ourselves) Sometimes we could come right back on the ship, other times we had to wait.  I dont think there is just one formula, however we never had a problem with any of our b2b cruises. Often times we received printed materials in our stateroom describing the procedure. We try to cruise as long as possible because of all the costs associated with pre cruise, post  cruise, transportation, possible hotel, etc.  Jfk well we are really frugal people, we sometimes walk from penn station to the pier (most people cant do this because of all their luggage) easy train from jfk to penn station, heck subway is even cheaper but not as efficient, and perhaps not as safe.

Edited January 17, 2020 by Newleno

[JamieLogical]

I did it! All booked! Now I just need to figure out if I want to buy a spa pass....

[kessdarln]

Thanks for asking this question.  Were you able to take the cruise(s)?

Does it work the same when B2B different ships? 

 

 

[MeHeartCruising]

44 minutes ago, kessdarln said:

 

Does it work the same when B2B different ships? 

 

 

 

B2Bs on 2 different ships are not going to follow normal B2B procedures.  The 2 ships do not intermingle their processes/systems/personnel.  You'll need to exit the first ship using the normal disembarkation procedure, then figure out how to get to the next ship and then follow the normal embarkation process with that ship.

Edited October 14, 2020 by MeHeartCruising

[JamieLogical]

2 hours ago, kessdarln said:

Were you able to take the cruise(s)?

 

 

Unfortunately, both of my cruises were canceled due to COVID-19, just two days before I was set to depart.

[kessdarln]

1 hour ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Unfortunately, both of my cruises were canceled due to COVID-19, just two days before I was set to depart.

That's what I was afraid of. Sorry. 

I'm usually a studio girl, however my next will be longer and in a suite that way, if we get quarantined, it won't be too terrible .