New Back2Back protocol

[lazydayz]

I find it comical that Royal issued this on the same day Carnival actually enhanced procedures for those on back to back or side to side cruises.  

[ticketsunlimited]

https://youtu.be/vN2WzQzxuoA

 

Has it come to this for us?

[LorraineP]

58 minutes ago, dswallow said:

I just posted a question to Michael Bayley's Facebook page.
 

Please let us know his response. My first B2B is 10/10/21. Will cancel both or maybe just second leg. 

[Anton]

2 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

 

They want to piss off their most valuable passengers to avoid bad PR? 

I didn't say it was a wise move, but I do think the idea of avoiding bad PR was part of the decision.

 

[sandebeach]

17 minutes ago, CK57 said:

We were on Symphony doing BTB and last week had to leave ship and go thru immigration in port terminal .  Wait in baggage claim area for an hour to get all the same paperwork rechecked from the previous week before finally getting back to the terminal waiting area for another hour wait.  We started off in main dining room at 9:00 am and finally back on board at 1:00 pm.  There were about 50 of us.  We were changing room so had to lug all personal items but bags stayed on board packed.  We had to retest antigen the day prior.  All aboard already knew they were good to go.   This worked reasonably well and why the change beyond that makes little sense.  First week we were 1600 passengers and week two down around 1200.  Crew is 70% filled and all aboard 12 and older are vaccinated.   Those under 12 are still the issue.  
Crew is board stiff and you will get tired of being asked if there is anything I can do.  Main dining room you can hardly eat with so many stoping by to check on you.  Specialty restaurants are nearly empty and same line of questions will nearly ruin your experience.  It’s like going to a party that no one came to.  It’s no party and rather a bore wherever you go.

This B2B process is definitely not appealing to me. 

[dswallow]

19 minutes ago, CK57 said:

We were on Symphony doing BTB and last week had to leave ship and go thru immigration in port terminal .  Wait in baggage claim area for an hour to get all the same paperwork rechecked from the previous week before finally getting back to the terminal waiting area for another hour wait.  We started off in main dining room at 9:00 am and finally back on board at 1:00 pm.  There were about 50 of us.  We were changing room so had to lug all personal items but bags stayed on board packed.  We had to retest antigen the day prior.  All aboard already knew they were good to go.   This worked reasonably well and why the change beyond that makes little sense.  First week we were 1600 passengers and week two down around 1200.  Crew is 70% filled and all aboard 12 and older are vaccinated.   Those under 12 are still the issue.  
Crew is board stiff and you will get tired of being asked if there is anything I can do.  Main dining room you can hardly eat with so many stoping by to check on you.  Specialty restaurants are nearly empty and same line of questions will nearly ruin your experience.  It’s like going to a party that no one came to.  It’s no party and rather a bore wherever you go.

 

That's not abnormal; whether US Customs/Immigration comes aboard the ship or has B2B passengers leaves the ship and come to them is based on whether or not the US Customs folks feel they have sufficient staff to do so for that turnover day. So that one aspect of it -- being done on or off the ship -- has regularly previously been something that can be different. But the rest of the process -- packing up the cabin if you're staying in the same cabin isn't needed in any case, and apparently with this change, they want that, and worse, they want you to take all the luggage off and bring it all onboard again. And that means doing the split on the night before, too, keeping on piece in the room so everything you need in the morning is with you.

 

[Cigar King]

31 minutes ago, ThirstyCruiser said:

Naw, this thread is about the Airing of Grievences  

Seinfeld could have a field day with this.

[Old Fart Cruisers]

I think they should do that  for everyone at EVERY PORT.  Everyone packs all of their luggage, gets off the ship and carries all their luggage with them on the excursions.  When the excursion ends, get tested again and wait on the pier for results.  If the test results are negative you can gather up all of your luggage again, check in again, go back to your cabin and unpack, just to repeat the same procedure at the next port.  

 

Do you think there are any upper management positions available for me at Royal Caribbean?

[Biker19]

13 minutes ago, Ashland said:

This new B2B policy is a Pandora's box that's been opened...Someone with some sense needs to rethink it or there's going to be a lot of cancellations !!!

People may talk quite a bit about it here, but, B2Bs are quite rare in the overall number of cruisers. 

[g_deol88]

I have kids under 12 booked on a B2B starting with SOS on the 29th. This is a 3 day notice.

I received this email and now being told I have no option but to cancel. Even though I have no option to get my kids who are under 12 vaccinated. 

Edited August 26, 2021 by g_deol88

[sandebeach]

3 minutes ago, g_deol88 said:

I have kids under 12 booked on a B2B starting with SOS on the 29th. This is a 3 day notice.

I received this email and now being told I have no option but to cancel. Even though I have no option to get my kids who are under 12 vaccinated. 

After reading the email, I wondered about kids under 12. 

[Ashland]

3 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

People may talk quite a bit about it here, but, B2Bs are quite rare in the overall number of cruisers. 

Really.....If they are then why isn't there an easier way to handle the B2Ber's with this new policy instead of making them pack up? Couldn't tests be provided for them onboard if we're so rare and there's so few of us ?

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, dswallow said:

I just posted a question to Michael Bayley's Facebook page.
 

 

This applies to all customers😉

[Ashland]

5 minutes ago, g_deol88 said:

I have kids under 12 booked on a B2B starting with SOS one the 29th. 

I received this email and now being told I have no option but to cancel. Even though I have no option to get my kids who are under 12 vaccinated. 

Then will you get a full refund ? So sorry this is happening and I imagine your kids will be disappointed !!

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, Ashland said:

Really.....If they are then why isn't there an easier way to handle the B2Ber's with this new policy instead of making them pack up? Couldn't tests be provided for them onboard if we're so rare and there's so few of us ?

Making life easy for B2Bers is not the aim and as you said the small numbers means that RCI may not listen to the complaints, well until someone important enough, like SuperMario, takes to the social media airwaves. 

[smokeybandit]

Kids under 12 (or anyone unvaccinated) have been blocked from b2b since late June

[John&LaLa]

4 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Making life easy for B2Bers is not the aim and as you said the small numbers means that RCI may not listen to the complaints, well until someone important enough, like SuperMario, takes to the social media airwaves. 

 

He may wasted all his favors getting us a Pinnacle Lounge😉🤣🤣

[HicksRA]

Before, if on a B2B and you tested on the ship and came up positive, they’d quarantine you to your room and escort you off the ship at disembarkment eliminating any exposure to others.  
In the new scenario, If you come up positive (and don’t know it yet), you’ll be sent out to the terminal amongst a thousand or more passengers to await testing and reboarding thus exposing others waiting to board, who could later expose everyone else on board. 
Yeah, this makes Royal sense….

[Ashland]

2 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Kids under 12 (or anyone unvaccinated) have been blocked from b2b since late June

Then the poster who obviously booked sometime ago should get a complete refund.

[John&LaLa]

And once again, whatever happened to 'Just get me on a ship, I'll do anything'😉

 

John, who has a few B2B's and is not telling LaLa about this😇

[smokeybandit]

1 minute ago, John&LaLa said:

And once again, whatever happened to 'Just get me on a ship, I'll do anything'😉

 

John, who has a few B2B's and is not telling LaLa about this😇

Because we got on a ship and realized it wasn't so bad. Now we wonder why it's being made harder to get on said ship

[flamingos]

1 hour ago, LadyShiva said:

I get the feeling the B2B cruiser that required police to drag them off may have affected your experience...  what was it?  A 3 or 4 hour delay to boarding to get them off?

Oh, dear, when did this happen?

[BND]

One of the big appeals of a b2b in the same cabin is to not have to pack and move.  Insanity.  We have a b2b Nov 28 and Dec and on EN in April and again on Jewel in Nov 2022.   Getting off the ship to be tested makes zero sense.  Just test onboard the evening before arrival back in port and as another poster said, treat them like someone who tests positive mid cruise.  If you turn up positive the night before the return, pack up and get off.  That fits in with the 72 hour or less testing protocol they're already doing.

Edited August 26, 2021 by BND

[Anton]

What's even more insulting is the email they sent begins with "We're excited to welcome you onboard for your back-to-back sailing."  Then they detail how they plan to make it as difficult as possible and end with "We look forward to having you aboard for multiple sailings!  Sincerely, Royal Caribbean."  

[Ashland]

Just now, Anton said:

What's even more insulting is the email they sent begins with "We're excited to welcome you onboard for your back-to-back sailing."  Then they detail how they plan to make it as difficult as possible and end with "We look forward to having you aboard for multiple sailings!  Sincerely, Royal Caribbean."  

Typical !!!!