B to B protocol ?

[horseymike]

Hello Everyone,

As a curiosity question if you are booked B to B on the same ship , are you permitted to remain onboard during the disembarkation / embarkation process ?

[Jim_Iain]

Yes - kinda.

 

B2B passengers meet about 9:00-9:15 and will either do Customs and Immagration aboard but normally go into the terminal  as a group to be processed (in many ports a facial recognition system).  You then are immediately escorted back aboard and have free access to the ship until General Boarding begins.

 

Alternatively you can use a Transit Pass and leave the ship before 9:00 to tour but can not come back aboard until general boarding begins.

Edited January 28, 2023 by Jim_Iain

[cruisestitch]

1 hour ago, horseymike said:

Hello Everyone,

As a curiosity question if you are booked B to B on the same ship , are you permitted to remain onboard during the disembarkation / embarkation process ?

It depends on where you are. Different rules for different countries and ports.  If you tell us where you are sailing, we can give you more specific information.

[mahasamatman]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

Yes - kinda.

 

B2B passengers meet about 9:00-9:15 and will either do Customs and Immagration aboard but normally go into the terminal  as a group to be processed (in many ports a facial recognition system).  You then are immediately escorted back aboard and have free access to the ship until General Boarding begins.

 

It did not work that way for us in Sydney. The only consistent thing here is Celebrity's inconsistency.

[Alakegirl]

Not Celebrity’s choice to be inconsistent.  Each port has its own rules.

[cruisinsusin]

34 minutes ago, mahasamatman said:

 

It did not work that way for us in Sydney. The only consistent thing here is Celebrity's inconsistency.

Please share the process in Sydney- we have a B2B there later this year

[SEAGURRL]

1 hour ago, mahasamatman said:

 

It did not work that way for us in Sydney. The only consistent thing here is Celebrity's inconsistency.

Mahasamatman - How did it work in Sydney?  I'll be doing this in a few weeks.  Thanks!

[phoenix_dream]

2 hours ago, mahasamatman said:

 

It did not work that way for us in Sydney. The only consistent thing here is Celebrity's inconsistency.

It is the country that determines the process not the cruiseline

[Northern Aurora]

We have done several turnaround days in Sydney.  In Sydney the B2B folks are required to leave the ship and are not permitted back on until the embarkation boarding begins.  No processing in a lounge nor any immediate re-boarding.  Celebrity uses the Overseas Passenger Terminal which is centrally located and so close to attractions such as the Royal Botanic Gardens, the famous bridge, the Opera House, Museum of Modern Art, Rocks Discovery Center and so forth. A number of pubs and cafes nearby.

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, mahasamatman said:

 

It did not work that way for us in Sydney. The only consistent thing here is Celebrity's inconsistency.

 

Curious as to what they did in Sydney.   I will be doing  a B2B in Sydney later this year.

 

I've also had ports like Reykjavik  where we didn't have anything to do   Since we had already had two ports in Iceland.   They told us they considered us "In-Transit"

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, Northern Aurora said:

We have done several turnaround days in Sydney.  In Sydney the B2B folks are required to leave the ship and are not permitted back on until the embarkation boarding begins.  No processing in a lounge nor any immediate re-boarding.  Celebrity uses the Overseas Passenger Terminal which is centrally located and so close to attractions such as the Royal Botanic Gardens, the famous bridge, the Opera House, Museum of Modern Art, Rocks Discovery Center and so forth. A number of pubs and cafes nearby.

 

Thanks --- I hadn't seen your post when I asked just now.   

 

Did they give you transit passes or did you just get processed along with the others joining the ship.  Which would then help understand if we need to select a Check-In time.  I guess won't matter as we are in a suite.

 

 

[mahasamatman]

17 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Did they give you transit passes or did you just get processed along with the others joining the ship.  Which would then help understand if we need to select a Check-In time.  I guess won't matter as we are in a suite.

 

We got transit passes which just let us sit in a different section while waiting for boarding. Then we were sent to an area with two immigration officers, while non-B2B passengers were sent to an area with four immigration officers and so they got onboard much more quickly. We also had to re-take our pictures prior to boarding - they could not use the pictures from our first cruise or from our check-in - slowing us down even further.

 

There was no suite line, nor was there an Elite line in Sydney.

[Jim_Iain]

Thanks --   We are traveling with friends from Sydney so may just to over to their place for a couple hours disembarkation.    As other's said - there is so much to do in the docking area no need to just sit around for a couple hours in a terminal.

[Northern Aurora]

11 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Thanks --- I hadn't seen your post when I asked just now.   

 

Did they give you transit passes or did you just get processed along with the others joining the ship.  Which would then help understand if we need to select a Check-In time.  I guess won't matter as we are in a suite.

 

 

 

Jim:  While we have done turnaround days in Sydney several times the last time was  in 2016, and I don't remember if they issued us transit passes or not.  We were in Celebrity Suites for both legs of that Honolulu to Singapore trip.  I do remember that there were a couple in a Penthouse who were not pleased that they had to actually leave the ship for several hours.  And I agree -- there is so much to do right around the OPT that I wonder why anyone would just sit in the terminal.

 

  In March we plan to board the Eclipse in Sydney for a B2B2B2B series with all turnaround days in Sydney, so can provide up-to-date information then.

 

We were actually on the Solstice at the end of the first leg of a B2B2B2B in March 2020.  The global suspension of cruising was implemented on the first leg of that series.  The Solstice reached Sydney a day early as ports were closing.  Australian Border Force wouldn't let anyone off the ship which caused consternation as we all just wanted to try to get home.  We flew out of Sydney at 7:40 PM on March 20, 2020.  The border formally closed at 9 PM.  Some commercial flights continued for several days but there were so many rumors no one really knew what was going on.  In any event, March 20th was so much fun that we got to live it twice as we crossed the International  Date Line.

 

Gerry

[Jim_Iain]

12 minutes ago, Northern Aurora said:

 

Jim:  While we have done turnaround days in Sydney several times the last time was  in 2016, and I don't remember if they issued us transit passes or not.  We were in Celebrity Suites for both legs of that Honolulu to Singapore trip.  I do remember that there were a couple in a Penthouse who were not pleased that they had to actually leave the ship for several hours.  And I agree -- there is so much to do right around the OPT that I wonder why anyone would just sit in the terminal.

 

  In March we plan to board the Eclipse in Sydney for a B2B2B2B series with all turnaround days in Sydney, so can provide up-to-date information then.

 

We were actually on the Solstice at the end of the first leg of a B2B2B2B in March 2020.  The global suspension of cruising was implemented on the first leg of that series.  The Solstice reached Sydney a day early as ports were closing.  Australian Border Force wouldn't let anyone off the ship which caused consternation as we all just wanted to try to get home.  We flew out of Sydney at 7:40 PM on March 20, 2020.  The border formally closed at 9 PM.  Some commercial flights continued for several days but there were so many rumors no one really knew what was going on.  In any event, March 20th was so much fun that we got to live it twice as we crossed the International  Date Line.

 

Gerry

 

Thanks Gerry -

We are on the Singapore to Sydney B2B with New Zealand on Edge 2nd half of world cruise in late November so will look forward to your report and advice.    Our friends in town home is a short walk or train so if we don't get off with them and go to their place we may just walk over later in the morning.  

 

Your definitely had an adventure in 2020.   We were on final approach into FLL when received a text of the suspension of cruising.    Took us 2 days before we could get a flight home.    We of course didn't have the problem you had of the boarder shutting down.  Have you ever wondered what you would have done if you didn't get out in time?

[Northern Aurora]

39 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Thanks Gerry -

We are on the Singapore to Sydney B2B with New Zealand on Edge 2nd half of world cruise in late November so will look forward to your report and advice.    Our friends in town home is a short walk or train so if we don't get off with them and go to their place we may just walk over later in the morning.  

 

Your definitely had an adventure in 2020.   We were on final approach into FLL when received a text of the suspension of cruising.    Took us 2 days before we could get a flight home.    We of course didn't have the problem you had of the boarder shutting down.  Have you ever wondered what you would have done if you didn't get out in time?

 

Jim:  We will be boarding the Edge in Civitavecchia next fall and are on the first three legs of the world cruise.  We will leave the ship in Sydney.  So we will see you onboard.

 

We were fortunate to get a flight on March 20th so didn't have to deal with the US government re-patriation flights.  And as it turned out some commercial carriers did continue flying for about three days (some had stopped).  But there were so many rumors no one knew for sure.  

 

Once we could leave the Solstice Celebrity provided busses to both the domestic and international airports.  We reached the international airport about 9:30 AM and it was an absolute mess.  We had flights to Honolulu on an airline which I absolutely loathe but beggars can't be choosers and we took what we could get.  Not only was it an airline which I have never enjoyed - - the seats were in coach!  My husband was so relieved when we landed and he didn't have to listen to me.  It was several days before Alaska Airlines could get us a direct flight from Honolulu to Anchorage in first class but we were back on US soil.

 

Gerry 

[Jim_Iain]

2 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

 

Jim:  We will be boarding the Edge in Civitavecchia next fall and are on the first three legs of the world cruise.  We will leave the ship in Sydney.  So we will see you onboard.

 

We were fortunate to get a flight on March 20th so didn't have to deal with the US government re-patriation flights.  And as it turned out some commercial carriers did continue flying for about three days (some had stopped).  But there were so many rumors no one knew for sure.  

 

Once we could leave the Solstice Celebrity provided busses to both the domestic and international airports.  We reached the international airport about 9:30 AM and it was an absolute mess.  We had flights to Honolulu on an airline which I absolutely loathe but beggars can't be choosers and we took what we could get.  Not only was it an airline which I have never enjoyed - - the seats were in coach!  My husband was so relieved when we landed and he didn't have to listen to me.  It was several days before Alaska Airlines could get us a direct flight from Honolulu to Anchorage in first class but we were back on US soil.

 

Gerry 

 

Fantastic to hear.  Last time we met we were one cruise short of hitting Zenith and the Alaska and Japan cruises put us over the mark. 

 

We've done first 2 legs previously and weren't anxious to do them again.   Having said that we took a side trip to the Taj Majal and was absolutely incredible.   Also if you can book a trip to Petra -- We were on a private tour someone on our roll call put together.   They got us there long before Celebrity's tours arrived -  We were leaving as they arrived and were happy we weren't part of the heard of 5-6 buses.

 

I've booked our flight to Singapore for November but holding off on the return.  I need to wait until about April to book a RT as we are flying back for the TP and Hawaii to Vancouver. 

[CruizinSusan70]

8 hours ago, mahasamatman said:

 

It did not work that way for us in Sydney. The only consistent thing here is Celebrity's inconsistency.

I will infer that there are different consistencies because of different countries. On the Apex last January, the B2B process was seamless and painless.

[davekathy]

Same ship, same embarkation port the B2B process can change from one cruise to another.  

[cruisestitch]

Same country, different pet, different procedures.  In October 2022 in Boston, we did not leave the ship, and the immigration officer came on board to clear us. In January 2023, in Fort Lauderdale, we did have to leave this ***** to clear immigration.

[dasmith21]

I’d like to know how B2B works in Miami please?

[davekathy]

10 minutes ago, dasmith21 said:

I’d like to know how B2B works in Miami please?

You will receive an invite to a consecutive cruisers meeting and a TAD letter a day or two before your first leg is over. All details will be explained for your specific cruise. 

[lexmiller]

20 hours ago, mahasamatman said:

 

We got transit passes which just let us sit in a different section while waiting for boarding. Then we were sent to an area with two immigration officers, while non-B2B passengers were sent to an area with four immigration officers and so they got onboard much more quickly. We also had to re-take our pictures prior to boarding - they could not use the pictures from our first cruise or from our check-in - slowing us down even further.

 

There was no suite line, nor was there an Elite line in Sydney.

Can you also include the procedure for testing the B2B passengers you went through on the Eclipse? It has been well documented on the roll calls for the Eclipse that B2B passengers are currently, and have been for the past few months, being tested for covid - mandatory, monitored testing by the crew - even though to board the ship, only a home self test is needed.   B2B testing from what I understand is occurring during this period between the first cruise ending and the next one starting - not the day before disembarkation.  Thank you!

[cruisestitch]

33 minutes ago, dasmith21 said:

I’d like to know how B2B works in Miami please?

Probably pretty similar to this from Fort Lauderdale

[CruizinSusan70]

51 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

Probably pretty similar to this from Fort Lauderdale

Almost 100 on X....wow.