Back to Back

[Bob from Florida]

We're on a B2B with a cabin switch in BCN.  While we understand the process and our butler is our best friend to accomplish this, what we're wondering is if we really have to get off the ship, do a u-turn, and get right back on. We'd rather hide out on board (and find a bar) than get back in line to reboard. Any advice?

[rebeccac]

It really depends on the local laws.  Not sure what the particulars are in Spain, but in the US, they are required to totally zero out the ship between cruises, so you have no choice but to do the u-turn.

Hopefully, someone can tell you specifically about the procedure in Spain.  

[ORV]

Last time we did a turn around in Barcelona we did have to get off and then back on. Odds are there won’t be a bar open. Bear in mind this was at least 5 or 6 years ago so it might be different now. In Civitivichia ( yeah I think that’s wrong) we didn’t have to get off the ship. 

[WildWanderers]

Hi @Bob from Florida,

 

We had to disembark and embark again in the middle of our B2B in December 2023 in Miami, but in August 2023 did not have to disembark in the middle of that B2B in Reykjavik (almost as hard to spell as Civitavecchia 😉 ).  

 

In both cases, the room stewards and butler had prioritized the cleaning of the room we were moving to, and the move was completed, and we were unpacked in the new room within an hour after the previous folk had had to vacate the room.

 

After we closed the door of room 1 for the last time, one of us went to Reception to get the new card keys, while the other went with the trolley to the then open, new room.

 

In both cases there was no need to close out the account to the first cruise, everything rolled over, which meant that we could use the large number of shipboard credits we had on the first cruise, for spa services and a wine tasting on the second cruise.  "Large" only because we had a reduction in the cost of the cruise after it was fully paid, and had to take the refund in nonrefundable shipboard credits.

 

Hope something in the preceding is useful.

 

Cheers from Greg of the WildWanderers.

[Hlitner]

WOW!  Doing a back to back via Barcelona, is completely different than doing a back to back in a US port.  At BCN you will not need to get off the ship, there is no "zero out" etc.  But, there should also be relatively little hassle in getting back on to the ship.  Barcelona is a terrific port because there are so many things to do, be it just staying in town, heading out of town to a few places, etc.  We are not strangers to staying on ships, when in ports, but at Barcelona we would be off the ship.  Also keep in mind that staying onboard and buying drinks at a bar may well subject you to additional EU taxes (depending on whether you have a drink package).

 

Hank

[clo]

5 hours ago, Bob from Florida said:

We're on a B2B with a cabin switch in BCN.  While we understand the process and our butler is our best friend to accomplish this, what we're wondering is if we really have to get off the ship, do a u-turn, and get right back on. We'd rather hide out on board (and find a bar) than get back in line to reboard. Any advice?

Go have some wonderful tapas in BCN and then reembark. My favorite city for food...and one of my fave cities period.

[clo]

7 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

WOW!  Doing a back to back via Barcelona, is completely different than doing a back to back in a US port.  At BCN you will not need to get off the ship, there is no "zero out" etc.  But, there should also be relatively little hassle in getting back on to the ship.  Barcelona is a terrific port because there are so many things to do, be it just staying in town, heading out of town to a few places, etc.  We are not strangers to staying on ships, when in ports, but at Barcelona we would be off the ship.  Also keep in mind that staying onboard and buying drinks at a bar may well subject you to additional EU taxes (depending on whether you have a drink package).

 

Hank

Couldn't agree with you more.

[babysteps]

We did a B2B at Barcelona in Nov 2021 and had a great time exploring for the day. Don't forget to check the shuttle bus schedule, ours ended quite early relative to all aboard time. 

 

[Bob from Florida]

Thanks all for the great input and recommendations.  I agree Barcelona is a wonderful city with an overload to your senses.  I might get off to reload the wine supply.

[WildWanderers]

Hi All,

 

A scalable self-guided tour in a Barcelona neighbourhood.  Taxi from the ship, perhaps.

 

If you are looking for something to do one noontime / afternoon in Barcelona consider visiting the trendy El Born area, which is characterized by narrow medieval streets offering designer boutiques and cafes by day, and cocktail bars and Catalan restaurants by night.  

 

The following are in the same little neighbourhood, so not much walking to see it all.

 

The Santa Maria del Mar Basilica…read up on how it was constructed…there are books about it…some are excellent historical fiction.  Great stained glass.

 

The wine bar right across the walkway from the entrance to the Basilica:  La Vinya del Senyor.  It has amazing wines by the glass (please don’t ask if they are included in SimplyMore) that you can combine with their various platters of nibblies to make a meal.  The chairs are not comfortable but there is no better people-watching to be had.

 

As you sit facing the Baslica, on the street on the right hand side of the Basilica, a couple of stores down, there is a deli called La Botifarreria de Santa Maria.  It is worth looking inside, buying something to taste or enough for a picnic.  It is a must-go shop if you ever stay in a room with a kitchen.  (We rented a Vacation Rental by Owner (VRBO) once on the top two floors above this deli.)

 

You can find wine for your picnic at the Vila Vinateca, a must-see for its variety of wines, on the Carrer dels Agullers, a whole minute away.

 

And on the way to the wine store you can stop off to buy designer macarons at Bubó Barcelona, a dessert shop just around the corner from la Vinya del Senyor.

 

Or you can have a meal and / nibblies at the Euskal Etxea Taberna, at Placeta de Montcada, just behind the Basilica, where they have many trays of pintxos. Once you order your wine, they give you a plate and you can take as many of the pintxos as you want. They count your toothpicks (that were embedded in the pintxos) to know how much to charge you.

 

 

And for those people for whom there is more to life than eating and drinking there is the Picasso Museum, just down from the Euskal Etxea Taberna, a further 2 minute walk. 

 

There are lots of souvenir shops.  At some if you are the first customer of the day, you get a major discount to give good luck to the shop owner.  There are also shops with colourful, unique local crafts, more expensive than the stock souvenirs you see everywhere.

 

You'll recognize me at the Vinya del Senyor, as I look like my avatar.

 

Cheers from Greg of the WildWanderers.

[MEFIowa]

We did a B2B on Riviera in the Med with a room change (going from an A3 on deck 9 to a B3 on deck 7) in Athens on 11/9/23. We did the change and then got off the ship to take public transportation to the Acropolis. We didn't do anything with customs nor did we have to "check out and check in", OTHER than we had to get a NEW world card since we were no longer in a concierge cabin.

 

Our room change was a bit complicated becase the new room had people in it doing a B2B with a room change. So they let us move our alcohol and some other things into their room that AM while they waited for the other room to be vacated. Everyone just worked with the respective room stewards. And it was all done by about 9 am.

[MEFIowa]

Our B2B ended in Barcelona on 11/19/23, where we spent 3 more nights. We took the port shuttle bus (E6.00) to the end of the port. The WTC is "down" and there is some construction activity impacting where the ships can dock. We then walked to the nearest metro station and took it north up Las Ramblas to our BnB, which wasn't too far from the Mansion of Discord and two other of the famous funky buildings by Gaudi.

[clo]

8 hours ago, MEFIowa said:

Mansion of Discord

Isn't that the best name??? I've long said that he clearly did better drugs than his peers 🙂

[Happy Trails1]

Any insights into a back to back where you aren’t changing rooms, but the port is an overnight? First leg Hong Kong to Seoul, overnight in Seoul and embark on 2nd leg to Tokyo. We are planning to stay in  a Seoul hotel. Will we need to do anything aside from letting our room steward know that we won’t be sleeping there? 

[basor]

5 hours ago, Happy Trails1 said:

Any insights into a back to back where you aren’t changing rooms, but the port is an overnight? First leg Hong Kong to Seoul, overnight in Seoul and embark on 2nd leg to Tokyo. We are planning to stay in  a Seoul hotel. Will we need to do anything aside from letting our room steward know that we won’t be sleeping there? 

You will need to let Oceania know that you will be off the ship and provide contact information in case they need to contact you with a change of schedule, docking, etc.