Back To Back Cruising

[JohanneandRéjean]

Has anyone been on a back to back cruise recently. We are on the Radiance of the Seas next winter but not in the same room. Must you leave the ship in between cruises and remove your luggage. I am still trying to get the same room for both cruises. Thanks.

[DHADEN]

Definitely get the same room for both weeks if you can. The beauty of doing B-2-B is that you can relax while everyone else is sadly packing to leave.

If you can't, this means packing up everything and Re-unpacking everything.

 

They try to make is as easy as possible, so don't worry too much about it. You will have to move, of course, but the Room Attendants will do it for you.

 

You also (whether in the same room or different), will have to leave the ship and return. They will notify you to meet a ship representative somewhere around 10:00 the morning of disembarking. They will walk you off the ship, through customs, give you new SeaPass cards, and back on the ship. It takes about 15 minutes.

 

Hope This Helps.

[petel]

Has anyone been on a back to back cruise recently. We are on the Radiance of the Seas next winter but not in the same room. Must you leave the ship in between cruises and remove your luggage. I am still trying to get the same room for both cruises. Thanks.

 

Check out this discussion of B2Bs. There is a second link inside this thread too. Enjoy :)

 

 

Back-to-back on same ship

[Saintsfan007]

Yes, and please keep trying to book the same room on both trips, you won't regret it.

[Alexis]

Has anyone been on a back to back cruise recently. We are on the Radiance of the Seas next winter but not in the same room. Must you leave the ship in between cruises and remove your luggage. I am still trying to get the same room for both cruises. Thanks.

 

Hi' date='[/b']

This is for RCCL cruises only. I am going to give you my whole posting on B2B cruises.

We have done many B2B over the years. They are wonderful. We usually do the Eastern and the Western, but have done the Southern route also.

 

My first thing about a B2B cruise is I NEVER cruise them unless I can stay in the same cabin. I am not one for an upgrade or changing to another because I always pick the exact cabin I want and insist on staying with it.

There is no repacking to be done and everything you have stays in the same cabin. By now your cabin attendant knows you and is familiar with your times, likes and dislikes.

 

If you decide to change cabins after the first week. They will help you move your things to the new cabin on a cart like bell hops use. You do not have to pack everything and leave the ship.

 

The only real discount you get other than C&A coupons is you only have to pay to fly one time for both cruises. Your fare to get there and your fare to get home. Saves on airfare.

 

The dining room menu has enough variety that you can eat a different meal every night for the two weeks. I do not find the food to be boring on a B2B. You do not normally stay at the same table the second week, nor have the same wait staff. It can be requested if you would like to stay with your waiter.

 

The entertainment as far as the main shows are usually the same for the two weeks. The comics or other show people normally change by the second week. If not, check out another thing on the ship you missed the first week.

 

On the day of turn around, You should receive a letter in your cabin by the end of the first week with your instructions on what to do. You are usually escorted off the ship by an officer and returned to it within minutes. No going back in line to re board for the second week. This will depend on the port you are in. They do not do the same procedure in all of them. Sometimes they hand you the new card at the pursers desk.

 

I hope this explains some of the questions anyone might ask. ;)

 

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This is another great B2B posting by Cruise Critic GMoney. There are different things listed than I gave you.

 

Congrats on your B2B. Here is my standard B2B post, as I've been lucky enough to do a few... If you are staying in the same room, you don't need to move a thing.

 

The process varies by ship. The port you sail from generally dictates if you will have to disembark between cruises. Bayonne, for example, is more relaxed; we just stayed on (but I know Jewel doesn't sail from there). Miami is much more strict, and you to have to disembark briefly, then reboard. In the Miami instance, here's what you can expect:

 

+ During your first cruise, stop by Guest Relations and introduce yourselves and B2B cruisers and ask what the process is.

 

+ Generally, you get a letter at the end of your first cruise outlining the procedure. Hopefully this info matches what you were told by GR.

 

+ On the last day of your first cruise, all B2B cruisers will likely be asked to congregate in a specific public area just as disembarkation is winding down. Sometimes they will also make a PA announcement for B2B cruisers to assemble.

 

+ Someone from the ship will lead you off the ship. You will go through immigration, and then you can immediately reboard (before the new passengers get on), or go off and do something in that port.

 

+ You will get your new Sea Pass by either 1) visiting Guest Relations very early on the last morning of your first cruise, or 2) from the ship's representative who leads you off through customs. It seems to vary.

 

+ Keep the following in mind: 1) Your 2nd cruise Sea Pass will not have your digitial picture attached to it. You will get stopped when they discover this the first time you disembark, and they will take your picture right then and there. 2) Your credit card info is not automatically attached to your 2nd cruise Sea Pass, so check with Guest Relations to make sure everything is set up correctly before your card is denied.

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[pmshirl]

Depending on what ports are visited, you may go through customs ONBOARD, and never have to leave the ship. We did that on a B2N on the AOS. Our last port was St Thomas before going back to San Juan, for the 1st leg and never had to leave the ship for customs& immigration, we did it onboard.

[Floflegs]

We have just returned from a B2B from Venice. We did not have to disembark although we did. There was a lunch put on in the dining room for the B2B folk which meant we could give the busy buffet a miss. Don't know if it was because we were B2B folk but we also got an invite to dine with the Captain the 2nd week. All 4 couples were doing B2B. We were also invited to the Bridge. We had the same cabin and the same table for dining. Our waiter was the same but the assistant was different. We paid our gratuties each week.

[JohanneandRéjean]

Thanks all for the very helpful information. Still trying to get a great back to back balcony for both cruises. There are no balconys showing for the first one and we have a great hump balcony for the 8 nights portion. Perhaps closer to the 70 day full payment gets near.