B2B cruising questions

[Lisou]

Bonjour,

 

I am thinking of booking 2 b2b cruises but not on the same ship. The cruises I am thinking of booking are the holy land on the VOS and then boarding the SOS for the Eastern Med cruise on the day the holy land cruise will end.

 

Any advice from seasoned b2b cruisers to make the transition smooth and enjoyable? Any cons of booking a b2b cruise?

 

Merci!

[sail7seas]

That sounds fabulous but is not really a b-to-b...... :) If one wants to get 'technical'.

 

Does the cruise of VOS end in the same port as the cruise on SOS begins? On the same day? If so, should not be a problem. Pack up your things and disembark VOS, move over to the terminal from which SOS will board and begin your second cruise. If there is a day between when one ends and the other begins, obviously you will need a hotel.

 

Is there some specific question you have?

 

Have a GREAT time.

 

[Lisou]

Merci for your response - sorry for the technical faux pas:rolleyes:...so b2b is only used if doing 2 cruises on the same ship? I thought it was anytime one did two consecutive cruises.

 

To answer your questions the holy land on Vision OS ends on Oct 30 in Venice and the Eastern Med cruise on the Splendour OS begins on Oct 30 also in Venice.

[kitty9]

sail7seas is correct. A true B2B is one where you stay on the same ship for consecutive cruises. What you are doing is just two cruises, albeit from the same city.

 

You'll have to go through everything twice, like checking in, getting a sign and sail account established, going through Customs and Immigration and security checks.

 

You'll have to pack up all your belongings, find a way to get to the second ship, and wait until boarding begins on the second ship. You'll probably be stuck sitting with your bags until around 11am, and you'll be off the first ship by 9or 9:30. So be prepared to wait. They will NOT take your bags for the second cruise until after every single passenger is off the second ship, claimed their bags and the terminal is totally cleared. In some cases, that could be later than what is usual for Caribbean cruises. I've had to wait until 2 or 3 pm until they totally cleared the ship from the previous cruise.

[LHT28]

You could store you bags at the left Luggage place if you cannot check them in for the 2nd cruise then go off exploring Venice for a short time before check in.

Both ships will probably be at Marittima

http://www.vtp.it/pages/comeRaggiungerci/comeRaggiungerci02.jsp

 

This may help one ship docks at 110 & the other at 18 across the pier

http://www.vtp.it/pages/navi/mappaCrociere.jsp

[paul929207]

You should talk to the Purser's Desk during your frist cruise to see if RCCL will provide any assistance. In the absence of any special treatment by RCCL, the end of the first crusie will be like the end of any cruise. You will pack up, put your bags out the night before, exit the ship and claim your bags, go thru customs and immigration if required. At that point, you will have to get to the second ship. You can carry/pull your luggage, get a porter to help (if you is available) or take a taxi. Once you get to the second ship, you will go thru normal checkin procedures, unless RCCL tells you otherwise.

[sail7seas]

What Paul describes is exactly what you should expect.

You can try to get a small courtesy from RCI but definitely don't count on it. It isn't beyond possibility they might offer to transfer your luggage over to VOS to free you of the hassle of lugging it. They probably will not do even that.

[Lisou]

Merci for all your responses and tips. I somehow thought since it was the same cruise line that they would make it easier for us:rolleyes: but it seems that I thought wrong...:confused:

[paul929207]

Merci for all your responses and tips. I somehow thought since it was the same cruise line that they would make it easier for us:rolleyes: but it seems that I thought wrong...:confused:

There is always a chance they will offer some help. All my b2b's have been on one ship and we had the same cabin for all legs.

[FolksOfMeans - ByNoMeans]

We took a "modified B2B' on two seperate ships several years ago.

On Costa:(

 

We did not receive any assistance from Costa transferring our luggage.

We were the last ones off of the ship - On purpose.

 

The second ship was quite a distance away.

 

A $50.00 tip to a porter got us to the second ship.

 

We were able to place our luggage into the area for loading onto

the second ship.

 

We then waited a short while to board the second ship.

 

Enjoy your Cruise(s):)

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have done quite a few true back-to-back cruises -- staying in the same cabin.

 

But I did meet a couple of people on cruises where they sailed on one ship and then did a second cruise on another ship. They got no help from the cruise lines.

 

So just wait until the last call is made to get off the first ship. Then get your luggage and hopefully you will have a porter who will be kind enough to help over to the other ship.

 

Are the 2 ships going to be docked close to each other?