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[caribill]

I think that's new since the Star.

 

It was on our cruise cards on your Star cruise.

[caribill]

1 BIG minus is having to kill a day in the home port doing nothing but having to go through customs.

 

That takes 15 minutes or less (and it is immigration, not customs). You have the rest of the day to enjoy, be it on the ship or on the town.

[caribill]

There are pluses and minuses concerning booking the B2B as two 7-day cruises or one 14-day cruise.

I you book it as a 14-day cruise you should have the same cabin. A 14-day cruise usually qualifies for more FCC and shareholder OBC than two 7-day cruises. If you only have one FCC a 14-day cruise gets you more OBC. For platinum members you also get more free internet time. The only negative is that it only counts as one cruise towards getting to the platinum or elite level.

 

Barry

 

Actually:

 

Free Internet time for 2 7-day cruises=2*150=300 minutes. For one 14-day cruise=1*250=250 minutes. Booking as two cruises gets you more. (I think in practice they actually give you the 150 minutes each segment.)

 

FCC OBC (new version) per person: 2 7-day cruises=$50 or $100 x2 = $100 or $200. For one 14 day cruise $150 or $200. Booking as one cruise gets you more for an inside/outside cabin, but the same for balcony/mini/suites.

 

Stockholders and Military OBC: 2 7-day cruises=2*$100=$200. One 14-day cruise = $250. Booking as one cruise gets you more.

 

Added together getting FCC, Stockholders* and Military* OBC:

2 7-Days

Inside/outside cabin: 2x($50+$100+$100) = $500 If a 2nd person, total= $600

Balcony/mini/suite: 2x($100+$100+$100) = $600 If a 2nd person, total= $800

 

1 14-Days

Inside/outside cabin: $150+$250+$250 = $650 If a 2nd person, total=$800

Balcony/mini/suite: $200+$250+$250 = $700 If a 2nd person, total=$900

 

*per cabin, not per person

 

So, as far as OBC, booking as 1 cruise gets you more.

 

Internet would be more as two cruises, but in practice you will get the same number of minutes even if booked as a single cruise.

[freetocruise]

Since the sinling of the Concordia they are stricter about boat drills.

 

~Doris~

 

Yes, they are stricter about attending the emergency drills - hence the reading of your cruise cards as they enter. But this is something they had started doing before the Costa Concordia.

 

As to attending second emergency drills on a btb, we are currently on at btb and received a letter stating we did not have to attend.

[paul929207]

1 BIG minus is having to kill a day in the home port doing nothing but having to go through customs.

Do like us and take b2b that is made up of two one way cruises. No day back at homeport.

[1 HappyCruiser]

That takes 15 minutes or less (and it is immigration, not customs). You have the rest of the day to enjoy, be it on the ship or on the town.

 

Yes, it might only take a short time to go though IMMIGRATION but it's defitnely more than 15 minutes + waiting together to proceed & in our last cruise waiting in the terminal for 6 stragglers for another 20 minutes. All in all it was almost a hour of killing time that could have been spent doing something else. It would not be my first choice IF any other cruise did the same number of days without returning to the home home port.

I've often why customs doesn't appear to care so much about people doing a B2B cruise? You could walk off the ship with just about anything over the limit if you cared to & no one will say a word, although they did have us fill out a deceleration card the last trip but didn't so much as look at it or collect it.

 

Do like us and take b2b that is made up of two one way cruises. No day back at homeport.

 

Even better if you can find two cruises that offer it.

[caribill]

I've often why customs doesn't appear to care so much about people doing a B2B cruise? You could walk off the ship with just about anything over the limit if you cared to & no one will say a word, although they did have us fill out a deceleration card the last trip but didn't so much as look at it or collect it.

 

 

 

 

You are not required to fill out a customs form if you are not making a final disembarkation from the ship as customs does not want it if you are staying on the ship for another segment. They want the information for your entire cruise at the end of your last segment.

 

Who is the "they" that had you fill out the form?

[1 HappyCruiser]

You are not required to fill out a customs form if you are not making a final disembarkation from the ship as customs does not want it if you are staying on the ship for another segment. They want the information for your entire cruise at the end of your last segment.

 

Who is the "they" that had you fill out the form?

 

Customs wanted a form filled out for the first leg of the B2B portion. The guy just glanced at it & handed it back to everyone. Next week we had to fill out a second card again.

[paul929207]

Customs wanted a form filled out for the first leg of the B2B portion. The guy just glanced at it & handed it back to everyone. Next week we had to fill out a second card again.

Gotta keep the bureauactracy happy

[caribill]

Customs wanted a form filled out for the first leg of the B2B portion. The guy just glanced at it & handed it back to everyone. Next week we had to fill out a second card again.

 

On our B2B we did not fill out a card and just told customs we were not disembarking. Also showed him our "in transit" pass.

[Mrs Moho]

We've done 2 b2b cruises this year.

 

First was through Port Canaveral on NCL, when we, as 'Aliens' had to meet the Customs/Immigration Officers at 7 a.m.:eek: to show them our passports & completed paperwork. After our breakfast, around 9.30 we had to leave the ship - every single passenger on the b2b had to leave the ship! we then had to give our completed customs form in, join another queue, then had to sit in an area for at least 45 mins, eventually getting back on the ship around 11.30.

 

Our second was in San Juan, we were told by Princess that if we wanted to stay on the ship on changeover day we would have to leave the ship for a short while, we were given a card to say we were in transit and instructions to say that we were to wait in a lounge where refreshments would be supplied until we could go through immigration. We were eventually allowed off the ship around 1.30p.m. we all had to wait until all the leaving passengers had gone through immigration then could go through. Every single person had their passport checked, non US had to go through the same checks we had on arrival in the airport, finger prints etc and our passports stamped again. We were then 'walked' through by a member of staff through a warehouse type of building with fork lift trucks going passed us, felt as though we were being sneeked back on the ship. We then went back on the ship via the crew's entrance and led back to lifts to go to our cabins, restaurants etc. We eventually got back on board at 3 o'clock!!!

 

We did a b2b in Venice, didn't have to get off the ship then, we were allowed to enjoy the peace and quiet for a few hours.

[1 HappyCruiser]

On our B2B we did not fill out a card and just told customs we were not disembarking. Also showed him our "in transit" pass.

 

Yep. It's the first time they wanted to see that also.

[caribill]

We've done 2 b2b cruises this year.

 

First was through Port Canaveral on NCL, when we, as 'Aliens' had to meet the Customs/Immigration Officers at 7 a.m.:eek: to show them our passports & completed paperwork.

 

US law requires that even of non-citizens who are making in-transit stops for connecting flights at US airports, even if arriving from another country and departing to another foreign country.

[paul929207]

On our B2B we did not fill out a card and just told customs we were not disembarking. Also showed him our "in transit" pass.

Requirements depend on the turnaround port.

[caribill]

Requirements depend on the turnaround port.

 

Ours was a USA port.

 

Turnaround days we have had in other countries were a non-event as far as immigration and customs were involved. But those were all EU countries and the ship had already been in an EU port before turnaround day.

[Pam in CA]

It was on our cruise cards on your Star cruise.

Well darn. I'll have to take a closer look. :) I don't spend a lot of time looking at my cruise card. Obviously.

[caribill]

Well darn. I'll have to take a closer look. :) I don't spend a lot of time looking at my cruise card. Obviously.

 

I don't think I noticed it while on the ship, only after I returned home.

[paul929207]

I noticed it on my card on the Ocean Princess last month only because I looked for it since I had heard they were adding it.

 

I was surprised it just said Muster Station B, and not the place (Club Restaruant).