Questions for Those who have done btobs

[Goldygolfer]

Hi - I am hoping that there are some experienced back to back NCL cruisers who can help with some questions.

 

We are doing a 37-day cruise on the Pearl next year, which is actually 4 btob cruises.

 

1. Will each "leg" be treated as a separate cruise in that we will need to settle our on-board account at the end of each "leg" ?

2. If we purchase a wine package (which we no doubt will be doing), will we have to finish the wines in each package on each "leg" or will any unused bottles be able to be carried over for the next "leg" ?

3. Will we be able to go off the ship earlyish in the morning on each "turnaround" day to explore the port just like other ports of call, or will be be "herded" in a group to disembark and re-embark in a group and therefore miss the opportunity of visiting that port ?

4. If we are allowed to disembark at "turnaround" ports to sightsee, will we have to return to the ship by the 2 hours embarkation time for new passengers, or will our return to the ship time be just like "normal" ports of call ?

 

Any advice from experienced back-to-back cruisers will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Demonyte]

1. No. If you have not booked all legs as one long cruise, you might need to visit guest services on the last days of each leg (there is info in the Freestyle Daily when it's time) to make sure that they know that you are staying onboard, but other than that, no worries.

 

2. Honestly I don't know. I'd ask about it during the first leg and if really worried, take the bottles purchased and store them in your cabin.

 

3. Procedure is different at least in US and European ports, if there are Canadian ports involved, don't know how they work. In US ports you need to be out of the ship and through immigration in order to ship to be cleared so you must leave the ship at some point. However it doesn't matter if you leave to town in the morning on your own or stay onboard and wait until B2B passengers are taken to terminal as a group to wait for a while before reboarding. On our B2Bs from Miami we have always left to town and came back in the afternoon.

 

4. While not exactly sure, I'd say that it's best to come back 2 hours before. Also you might need to attend muster drill at the start of each leg. We didn't, but on both occasions we got conflicting information from different members of crew and it was very unclear at first if we needed to go or not. One time we went to sign up at our station but were free to go after that, the other time we were told that they have our info in file so we didn't need to even go to the muster station.

 

Muster drill thing is probably the most difficult to find out completely and accurately beforehand, our B2Bs have been before Costa Concordia accident and from what I've read, all cruise lines have changed or tightened their procedures since then (NCL had better procedures than required already before the accident).

[Goldygolfer]

Thank you Demonyte for your very helpful information.

 

Any other comments other back-to-back cruisers would also be most welcome -

particularly those who have experience in USA and Canadian ports.

[garycarla]

Any questions about getting on and off at each end could easily be wrong depending on ports.

 

Any U.S. port will surely require you to go through immigration. Other countries, not so much. If you are not a U.S. passport holder, you have extra steps.

 

Almost every cruise I have been on that ends in the U.S. is held up because some non U.S. citizen fails to show up for special screening. Announcement and announcement is made holding up the whole ship. Do not be one of those.

 

Unused bottles? Take them to your cabin, or put in bags if moving cabins. (you may have a nice loophole here... if you buy wine ashore, they hold it until the last day of your cruise, and give it back on the last night. So, in your case you "first" last night... you are still onboard - bingo!)

[jsygrl]

Just got off a B2B on the Jade but we booked as a combined itinerary.

 

1. We did not have to settle our account after the first leg. What you should look for is the disembarkation date on your card. If it has the 1st leg disembarkation date, you will have to go to guest services desk to get a new card after that leg. If it has the 4 B2B disembarkation date, you should be good.

 

2. We purchased a wine package, they give you paper vouchers for each bottle and we used them right through the 2nd to last day of the 2nd leg.

 

3. As others have said, it all depends on the port. We were in Europe, so no need to go through immigration, we got off when we wanted to.

 

4. They will tell you when you have to be back on the ship, there will be signs posted as you get off. In Venice, they actually had a separate "In-Transit" line getting through security.

[Goldygolfer]

Thank you garycarla and jsygrl for taking the time to assist. Your information was very helpful.

 

We will be travelling on Australian passports and will also be applying for ESTA (Visa Waiver) for the USA. We don't require a visa for Canada.

 

The details for our cruise are:-

Initial embarkation - Miami

Turnaround ports - Miami, LA & Vancouver

Final disembarkation - Seattle.

 

We have done btob cruises in Europe, but I believe that the system is not as relaxed in the USA. Any further comments from NCL btob cruisers with experience in any of these ports will be gratefully appreciated. Cheers from "Downunder".

[Powriv]

did the Pearl from Vancouver to Miami in 2010. We got off the ship to escort someone to Airport and just made it back to port in time to sail away.

 

We got our new cards before we got off and cleared customs cause of person we were taking to Airport. Coming back we basically just walked on..whether it was due to being so late or cause we already had our cards I don't know for sure

[BabsinTX]

We did our first B2B this past May, Los Angeles to Vancouver, followed by Alaska RT Vancouver, 14 days total. We received different ID cards for each leg and I think you'll find this preferable.

 

1. We didn't have to settle our account until our last (13th) day. However, if you have OBC or other amenities associated with any of your four cruises, you should check on the first day of EACH leg to be sure your records are correct. I was due OBC on our second leg and it didn't show up. It took two days, a call to my TA and a note to the Hotel Director to get it fixed.

 

2. On the last night of our first week, we went to the duty-free shop and bought a bottle of booze and took it back to our cabin to drink during the second week. Normally, purchases are held in the shop and delivered to cabins on the last night. But there's a cutoff time on the last night after which you can walk in, make your purchase and take it with you. (!!) So you could do this three times. This won't work, however, if your first card covers all 37 days. Since you booked it as separate cruises, make sure your cards match.

 

FYI, if you've reached Platinum level you'll get some free laundry on each leg. Enjoy!

[Goldygolfer]

Thanks for your comments Babs - especially the tip about buying some duty free alcohol on the last night of each "leg". Hope that works for us. I guess we will just have to wait and see whether NCL issues us with new cards for each section of the cruise.

[BabsinTX]

Thanks for your comments Babs - especially the tip about buying some duty free alcohol on the last night of each "leg". Hope that works for us. I guess we will just have to wait and see whether NCL issues us with new cards for each section of the cruise.

 

If you want new cards for each leg, just tell them when you go through embarkation. We save ours and use them as Xmas tree ornaments, so we want as many as possible. And if you have different amenities or OBC on different legs, it makes more sense to have four cards--I can't imagine they'd add all the OBC to your account on the first of your 37 days.

[Demonyte]

2. On the last night of our first week, we went to the duty-free shop and bought a bottle of booze and took it back to our cabin to drink during the second week. Normally, purchases are held in the shop and delivered to cabins on the last night. But there's a cutoff time on the last night after which you can walk in, make your purchase and take it with you. (!!) So you could do this three times. This won't work, however, if your first card covers all 37 days. Since you booked it as separate cruises, make sure your cards match.

 

At least on our both B2B cruises we have had the same keycards with second leg's disembarkation date on them from the start and never have had any problems getting our confiscated or ship-bought liqours at the end of the first leg.

[bjay3]

I have another question about the B2B. If you are platinum and get the package that includes free dinners in le Bistro, do you get a second package and coupons for the second leg?