Back to Back Turn-Around Day

[CenTex50]

I am considering a back to back to back in 2014. Assuming you have the same stateroom, a couple of questions on the two turn-around days.

 

• Do you have to disembark?
  
• If you disembark, when can you board the ship?
  

 

Thanks.

[cruisestitch]

Whether or not you have to disembark depends on where in the world you are.

 

In the US, you must disembark. It varies in other countries.

 

Ih the US, you may disembark, go into town, return to the ship making sure you are on board at least 90 minutes prior to sailing. Or, you may disembark (you will be last off the ship) pass through C&I and return immediately to the ship. You will probably not be able to access your stateroom immediately, however, and will have to wait until all stateroom are ready.

[CenTex50]

Looking at the Equinox in the Med.

[cruisestitch]

OK -- there you are probably not required to disembark, but if you want to leave the ship to explore the town, or you may. You will close out your SeaPass account, and use your card one last time to get off the ship. They will give you instructions about getting your new card (sometimes it's delivered to your stateroom, sometimes you pick it up in the terminal). You'll need to go to Guest Relations at some point to give them your credit card imprint. You may also need to have them re-set your SeaPass account and in-room TV system. If you find that you can't see your account or order room service or book a shore excursion, it's because they haven't re-set the system.

 

If you choose to stay on the ship, note that the breakfast closes at 8 or 8:30. The pools will probably be shut down until around noon.

[kampinguru]

We have done this several times with the end points in the US. All those on B2B meet at a location that you are advised of at a defined time. They take all of us off the ship and you scan out for the last time on that cruise. That shows that the ship is empty if everyone is off. They take you through immigarations and hand you your new sea pass cards for the second leg. You have the choice to get back on the ship immediately or leave and go into town. You get a new picture taken when you get back on board and you have the ship to yourself for a while. It is fun to watch all the activity from the crew on the turnaround day. You usually can get access to your stateroom if you need to. We like to sit by the pool and watch the activity and just relax like we have a personal yacht. :-)

[CenTex50]

Thanks for the info.

[galleycook]

Coincidentally we just asked our butler this question. He told us that you have to disembark so the ship shows a zero count of passengers on board. Then you check-in again and re-board. You don’t have to take luggage off the ship.

What he said makes sense. I don’t know if the rules change depending on the country but I would assume not.

[C 2 C]

 

What he said makes sense. I don’t know if the rules change depending on the country but I would assume not.

 

There is a big difference if the turn around day is in the US or Europe. European back to backs are so much more civilized.

[tfrcal]

We did the B2B in San Juan and for us it was not that great. We were thinking we would have a pretty empty ship before the new passengers came on board, however, by the time they disembarked us and got us back on the new passengers were already arriving. We had the same room and they still were not crazy about us returning to it until the rooms were "officially" ready. YMMV. :D

[jmb4534]

We've done several B2B's, on various cruise lines. It has always been very easy. They have always given instructions well in advance. Each ship/port have their own rules, so it is always different it seems. Once when we had to change cabins our room attendant moved our luggage for us while we were out sightseeing for the day. One of our cruises even had a special luncheon in the MDR for B2B pax on turn around day. Enjoy your B2B cruise. It is such a good feeling when you see all the pax stressing about packing, flights, etc. and you know you don't have to..........yet!

[CPT Trips]

There is a big difference if the turn around day is in the US or Europe. European back to backs are so much more civilized.

 

Any group of nations that allows flyers to keep their shoes on should also be expected to have a civilized B2B process.

[Northern Aurora]

We tend to do B2B cruises, and this past April did a B2B on the Equinox (the transatlantic followed by the first Mediterranean). There were approximately 300 B2B passengers, and the Equinox staff did a great job. Passengers on the B2B were asked to deliver our passports to Guest Relations, and Celebrity took care of all of the paperwork. We were assigned a time to meet in Quasar where our passports were returned, new seapass cards issued and so forth. We were quickly off the ship for a day in Barcelona.

[Pearlbodeen]

I am considering a back to back to back in 2014. Assuming you have the same stateroom, a couple of questions on the two turn-around days.

 

• Do you have to disembark?
  
• If you disembark, when can you board the ship?
  

 

Thanks.

 

Don't know if it depends on the port or the cruise line. A few years ago we did B2B on the Norwegian Pearl out of Miami - we did have to get off the ship but were able to get right back on after about 10 minutes. This year in February we did B2B on the Carnival Legend out of Tampa - we were told to report to the theater along with non-US citizens at 7:30 AM. We went through customs there on the stage and did not have to get off the ship. We were also able to go back to our stateroom with no issues.

[Keith1010]

Looking at the Equinox in the Med.

 

On this type of cruise turn around day would be like any day in port for you. You'll be able to come and go as you please. Book early to have good choices of a cabin so you can get the same room on both cruises.

 

Keith

[gold1953]

We did a B2B out of Barcelona. There were 200 cruisers staying on. We were instructed to go to a 'meeting' the day before. Then we were given our new sea pass cards.

The options were

1.. meet the group at a designated time on turn around day . The group leaves the ship together and then processes and returns to enjoy the day on board. They said it could take up to 2 hours ( because of the #'s)

 

2.. Walk off the ship before 8:30 on you own, enjoy the day in port, then when you return even though we had our new cards we were told to go to the counter and sign the new medical form , get a new photo and return. We could not return until the ship was open for embarking.

We enjoyed our day in Barcelona.

 

Talked to friends who stayed on and they said it took only an hour

[japanese]

I did a back-to-back on the Eclipse last summer. The turn around was in Southampton. It was very civilised. I was not required to disembark at all. They told me to wait at whatever deck the customer relations desk was - deck 5? - and someone came with all the necessary equipment to process us. I did poke my nose out to see if it was worth getting off the ship to get to an internet hot spot in Southampton but the sight of the long queue to get back on just put me off. So I simply remained on board while the ship was in Southampton.

 

I understand that 2012 was the first year when they implemented changes in processing the B2Bs. Prior to that, people were required to disembark and go through all the rigmarole of registering to get back on again

[grayjay]

Any group of nations that allows flyers to keep their shoes on should also be expected to have a civilized B2B process.

 

:D:D:D How right you are. It's always nice to meet others at the airport with belts in their hands and trying to hold up their trousers while juggling phones, handbags and shoes behind the scanners - and don't forget the disgusting idea of walking on floors where hundreds of others have walked barefoot or in socks before you...

(All right, all right, I know there might be security reasons for that, but still...)

[Project_gal]

:D:D:D How right you are. It's always nice to meet others at the airport with belts in their hands and trying to hold up their trousers while juggling phones, handbags and shoes behind the scanners - and don't forget the disgusting idea of walking on floors where hundreds of others have walked barefoot or in socks before you...

(All right, all right, I know there might be security reasons for that, but still...)

 

You left underwear off the list! A few years back changing planes in Detroit, I had to remove my bra in the queue as well! Lucky I can do it without removing my outer clothing.

 

I appreciate the necessity for security. I just wish that there were the same requirements everywhere so that you can prepare in advance. We try to ensure that we have stopped before the security check and done everything we have been asked to do in advance so that we are not juggling when we get there and they still seem to manage to catch us out with something new.

 

Sue