B2B Tips and Tricks

[travler27]

We'll be doing our first B2B on the Splendor in November. We are VIFP gold, in a suite and have FTTF for the first leg. Any tips, tricks or suggestions we might need to know regarding B2B cruising?

[Kamloops50]

We'll be doing our first B2B on the Splendor in November. We are VIFP gold, in a suite and have FTTF for the first leg. Any tips, tricks or suggestions we might need to know regarding B2B cruising?

 

On turn around day after the ship has zeroed out it's passenger , you'll be allowed on board. Basically you'll have the ship to yourself for a few hours.

[Sparky2]

We'll be doing our first B2B on the Splendor in November. We are VIFP gold, in a suite and have FTTF for the first leg. Any tips, tricks or suggestions we might need to know regarding B2B cruising?

 

You will probably have a fruit basket & bottle of wine (or champagne) waiting for you in your cabin for the 2nd leg.

 

If you don't like the champagne or red wine (I prefer white) you can ask the MDR hostess if you can exchange it and she will gladly do that.

 

If you miss something (show, food demo, etc.) the first week due to a conflict, you can catch it the 2nd week.

 

And, of course, you'll be off the ship, through customs, and back on with your new S & S card, and be able to enjoy the ship for about an hour before the mob of new passengers board.

[Sparky2]

We'll be doing our first B2B on the Splendor in November. We are VIFP gold, in a suite and have FTTF for the first leg. Any tips, tricks or suggestions we might need to know regarding B2B cruising?

 

Some people have said that if you buy any alcohol on the ship after 7 PM the night before the cruise ends, you can take it back to your cabin for the next cruise.

 

However, I know this for a fact, if you buy booze in port & check it in when you re-board at the port, you will not get it back till the end of the 2nd cruise. I left the paper on the bed the last day, and my cabin steward said he could not get it for me as it had been flagged as my doing a B2B.

 

When I was asked by security as my bag was going through the scanner if I had any alcohol in my bag, I had to tell the truth as my SO was with me.

[wdazew]

While you will have the ship to yourself, the bars will not be available for drinks as they are uploading the new manifest. It is way cool to have the ship to yourself however. You will be asked if you plan to leave the area (go shopping, your car if at the port etc) and you will be given directions how to by pass the check in

 

Also if you have assigned dining sometime during the week you can meet with the Maitre D' to request your seating

[Elaine5715]

On turn around day after the ship has zeroed out it's passenger , you'll be allowed on board. Basically you'll have the ship to yourself for a few hours.

 

More like 30 minutes if that..

[montana200024]

we do our laundry , that morning , for the second week, the laundry rooms are locked, but just ask and they will open for you...no one around, fast..

 

It is the most amazing feeling in the world to see the passengers leaving and your NOT...

 

Enjoy , and be prepared to do more B2B cruises as they are addicting...we will be doing our 10th in Feb..

Edited September 15, 2014 by montana200024

[sewut]

We're doing our first B2B in January. I've got the perfect shirt for turnaround day. It's the Carnival one that says KEEP CALM AND CRUISE ON. I'd like to know about boarding pictures. Do they take one for the second cruise? I keep them in a separate album with my S&S cards.

[Elaine5715]

We're doing our first B2B in January. I've got the perfect shirt for turnaround day. It's the Carnival one that says KEEP CALM AND CRUISE ON. I'd like to know about boarding pictures. Do they take one for the second cruise? I keep them in a separate album with my S&S cards.

 

You can get an "in transit" card and go out to get another Boarding Photo taken.

[nealstuber]

.... Walk through one or two of the Stateroom halls and enjoy seeing all the packed bags while you have 7 days left!:):)

[ancfun]

When we did b2b we met in the atrium. They gave us our new key cards. Once all other passengers were off, we lined up & went out with our old key. We got held up in the baggage/customs area because one of our b2b guests had a delay with their ID. Once that was cleared up, we were escorted back on & were free to roam. We did not have any wine/champagne/fruit in our cabin. We also had our door decorations taken down & disposed of when we were gone, which we weren't expecting. Otherwise we would've taken them down ourselves so that we could put them back up. I absolutely loved watching other passengers leave knowing that I didn't have to! :D

[seeing this world]

B2B last year.. we brought 4 bottles of wine with us the first cruise ... we said we are doing a B2B when we first went through security, they did not ask for second ticket, they did not take the 2 bottles of wine away to hold for the second week :D. Ahhh we drank all the wine the first week . :rolleyes:. We went to the onboard duty free shop and bought liquor the very last night of the first cruise and they did not take it from us, they let us take the liquor to our room . Well we did not fess up that we were on a B2B,, they did not ask i did not tell ;).

 

In between cruises we (was with friends) did take the option of the in transat passes and just for some reason, well I came back with more wine. Even came back with 3 bottles instead of 2 .. told them I was on a B2B and needed refills ... maybe they misunderstood me but they did not take the 2nd or 3rd bottle (truthfully it was one me from our room on the intransat pass the hubby stayed on board). I stuck gold..

 

we did not get the free wine or flowers if that what they do. a fruit basket did show up on the 4th day of the second cruise.

 

if you are changing rooms the room stewart will help you move to new room. Just be sure to tell you stewart that you are on a B2B.

 

Have fun and enjoy .. i wish i could do B2B all the time.

[travler27]

Even if they took your excess wine when you check in for cruise #1 you could just claim it back on the last day of the 1st cruise and put it in your room for the 2nd cruise. Right?

[Ohio Bucki]

Doing a B2B in November, do you have to take your second week cruise documents and passport with you down to the lobby on turnaround morning?

[Sparky2]

we do our laundry , that morning , for the second week, the laundry rooms are locked, but just ask and they will open for you...no one around, fast..

 

It is the most amazing feeling in the world to see the passengers leaving and your NOT...

 

Enjoy , and be prepared to do more B2B cruises as they are addicting...we will be doing our 10th in Feb..

 

Yes, that does become a problem (in a good way) as we can no longer book a single cruise.

 

We'll be doing our 4th B2B (3rd in a row) January 2015.

[Sparky2]

We're doing our first B2B in January. I've got the perfect shirt for turnaround day. It's the Carnival one that says KEEP CALM AND CRUISE ON. I'd like to know about boarding pictures. Do they take one for the second cruise? I keep them in a separate album with my S&S cards.

 

You are back on board before they have the set-up for boarding photos.

[Sparky2]

Doing a B2B in November, do you have to take your second week cruise documents and passport with you down to the lobby on turnaround morning?

 

I did have our boarding pass with us on turn-around day, but I'm not sure if they took them or even looked at them. I can't remember.

 

They do have a list of those on the B2B and handed out the S & S cards to us.

 

You do need your passport or other ID because you are going through customs. We also turned in the custom's declaration form (or whatever it is called).

[Lovtotravel2]

We'll be doing our first B2B on the Splendor in November. We are VIFP gold, in a suite and have FTTF for the first leg. Any tips, tricks or suggestions we might need to know regarding B2B cruising?

 

I don't understand why you would buy FTTF when you have a Suite that gets you priority boarding, your suite gets you all the benefits FTTF gets, and you don't waste $50

[ready2cruzagain]

Yes, that does become a problem (in a good way) as we can no longer book a single cruise.

 

We'll be doing our 4th B2B (3rd in a row) January 2015.

If you think that is bad, you could be like us. Once you do a b2b2b there is no turning back. Our next b2b2b is in December:D:D

[seeing this world]

Even if they took your excess wine when you check in for cruise #1 you could just claim it back on the last day of the 1st cruise and put it in your room for the 2nd cruise. Right?

 

yes you can claim it back for second cruise

 

 

I bought FTTF pass for first cruise and guest services just let us continue to use the services offered for the second cruise,, ie early disembarkment etc. They were really good to us.

[travler27]

I don't understand why you would buy FTTF when you have a Suite that gets you priority boarding, your suite gets you all the benefits FTTF gets, and you don't waste $50

 

Only suite perk on Carnival these days is priority embark. You still have to wait until 1:30 or 2:00 to go to your room and all other perks have been eliminated from suites. With a suite you really don't get any of the perks you get with FTTF. Plus, it's only 50 bucks.

Edited September 16, 2014 by travler27

[kadeycat]

We did a back to back on the Magic last October.

 

They have you meet on the lobby atrium or lounge as a group and walk you off and back onto the ship.

 

 

By the time they let us off and we got through customs, there were about 50-100 other people already on board.

 

We were a bit disappointed that the masses had already started to clog up the ship before we had a chance to put our documents back in our stateroom.

 

It was great though to know that we did not have to go to the airport and we could enjoy another week of sailing.

[welshcorgie]

we do our laundry , that morning , for the second week, the laundry rooms are locked, but just ask and they will open for you...no one around, fast..

 

It is the most amazing feeling in the world to see the passengers leaving and your NOT...

 

Enjoy , and be prepared to do more B2B cruises as they are addicting...we will be doing our 10th in Feb..

We also do laundry-----nice and quiet.

[keene state mom]

we check out all the different cat rooms and pick out room for the next cruise ..

[najnelle]

We just booked our first b2b last night. I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. I am wondering if on the second leg of the trip if you are assigned to the same table and wait staff for dinner. I have some dietary issues and it would be great to stay with the same staff once they know my issues. I asked my PVP when I booked, but he wasn't sure. What has been your experience?