B2B

[Crusin-Suzan]

Doing a B2B thru Rotterdam.   What will be the procedures???  Do we have to get off??  Never have done this!   Thanks

 

[rkacruiser]

Whether you have to disembark in order to "clear the ship" or not will depend upon the Customs/Immigration officials at your port.  The ship will provide detailed information prior to your port arrival as to what you must do.  It is important that you carefully read those instructions and follow them exactly  to make this transition as pleasant as possible for you as well as for your fellow guests.

[RuthC]

I have never had to disembark the ship on a turn-around day in Europe. This includes in Rotterdam, and also includes Amsterdam just a few weeks ago. Since both are Netherlands, I expect the rules are the same.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I see that you will be on the Zuiderdam in  Europe -- right??

 

If so -- you do not have to worry about going through customs -- just do whatever you want to do on that day.

 

If you are in the same cabin -- just let your cabin stewards know that you are staying on for another cruise.  Some of ours change the sheets the day before -- others don't -- just to cut back on what they have to do on turn-around day.

[kazu]

10 hours ago, RuthC said:

I have never had to disembark the ship on a turn-around day in Europe. This includes in Rotterdam, and also includes Amsterdam just a few weeks ago. Since both are Netherlands, I expect the rules are the same.

 

And, as usual, you're right 😉. When we were in Amsterdam those staying on did not have to disembark if they chose not to.

 

OP, if you do wish to explore Amsterdam, you should get a special card as well as instructions so you can skip the embarkation line for those that are just joining the cruise when you return to the ship. 

[Crusin-Suzan]

We will be in Rotterdam!!!  Thanks for the info!!!

 

[WisRiver]

If your ship has stopped in a Schengen county (a country that is party to the Schengen Agreement on immigration https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Area) before you arrive in Rotterdam, then there is no need to worry about immigration or customs.  We have done B2B's before in Copenhagen and Rome.  There will be onboard instructions, but in our experience you walk off the ship at your leisure, and return before departure.  We will be on HAL's Voyage of the Vikings round trip from Boston in late July.  We anticipate walking off the ship in Rotterdam, spending the day touring, and returning late afternoon.

[TAD2005]

We were on the Rotterdam from Tampa, on a B2B, passing through Tampa again for the 2nd segment.   It seems that US ports require a ship to go down to "zero count" when there is a B2B or collectors cruise when the mid-point is a US port.  We had to leave the ship, and hang out in the terminal until everybody got the message and left the ship.  Then, after 45 minutes we were able to board again.   People who took tours in Tampa were already off the ship, but we live near Tampa, so we just got back on after the wait for the "zero count".