Have you ever done a side to side?

[Jenn1974]

Hi.   Well we went and did it.  We booked a side to side.  The Liberty for a short 3 night and then jumping on the Elation for a 5 night.  Both leaving from Canaveral.  Has anyone done this?  How was it?  Any tips and tricks.  I don't think I will even unpack for the 3 night.   I think once we get off Liberty I will get an Uber to take us to get wine and softdrinks for the second cruise then bring us back to the port.   

[panoramaofthepast]

Do let us know how it goes! We are doing this at Christmas/New Years, changing not only ship, but going from one line to another. We plan to use the intervening time to hit the laundromat, since we will have access to our car. It should be interesting.

[crazycatlady82]

Kind of? We jumped from Miami to FLL and also from RCCL to celebrity. It worked well for us!

[coevan]

The only downside is 2 debarkation processes, for us, the worst part of the cruise.

[Yvonne]

We did this once several years ago.  Did a 4-night Carnival Fantasy then a 7-night Disney Magic.  Both left from Port Canaveral.  We did have a day between them so did laundry that day.  Would happily do that again.

[tandemcruzr]

Yes, we've done this once before. It was a 5 day on the Ecstasy followed by a 7 day on the Dream in Port Canaveral. We parked at Park and Cruise. Their shuttle picked us up from the Ecstasy, took us to our car so we could unload the alcohol we bought on that cruise and then took us back to the port to board the Dream. Worked our very nicely.

[cellfree]

We have done two and are doing another in November. Our Side to Sides have both been out of Miami with seven nights on MSC amd then seven nights on Carnival.  Worked great. It was fun to be on two different cruise lines. The terminals at the Miami port were only two ships apart, a short walk for us. Have your luggage tags ready for second ship. 

[cellfree]

SCPirate, recently on Cruise Critic people were referring to cruising on two different ships one after the other whether same cruise line or not and someone said that it was called a Side to Side as opposed to a Back to Back - stating a Back to Back was cruising on same ship and a Side to Side was cruising on two different ships.

[coevan]

The term side by side has been around for years, richstowe got it right

[2Shoes2Go]

They’re fun! We done a few with switching ports of Tampa to Canaveral. Also, Canaveral over to JAX. Sometimes switched fro Carnival to Royal ships on same day. Most interesting was in Miami. last year we did a S3S; Glory - Vista - Splendor. 

Have to be organized! Had all docs and tags ready for all legs. Got earliest debark for peace of mind. After the S3S, realized it could have gone bad if any ship delays occurred.😳 

[mikenbon]

We did a side to side last spring and wouldn't hesitate to do it again. We were on Royal Caribbean's Adventure of the Seas for 8 days, then a 6 day on the Carnival Conquest. The ships were just a couple of minutes apart by cab, in Port Everglades. 

[mrpayroll]

We took a seven day on RCL Allure of the Seas from port everglades, then took Uber to Miami and went on CCL Vista. Worked out fine.

[RWolver672]

I don't know if this is considered a side by side or what.  We sailed on the Victory for five days out of Miami, got off the ship and drove to Port Canaveral.  The following day we got on the Liberty for seven days.

[westview1]

We took the Magic out of Miami and then the Miracle from Tampa.  It worked out fine.  We did self debark and were off the Magic by 7:45 am (we're diamond) then drove straight to Tampa.  Funny thing, as we were driving to Tampa, my DH was on that other site, and someone posted that the DEA came on board and escorted 2 women from the Lido to their cabins to check their luggage.