Changing Cabins on B to B cruises

[tgetz]

We wanted to take one long voyage, but can't find the same cabin available so we are doing 13  days in SA 7067 on the Westerdam and then the following 13 days we have to change to  SC 7089. The cabins look identical except for the location. My question is, I know the room stewards will move the hanging things for us, but I thought I remembered someone saying they would take the drawers form one cabin and just put them in the new one. I very easily could have dreamt that. Anyone know.  Thanks for any help..

[mysticsailor]

We just had this occur last month. A steward came and got our hanging clothes but we were told in advance to have all loose items packed in our suitcases. Because our cruise was longer (many loose items) we cheated and threw a lot into the laundry baskets (we had several) folded clothes are returned in. The process went smoothly, you will be fine.

[tgetz]

so they did not take the drawers from one cabin to another? Loose stuff sitting on drainboards and the dressing table, I understand I have to repack. I am curious about the drawers? 

Do you have to do this  by a certain time? I know a lot of ports everyone has to clear the ship before they can allow anyone on??

[kazu]

It depends on the cruise and ship but generally speaking, you need to pack all the stuff in drawers and toiletries, etc.

 

Leave your suitcases in the cabin - do NOT put them outside 😉 or they will be in the wrong place.

 

they will move everything beautifully.  I was really nervous about it and it was done so fast it was unbelievable.

 

Remember to take the stuff out of your safety deposit box.  If you need to get off the ship ask for entry into the cabin to just put it in the safety deposit box or leave it with the front desk.  I was lucky to have access for the SDB.

Also, you will now have two room keys.  Hold on to both.  You need your old one to get off (theoretically) and the new one to get on.  In our case, somehow, they reversed it so hang onto both.  Our new keys worked fine for the new cabin though.

 

Since everything is hung up, it takes little time to put the rest of the stuff away 😄 

[kazu]

1 minute ago, tgetz said:

so they did not take the drawers from one cabin to another? Loose stuff sitting on drainboards and the dressing table, I understand I have to repack. I am curious about the drawers? 

Do you have to do this  by a certain time? I know a lot of ports everyone has to clear the ship before they can allow anyone on??

 

Have your stuff packed and ready for early in the morning. 

 

Remember the stewards need to get your room ready for the next occupants.

 

Ours was moved at 9 am.

 

No big deal to toss the stuff in from the drawers and then set it up in the next cabin 😉 

 

I was done in 20 minutes probably.

[tgetz]

You are definitely  a better packer than me if you were able to do it in 20 minutes.    

I hang a lot and the closets are great on the Westerdam, so that does help a lot. I was really hoping they would just move the drawers. I guess I was just dreaming...

 

Thanks everyone.  I am still going to hold my fingers for one cabin for both segments but.....

[kazu]

7 minutes ago, tgetz said:

You are definitely  a better packer than me if you were able to do it in 20 minutes.    

I hang a lot and the closets are great on the Westerdam, so that does help a lot. I was really hoping they would just move the drawers. I guess I was just dreaming...

 

Thanks everyone.  I am still going to hold my fingers for one cabin for both segments but.....

 

I’m guessing you have looked at both segments for available cabins that match?

 

Also look at the collectors if there is one.

 

And if you find one, ask your TA/PCC to pull it out of inventory.

I chose to move as I was downgrading for the 2nd segment as it was port intensive but my TA has pulled cabins out of inventory on more than one occasion for me 😉

and, I am a rotten packer.  But taking stuff out when you knew where it was before doesn’t take long at all and all the stuff was already hung up - exactly as I had it before.

[tgetz]

Oh yes, I look at both segment each day as well as the long one, and my TA has not quite gotten on her knees to beg , but... MY TA is actually across the hall from HAL and they have a lot influence with AHL but couldn't get any magic so far. I will keep hoping. My husband is tall and he is never comfortable in the chairs in the cabins so he goes to the Neptune a  ot to read, so close to the Neptune is also a factor. I know, PICKY, PICKY. Right now it is what are the options we can live with.  🙂

[Crew News]

Your new Room Steward will arrive with a bellman's cart as soon as the departing occupants leave their stateroom on Disembarkation Day but your new room will not yet be ready for occupancy, just to receive your moved items. 

 

All of your hangup items will go on the bellman's cart but what items that are left will have to be packed in your suitcases.  Hangup items will go into the new-stateroom closets and your other items left in your suitcases before you close the door.  When you return after "in-transit" passengers are allowed to return to their staterooms, your room should be ready.  This return is usually one hour before the new passengers start boarding.

 

Keep your fingers crossed that the departing occupants of your new stateroom choose to be in the first groups off the ship.

[Krazy Kruizers]

What port is your turn around day?

[regnig]

tgetz you were not just dreaming about the "moving drawers" situation.  At some time a couple or few years ago several people on this board reported that happening.  Perhaps it pertained only on the smaller ships but I seem to remember it was done that way on the Vista's too but apparently that practice has stopped. 😞

[Roz]

After reading the glowing reports on this board about how easy it was to change cabins on turnaround day, I had high hopes.  Guess I'm not in the popular girls' clique, because it was anything but smooth.  The HAL staff acted like this was the first time they did this, and I was an anomaly.  This was in Vancouver, and I was even told I could get off and then back on the ship with the same key card. 😱  Not!

 

Hope you have a better experience.

 

Roz

[tgetz]

Like everything, I think it must vary from ship to ship and crew to crew. Roz what ship were you on? 

We will be on the Westerdam, and our turn around Port  is Tokyo.  We really want to see Tokyo but sounds like maybe I should let my husband go on a tour and I should hang around to see it all gets sorted properly   and that we can get back on easily.  What a pain this seems like it will be, but how fortunate we are to have this as a problem and not something more serious. Thanks everyone,,,

[catl331]

1 hour ago, tgetz said:

maybe I should let my husband go on a tour and I should hang around to see it all gets sorted properly  

I wouldn't, unless I had been to Tokyo many times before!!  

[Roz]

1 hour ago, tgetz said:

Like everything, I think it must vary from ship to ship and crew to crew. Roz what ship were you on? 

We will be on the Westerdam, and our turn around Port  is Tokyo.  We really want to see Tokyo but sounds like maybe I should let my husband go on a tour and I should hang around to see it all gets sorted properly   and that we can get back on easily.  What a pain this seems like it will be, but how fortunate we are to have this as a problem and not something more serious. Thanks everyone,,,

 

Tgetz, I was on the Nieuw Amsterdam.  My original plan was to get off the ship, walk around for a bit, and have brunch in Vancouver.  When we finally got into the terminal with our "in transit" cards, no one knew what to do with us.  It was bedlam in Canada Place and we went around in circles after being in a holding pen on the ship for a long time.  As we were being led off the ship to go thru immigration, a crew member came running after us and gave those of us in different cabins new key cards.  I was right!  The other people changing cabins didn't even know to ask the right question, and thanked me for pressing the issue.  I just knew that since I had 2 different booking numbers and 2 different cabins, using the same key card to get back on the ship was going to set off all kinds of alarms.  I could have ended up at Guantanamo Bay! 😪

 

I talked with one couple that went into Vancouver and then re-boarded.  They told me that the in-transit cards were basically worthless, and it took them over an hour in the terminal to get back on the ship.

 

There were several things wrong with this cruise, this being one of them.

 

Roz

[tgetz]

For some reason, I have heard several horror stories about embarking and disembarking in Vancouver. We have done both and not had major problems. I guess it is like everything else. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. The Nieuw Amsterdam is one ship I had problems with too. It didn't make me want to try it again or any of the other large or large ships.  I am sure that it helped that  you knew enough to keep asking. I have found that a yes from the crew is quite often meaningless and I love the crew. They just always want to please so badly so they say yes and sometimes I am sure they are wondering  what we are even asking. I will definetly keep this in mind. It helps that the concierge in the Neptune are usually much better at understanding the English language and I can communicate my concerns with them.   Thanks so much for your input.

[mcrcruiser]

We have done both moving cabins & booked early to stay in the same cabin . We prefer the later  because far less hassle

 

 

[mcmarya]

We changed cabins in San Antonio, Chile and were able to get off the ship to go on tours to Valparaiso.  The only hangup came when I returned to the ship earlier than my husband.  I waited in line to get keys to the new cabin twice and neither ones would work.  Apparently, my husband had to be back on board with his old card before we could get new cards that would work.  On our ship (Zaandam) we could not have cards for 2 cabins at the same time.

 

Otherwise, the move went fine.  We packed everything except the hanging items into our suitcases that morning.  Fortunately, we were able to transfer the items from our safe to the new cabin before leaving on our tours--the passengers who were leaving let us do so.  The stewards took care of everything else while we were gone and there were no issues. 

 

Anyway, if you want to tour Tokyo do it--don't be held back by a cabin change.

Edited July 14, 2019 by mcmarya

[tgetz]

Thanks for that advice. I love to cruise and see new ports but I am also very happy staying on board when everyone else is gone... Of course on a turn around day it won't be quiet. 🙂.

It has taken awhile but my husband has finally gotten comfortable going by himself on a tour. When we did the world cruise last year, I had planned to get off and do a 4 day safari with him although it was not something I was especially looking forward to. I got sick a few days before and knew I would just be miserable so I stayed on the ship by myself... (well, with 300 or 400 hundred other people as most did get off for safaris). I was fine and didn't feel like I missed anything. I want to see Japan and I am very excited about going there, but I am not one that has to see everything and even if I do see a lot, I forget what I saw and where I saw it. 😉 My husband however, wants to see and do it all. One reason cruising works so well for us. So if I miss a port, as long as I get to see a lot of other Japan, I will be fine. I love being spoiled on the ship so if I stay on board after having to disembark, it will not be a hardship for me, but thank you so much for your input.

[iflyrc5]

In 2018 on the Koningsdam we had to move nextdoor on our turn around day.  Loaded the drawer/bathroom stuff in the luggage and left the hanging stuff in the closet.  We did the turn around process (FLL) came back aboard went to the front desk - got our new key cards - then to the new room and everything was in the new room.   Took about 15 minutes to get stuff put away.

[tgetz]

Thanks, our move is about 15 cabins down so sounds like what we will do.

[DeepWaterMariner]

We've done cabin swaps a couple of times and it has gone very smoothly each time.  Ours have been completed before 9 AM so it was no impediment to going ashore for the day.  The only time I've had a change of cabins where the non-hanging stuff was moved for me was when I was moved from a cabin with a leak.  In that case my move was supervised by an officer and everything in the new cabin was in exactly the same place it had been in the old cabin.  Otherwise, my moves required packing up the stuff in drawers and loose items.

[bcummin]

I do not want to be a troublemaker, but I do not think that so many passengers should have to change staterooms in the middle of B to B cruises.

Barbara

[oakridger]

Hi Barbara.  I always book as soon as I can for back to back cruises to ensure I have the same cabin.  If booking closer to the cruise departure, of course many of the cabins have already been assigned.

[tgetz]

We just booked last week so we thought we were lucky to get two cabins. We would stay for the next leg but there are no cabins available at this time. I don't blame anyone but me.Our TA is trying but other people that booked sooner should certainly not be asked to move.

Deepwater are you suggesting maybe we should have a leak on the last morning????? 

oh no that was my thought.  !!!!!!!!