Curious ... not really B2B

[Ombud]

I'm going Melbourne to Auckland 11/24-12/3/19. Others are going Melbourne to Melbourne 11/24-12/7/19. Yet others Auckland to Auckland 12/3-12/16/19. How does that work? These aren't really B2B just different embarkation / disembarkation dates

[OzKiwiJJ]

It's quite common with some cruise lines, especially Princess. They sell longer cruises with multiple embarkation points, either overlapping with another longer cruise or offer a "fill in" short cruise between different embarkation ports. We recently did a 35 night Hawaii/Tahiti cruise on Princess which came after the world cruise and before a Australua circumnavigation cruise. It went like this:

 

- Ship arrives in Auckland near the end of the world cruise. Auckland world cruise passengers disembark and Auckland Hawaii/Tahiti passengers embark.

 

- Sydney - world cruise passengers disembark, Hawaii/Tahiti passengers embark.

 

- Brisbane - world cruise passengers disembark, Hawaii/Tahiti passengers embark.

 

- Near the end of the Hawaii/Tahiti cruise we stop at in Auckland where some passengers disembark. The Auckland to Sydney leg was sold as a four day cruise to fill the vacated cabins.

 

- Back to Sydney and more passenger disembark, and the first of the circumnavigation passengers embark.

 

- On to Brisbane and the last of the Hawaii/Tahiti passengers disembark and the remainder of the circumnavigation passengers embark. 

 

It's a very clever way to sell cruises that allow most passengers to embark and disembark from their nearest port rather than having too much land or air travel.

Edited November 10, 2019 by OzKiwiJJ

[Ombud]

I've got a lot of Princess cruises on record but only 1 other one downunder. Haven't experienced that in US. Will I have a set time to disembark in Auckland? Can I leisurely have breakfast in MDR then go? I have a 7:30 flight so would like to disembark & collect luggage at 10am. Is that possible? Does everyone get off or just those on a 9 day like me?

[OzKiwiJJ]

It will just be like any other disembarkation. You fill in the form, get your luggage tags, and disembark at the given time. The only difference is that transit passengers will also be getting off to do their sightseeing but they will be directed straight through whereas you will need to go through passport control. 

Edited November 10, 2019 by OzKiwiJJ

[Ombud]

Sounds perfect!!

[OzKiwiJJ]

It should be very easy and there will be plenty of staff there to direct you.

[GUT2407]

Yep lots of Princess Cruises sell like that down here, OzKiwi listed the Hawaii, Circ of Aus and World as examples.

 

We did a pretty basic Circumnavigation of Aus a few years back and the had people embarking and disembarking, Sydney, Darwin, Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. Many combining wth train trips either the Gahn (Darwin-Adelaide) or Indian Pacific (Sydney-Perth). Seems to mainly apply to longer cruises.