Worst Back to Back Ever Experienced

[Scotmay]

My husband and zI did a B to B in SE Asia and we just got off the ship (escorted) and taken to a holding area right there on the dock. After about 10 or 15 minutes we were taken back on the ship again, after they checked passports etc.,. Obviously, it depends which port/country you are in, as to how they organize this. I think the onus is on you to ask for details on this , if your partner needs any sort of assistance. My hubby may need assistance next year after knee surgery and you can bet your bottom dollar I will be preempting as much as I possibly can, in order for us to have a safe and happy cruise. 

[drjpreston]

No matter how bad the procedure is, the privilege of a B2B makes it worth while.   Sign me up.  I love B2b's.  Only thing better? A B2B2B.  🙂

[Doug R.]

13 hours ago, Trevor Fountain said:

Sorry for your experience. it sounds awful both for you and your dog. I am lucky to be able bodied, but having read your story, I have no intention of ever doing a back to back. If I want a longer vacation, I will just find a longer cruise.

Hope all is well now and you and your dog are fine.

Isn't this reaction a bit extreme based on one posted experience?

[wizard-of-roz]

13 hours ago, Trevor Fountain said:

Sorry for your experience. it sounds awful both for you and your dog. I am lucky to be able bodied, but having read your story, I have no intention of ever doing a back to back. If I want a longer vacation, I will just find a longer cruise.

Hope all is well now and you and your dog are fine.

Thank you.  This is my second Service Dog, he's 11 years old and this was his 15th cruise.  It was an awful experience and I'm so sorry that I put him through it.  He did spend the day with an upset stomach and acting extremely "clingy", which is not his normal personality.

 

I, too, will NEVER plan another Back to Back since there is no guarantee as how you will be treated and I travel with a Service Dog wherever I go.  It is my job to protect and keep him safe and NEVER expose him to potential hazards or undue stress.  I will plan longer cruises too.

[wizard-of-roz]

26 minutes ago, drjpreston said:

No matter how bad the procedure is, the privilege of a B2B makes it worth while.   Sign me up.  I love B2b's.  Only thing better? A B2B2B.  🙂

To be treated so shamefully, no matter how much I love the travel, is NEVER worth it!!!!!  Until the ships know what they're doing and how to treat the paying public appropriately, if I choose to cruise it will just be on longer cruises.

[Scotmay]

29 minutes ago, drjpreston said:

No matter how bad the procedure is, the privilege of a B2B makes it worth while.   Sign me up.  I love B2b's.  Only thing better? A B2B2B.  🙂

I agree. It's a great way to travel. Our changeover from one leg of a cruise to another was a piece of cake. 

[Coral]

I have only had 1 bad B2B experience with being intransit. Most of the time it is a piece of cake. Even the ones I have done in San Pedro have been easy. It goes to show that just because it is good one time, doesn't mean it will always be good.

[puppycanducruise]

Sorry for the bad experience for you and your service dog.

[npcl]

it varies by port. In some ports the check with cbp is done on ship, others it is done inside security where you walk off ship past the agent then right back on. On others you have to go through the normal cbp checks, end outside security, at which point you clear security and walk to the boarding location, show your in transit card and walk back on without having to wait for normal boarding.

 

I have been in some foreign ports where you have to leave the ship clear inmigration to enter the country, then go through security and go back through immigration for leaving the country then reboard.

 

the process depends upon port, in the US the CBP controls the process. 

[Coral]

20 minutes ago, puppycanducruise said:

Sorry for the bad experience for you and your service dog.

I agree. At age 11, that is considered an older dog. Roz is right, it is her job to protect the dog.

[wizard-of-roz]

Again, thank you all for your positive and teaching input.  

 

We have many choices in how we spend our vacation money.  I have another cruise booked in May, 2020.  It is a two week Alaskan cruise and there will be no Back to Back involved.

 

I prefer to cruise out of San Pedro because it's an easy drive to the pier and makes for a much more relaxing cruise experience for me and my travel buddies and, of course, my amazing and wonderful Service Dog, Horton.

 

 

 

 

[PrincessLuver]

On 11/25/2019 at 6:38 AM, JennyB1977 said:

@wizard-of-roz I am sorry to hear of your struggles. Why did you not ask for wheelchair assist? What accommodation did you want them to make without a request ahead of time? When I read the title of your thread, I was expecting to hear that the cruises themselves were the "worst". Is your only complaint about your travels the process for exiting and re-boarding?

 

That was my first thought too.....we have done plenty of BB with Princess and the process always varies for a variety of reasons but it has never been overwhelming or unmanageable.  Sounds like OP could have been more proactive and contacted Passengers Services Desk a couple of days before to make sure they knew her and her dogs needs so they could have satisfactorily been met.

Edited November 27, 2019 by PrincessLuver

[bobk57]

We are doing a back to back in Sydney next year, Sydney to Sydney and then Sydney to Auckland.  Any one experience a B to B in Sydney and how it work's down under? 

[Coral]

14 minutes ago, PrincessLuver said:

 

That was my first thought too.....we have done plenty of BB with Princess and the process always varies for a variety of reasons but it has never been overwhelming or unmanageable.  Sounds like OP could have been more proactive and contacted Passengers Services Desk a couple of days before to make sure they knew her and her dogs needs so they could have satisfactorily been met.

Not necessarily. The passenger services desk doesn't always know what happens at the pier. We were mislead by the person coordinating the intransit individuals. Nothing happened how they explained it would. She felt really bad and apologized. It wasn't her fault.

[OzKiwiJJ]

3 hours ago, bobk57 said:

We are doing a back to back in Sydney next year, Sydney to Sydney and then Sydney to Auckland.  Any one experience a B to B in Sydney and how it work's down under? 

It will depend on what ports you visit on the Sydney to Sydney cruise. If a face-to-face passport check is required then you will have to leave the ship as Border Security will require a "zero count" before allowing anyone back on. If you are docking at the Overseas Passenger Terminal then the process should be fairly smooth and transit passengers usually get a shortcut through to the security screening when reembarking. 

[wizard-of-roz]

On 11/25/2019 at 4:55 AM, skynight said:

Partially both. Configuration of the terminal, will immigration come on board, amount of immigration agents available, all factors.

I have done the b2b in San Pedro this past February. You exit the ship, pass through immigration. Once that is done Princess leads you as a group out the terminal door exit, outside along the sidewalk through all the disembarking passengers and their luggage, back into the terminal entrance, through security, to a section of the standard waiting area where we waited about 10/15 minutes, then back on the ship. This was at Pier93. The OP was on the Royal at pier 91/92. This is a smaller building probably more difficult for the turn around.

I agree with the OP. Princess needs to study these logistics and provide better flow. 

Seems to me that once you exit the ship and pass through immigration Princess should arrange for you to embark via the same gangway that you used to exit and not lead you outside as described.

With the amount of b2b passengers increasing all the time Princess and immigration need to streamline the process. It runs better in Fort Lauderdale.

The first b2b at a U.S. port we ever did was in April 2011. There were about 20 passengers doing the turn around. We met at Vines, the staff member had a list of names, when we were all there we walked through immigration and back on. Now we find as many as 600 or more.

For years I have been mentioning in the survey that the U.S. b2b process requires improvement. Some improvement can be done by the cruise line. Some improvements may be possible working with CBP as a cruise industry. 

I, too, mentioned the problem and uncomfortable process on my Princess survey.  It seemed that the Passenger Services Desk as well as the Hotel Manager on board the Royal were absentee, at best!!!!!  In my estimation it has now won the "My Most Un-Favorite Ship and Staff Award!"of 2019.

[Crystal04]

14 minutes ago, wizard-of-roz said:

I, too, mentioned the problem and uncomfortable process on my Princess survey.  It seemed that the Passenger Services Desk as well as the Hotel Manager on board the Royal were absentee, at best!!!!!  In my estimation it has now won the "My Most Un-Favorite Ship and Staff Award!"of 2019.

 

I was on the same cruise as you, Mexico portion. The Hotel Manager/Supervisor had no follow through with an issue my friend had while getting a massage. She said she would get back to us, but didn't.  I thought it was a pretty serious issue that needed an explanation and a change in standard operating procedure to prevent it from happening again.  Due to their poor problem resolution I lost my cruise buddy as she won't be cruising with Princess anymore. This was my first negative experience, so I agree with the unfavorite award.

[wizard-of-roz]

5 minutes ago, Crystal04 said:

 

I was on the same cruise as you, Mexico portion. The Hotel Manager/Supervisor had no follow through with an issue my friend had while getting a massage. She said she would get back to us, but didn't.  I thought it was a pretty serious issue that needed an explanation and a change in standard operating procedure to prevent it from happening again.  Due to their poor problem resolution I lost my cruise buddy as she won't be cruising with Princess anymore. This was my first negative experience, so I agree with the unfavorite award.

Interesting, because there was more than just the Back to Back issue on this ship.  There were many issues, some of which were very complicated and were addressed, not necessarily with the appropriate parties, because every time I called for a meeting, the person was always unavailable......most were resolved by me, but most were just left un-taken-care-of. 

 

I finally had to settle with "the least path of resistance" and make the very best of my cruise experience.  Again, this was not a cruise that I would want to repeat, except for my friends who I cruised with, whose company I treasured.

[Papa Yoda]

 

The big difference in San Pedro is that at pier 93 b2b is much smoother with only a short walk on the sidewalk on the out and back in process.  Pier 91/92 is the pits a small terminal with a large tent - and In Transit have to exit the small terminal through the throngs, half way around the large tent then back in -- there is not much of a sidewalk and a long walk outdoors - plus it can be hot.  And this is where the Royal has to berth, it is too big for 93.  Doing the turnaround for ~4000 people in this berth is bad news. 

 

If you're doing turnaround at 91/92 then ask for help.

 

PS:  we also have unfriended the Royal, never heard so many No's  on a cruise and on the whole the ship was just unfriendly.

 

Edited November 27, 2019 by Ferd Berfle
added PS

[wizard-of-roz]

24 minutes ago, Ferd Berfle said:

 

The big difference in San Pedro is that at pier 93 b2b is much smoother with only a short walk on the sidewalk on the out and back in process.  Pier 91/92 is the pits a small terminal with a large tent - and In Transit have to exit the small terminal through the throngs, half way around the large tent then back in -- there is not much of a sidewalk and a long walk outdoors - plus it can be hot.  And this is where the Royal has to berth, it is too big for 93.  Doing the turnaround for ~4000 people in this berth is bad news. 

 

If you're doing turnaround at 91/92 then ask for help.

 

PS:  we also have unfriended the Royal, never heard so many No's  on a cruise and on the whole the ship was just unfriendly.

 

 I will NOT be repeating any future Back to Back's onboard the Royal Princess.  Unless they make a drastic change in how they carry out this process, I would recommend that everyone think twice about booking a Back to Back in L.A. onboard the Royal.

 

Also, the Hotel Manager was the worst, along with the folks at the Passenger Services Desk.  They were very unhelpful.  

 

Sometimes all it takes is a crew who has a caring, helpful and responsive attitude to change all the bad stuff into a positive or at least to help in making it bearable!......I NEVER got that!  I did get a lot of staring looks and "side-eyes!"  After that I decided that it would be best for my senses to stay away and make the best I could of a very bad situation.

 

[JF - retired RRT]

12 hours ago, bobk57 said:

We are doing a back to back in Sydney next year, Sydney to Sydney and then Sydney to Auckland.  Any one experience a B to B in Sydney and how it work's down under? 

Pescado Amarillo is doing it right now. Maybe she'll see your post and respond.

[Cruiser_1977]

I will never understand why people leave a ship with unresolved "serious" issues. If there is something I feel is that important to me, I am standing at the desk until I've spoken to everyone including the Captain. I may not get the resolution I deem adequate, but I will be heard.

 

@Crystal04 Although we don't know specifics, if the issue was that serious why did you not escalate above the Hotel Manager's head?

 

Credit - Cruiseshipjobs.com

Edited November 27, 2019 by JennyB1977

[Crystal04]

It wasn't my issue to handle, because I wasn't there when it happened. We waited 30 minutes at the front desk to talk to someone who said they would get back to her after investigating the issue.  My friend moved on and decided to let it go and enjoy her vacation, but decided she won't be cruising again. 

[57eric]

On ‎11‎/‎26‎/‎2019 at 7:09 PM, npcl said:

it varies by port. In some ports the check with cbp is done on ship, others it is done inside security where you walk off ship past the agent then right back on. On others you have to go through the normal cbp checks, end outside security, at which point you clear security and walk to the boarding location, show your in transit card and walk back on without having to wait for normal boarding.

 

I have been in some foreign ports where you have to leave the ship clear inmigration to enter the country, then go through security and go back through immigration for leaving the country then reboard.

 

the process depends upon port, in the US the CBP controls the process. 

I was under the impression that the US was the only country that required transiting passengers to disembark.  Where else have you (or any other readers) experienced this?

 

Thanks.

[wizard-of-roz]

1 hour ago, 57eric said:

I was under the impression that the US was the only country that required transiting passengers to disembark.  Where else have you (or any other readers) experienced this?

 

Thanks.

Actually, this is the first time I had ever been asked to march around a terminal, [inside and out], past security, through TSA , Immigration and Security again and again.  I have done Back to Back cruising out of San Diego [we were asked to go to the theatre, where Immigration met us.]   Again, I've done it out of Florida where we were asked to meet in a lounge where Immigration officials met us there.

 

I have NEVER been asked to go through such nonsense that we were put through on board the Royal in Los Angeles.  The ship as well as the agents knew what we were going to have to go through, they were well aware of the fact that there was a Service Dog with a handler who used a walker.  No one ever approached me to warn me of the walk, nor did they inquire as to whether the dog could handle the long walk, not to mention myself.  I should have STOPPED and said I can't go any further in the beginning as I could see the line moving deeper and deeper into the terminal. 

 

As I said, I'll NEVER let anyone push me beyond my or my dog's limits again, NEVER!   

 

Because he's a Service Dog doesn't mean he has to be subjected to rigorous activity, that's not part of his job, nor part of what is expected of him.  Some folks have made the insensitive comment that "he's a Service Dog, he should be able to handle any situation!"  Not only is that comment unkind but it's untrue and such a walk is not entailed in my Service Dogs daily duties.  MY responsibility is to look out for me and my Service Dog and make sure that neither he or I are put through anything that is irresponsible or unnecessary, but this truly blind sided me. 

 

I don't think Princess treated me with any respect or the dignity that I and anyone else in my place deserved.  I don't want to be treated any differently than anyone else, I just don't want anyone with my limitations to be treated like I was, ever again!  It's the very reason that the ADA became a strong influence in our society and remains a steadfast force for the handicapped.

 

It was a lesson learned, I allowed it.  Please let this be a reminder to anyone who feels something is wrong to; STOP, approach someone in charge and do what is best for you and your party.