B2B Question

[DancersImage]

We are taking our first B2B. We will have the same stateroom on the same ship and the first cruise ends and the second begins in Barcelona, Spain. We arrive in Barcelona at 6:00  am. We want to take a tour of Barcelona that begins at 8:30 am on the day of transitioning from the first to the second cruise. Is that doable, considering we need to be processed from the first cruise to the second? Tanks

[ipeeinthepool]

There will be a meeting, probably on the next to last day, that will outline the entire B2B process.  Maybe you will need to get your new sea pass card from Guest services before you leave the ship or perhaps you will get it in the terminal.  I've done it both ways.  You will be able to get off the ship to explore Barcelona.  It's entirely doable and I recommend doing something, otherwise you will spend much of the morning just waiting around for others to get off the ship.  The only limitation is that you likely won't be able to re-board the ship until after boarding starts for the second cruise.

Edited January 27, 2020 by ipeeinthepool

[wrk2cruise]

Yes you will be issued a "transit pass" and will be given clear instructions in a letter and a meeting.  You will be able to leave the ship as soon as it's cleared.  As Mr PeeInThePool says you won't be able to get back onboard until the general boarding of the ship starts.   With so much to see in Barcelona I'd just worry about getting back in time to sail!

[Jim_Iain]

Yes ---   there are two methods to do a B2B.   You can either leave anytime after arrival up until final call and use your Transit pass to bypass those checking in.   You will stop by a Port Supervisor Desk who will give you your new SeaPass. 

 

Alternatively they setup a location like Tuscan Grill to pickup your new seapass.    You will have to check the time on your B2B letter to determine if you have time before your tour our whether scenario 1 works best for you. 

[DancersImage]

Thanks to all for the information. It is very helpful.

[Airrace]

They have changed the process and it is now streamlined very well. The old way was everyone had to leave the ship. On our last cruise we all met in a room on the last day in the morning and a official checked our documents. We were then issued new cards and we could do what we wanted to for the rest of the day.

 

Very smooth process!

[Denny01]

we did a Euro B2B last year and it was even simpler than some described. we got a note that we were to pick up our new seapasses at Guest Relations the night prior. No meeting of all of us and no showing documents to be checked or anything since it was a cruise from a EU port into another EU port.

 

We then left the ship as we wished. Coming back was limited to when boarding started but if your leaving the ship, you’d most likely not come back until well after that time and you just show your sea pass and photo ID and walk aboard.....exactly like just another port of call for you.

 

It’s neat on B2B’s, the night prior everyone is getting ready to leave, packing up and so on and you are just enjoying the ship as another sea day prior to another port of call, sleeping in if you wish and so on. With a morning tour, you will be just fine. Even if the ship is held up for port clearance, your tour guide is well aware and probably more aware than you are and will be ready when you can depart. 

 

If you are changing SR’s, the stewards will help you by moving your hanging clothes and you pack your other stuff up. If you are in the same SR - fantastic, you just relax.

 

Your charges you put on your card during the 1st leg will be closed and a new one opened, thats another reason you get a new sea pass. Your OBC will not move over to the new card and the new OBC will be added. 

 

We tip our steward and dining team at the end of a normal cruise, so we do the same on a B2B - tip each leg - since the steward may change and you may have a different table/dining team. 

 

Not sure this is still true, but last B2B when I bought wines in port and they took them when I came back aboard, that wine/booze was returned to the SR the night prior just as if we were leaving the ship and you have it for the next cruise. I think I remember someone saying they held it till the end of the 2nd leg, but others got it at the end of the 1st.

 

If you get Capt Club benefits, the old ones are no longer good (some say you can still use them - never tried) and you get a new sheet. 

 

Love B2B’s ! Den

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, Airrace said:

They have changed the process and it is now streamlined very well. The old way was everyone had to leave the ship. On our last cruise we all met in a room on the last day in the morning and a official checked our documents. We were then issued new cards and we could do what we wanted to for the rest of the day.

 

Very smooth process!

I believe this was a NON-US cruise.   Please correct me if I'm wrong.  To my knowledge they have to Zero out all U.S. cruises at first port of entry after a foreign stop.  In Europe for example your ship is already cleared into the EC so no need to go ashore.

Edited January 29, 2020 by Jim_Iain