Will B2Bs be allowed?

[packercruising]

Opinion please; Our 11 day Vision in March will be cancelled, according to the new guidelines. There is a Navigator B2B2B (4,3 and 4 days) that cover the same dates. In its favor is that we would at least get to be sailing and we already have a flight booked. Are B2Bs on those short cruises a hassle? Do you think ships are going to be allowing B2Bs? Thanks!

[cruisegirl1]

I have not heard that back to back cruises will be restricted. If they are permitted, I suspect they may be require  some type of Covid testing at the terminal on your turnaround day  since each cruise is treated as an individual cruise
 

m

[ipeeinthepool]

Has the CDC or the cruise lines specifically ruled out B2B's?  It would seem that if you get a negative Covid test getting off the ship, that should be good enough to re-board.  I think that B2B's are such a small portion of the passengers it won't specifically be addressed.

[retiredgram]

 this is what I copied from a few threads down: This to me means that our b2b"s will not be allowed as each separate cruise is over 7 days.

These are in place until November 1 2021 unless the CDC modifies them.

 

No sailing for more than 7 days from/to US Ports.

Prior to accepting a reservation the cruise ship operator must notify passengers of any CDC travel advisories. This includes direct mail, on ship and website offerings..........

[TheBucketLister]

I would imagine since the CDC just lifted the no-sail order, a lot of things will have to be figured out, including this.  I would hope they would have a definitive answer by the end of November.  But I do hope they will allow it without a huge amount of inconvenience, as I have a B2B on the Mariner of the Seas in January.

Edited October 31, 2020 by TheBucketLister

[ZoeyVictoria]

5 minutes ago, TheBucketLister said:

I would imagine since the CDC just lifted the no-sail order, a lot of things will have to be figured out, including this.  I would hope they would have a definitive answer by the end of November.  But I do hope they will allow it without a huge amount of inconvenience, as I have a B2B on the Mariner of the Seas in January.

I have the Mariner booked for January 11, because a comped casino cruise on the Harmony in November was canceled and changing to January/February on the Mariner or Navigator were the only options.  I also have a comped casino cruise on December 7 and expect the same limits on rebooking, when/if it is cancelled.   I would like to add the Mariner 3-night on January 15 to make a B2B, but I am afraid to at this time.  I know this is a fluid situation and they are making a lot of difficult decisions, but the uncertainty is really getting old after eight months.

[ReneeFLL]

They won't be doing b2b in Singapore nor will they be doing them here,  but I don't know when this will change.

[davekathy]

Looking forward to our March 2021 Caribbean B2B cruise on the Rhapsody leaving from Tampa. 🍻

[livingonthebeach]

3 hours ago, cruisegirl1 said:

I have not heard that back to back cruises will be restricted. If they are permitted, I suspect they may be require  some type of Covid testing at the terminal on your turnaround day  since each cruise is treated as an individual cruise
 

m

 

You're right.  There is nothing in that 40 page document that addresses b2bs.  There is no mention of how many times a passenger can board and re-board, it only specifies the length of the cruise which can be no longer than 7 days.  Like you said, one would probably have to be retested, but if they are testing passengers upon debarkation, that test should be good to get back onboard, IMHO. 

[packercruising]

3 hours ago, Heymarco said:

I read that as specific guidance to the cruise lines not offering itineraries over 7 days, not necessarily restricting passengers from booking multiple voyages. If passengers are really not allowed to do b2bs, then more guidance from CDC is needed. For example how many days need to be in between cruises, what prevents a passenger from doing a week on Royal and then a week on NCL, etc?

 

Good luck on rebooking! I would recommend waiting to see new itineraries and what ships are starting when.

That is the way that I read it. This will be out of Miami.

[lovesthebeach2]

4 hours ago, TheBucketLister said:

I would imagine since the CDC just lifted the no-sail order, a lot of things will have to be figured out, including this.  I would hope they would have a definitive answer by the end of November.  But I do hope they will allow it without a huge amount of inconvenience, as I have a B2B on the Mariner of the Seas in January.

we also have a B2B on Mariner 

[Mary229]

I don’t think the CDC has the authority to limit travel of private  US citizens.  

[twangster]

4 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I don’t think the CDC has the authority to limit travel of private  US citizens.  

 

 Their cruise industry shutdown hasn't been challenged in court.  They have been limiting travel of U.S. citizens as it relates to cruise ships for several months now.

 

International travel may be subject to different governance compared to domestic travel.

[Mary229]

2 minutes ago, twangster said:

 

 Their cruise industry shutdown hasn't been challenged in court.  They have been limiting travel of U.S. citizens as it relates to cruise ships for several months now.

 

International travel may be subject to different governance compared to domestic travel.

The industry, yes but not the actions of the single citizen.  If they did have such authority we wouldn’t have the patchwork of regulations we currently have throughout the country. 

[twangster]

1 minute ago, Mary229 said:

The industry, yes but not the actions of the single citizen.  If they did have such authority we wouldn’t have the patchwork of regulations we currently have throughout the country. 

 

If they can regulate that no cruise can be longer than 7 days they can choose to limit or prevent B2B that exceed 7 days on board.

 

There is ample case law that the federal government considers multiple cruise contracts as a single ticket for passengers who book the same ship for consecutive voyages.  Any cruiser who has found themselves foul of the PVSA has learned this.  There is precedence for the CDC to consider consecutive voyages as a single ticket violating the CSO if it results in a passenger staying on board the same ship for more than 7 days.   

[Mary229]

19 minutes ago, twangster said:

 

If they can regulate that no cruise can be longer than 7 days they can choose to limit or prevent B2B that exceed 7 days on board.

 

There is ample case law that the federal government considers multiple cruise contracts as a single ticket for passengers who book the same ship for consecutive voyages.  Any cruiser who has found themselves foul of the PVSA has learned this.  There is precedence for the CDC to consider consecutive voyages as a single ticket violating the CSO if it results in a passenger staying on board the same ship for more than 7 days.   

I misunderstood,  I thought we were discussing a passenger leaving one ship and either reboarding or getting on another ship immediately, not a wholesale and complete re-embarkation of all or most passengers. 

[wolfcathorse]

5 hours ago, TheBucketLister said:

I would imagine since the CDC just lifted the no-sail order, a lot of things will have to be figured out, including this.  I would hope they would have a definitive answer by the end of November.  But I do hope they will allow it without a huge amount of inconvenience, as I have a B2B on the Mariner of the Seas in January.

we're on a B2B on Mariner in January also. We shouldn't be affected because both legs are less than 7 days. In fact, I bet you could do a B2B on a 7 night sailing (for a total of 14 nights). The CDC only specifies that a cruise isn't more than 7 days. Each leg is considered a separate voyage so you could do all the 7 night cruises in a row you want.

[packercruising]

3 hours ago, Mary229 said:

I misunderstood,  I thought we were discussing a passenger leaving one ship and either reboarding or getting on another ship immediately, not a wholesale and complete re-embarkation of all or most passengers. 

That would be a SideBySide. We want to do a 7 day cruise and stay on the ship for another 7 day cruise. One is Eastern Caribbean and the other Western.

[Mary229]

24 minutes ago, packercruising said:

That would be a SideBySide. We want to do a 7 day cruise and stay on the ship for another 7 day cruise. One is Eastern Caribbean and the other Western.

It is still a single traveler issue not the line.  I would ask the cruise line in a few weeks when they get it sorted out.   If the line was trying to skirt the rule by causing all passengers to dis-embark then return an hour later to resume that would be a big problem. 

[njkruzer]

4 hours ago, twangster said:

 

If they can regulate that no cruise can be longer than 7 days they can choose to limit or prevent B2B that exceed 7 days on board.

 

There is ample case law that the federal government considers multiple cruise contracts as a single ticket for passengers who book the same ship for consecutive voyages.  Any cruiser who has found themselves foul of the PVSA has learned this.  There is precedence for the CDC to consider consecutive voyages as a single ticket violating the CSO if it results in a passenger staying on board the same ship for more than 7 days.   

What?  We've done. B2b out of US ports, as have many, many others.  Each cruise is considered a separate cruise.

[bouhunter]

8 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

They won't be doing b2b in Singapore nor will they be doing them here,  but I don't know when this will change.

No one knows that for sure.  It's in no way clearly addressed at this point.

[bouhunter]

4 hours ago, Mary229 said:

I don’t think the CDC has the authority to limit travel of private  US citizens.  

Are there US citizens who are not "private" ?  🙂

 

[Mary229]

2 minutes ago, bouhunter said:

Are there US citizens who are not "private" ?  🙂

 

Just stressing the difference between a person and a company.  I find on this forum redundancy is needed to get the point across else someone takes your comment and reads all kinds of meanings into it.  

[twangster]

46 minutes ago, njkruzer said:

What?  We've done. B2b out of US ports, as have many, many others.  Each cruise is considered a separate cruise.

 

Royal Caribbean considers them separate cruises.  

 

CBP looks at the original embarkation port and the final disembarking point when they consider if a cruiser has violated the PVSA.  The federal government does not view them as two separate cruises if the overall journey violates federal law.  

[njkruzer]

6 minutes ago, twangster said:

 

Royal Caribbean considers them separate cruises.  

 

CBP looks at the original embarkation port and the final disembarking point when they consider if a cruiser has violated the PVSA.  The federal government does not view them as two separate cruises if the overall journey violates federal law.  

Yes.  Most b2b in the US start and end at the same port.  But yes, can't sail Boston to Miami without a distant foreign port.  If you then sail Miami round trip you were on a separate cruise.  That's ok.