Back to Back in different cabins timing question

[terry&mike]

A few weeks ago, I booked hubby and I on a 14 night Canada and New England sailing for September 2023 on QM2 in a BB Balcony on Deck 11. Ever since I booked this sailing, I have been thinking about adding the sailing directly before this cruise, 9 night transatlantic Hamburg to NYC, and spending a few weeks in Poland and Germany first.

 

Today I was playing around online, and noticed that this transatlantic is nearly sold out, so I decided to go for it and book us on it. As expected, our BB Balcony cabin is not available, as a matter of fact there is very little available, so I booked us in an HB Atrium View Interior on Deck 5. (No worries on having the interior for the transatlantic, as we just sailed a Standard Interior on a transatlantic in August and found it nice.) 

 

What I am wondering about, is how the day will play out for us when we change cabins. We have 2 separate bookings, 9 nights in an Interior, Hamburg to NYC. In reading some posts, it appears we will need to fully pack up our stuff (hanging stuff can stay on hangers or not, I see both options online?). Do we leave our bags in our Interior cabin then? I know we have to get off the ship so they can zero it out in NYC, which is fine as we will go enjoy a bit of New York, but I'm thinking we'll have the stuff from our cabin safe with us, so there's that to think of. When we get back on in the afternoon, I'm guessing our bags will be in our new cabin waiting for us, or do we need to facilitate this somehow? I was thinking we'd get off the ship around 10am, and probably back on around 3pm, or is there some time set for guests who are transiting? 

 

Hopefully someone has done this before and can give us an idea of how it will work out, timing, tips, etc.  

[david,Mississauga]

We did this not long before the pandemic. Our voyage was Québec - NY - Southampton. We originally booked the first portion, then months later decided to add on the transatlantic portion.  We wanted two different categories so the bookings were separate. We had an obstructed view on the first segment and a sheltered balcony cabin for the second.

 

When I asked the steward if we could leave the clothes on hangers he said that service was no longer available. He even checked with the housekeeping supervisor - a definite no. So we had to pack everything. We travel fairly light so there were only two modest-sized cases and one over-the-shoulder bag. Because we were changing cabins we had to empty out the safe. We put the few things in a small bag with our medications and cameras.  We were assured everything else, including our large flower display, would be moved for us.

 

We were told we should collect our new "key cards" from the purser's office the day before arrival in N.Y.  We didn't want to go ashore so it was suggested in a leaflet from the purser's office that we disembark when the last call is made around 10:15 a.m. We did so and went through immigration, exited the building, then went back through different doors, went through security, then were shown to a holding area for in-transit passengers.  We were allowed back on board at about noon.  Returning, as you say, about 3:00 p.m., should make for easy embarkation.

 

We were met in the lift lobby by the steward for our new cabin. "You must be Mr & Mrs David" he said.  He showed us to the room (they didn't do that when we have been in PG or even QG!) and everything was there, including a half-full bottle of water I wasn't thinking about. We did not receive a further  welcome bottle of Pol Acker, but there were no tears over that. We did receive all benefits for the second voyage, such as three cocktail party invitations and internet credit.

 

We could have kept the same table in the Britannia Restaurant for both segments.  The other four at our table were leaving in NY so I knew they wouldn't be offended if we asked for a different table.  We recognised one of our favourite staff members in another part of the restaurant and were able to get a table in his section.

 

Booking the two voyages separately also gave us one more segment credit which was needed to reach the Diamond level.  

[terry&mike]

2 hours ago, david,Mississauga said:

We did this not long before the pandemic. Our voyage was Québec - NY - Southampton. We originally booked the first portion, then months later decided to add on the transatlantic portion.  We wanted two different categories so the bookings were separate. We had an obstructed view on the first segment and a sheltered balcony cabin for the second.

 

When I asked the steward if we could leave the clothes on hangers he said that service was no longer available. He even checked with the housekeeping supervisor - a definite no. So we had to pack everything. We travel fairly light so there were only two modest-sized cases and one over-the-shoulder bag. Because we were changing cabins we had to empty out the safe. We put the few things in a small bag with our medications and cameras.  We were assured everything else, including our large flower display, would be moved for us.

 

We were told we should collect our new "key cards" from the purser's office the day before arrival in N.Y.  We didn't want to go ashore so it was suggested in a leaflet from the purser's office that we disembark when the last call is made around 10:15 a.m. We did so and went through immigration, exited the building, then went back through different doors, went through security, then were shown to a holding area for in-transit passengers.  We were allowed back on board at about noon.  Returning, as you say, about 3:00 p.m., should make for easy embarkation.

 

We were met in the lift lobby by the steward for our new cabin. "You must be Mr & Mrs David" he said.  He showed us to the room (they didn't do that when we have been in PG or even QG!) and everything was there, including a half-full bottle of water I wasn't thinking about. We did not receive a further  welcome bottle of Pol Acker, but there were no tears over that. We did receive all benefits for the second voyage, such as three cocktail party invitations and internet credit.

 

We could have kept the same table in the Britannia Restaurant for both segments.  The other four at our table were leaving in NY so I knew they wouldn't be offended if we asked for a different table.  We recognised one of our favourite staff members in another part of the restaurant and were able to get a table in his section.

 

Booking the two voyages separately also gave us one more segment credit which was needed to reach the Diamond level.  

Thank you for that very detailed explanation of how things flowed, I appreciate it and it gives me a good idea of how things will play out.  

[nybumpkin]

We did this in 2019 but with Southampton as our "in transit" port. We had booked the Westbound TA, which was a two-week sailing with ports in Liverpool, Reykjavik, Corner Brook, and Halifax, and planned to fly into Heathrow early and spend a few days before sailing. As it turned out, it was less expensive to book the Eastbound TA to get to Southampton. We had an inside on Deck 6 for the EB and a balcony on Deck 8 for the WB. 

 

In Southampton, all we had to do was pack up our bags. Our steward knew we were changing cabins and assured us that everything would be moved. We got our new cards and disembarked for a walking tour around Southampton; when we returned, we were greeted by our new steward and everything was waiting for us in our cabin.

[terry&mike]

11 hours ago, nybumpkin said:

We did this in 2019 but with Southampton as our "in transit" port. We had booked the Westbound TA, which was a two-week sailing with ports in Liverpool, Reykjavik, Corner Brook, and Halifax, and planned to fly into Heathrow early and spend a few days before sailing. As it turned out, it was less expensive to book the Eastbound TA to get to Southampton. We had an inside on Deck 6 for the EB and a balcony on Deck 8 for the WB. 

 

In Southampton, all we had to do was pack up our bags. Our steward knew we were changing cabins and assured us that everything would be moved. We got our new cards and disembarked for a walking tour around Southampton; when we returned, we were greeted by our new steward and everything was waiting for us in our cabin.

Thank you. In theory, this sounds like it will be rather easy sailing (pun intended).