B2B Mediterranean Question

[Chippendale]

We will be in the Mediterranean on a B2B cruise next September.  Our first B2B.  We will be in Rome for the transition day.  We would like to book an independent tour for that day.  Looking for advice from others who have booked tours on the transition day.  

 

Please give me an idea of how the final day of week one will go (when most people will be leaving).  Will we be able to leave the ship early for a tour? Is there anything extra that needs to be done to reboard the ship or is it like returning from a normal excursion?  If the ship is leaving at 5:00 is that the last boarding time or will it be earlier.  

 

Thank you!

[Norwich Cruiser]

I’d recommend Romeinlimo for the tour.

[Biker19]

2 hours ago, Chippendale said:

If the ship is leaving at 5:00 is that the last boarding time or will it be earlier.  

Boarding is likely to be at least 30 min before that. Getting the Seapass card and formalities between sailings might take a while - don't book anything too soon after arrival.

[sharktums]

We did a Back to Back in Ravenna this summer and the members of our group that got off were able to get their new sea pass cards around 8am at Guest Services before leaving and had to be back on board by around 3pm.  Those of us who stayed had to be in a lounge by 9:30am to get our new cards, scan out our old ones, and hold there for about an hour before we were let go. 

[MeHeartCruising]

Admittedly, this is a 10 year old experience, so do with it what you will.  My assessment is that the B2B process can differ between ships because there is a person in charge of it on the ship.  And if that person wants to do things their own way, they can do that, within some corporate guidelines.

 

I did a B2B with Royal Caribbean with Rome as the turnaround port.  A day or 2 before the end of the first cruise, a letter was left in my cabin instructing me to meet at 9:00 am in one of the lounges.  The letter also included my new SeaPass card for the second cruise.  We would collectively be processed "off" the ship using our old cards after all the other passengers disembarked.  If we wished to come back on the ship immediately, they would immediately use our new cards to process us "on" the ship again.  If we wished to proceed into Civitavecchia and do something that day, we were free to do so after being processed "off".  We were given a separate "through passenger" pass that we could show to the checkin personnel later in the day.  This would let us bypass checkin and proceed directly to the gangway.

 

This all worked fine with a couple exceptions.  First, not everyone had been given their second cards in the advance envelope.  So the employee had to go track them down once this was discovered.  Also, They would not let us off the ship until all other passengers were verified off the ship.  And the passengers just kept straggling along.  Our group was held in a small room down near the gangway.  The person in charge, kept coming into the room every 20-30 minutes to apologize that this was taking so long, but there was nothing she could do.  There was confusion for a good 15 minutes about whether the ship was "empty" or not.  They still showed one passenger as being on the ship.  Eventually, they resolved this somehow.  But it wasn't until 10:30 before they took our group to the gangway where they processed our cards "off" and then we either got processed back "on" or were left to do as we pleased.

 

I had planned on trying to go into Rome for a few hours on the train.  But instead just walked around Civitavecchia for a while before rebounding the ship a few hours later.

 

Personally, I would not count on being off the ship "early".  It may happen, but it may not.  I also think you would want to be back on the ship at least 2 hours before sailing time.

Edited November 10, 2022 by MeHeartCruising

[Chippendale]

17 hours ago, Norwich Cruiser said:

I’d recommend Romeinlimo for the tour.

Thank you.  I have used Romeinlimo for tours in the past.  They are wonderful.  

[dani negreanu]

We've had very good experience with debarking in "Civvi" early.

 

However, since you mentioned September, friends of ours debarked Sept. 29th at half past noon, due to high seas preventing Wonder OTS to dock.

 

They had a very late flight back, and booked Romeinlimo at 9AM for a full day of touring Rome. Didn't happen.

 

[bonsai3s]

18 hours ago, Chippendale said:

 

 

Please give me an idea of how the final day of week one will go (when most people will be leaving).  Will we be able to leave the ship early for a tour? Is there anything extra that needs to be done to reboard the ship or is it like returning from a normal excursion?  If the ship is leaving at 5:00 is that the last boarding time or will it be earlier.  

 

Thank you!

We did a b3b out of Civitavecchia, Odyssey, earlier this year.

 

Yes, we were able to leave the ship early. Just let Guest Services know and you can get your new Seapass card and an "In-Transit" card either the last night or early on turn-around day.

 

When you come back to board, just let them know you're a consecutive cruiser or b2b passenger and show them your "In-Transit" card. All you have to do is go through the security line...and your back on the ship.

 

Agree with Biker19...last boarding would be 4:30 for ships leaving at 5pm.

Happy sailing and have a wonderful day in Rome.

[Chippendale]

19 hours ago, bonsai3s said:

We did a b3b out of Civitavecchia, Odyssey, earlier this year.

 

Yes, we were able to leave the ship early. Just let Guest Services know and you can get your new Seapass card and an "In-Transit" card either the last night or early on turn-around day.

 

When you come back to board, just let them know you're a consecutive cruiser or b2b passenger and show them your "In-Transit" card. All you have to do is go through the security line...and your back on the ship.

 

Agree with Biker19...last boarding would be 4:30 for ships leaving at 5pm.

Happy sailing and have a wonderful day in Rome.

Thank You bonsai3s! This is just the information I was hoping for!  Cathie

[Chippendale]

20 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

We've had very good experience with debarking in "Civvi" early.

 

However, since you mentioned September, friends of ours debarked Sept. 29th at half past noon, due to high seas preventing Wonder OTS to dock.

 

They had a very late flight back, and booked Romeinlimo at 9AM for a full day of touring Rome. Didn't happen.

 

Thank you.  Weather can always be an issue.  I believe Romeinlimo is very good about canceling tours if ship is delayed or port is missed.  Cathie

[RKHOOKER]

We did B2B Barcelona to Rome & Rome to Athens in July on Rhapsody. RCI gave us new sea pass cards on the last night to allow us to be able to get back on the ship after spending the day in the Vatican. We caught an early train to San Pietro Station & then caught the 3:15PM train back to Civitavecchia & jumped the two shuttle buses back to the ship. Very cheap less than 18 Euros per person return for train & bus. It seems daunting to catch the RCI free shuttle bus to just outside the port & then jump on another dedicated shuttle bus to Civitavecchia Station & then the train, but, it is very easy & cost effective. From walking off the ship to getting off the train at San Pietro Station it took about 1 hour & 10 minutes.