Side to Side Cruises

[Caps_Shield]

I am considering a side to side cruise, something I have never done before.  It may be a dumb question but are these hard to pull off?  What I mean is  getting off one then onto the next.  It seems like it wouldn't be but are there any tips you would have?  This one is leaving from Galveston if that adds to anything.  Thank you for your help.

[wemjam]

Only thing that comes to mind for me with side by side, if you really mean getting of one ship and then on to a different one (not to be confused with back to back - two cruises on the same ship one after the other), is arrival appointment time.

 

You will want to time your arrival appointment time on the 2nd sailing to coincide with the time you are pretty sure you are getting off the first ship so you don't have to stand around and wait outside a long time.

 

Other than that I can't think of anything that would be different for the 2nd sailing as if you had just done it by itself.

[Caps_Shield]

18 minutes ago, wemjam said:

Only thing that comes to mind for me with side by side, if you really mean getting of one ship and then on to a different one (not to be confused with back to back - two cruises on the same ship one after the other), is arrival appointment time.

 

You will want to time your arrival appointment time on the 2nd sailing to coincide with the time you are pretty sure you are getting off the first ship so you don't have to stand around and wait outside a long time.

 

Other than that I can't think of anything that would be different for the 2nd sailing as if you had just done it by itself.

Thanks for that tip!  The second cruise (Vista) I have Faster to the Fun for so that would help with when I can board.  I suppose we would just drag our feet a little on the first ship (Breeze) and then get off and try and board.

[wemjam]

2 minutes ago, Caps_Shield said:

Thanks for that tip!  The second cruise (Vista) I have Faster to the Fun for so that would help with when I can board.  I suppose we would just drag our feet a little on the first ship (Breeze) and then get off and try and board.

Remember everyone usually has to be out of their room by 8:30am.  Most arrival appointments don't start until around 10:00am.... so if you don't want to leave the ship, you will have to go sit somewhere... and even at that they may be chasing you off lol!

[Caps_Shield]

5 minutes ago, wemjam said:

Remember everyone usually has to be out of their room by 8:30am.  Most arrival appointments don't start until around 10:00am.... so if you don't want to leave the ship, you will have to go sit somewhere... and even at that they may be chasing you off lol!

That is a good point.  We may have some time to kill.

 

[LaRue1975]

I am doing the opposite side to side in April, going from the Vista to the Breeze. I was on the Vista last April so know the ships are docked very close together and the walk between ships with luggage will be easy. I bought FTTF for the Vista cruise which allows us late debarkation so we’ll probably have breakfast in the dining room and then hang out in the Havana Bar area until we are kicked off, lol! 
I would appreciate any tips regarding a side to side as it will be a first for us too, thanks for asking. 

[Ferry_Watcher]

This would be easy to do in Seattle on an Alaska cruise.  On Fridays, we have the RCI Ovation and Celebrity Solstice.  Saturdays and Sundays we have a Holland America ship and a Princess ship side-by-side at Pier 91.  Like the previous posters I would leave the first ship as late as possible (9AM ish), having had a good breakfast.  While on the first ship I would have had my laundry sent out late in the cruise so nearly all my clothes were all clean and ready to be put away once on the second ship.  I liked the idea of buying a upgrade perk like FTTF, or Club Orange to help get on to the second ship faster.

 

Have fun - hope it all goes well for you!

[Eli_6]

Galveston is a good place to do this sort of thing because The Strand is right there.  I would pack lightly so you don't have too much luggage to haul around and just go get some brunch or window shop on The Strand which is only a couple of blocks from the port.  There is even a Starbucks right across the street, but there are much better places on The Strand (just one more street up from that) to eat.  It would be easy to kill an hour or two there. 

[Caps_Shield]

3 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

Galveston is a good place to do this sort of thing because The Strand is right there.  I would pack lightly so you don't have too much luggage to haul around and just go get some brunch or window shop on The Strand which is only a couple of blocks from the port.  There is even a Starbucks right across the street, but there are much better places on The Strand (just one more street up from that) to eat.  It would be easy to kill an hour or two there. 

Eli_6, I see you are from Houston.  I want to eat at a place called Truth BBQ in Houston on my way down.  It makes a lot of top ten lists.  Ever eaten there or heard of it?

[Eli_6]

42 minutes ago, Caps_Shield said:

Eli_6, I see you are from Houston.  I want to eat at a place called Truth BBQ in Houston on my way down.  It makes a lot of top ten lists.  Ever eaten there or heard of it?

No, I have not.  Sorry.  

 

Best BBQ place I know is The County Line, but not sure if they have Houston locations anymore. They used to, but I think they are mainly in Austin.  There is also a well-known bbq place in Elgin between Austin and Houston.  Not sure what direction you are coming from.

Edited January 13, 2023 by Eli_6

[huntnewt]

55 minutes ago, Caps_Shield said:

Eli_6, I see you are from Houston.  I want to eat at a place called Truth BBQ in Houston on my way down.  It makes a lot of top ten lists.  Ever eaten there or heard of it?

We have eaten Truth BBQ. It is kind of expensive, but so good!

[jimbo5544]

We did a side to side on the Horizon (6 day our of Miami) and Mardi Gras (7 day out of PC, 2nd sailing of the ship.  When the homeports are this far apart,  it took some coordination.  We rented a car one way to drive to Miami airport, took an Uber to ship.  Got off of Horizon (first off the ship, Uber to airport, to car rental where a rental was waiting, drove to PC (4 hours) dropped off car at rental near cruise port, got Tested (this was last August) and boarded the ship at 3:15pm.  Not for the feint of heart.

[2Shoes2Go]

Port Can to Miami is risky. We’ve done it twice, but probably not again. Some ports are too far apart for same day. Tampa to Port Can is good. Charleston to Port Can, too risky. YMMV 😂

Edited January 15, 2023 by 2Shoes2Go

[EllieinNJ]

I am on a side to side to side.  Carnival Radiance to Carnival Panorama to Celebrity Summit.  There is one day between the first two so no problem.  The Panorama is at Long Beach and the Summit is at San Pedro the same day.  Is it easy to travel between the two?

[Jamman54]

Just now, EllieinNJ said:

I am on a side to side to side.  Carnival Radiance to Carnival Panorama to Celebrity Summit.  There is one day between the first two so no problem.  The Panorama is at Long Beach and the Summit is at San Pedro the same day.  Is it easy to travel between the two?

It's only about a 5 mile taxi, uber, or lyft ride away. 😎

[Beav1279]

There is a YTer I follow "Life with Favor" who is doing a S2S out of Galveston right now! She spent the last week on Ruby Princess and just today (Sunday) debarked Ruby and embarked onto Allure of the Seas. Her and her husband got off leisurely and walked over to Taco Cabana for some food and to wait until they can get onto Allure. Looks like it was a pretty easy process!

[CruisinPedsNurse]

If it’s the same port it should be simple. I did a side to side last year which was even trickier due to Covid testing. Went from

Carnival sunrise to MSC Seashore. Luckily they were docked in D and E and we just walked. We waited until the very end to get off of Sunrise and just sat on the benches until we could get on Seashore. It was very easy. I would definitely do a side to side a same port again. 

[Caps_Shield]

Thank you all for the great information!  It looks like it should be pretty easy to pull off.

[CruizinSusan70]

Very easy to do.  Just did it from the January 2 five day sailing of the Celebration to the January 8 seven day sailing of the NCL Encore in Miami. Cost us 21.00 with tip for taxi between the ships, but it was very easy.