Back to Back cruises

[macfam5]

We are considering doing back to back NCL cruises on the same ship staying in the same stateroom 

 

Anyone who has done this can you tell me the process on disembarkation day, I assume we need to get off and then get back on due to customs ? 

Can our belongings stay in the room ? Or does our luggage need to go off as well ?

 

 

[quillwercruisers]

Your belongings will stay in your cabin as long as you are in the same cabin. As far as having to get off then on again, that varies and I'm not sure if it is because of immigration or what. I have heard some people have been cleared on the ship and have stayed on, I have seen where people get off the ship and are taken to a special seating area inside the terminal, then they are boarded before anyone else, and then we had our experience in San Pedro that was a complete cluster.  They moved us to different areas on the ship waiting to take us off the ship. Walked us the length of the ship (on the Bliss) to disembark only to have to walk back the length of the ship to go into the building to clear immigration. Then walked us all the way down to the other end of the pier to go back through security where the passengers that were getting on the ship for the first time were going through, then to an area inside the terminal to wait to re-board. It was an awful experience. I hope you have an easier one. I had a carton of the NCL water with me and they made me throw it out before they would allow me back through security. 

[KeithJenner]

45 minutes ago, macfam5 said:

We are considering doing back to back NCL cruises on the same ship staying in the same stateroom 

 

Anyone who has done this can you tell me the process on disembarkation day, I assume we need to get off and then get back on due to customs ? 

Can our belongings stay in the room ? Or does our luggage need to go off as well ?

 

 

It very much depends on the port, as some require the ship to be cleared, whereas others will let you stay onboard.

 

It will also depend on the ship/staff, as some senior crew members will have their preferences as to how they do it.

[cheersforbeers]

Jan 15-29 2023 we were on a B2B out of New Orleans same cabin, and following is what we experienced
2 days before our we were to return on our 1st leg were received a letter to go to guest services to get new cabin cards with new departure date, also we were instructed that if you were going to leave the ship we could, or if remaining on ship to meet in Syd Normans at 9:30. We then had an NCL rep escort us to customs, facial scan, then return to ship.  
Our luggage remained in our room and our account remained open.  
Since all corridors to rooms were closed, we stayed out till they made announcement rooms were ready. 
Basically 31 of us had the entire ship to ourselves until they started process of their next boarding! 
Hope yours is smooth process also. 

[macfam5]

15 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

t very much depends on the port, as some require the ship to be cleared

It would be from Port Canaveral 

[Viajera7]

I agree that it depends on the ports and ships. I have done  it twice with NCL two years in a row (Dec.2021 & Dec. 2022) on the same ship (The Epic). The first year b2b, we didn’t have to disembark in San Juan. We waited in the Le Bistro restaurant and we were cleared there. Easy process.

 

Dec.2022 b2b2b Transatlantic from Lisbon to New York. We were escorted to disembark the ship and escorted to the terminal after immigration to sit and wait until they called our groups. 

New York to San Juan we went again to the Le Bistro to wait for the officers and clearance. We had to wait a loooong time there because although the officers were there, they couldn’t clear the ship until all the other passengers had disembarked. If I remember correctly, we had about 4,600 passengers and the lines for guest services were long.

[complawyer]

we were on a b2b from trieste to trieste (venice) then onto rome.  we were no required to leave the ship, just go down to guest services and have your room key redone. also we just needed to go to the muster station, have the key checked in and that was all that was needed. my wife and our traveling buddy did get off to wander around trieste again for a few hours. i stayed on board and just vegged out .if you do decide to get off the ship, you will be given a little tag to put on which allows you back onto the ship without the hassle of checking back in. 

[di T]

38 minutes ago, complawyer said:

we were on a b2b from trieste to trieste (venice) then onto rome.  we were no required to leave the ship, just go down to guest services and have your room key redone. also we just needed to go to the muster station, have the key checked in and that was all that was needed. my wife and our traveling buddy did get off to wander around trieste again for a few hours. i stayed on board and just vegged out .if you do decide to get off the ship, you will be given a little tag to put on which allows you back onto the ship without the hassle of checking back in. 

Hope that’s the case for us, we are embarking on Sunday from Lisbon we will start our second cruise from Lisbon in the same cabin. Dianne

[KeithJenner]

2 hours ago, macfam5 said:

It would be from Port Canaveral 

They will almost certainly have to clear the ship in that case. I believe that is the standard for a US port.

 

There will probably be an area you can wait and then reboard fairly quickly.

[KeithJenner]

25 minutes ago, di T said:

Hope that’s the case for us, we are embarking on Sunday from Lisbon we will start our second cruise from Lisbon in the same cabin. Dianne

That will almost certainly be the case for you. It is extremely rare for you to have to leave the ship in Europe.

 

The most likely thing to vary would be muster. I’ve had back to back cruises where we didn’t even need to attend and others where we had to sit through the whole thing (4 muster drills in 5 days once).

[Pat.D]

2 hours ago, macfam5 said:

It would be from Port Canaveral 

 

I did a B2B on the Getaway in port Canaveral last august.

 

On disembarkation day all the B2B people met in one of the bars, after the last passenger was off the ship staff accompanied us off the ship into the terminal, checked in with immigration, then walked us back on the ship and that was it.

 

[casofilia]

I would agree that what @Pat.D states is the most likely event in the States UNLESS the first leg of the B2B is a Transatlantic.

[itsnotjustme]

9 hours ago, macfam5 said:

It would be from Port Canaveral 

I am booked on a B2B this summer.  I was told if the port between the two cruises is in the United States (and possessions) you must dis-embark, go through customs, and reembark (luggage and all).

 

My mid-point is Athens and I was told I can treat it like any other port-of-call day.

[Turtles06]

5 hours ago, itsnotjustme said:

I am booked on a B2B this summer.  I was told if the port between the two cruises is in the United States (and possessions) you must dis-embark, go through customs, and reembark (luggage and all).

I’ve never read anything in this forum nor in the forums for any other cruise line in which anyone on a B2B had to take all their luggage off in those circumstances. It makes no sense. 
 

Indeed, see comment 11 above. 

Edited February 22, 2023 by Turtles06

[njhorseman]

7 hours ago, itsnotjustme said:

I am booked on a B2B this summer.  I was told if the port between the two cruises is in the United States (and possessions) you must dis-embark, go through customs, and reembark (luggage and all).

 

My mid-point is Athens and I was told I can treat it like any other port-of-call day.

We've done numerous B2B cruises with a US port turnaround and we have never had to take our luggage off the ship.

Whoever told you that is wrong. 

[Coastalbreezes]

16 hours ago, macfam5 said:

It would be from Port Canaveral 

I did two B2B cruises from PC (one in November and one in late December). BOTH times it was a nightmare (I'd use a stronger word but not allowed here).

 

On the November cruise, there were 10 of us B2B. We met in the theater at 9:00 a.m. where we were told we had to wait for a zero count before they could deal with us. Around 10:30 we were finally escorted off the ship into the terminal where we had to wait in another area to go through immigration then just...waited. Our escort's radio didn't work so he had to keep running outside to find out when we could reboard. Finally around 11:30 we were brought upstairs to reboard only to see that general boarding had already begun. 😡

 

On my December cruise, I was the only B2B passenger and went through essentially the same process although I was told by the concierge it would be a smoother process "this time". It wasn't and a lot had to do with the PC personnel who were rude and downright nasty stopping us constantly along the way demanding to know what we were doing. When I was finally taken down to immigration, I and my escort were the only two non-employee people there. I asked a worker if I could just go through and she screamed at me that I would go when she said I could go. Literally 10 seconds later she announced dramatically that I could go.  Then suddenly I was told to "wait here" until she said I could go back upstairs (again less than a minute later I was "released"). Once again general boarding had already begun and to say I was angry and frustrated is an understatement.

 

I spoke with the GM once I was back on board and he had heard many similar stories before and said they were looking into the process.

 

Port Canaveral is the only port where I have had such experiences. In other ports, you're off then back on quickly and get to enjoy the ship for some quiet time before boarding begins. I truly hope things have gotten better and you will report your own experience back here. Bon voyage.

 

 

[kruiserkatie]

We have an upcoming Escape B2B in Miami.  Would love to hear how the process works/does not work there .  Sailing with a mobility impaired mom in the Haven.. Thank you!

[Pat.D]

2 hours ago, Coastalbreezes said:

I did two B2B cruises from PC (one in November and one in late December). BOTH times it was a nightmare (I'd use a stronger word but not allowed here).

 

Last august my B2B in Canaveral went super smoothly so I'm guessing the issues were resolved.

 

We literally walked off the ship with our escort, walked down to Customs in the terminal, stared into the Customs ipads, green light came on, and then walked right back on the ship... no waiting.

 

[itsnotjustme]

So it sounds like the part I was told about the luggage was wrong, but that - in the US - you do need to disembark, go through customs, and re-board.

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, itsnotjustme said:

So it sounds like the part I was told about the luggage was wrong, but that - in the US - you do need to disembark, go through customs, and re-board.

You go through an immigration (passport) check, not customs. If you were going through customs you would need your luggage.

While you likely will have to disembark, in some ports on some ships the passport check is done on board the ship instead of in the cruise terminal.

BTW I'm using the term "passport check" for descriptive convenience. If you happen to be a US citizen on closed loop cruises there's alternative documentation such as an official birth certificate and government-issued photo ID such as a drivers license that can be used in lieu of a passport.

[Coastalbreezes]

19 hours ago, Pat.D said:

 

Last august my B2B in Canaveral went super smoothly so I'm guessing the issues were resolved.

 

We literally walked off the ship with our escort, walked down to Customs in the terminal, stared into the Customs ipads, green light came on, and then walked right back on the ship... no waiting.

 

I am happy to hear that the process was smooth last August and it was as it should be.  Something happened since then to change things because my cruises were November of 2022 and December of 2022 and the experiences were completely different.

[romalley99]

On 2/22/2023 at 6:18 AM, Coastalbreezes said:

I did two B2B cruises from PC (one in November and one in late December). BOTH times it was a nightmare (I'd use a stronger word but not allowed here).

 

On the November cruise, there were 10 of us B2B. We met in the theater at 9:00 a.m. where we were told we had to wait for a zero count before they could deal with us. Around 10:30 we were finally escorted off the ship into the terminal where we had to wait in another area to go through immigration then just...waited. Our escort's radio didn't work so he had to keep running outside to find out when we could reboard. Finally around 11:30 we were brought upstairs to reboard only to see that general boarding had already begun. 😡

 

On my December cruise, I was the only B2B passenger and went through essentially the same process although I was told by the concierge it would be a smoother process "this time". It wasn't and a lot had to do with the PC personnel who were rude and downright nasty stopping us constantly along the way demanding to know what we were doing. When I was finally taken down to immigration, I and my escort were the only two non-employee people there. I asked a worker if I could just go through and she screamed at me that I would go when she said I could go. Literally 10 seconds later she announced dramatically that I could go.  Then suddenly I was told to "wait here" until she said I could go back upstairs (again less than a minute later I was "released"). Once again general boarding had already begun and to say I was angry and frustrated is an understatement.

 

I spoke with the GM once I was back on board and he had heard many similar stories before and said they were looking into the process.

 

Port Canaveral is the only port where I have had such experiences. In other ports, you're off then back on quickly and get to enjoy the ship for some quiet time before boarding begins. I truly hope things have gotten better and you will report your own experience back here. Bon voyage.

 

 

 

THIS ^^^!!!! 

I've had this experience in Port Canaveral 5 or 6 + times. Definitely the WORST place to do a back to back. 

[romalley99]

Everywhere is different. 

 

New York hands down has the best Back to Back Experience, followed by Miami. In New York, in the 20+ times I've done back to back cruises from NYC, only TWICE did I have to actually get off the ship, and that was just recently on the Prima TA Crossing and after the Inaugural 4 Day Cruise to Canada. Those are special cases, in my opinion. Other than those two, all other times, NCL invites CPB onboard into Cagenys/Moderno Restaurant and they do their passport checks and inspections there. They have in the past just stood there and let facial recognition do it's job! It's fantastic! We would meet at 7am and were done and free to go about our business about 7:30am. It beats having to get off the ship and wait in the terminal until zero count... 

 

I haven't done a B2B in Miami in quite some time, but doing it again soon on Escape. I'm hoping it is as good as it used to be (especially now since they have the new terminal). 

[ChiefMateJRK]

I have an upcoming AK B2B.  Has anybody done a B2B from Seattle recently?  Did you have to get off the ship?  For how long?

[njhorseman]

30 minutes ago, romalley99 said:

 

New York hands down has the best Back to Back Experience,

(deleted)

Edited February 27, 2023 by njhorseman