Back to Back cruises

[romalley99]

1 hour ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

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?

 

Yes. We met in the morning and were escorted off. The Seattle Terminal is a really long walk. Down the gangway, down the escalators, left turns, right turns, left turns etc etc. until you finally make it to the customs area. They look at the passports, then you proceed out to street level. Once everyone is outside on the street level, they'll walk you around the corner where you re-enter the terminal, right through security, and immediately back onboard. It was a little chaotic, but nonetheless, still fine. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

3 hours ago, romalley99 said:

 

Yes. We met in the morning and were escorted off. The Seattle Terminal is a really long walk. Down the gangway, down the escalators, left turns, right turns, left turns etc etc. until you finally make it to the customs area. They look at the passports, then you proceed out to street level. Once everyone is outside on the street level, they'll walk you around the corner where you re-enter the terminal, right through security, and immediately back onboard. It was a little chaotic, but nonetheless, still fine. 

Thank you.

[macfam5]

23 hours ago, romalley99 said:

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

Oh no … Maybe I should look at other ports for B2B

[romalley99]

2 minutes ago, macfam5 said:

Oh no … Maybe I should look at other ports for B2B

 

I can't speak for any other terminal than terminal 10 which the Escape uses. The Prima has been using terminal 5. 

[macfam5]

46 minutes ago, romalley99 said:

I can't speak for any other terminal than terminal 10 which the Escape uses

This was the ship I was looking at booking the B2B out of Port Canaveral 😬

[Rob_H]

On 2/21/2023 at 10:25 AM, macfam5 said:

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 ?

 

We've done many back to backs.  Often you have to wait till everybody has left, then go ashore, get herded into another area to wait with uncomfortable chairs, then get back on once the ship has been cleared.  It's a very tedious and timewasting process.

 

So most of the time we treat the turnaround port as a port day, sometimes just for shopping.  We leave early along with the self-assist people, mention to immigration we're back to back if they ask, have a day enjoying the port, and head back to the ship well before the all aboard time.  By this time the terminal is near empty so with the "still on vacation" sticker (and the new keycards) they provide we just walk straight through and get on.  No need to bother with check in.

 

You'll be able to get your new keycard at guest services onboard the night before (when you keep the same cabin), or the arrival morning if you are moving to a cabin that was occupied on the first cruise (you have to wait for those people to leave).  You may also get given a keycard which just lets you back on the ship, but not to your new room, in that case you'll need to get another new keycard after getting back on board.  Take with you everything you need for a port day, plus your passports.

 

Luggage is not a problem.  Just leave everything in your room if it's the same room.  If you're changing room, pack everything up and attach the tags you were provided in the "back to back letter" that is delivered to your room a couple of days before arriving.  Your bags will be moved to the new room by the stewards, before you get back.

 

[romalley99]

1 hour ago, macfam5 said:

This was the ship I was looking at booking the B2B out of Port Canaveral 😬

 

It definitely would not stop me from going back, but it surely is a pain in the rear end. I like the Escape too much to not book because of the port. I'm just glad Escape is moving to Miami in a couple weeks... Unfortunately it goes back to Port Canaveral, but a few months of relief will be good... Lol 

[The Traveling Man]

On 2/21/2023 at 11:25 AM, 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 ?

 

 

We have done five B2B cruises with NCL. 

September 2016 Dawn Quebec

February 2017 Star Aukland

February 2018 Jewel Sydney

April 2018 Epic Barcelona

May 2022 Getaway Southampton

 

On two of these we had the same stateroom on both legs of the cruise, while we had to change rooms on three of them.  When we changed rooms, we left a bag of laundry in our room, with instructions to return our clean clothes to our new room number, then packed up the rest of our belongings and left our packed bags in our first room with tags indicating our new room.  Our cabin steward saw to moving them to our new room.  On the trips where we kept the same room we didn't bother with packing anything, but just left everything out just as we did every other day on board.

 

On each occasion we were given new key cards and tags to identify us as back-to-back or continuing passengers.  We either took a shore excursion or just walked around town on our own.  When we returned to the cruise terminal, usually as late as just an hour before departure time, we showed our B2B tags and were waved on past the check in lines.  We usually had to show our passports as well as our cruise key cards, but generally did not have to spend much time with the customs officers.  We never tried to stay on board, preferring to explore the port town.  I don't know if we would have been allowed to remain on the ship.

 

 

[kruiserkatie]

@romalley99 Could you please come back and share your Miami experience when you return? We are sailing an Escape B2B from Miami a few weeks after you and would love to hear your experience! Thank you! 

[DominicAUS]

Has anyone done a B2B out of LA/San Pedro? Doing a Mexican 5 day and then 15 day Panama Canal cruise in Jan 2024, have the same cabin so that’s easy just wanted to know if we stay in the ship, have it cleared then free to roam the ship. Appreciate any recent experiences 

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, DominicAUS said:

Has anyone done a B2B out of LA/San Pedro? Doing a Mexican 5 day and then 15 day Panama Canal cruise in Jan 2024, have the same cabin so that’s easy just wanted to know if we stay in the ship, have it cleared then free to roam the ship. Appreciate any recent experiences 

Unless US Customs and Border Protection procedures have changed recently everyone, even US citizens such as myself, will be required to disembark for an immigration check and no one will be permitted to re board until the ship has been cleared of all passengers...what is called reaching a zero count.

[DominicAUS]

4 hours ago, njhorseman said:

Unless US Customs and Border Protection procedures have changed recently everyone, even US citizens such as myself, will be required to disembark for an immigration check and no one will be permitted to re board until the ship has been cleared of all passengers...what is called reaching a zero count.

Thank you. Hoping for a quick process and back on the ship to continue the trip 

[ChiefMateJRK]

It may be port specific, but I did a NCL Bliss B2B in April and never had to step off of the ship.

[mugtech]

On 2/22/2023 at 8:20 PM, 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.

In San Juan we were not required to leave the ship, there were many of us as the Gem was doing 5 different ports on each 7 day leg.

 

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

It may be port specific, but I did a NCL Bliss B2B in April and never had to step off of the ship.

 

37 minutes ago, mugtech said:

In San Juan we were not required to leave the ship, there were many of us as the Gem was doing 5 different ports on each 7 day leg.

 

Yes, in certain ports you won't disembark, usually because of inadequate port facilities . US CBP will clear you on the ship.

The question I answered was specifically about San Pedro. I've had to disembark both times I've done a B2B turnaround there, but procedures can change.

[nudistcruzer]

I've done back to back sailings many times on different cruise lines but only in Florida ports so far and I have always stayed in the same cabin both cruises. By and large, over the past 10 years we have had to first meet somewhere on the ship then get off the ship and have our passports looked at, then either we had to wait to go back on board or we have been able to go directly back on the ship. Only once, many years ago was I able to go somewhere on the ship to get cleared. The last time which was in Tampa we were able to go immediately back on the ship after first having met in the main lobby by guest relations. I will be doing a back to back in New York in February 2024 and then Miami in February 2025. I will update this thread if anything changes. I am starting another thread on other issues regrading back to back cruises.

 

To be clear, I have always been able to leave my suitcases in my closet and my stuff in the drawers. Keep in mind when the ship arrives in the U.S. the authorities have the right to search your or any cabin or any other area of the ship during the process of clearing customs. I have never, to my knowledge, had my cabin searched.

 

You personally are generally not going through customs your are only going through immigration, this is a Passport check only. If you are leaving the ship for the day to see local sights, only the stuff you bring with you technically goes through customs. So if you bought a $30,000 Rolex in St Maarten, you generally would pay the duty after the last leg of your cruises. Since you can get into trouble for this always ask the question, especially if you plan to spend any time ashore back in the U.S. for the day.

 

If you are spending the day ashore, they will often give you an "in transit" pass, to make it easier to go back on the ship. 

Edited October 12, 2023 by nudistcruzer

[nudistcruzer]

The common term for a back to back cruise is "back-to-back". Even if a crew member barely speaks english, they'll know what "back-to-back" means. Also, Carnival has a whole page dedicated to back-to-back cruises and much of it will apply to NCL. 

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4529/~/back-to-back-cruises

 

Note: Some of what this page says doesn't even apply to Carnival's cruises, for instance I always got my new Room key before I left the ship for my Passport check.

Edited October 12, 2023 by nudistcruzer