Just booked a B2B and they combined them under one booking number. Is this normal?

[Ken the cruiser]

We just booked a 22-day B2B cruise on the Star roundtrip from Reykjavik to Tromso by way on Longyearbyen in each direction. Super excited! However, what was odd is that the two separate legs were combined under one booking number rather than two. 🤔

 

Which brings a couple of questions to mind.

 

1. Is this new, as it wasn't the case a few years ago when we booked our Africa B2B on the Jade or more recently when we booked a B3B on the Getaway this past December?

 

2. Since it's now a 22-day cruise with one booking number, it will be interesting to see if we get $250 Shareholder Benefits OBC, or $200 ($100 x 2) for the two separate 11-day cruises. We're hoping of course we get the $250.

 

3. But most importantly, if the cruise fare goes down between now and final payment (in Jan 2025) on either or both of the 11-day itineraries, will we be able to refare the applicable(s) to the lower price?

 

I'm sure other questions will come to mind as time goes on, but just thought this was an interesting twist we have not encountered before. Has anyone else run into this issue when booking separate B2B NCL itineraries, and did you encounter any anomalies because of it?

[omahabob]

Sometimes they do, and sometimes they don't. I'm not sure if there's some sort of criteria to explain why.

[LloydJr]

36 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

We just booked a 22-day B2B cruise on the Star roundtrip from Reykjavik to Tromso by way on Longyearbyen in each direction. Super excited! However, what was odd is that the two separate legs were combined under one booking number rather than two.

Did you book both legs at the same time with an NCL agent or did you book first one, and then the second?

[Ken the cruiser]

4 minutes ago, LloydJr said:

Did you book both legs at the same time with an NCL agent or did you book first one, and then the second?

Our TA booked both separate itineraries at the same time. What's got us wondering now that we are Platinum, will we still each get our 1 free bag of laundry per leg and our 2 free specialty restaurant dinners per leg?

[omahabob]

2 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Our TA booked both separate itineraries at the same time...

Then it was very likely sent to NCL as a single booking.

[Ken the cruiser]

2 minutes ago, omahabob said:

Then it was very likely sent to NCL as a single booking.

We book B2B cruises all the time, usually 3-4 a year using this TA and have never had this happen. I will note, though, when we were on our 38-day B2B cruise from Athens to Cape Town by way of Dubai (see expanded signature for the Live From thread), our steward did say "they" were treating our B2B as a single cruise when meant we didn't get the Club Balcony perks due us for the second leg, such as the bottle of bubbly. They did give us our 1 free bag of laundry, though, when I did act a little miffed. 😉

[dbrown84]

33 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Our TA booked both separate itineraries at the same time. What's got us wondering now that we are Platinum, will we still each get our 1 free bag of laundry per leg and our 2 free specialty restaurant dinners per leg?

and if you're in a balcony and above, you're getting less free at sea dinners with a single booking.  You would get two each leg on the 11 night cruises, while getting three total on the 22 night

[Ken the cruiser]

11 minutes ago, dbrown84 said:

and if you're in a balcony and above, you're getting less free at sea dinners with a single booking.  You would get two each leg on the 11 night cruises, while getting three total on the 22 night

We’re good there. We got our 2 Free at Sea dinners per leg, 4 in all. We’re pretty hopeful are Platinum perks will be treated as if the 2 itineraries were separate bookings. But of course we’ll never know for sure until we get onboard. 😁

[Eggs2Go]

Earlier this month I booked a spring Mexican Riviera with my PCC. Then just this week I phoned to book a Pacific Coastal. My PCC noticed that they were B2B cruises and said he will add the Pacific Coastal onto my previous Riviera so combined under the same confirmation number. I said no, please book as two separate cruises. He hesitated a bit and assured me the combined booking would not affect my perks. But I insisted on booking the B2B as I have always done, as two separate cruises, and he honored my request. Now reading your thread, I'm guessing it is a new policy at NCL to combine the cruises into one. I don't know why. And I don't know which is better (or worse) or if there are any differences. It's just odd after all these years (I'm sapphire with multiple past B2Bs).

[LloydJr]

I booked two 2025 cruises on NCL.com on June 12.  I found the matching rooms and booked two separate reservations.  I received two invoices as if they were stand-alone cruises.  Today, I was on the phone with an NCL reservations agent who seemed very sharp, so I asked her if those two cruises should be linked in their system.  She said their system automatically detects the B2B and links them.  I asked her if she would confirm.  I gave her the first reservation number and she brought it up in the NCL booking system.  She said that she could see the B2B and confirmed that the reservation number I gave her was in fact linked to my second reservation number.  I think I prefer it this way.  Perhaps travel agents and PCCs like a single reservation number to make it easier to handle changes, etc.

[Eggs2Go]

Yes, I'm fine with being "linked" but I also prefer two separate confirmation numbers. Maybe just because that's what I'm accustomed to.  But seems times they are changing. And like you, I selected the same cabin number for both cruises. So nice. 

[LloydJr]

17 minutes ago, Eggs2Go said:

Yes, I'm fine with being "linked" but I also prefer two separate confirmation numbers. Maybe just because that's what I'm accustomed to. 

I think most of us do.  At least those of us who actively book and manage our own reservations.

18 minutes ago, Eggs2Go said:

But seems times they are changing. And like you, I selected the same cabin number for both cruises. So nice. 

I'm not sure that anything has really changed.  Historically some folks have reported having B2B bookings under a single reservation number, but they've been relatively few and far between.  I don't believe we've heard of any advantages since Covid went away.  The main advantage I've read about is with a single reservation, if one of the legs is cancelled by NCL, then a passenger is assured of a full refund of the entire cruise.  That just really doesn't happen other than in extremely rare circumstances (I can't think of anything specific).

[Ken the cruiser]

One positive perk with combining itineraries, as my DW just suggested to me, is that we might possibly be able to book our dining reservations for the second leg even before the suite class passengers on that leg would be able to book theirs. It will be interesting to see if that actually comes to pass.

[MeHeartCruising]

I would not want them made into one reservation in case something came up and I needed to cancel one but not the other at some point.  If it were one reservation, I don’t see how they would that.

[603NHCruiser]

I have no experience with this but have read that previously when sailing a B2B, NCL Mastercard holders could use their points to upgrade the entire trip as ONE occurrence. This stopped being honored a few years ago and each leg was separate due to different reservation numbers. If booked under one conf number, maybe the old way of doing things will work again and CC holders could really see a substantial savings??

[complawyer]

my b2b's have always had each separate reservation/booking numbers