B2B

[alphawave1]

So this is our first B2B coming up.

is it possible or allowed to get off ship and go to parked car and exchange dirty laundry for clean? Would significantly cut down on heaviness of carry-ons. 
Also, can you carry on 2 bottles of wine (2 cruises,after all ) or are we limited to 1 each?

[Mum2Mercury]

Sure, you can leave the ship, but you'll have to go through check-in again.  

 

If you have your own car, you could leave and come back easily.  If not, you could take a taxi or Uber. 

 

Yes, you can carry on two bottles -- one for each cruise.  Do bring both boarding passes so you can prove you're a B2B cruiser.  

[alphawave1]

7 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Sure, you can leave the ship, but you'll have to go through check-in again.  

 

If you have your own car, you could leave and come back easily.  If not, you could take a taxi or Uber. 

 

Yes, you can carry on two bottles -- one for each cruise.  Do bring both boarding passes so you can prove you're a B2B cruiser.  

Thank you!

[firefly333]

16 minutes ago, alphawave1 said:

So this is our first B2B coming up.

is it possible or allowed to get off ship and go to parked car and exchange dirty laundry for clean? Would significantly cut down on heaviness of carry-ons. 
Also, can you carry on 2 bottles of wine (2 cruises,after all ) or are we limited to 1 each?

If you are walking distance from your car it's pretty easy. Go where b2b meet and do the shuffle with them. They will give you a envelope either there or go off into terminal and get it. In the envelope besides your new card will be a little slip of paper that says in transit. .. just show the card and the in transit.

 

Also most b2  have a b2b lunch around noon which I wouldnt want to miss. A decent meal imo.

[Ourusualbeach]

22 minutes ago, alphawave1 said:

Also, can you carry on 2 bottles of wine (2 cruises,after all )

Yep carry 2 bottles on each on your initial embarkation (as suggested have both boarding passes handy.

 

When you get off and back on again besides bringing clean clothes aboard also bring another bottle of wine per person.

[orville99]

Depending on which shop and which port, you may be able to get your new sea pass cards at Guest Services before you get of the ship along with a "transit" card that lets you leave the port area and come back once general boarding begins (gets you off the ship as soon as customs clears it for departures). On our B2B on Mariner last two weeks, we could have gone to guest services on turnaround morning (7:00AM) and get both our new sea pass cards and transit cards or we could wait with all the other B2B'rs until the ship was cleared. On Wonder B2B in July, there was no first (GS) option - everyone had to wait.

[LobsterStalker]

50 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

If you are walking distance from your car it's pretty easy. Go where b2b meet and do the shuffle with them. They will give you a envelope either there or go off into terminal and get it. In the envelope besides your new card will be a little slip of paper that says in transit. .. just show the card and the in transit.

 

Also most b2  have a b2b lunch around noon which I wouldnt want to miss. A decent meal imo.

Can you provide more info on this lunch? Specialty/MDR ?

 

[Tree_skier]

1 hour ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Sure, you can leave the ship, but you'll have to go through check-in again.  

 

If you have your own car, you could leave and come back easily.  If not, you could take a taxi or Uber. 

 

Yes, you can carry on two bottles -- one for each cruise.  Do bring both boarding passes so you can prove you're a B2B cruiser.  

I’ve never done a B2B. Can’t you just go through the B2B turn around and then leave the ship and return at your leisure?

[firefly333]

19 minutes ago, LobsterStalker said:

Can you provide more info on this lunch? Specialty/MDR ?

 

In Sept the did those things they call ribs that have no bones. Like roast beef. 3 appetizer, 3 entrees and 1 to 3 desserts. One app and one entree will be vegetarian. Good desserts like royal chocolate cake or cheese cake. In sept lunch was at 11:45 in the Mdr. Sit down lunch. So I wouldn't want to get off and miss it. 

9 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

I’ve never done a B2B. Can’t you just go through the B2B turn around and then leave the ship and return at your leisure?

Yes last one sept allure the coast guard actually came onboard to the dining room where we were waiting and checked passports and they handed out the envelopes with new card and the in transit slip to show you are already checked in to by pass any lines in the terminal. 

 

Mostly they walk you off and you show your passport and get a envelope in the terminal. Keep the little slip of paper to by pass lines to get back onboard.

[Mum2Mercury]

21 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

I’ve never done a B2B. Can’t you just go through the B2B turn around and then leave the ship and return at your leisure?

1.  Every ship does things differently.  The ship will provide information for what they call "Consecutive Cruisers". 

2.  Yes, you can leave the ship, but when you return 1000+ people will be standing between you and the ship.  

[Tlbecker1]

2 hours ago, firefly333 said:

 

Also most b2  have a b2b lunch around noon which I wouldnt want to miss. A decent meal imo.

We were on a B2B2B in August and our lunch each week was in the Windjammer.  🙃

[Tree_skier]

9 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

1.  Every ship does things differently.  The ship will provide information for what they call "Consecutive Cruisers". 

2.  Yes, you can leave the ship, but when you return 1000+ people will be standing between you and the ship.  

I'm surprised they don't have a separate way to for you to go through.  

[firefly333]

1 minute ago, Tlbecker1 said:

We were on a B2B2B in August and our lunch each week was in the Windjammer.  🙃

I guess this is a joke. Even baby sized grandeur had it I found out after I missed a few. The lunch is buried in a whole page of other instructions. I've never heard of this as that's where everyone eats who just boards. I'd bet you just missed the mention of the lunch buried in all the other b2b instructions. 

[firefly333]

1 minute ago, Tree_skier said:

I'm surprised they don't have a separate way to for you to go through.  

Just walk back on the ship. There isnt a need for a special line. Show your new card and in transit to any rcl crew if they ask .. and walk on by everyone else. 

 

If you are fast the b2b folks might still be gathered in the terminal. .. sometimes run late. That last time we wound up all getting off, due to 2 stowaways even though we were checked in. The crew had to find 2 pax who didnt click off the ship. 

[lovetocruise/diamond]

The lunch depends on the ship and how many consecutive cruisers.  Our last B2B on the Harmony the lunch was a buffet in the solarium bistro, the same food as the other guests. Another B2B lunch was nice and served in the MDR. 

[MeHeartCruising]

As mentioned above, this entire process can vary between ports, ships, and even sailings. Figure out the plan once you get notified of the procedure for your turnaround day.  But yes, the OP most certainly will be able to exit the ship and do things at their car if they want.

 

On one of my B2Bs in Rome, my "in transit" card bypassed the entire check-in procedure.  I showed it to the first person greeting the arrivals and I literally was shown an easy path to the gangway.  The same path that crew that had gotten off the ship were using to get back on.  I doubt it's that easy in a USA port, however.

Edited October 24, 2023 by MeHeartCruising

[Tlbecker1]

2 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I guess this is a joke. Even baby sized grandeur had it I found out after I missed a few. The lunch is buried in a whole page of other instructions. I've never heard of this as that's where everyone eats who just boards. I'd bet you just missed the mention of the lunch buried in all the other b2b instructions. 

Sorry, I assure you it is not.  It was actually on the Grandeur and though it felt like a joke, it was reality.  The first week they let us in at 11:30 before the crowds and then the next week it was 12.  We even had a letter stating that our B2B lunch was in the Windjammer.  This was in August.  

[neverbeenhere]

If town is close, go to town and have a meal of your choice, hit a bar or two, do some shopping, hit a bar or two, get back to the ship while you still can.

[Badatz2]

On a recent B2B we gathered in the theater, had our passports looked at, got our new seapass cards, and that was all.

We were given Transit cards for those who wanted to go off and there was no special lunch.  No one had to get off the ship and return.

[PigsCanFly]

18 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Just walk back on the ship. There isnt a need for a special line. Show your new card and in transit to any rcl crew if they ask .. and walk on by everyone else. 

 

If you are carrying your new luggage (clean clothes), you will still need to wait in the TSA scanning line. Likely even if you check in the new luggage with porters, you will need to be scanned by TSA.

[ZoeyVictoria]

We will be on our first B2B on the Independence next week, out of Miami. If we decide we would like to take luggage with dirty laundry to the car in the parking garage and swap it for clean clothing, how could that be done?  We have a 12:30 Chops reservation that was made before we added the first cruise, and we are keeping it rather than changing to another date. Could we leave the ship with the luggage after lunch, probably 2 p.m., to walk from the ship to the car, then back onto the ship?  What is the latest time we could reboard?  If we go before lunch, say 11:30, will there be so many people that it will be just like a usual embarkation?  I am assuming we would have to wait in whatever line there might be to go through Security, then walk directly to the gangway, is this correct?

[RFerrington]

36 minutes ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

We will be on our first B2B on the Independence next week, out of Miami. If we decide we would like to take luggage with dirty laundry to the car in the parking garage and swap it for clean clothing, how could that be done?  We have a 12:30 Chops reservation that was made before we added the first cruise, and we are keeping it rather than changing to another date. Could we leave the ship with the luggage after lunch, probably 2 p.m., to walk from the ship to the car, then back onto the ship?  What is the latest time we could reboard?  If we go before lunch, say 11:30, will there be so many people that it will be just like a usual embarkation?  I am assuming we would have to wait in whatever line there might be to go through Security, then walk directly to the gangway, is this correct?

You shouldn't have any problem doing this.  You are wise to wait until AFTER lunch to go rather than before b/c if you did it early you would have to wait until regular boarding begins to re-board.  It should only take you a few minutes to go out and then back on.  Be sure and take your in transit pass with you but also bring your passport, etc as you will most likely have to go back through security.  Only once have we ever gone out and back without having to back through security....and it was a very weirdo process where we were taken through the back alleys of the terminal....and allowed to come back through a side door and bypass security.  I was shocked that they allowed us to do it.

[Morecruisesplz]

21 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

I’ve never done a B2B. Can’t you just go through the B2B turn around and then leave the ship and return at your leisure?

Really? I wouldn't have guessed that. 

[orville99]

18 hours ago, Tlbecker1 said:

Sorry, I assure you it is not.  It was actually on the Grandeur and though it felt like a joke, it was reality.  The first week they let us in at 11:30 before the crowds and then the next week it was 12.  We even had a letter stating that our B2B lunch was in the Windjammer.  This was in August.  

We were on Grandeur in September, and it was in the MDR.

[Tlbecker1]

42 minutes ago, orville99 said:

We were on Grandeur in September, and it was in the MDR.

We were on between 8-12 thru 9-2.