Taking First B2B on Meraviglia in February. How does disembarkation/embarkation work on changeover day?

[tymike]

Hi all,

Apologies way in advance if this question has been asked thousands of times....

 

I've never been on a b2b cruise.  Going week one with a girlfriend and then my husband will meet me for the second week.   Do I need to get off the ship and go through passport control/customs after week one? 

 

I will be in the same stateroom;  do my bags have to leave the ship?  Do I even need to pack my things or can everything in the cabin stay in it's place from week one?

 

Any information about what I should expect would be greatly appreciated!   🙂

[Best Cat Mom]

From what country do you depart? There are vastly different procedures depending on the country's laws.

[PistolPete13]

For the first half of 2024 I believe the Merviglia is based out of NYC.  They've been advertising several B2B cruises originating from there this winter.

[morpheusofthesea]

1 hour ago, tymike said:

Do I need to get off the ship and go through passport control/customs after week one? 

Seeing your from CT.....

We were on for 2 cruises and HAD to get off the ship on turn around day. Our butler informed us we had to congregate at about 10 am in the TopSail Lounge. Listening to the CD announce the groups over the public address system call the last remaining guests to leave. At 10:45 am CD came on the PA announcing 'last call' for everyone to leave the ship. A few minutes later we YC B2Bers were escorted down to the terminal. Boarding back on not till the ship rounds up all the "zeros" (those that have late flights and hide out on the ship). B2Bers will not be 'processed' (facial recognition) and allowed back on the ship until the "zeros" have been found and processed. Once the B2Bers are led back on they are followed by Yacht Clubbers and then everyone else in the terminal. This began around 11:30. We were B2B (about 100 of us) waiting in line to be processed by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) when a butler pointed out the "zeros" that were taking their 'sweet time' collecting the last of the remaining luggage and strolling over to the facial recognition machines. Always get this bunch of 'losers' every cruise.

There is always a small group of inconsiderate passengers that have late flights or just no place to go after the cruise has ended. They dilly-dally and hold up the ship from "clearing" for the next cruise group to embark. These "losers" are called "Zeros". They are the stragglers that sometimes hide out and often the sheriff''s office is called in to escort them off the ship.

P.S. Keep your stuff in your cabin as if you were going on a port excursion.

Edited December 10, 2023 by morpheusofthesea
P.S.

[Crewbie]

Hi, tymike, 

 

We were on a B2B earlier in November on Meraviglia (NYC-Bahamas itinerary, non-YC). Prior to our return to NYC at the end of the first half, a letter was delivered to our cabin for guests-in-transit. For us, it covered the following: 

 

-Asked us to check that our cruise card had the correct final date of disembarkation - I recommend simply checking this Day 1 when you get your card.

-Noted that those changing cabins should have their luggage prepared to move to their new cabin by their Cabin Steward.

-Specified that everyone would need to go ashore to complete local immigration procedures. Our specific timetable was to exit the ship before 9 am and that returning onboard would be allowed to do so after around 12 pm.

 

Regarding the exit and return, the letter recommended the following options of 

1) Making a day of it independently NYC, disembarking before 9 and coming back after 12.

2) Taking an in-transit MSC Excursion. (This gave me a chuckle since they didn't have any available when I had been doing pre-booking planning or upon looking on embarkation - and then being told they had cancelled planning because there wasn't enough interest.)

3) Staying on board and proceeding through immigration procedures as a group. Those who wanted to do so would meet at the Deck 5 Restaurant at 9:30 am. (So, note that if your day is to stick with the ship, you don't need to plan to disembark before 9.) 

 

I would recommend reading the letter in full when it arrives and simply following what it says, particularly if you're planning for the third option. The day of the new passage will have lots of meandering passengers and announcements.

 

The letter also came with Back-to-Back Passes (four for us, for some reason - they were never collected, just simply shown), which they stated were needed along with our Passport and any applicable ESTA or Visa. A separate card let us know there would be a meeting for In-Transit Guests the afternoon before returning to New York - this meeting in actuality was sparsely attended but did provide a chance to ask any questions in person. (One thing I would check on: Breakfast hours and availability, as these were not provided in the letter, and we did not receive a Daily Planner in advance the night before NYC. I just called the Guest Services desk to make sure.)

 

What we wound up doing: We decided to check out NYC for a few hours with the plan of taking the Red Hook ferry that is located directly next to the cruise pier parking at the terminal. (The ferry website is pretty easy to navigate beforehand to check schedules, I feel.) We had breakfast in the Main Dining Room; the menu was a little more streamlined than the normal MDR breakfast. (The buffet on our day of actual disembarkation had plenty.) We went back to our room, grabbed our daily accoutrements and documents, and headed towards the exit. It was very easy to show our Back-to-Back Pass to staff and to leave the ship (normal cruise card check-out), though a little weird to be led to jump the queue of those waiting to also exit. Once back in the terminal, we did the face-to-face control very quickly and went about our day. We returned around 2 pm, upon which it seemed like any hubbub for embarkation had already been processed. (Our dinner table neighbor was also Back-to-Back and had opted for the third option; it sounded like it had been a fairly straightforward process to be escorted off the ship and then back.) (Double parenthetical thought: We also partook in the Muster Drill again. Guest services told us it was necessary. Then the scanners declined to scan us - maybe because we'd already been scanned? - and we were told it wasn't necessary. Neither here nor there, but another moment of chuckle.)

 

In short - yes, you will likely need to get off the ship, but you do not need to repack or bring your bags. (The letter actually states "transit Guests are not allowed to go ashore with any suitcases.") The only thing noted about our cabin was that our steward asked if it was ok to have our room serviced only in the evening - turnover day is a very busy day for them!

 

I hope this helps! A good cruise to you and your circle.

[tymike]

So, so many thanks to all for the vast amount of information.   Very appreciated!

I'm thinking to get off the ship early and run around NYC until reboarding.  I lived in NYC for years so getting around on my own isn't intimidating. 

 

Of course...I reserve the right to be lazier than that and spend much of the changeover on the ship!

[Best Cat Mom]

Just now, morpheusofthesea said:

Seeing your from CT.....

aha! could not see that from phone 😞

[tymike]

Yes!  From CT now after years in NY.

 

And not for nothing but  my screen name TYMIKE was created to thank my husband Mike for our first cruise 13 years ago this week!  Many cruises since then and (hopefully) many more to come!  🙂

[dexddd]

13 hours ago, tymike said:

Yes!  From CT now after years in NY.

 

And not for nothing but  my screen name TYMIKE was created to thank my husband Mike for our first cruise 13 years ago this week!  Many cruises since then and (hopefully) many more to come!  🙂

I'm glad you clarified that.  All these years I thought you were a guy.

[tymike]

6 hours ago, dexddd said:

I'm glad you clarified that.  All these years I thought you were a guy.

Ha!   

I clarified because when I reread my post I realized that it sounded confusing!  Girlfriend?  Husband?  

I've had people on here confused about my screen name before so I occasionally clarify!   🙂