NCL Back-to-Back Cruising

[Derckert82]

My wife and I tried our first back-to-back cruise in June 2024 with NCL on the NCL Bliss for an Alaskan Cruise.  Originally, when we booked two years out, they were two separate itineraries.  About a year later, the itinerary for one of the weeks was changed and then they became the same for both weeks.  We were only slightly disappointed, but this was for our 30th anniversary and have the cost of our vacation was getting to the cruise port city and home again, so we really didn't want to make changes. 

 

We altered our thinking about what this would mean for us and decided that we would do most of our excursions during the first week.  The second week, we did some shopping at the ports and did a second excursion in one port because there were two that we were really interested in and this duplication now gave us that opportunity.  During our second week, we also purchased a spa pass and used it to rest and recuperate from all the adventuring we did during the first week.  The second week was very relaxing.  We didn't feel rushed because we had just done everything.  Even the first week, we felt les pressure to try and do everything because we knew that we would have another shot at different things.

 

The disembarkation/embarkation between the two weeks was very easy.  We notified our room steward that we would be on for two weeks, first off.  Then when the last day came, we had to go to the cruise guest services desk and get new cards for the second week and name tags to identify us as back-to-back cruisers.  This kept the inquiries from NCL staffers to a minimum.  We were asked to hang out in the Maltese Whiskey lounge area until everyone had disembarked and customs verified with NCL that everyone had cleared the ship.  Then one of the guest services personnel came to get us and took us down to the exit area where people were scanned out and we scanned in with our new cards.  Then we were free to roam the ship.

 

Since most things were closed and the NCL ship staff was busy cleaning and preparing for the new arrivals, my wife and I went to the pool deck and hung out there.  It was about two hours before new people would be embarking for the second week.  My wife and I were the only back-to-back cruisers between our two weeks.  It was like having the whole ship to ourselves.  It seemed strange when we walked around for a bit before heading to the pool deck since nobody was around except NCL staff.

 

It was also nice that while everyone was waiting for their luggage to be delivered, we were still able to go to our room, everything we had was already there including any drinks we had in the mini-fridge leftover from the first week.  Not a bad thought to had a drink or two set aside for when nothing is available for those couple of hours. 

 

It was also nice the second week that NCL staff went out of their way to welcome us and greet us on occasion as back-to-back cruisers.  It was an unexpected extra touch.  Another feature that we were not aware of is that any unused on board credit (OBC) that is leftover from the first week is automatically moved to the second week, so you don't have to worry about not having it or losing it.  We tend to put OBC on our cruises for things we plan and know we will spend money on ahead of time to minimize the cost at the end of our cruise.

 

While most of our experiences with the back-to-back cruising were awesome, there are a couple of caveats I wanted to bring up.  The NCL app did not account for our pre-booked items for dinners, shows and excursions.  While we had them and they were in the system, the NCL app did not post any of them for the second week.  The NCL app continued our daily list as day 8 thru 15.  This is something that NCL will need to address with their app.

 

A second item to be careful of is regarding the transfer of any remaining credit.  While we had it transferred, it was done incorrectly and showed up as a debt.  It took until the second last day for me to get that corrected.  Guest services had to call finance to look into it before they could make any changes regardless of how obvious it may look.  

 

So aside from a couple of hiccups that caused some minor headaches for us, they overall back-to-back experience was pretty awesome and I definitely recommend it for those looking to try it.

[reeinaz]

Thanks so much for sharing your experience. I'll be doing my 1st NCL back-to-back next year. I've done several on Carnival and they were each slightly different. So I am definitely looking forward to experience it on NCL.

[The Traveling Man]

Glad to hear that you enjoyed your trip despite the itinerary changes.  As to the Norwegian App, if you're traveling B2B, you may need to reload the app on the turnaround day to load the new info for the second half of your trip.  We have taken several B2Bs with NCL and we had to do that to get the updates.  Interesting that you chose to remain on the ship on turnaround day.  We usually are eager to explore the city, so we are among the first off.  NCL provides a name tag, wrist band, or other means of identification as a returning cruiser so we can skip the line when we return to the ship.  In your case I assume that Seattle was your turnaround city.  We've always found lots of interesting things to see and do there, some of them even within walking distance of the cruise terminal.  Anyway, thanks for your review and glad that you enjoyed yourselves.

[cruiseny4life]

Back to back in Alaska sounds wonderful, even if identical ports. Happy anniversary and I'm glad the cruises were wonderful, despite a couple of small hiccups!

[ready2cruzagain]

Just a note, if you have non refundable OBC it will not carry over and if you don't use it, you will lose it. We have done numerous b2b2b's. I always go the last morning and cash out. If it is refundable then you don't have to carry it over, you can ask to cash out and receive cash. That eliminates the headaches if it carries over as a debt. 

 

[EngrJones]

21 minutes ago, ready2cruzagain said:

Just a note, if you have non refundable OBC it will not carry over and if you don't use it, you will lose it.

I have had non-refundable OBC carry over on a B2B.  YYMV.

[Russiamomm]

35 minutes ago, EngrJones said:

I have had non-refundable OBC carry over on a B2B.  YYMV.

Me too.  They basically combined it all into one folio, settled at the end.

[itsnotjustme]

We did our first B2B on an eastern med (Israel/Cyprus) and a Greece/Türkiye last year.  (Just weeks before Oct 7!).  We only had one port in common other than Piraeus.  We used the turn-around day as a port day.

 

We encountered 3 small B2B related problems:

 

1) We did not receive the second delivery of waters (when they had the water special). When we notified guest services, they first suggested I may not have seen them in the cabin - "Did I look just inside the door?"  After assurances they were not in the cabin, they agreed to send them up.

2) We did not receive the Latitude Rewards coupons for meals and laundry.  The cruise next staff rectified this immediately.   

3) Our key cards no longer worked for purchases but would open the cabin door and allowed us to swipe onto the ship.  Guest services took care of this, but it took a good 20 minutes.

 

[ready2cruzagain]

12 hours ago, Russiamomm said:

Me too.  They basically combined it all into one folio, settled at the end.

On the Epic in January and we were told non refundable does not carry over anymore. Had this happen once before. 

[ready2cruzagain]

13 hours ago, EngrJones said:

I have had non-refundable OBC carry over on a B2B.  YYMV.

Has it been recently?? In January we were told it would not carry over on a b2b cruise. If booked as one cruise it would but we were booked as 3 separate cruises for a b2b2b and no it did not.

Edited June 22 by ready2cruzagain

[Russiamomm]

3 hours ago, ready2cruzagain said:

On the Epic in January and we were told non refundable does not carry over anymore. Had this happen once before. 

It may have changed.  My last B2B on NCL was around a year ago.

[Derckert82]

We are Platinum Latitudes members and did receive new bottles of water, another set of chocolate covered strawberries, dinner and laundry cards.  My wife and I were both able to use our laundry.  They didn't ask for the cards.  We just put our cabin number, name, and Platinum Latitudes member on the bag.  I did one earlier in the week and then my wife did it on the laundry day that everyone does.  It was a great bonus.  we've never used the laundry service before.  Since we used the laundry service three times in those two weeks, one thing to remember to do is to remove any laundry tags from your clothes before you send it back for laundry again.  It can potentially create confusion.

[Derckert82]

EXTRA! EXTRA! One very important thing we learned on this cruise that just happened recently with NCL.  For anyone that has not seen the most recent changes to the Cruise Next credits, they no longer expire!

[ready2cruzagain]

3 hours ago, Derckert82 said:

EXTRA! EXTRA! One very important thing we learned on this cruise that just happened recently with NCL.  For anyone that has not seen the most recent changes to the Cruise Next credits, they no longer expire!

Yes, they changed to no expiration about 8 months ago. 

[DominicAUS]

We thought the B2B process was pretty seamless process. Only issue we had was my name was misspelt on my new card, wasn’t a huge issue with a quick stop to get it fixed, stilled worked getting a drink, so waited for the line to quieten down.  
 

Looking forward to doing it again from a TA to Caribbean B2B, this time turnaround is in MIA.