B2B Experts! I need your help....

[ckrobyn]

My first B2B is quickly approaching and I have 2 questions....

1. Do we need a "Set Sail Pass" for the 2nd week? ( I printed it anyways - but I wasn't sure if we needed it)

2. Do we tip the Cabin Attendant at the end of week 1, or wait until the end of week 2 and tip for the entire 14 days??

Thanks for your help :o

[PA Dutchman]

I would check with the Pursers desk during the first week, each ship seems to do it different and where your ports are. On CCL we did the Destiny B to B because of itinerary and closed the account for the first week as they clear out everybody for that week and start a 2nd week. We did the cabin attendent and the waiters also to close out the week. You may change seating in the 2nd week sometimes. Did not have to clear customs, just put the date you started and ended of the cruises on your deck form. Some people are told to get off and back on we just stayed on the ship in our room till the ship cleared. Different ships may do it a different way. We won't do a B to B on the same ship anymore as it is a total rerun of the first week, shows , food, jokes so we find a different ship out of the same port. We will do a B to B out of San Jaun in Jan with AOS and Destiny good itinerary to combine both, save the air money.

[floridaken77]

I am doing a B2B on the same ship, and though I know its going to be rerun, thats exactly what I am hoping! Our two are VERY port intensive! Only three at sea days for 15 days cruising! So, we can see some of the shows the first time, some the second time, skip a few things, see more, do more, but much more relaxed--at least thats my plan!!! :-) Allthouhg, our first week is with a large group, so the second week we can do more "ship" stuff, and less "group" stuff :-)

 

YEAH..only **sigh** 11 months....

[wolfcathorse]

Yes, you need your Set Sail pass for the second part. Tip everyone at the end of the first part as you don't know if they're going home or moving to another ship when you sail again. Tell the check-in agent you are doing a back to back, they may have some info for you. Or they may tell you to check with the Purser's desk. On Sovereign, the purser told me just to come and wait by the desk. Well that was kind of wrong. I was supposed to tell a specific person because there was paperwork to fill out (in our case, another Bahama's visitors form), but the port agent didn't care, she just ran into the Purser's office and got me the form. Then she escorted our group off, we re-processed with a check-in agent, the agent needed our credit card and Set Sail pass. Once everyone had their NEW Seapass card, the port agent walked us back on and we were free to enjoy the quiet!

[ckrobyn]

Thanks for your help!

 

I am going to tip everyone at the end of each week. Wolfcathorse is right - I don't know who will still be on the ship at the end of the first week...

 

Thanks again! :)

[CaptData]

If you have the same stateroom tell your Room Steward that you are doing a B2B. Do not pack up at end of first week. Once you reboard you can go to your stateroom if you wish or roam the ship free of other pax and get pics. Enjoy the pools hot tub, make all your appts for 2nd week before anyone boards.

 

The following is from Alexis a CC member.

 

My B2B on the Navigator, 9/16 - 9/30/2006 We did both Western and Eastern.

 

We did a B2B on the Navigator. The Western Caribbean on September 16 and the Eastern Caribbean on September 23. It was a great two weeks on her. We do not do tours anymore as we have been to these ports many times. This review is only about certain things on the ship.

Our embarkation was smooth and very organized. The best one we ever had. We arrived at the pier at about 10:30 and waited behind the bridal parties to board. The bridal parties board ahead of everyone else. Once the line started to move, it was just minutes before we were on board. They took our Set Sail pass, checked the Charge card and off we went.

The Windjammer had their buffet lunch ready at 12:00 and it was good with a large variety of foods. We ate breakfast and lunch there everyday. It was very good and I had no complaints about the food at all. We never had to wait on any long lines.

The passengers favorite person on board is Nestor. (Not sure about the spelling.) He is the official greeter to the Windjammer in the mornings. He was introduced at the final show as the peoples favorite employee on the Navigator. You MUST say “Hi” to him as you enter, and you better say “goodbye” when you leave.

We ate in the dining room every night. We had main seating at 6:00, late seating was at 8:30. We found the food to be quite good. The only complaints at our table were about the steaks. They were a bit tough and grizzly. I never received a dish that I did not like, so I was happy. We had fabulous waiters, assistant waiters and GREAT head waiters on both of our weeks. Our table mates on both weeks were so friendly and nice. We had a great time dining with them all. Everyone should be as lucky as we were to have such enjoyable company to eat with.

The Navigator does not have smart casual nights listed anymore for dinner in the dining room. Just formal and casual. So men, leave those sport jackets home..

I can truly say that most of the people on the Navigator dressed very well for dinner each night. On formal nights everyone looked formally dressed. The ladies wore a mixture of different dressy outfits, the men seemed to mostly wear suits. There were tuxes on men and boys, but I would say the majority wore suits. Everyone looked very nice.

On regular nights, most people dressed very nicely and many ladies wore everything from very dressy clothes, to Capri's. There will always be a few in dirty sneakers and ripped T shirts, but very few.

The Promenade had lots of shops, a Wine bar, a Pub with live entertainment and is a great place to sit and watch the world go by.

Also on the Promenade is the Café that has free hot tea, hot chocolate, coffee, pizza, cookies, cakes and sandwiches available 24 hours a day at no charge.

Next to the café is the Coffee bar and Ben and Jerry’s where both charge a fee.

I did not use the specialty restaurants, room service or Johnny Rockets so I can not comment on those.

I found Shane the CD to be very pleasant and did a good job speaking at the shows and all with updates on the ports and activities. Someone had posted on here that they did not like his laugh and it really got to them?? Several of us cruising had read that post and waited to hear it. We never heard anything like that at all. When he emceed the shows I thought he was good. His staff were all really nice and they handled the activities we saw very well. We do not do the pool deck activities so I do not know about them. But, if you only want to see them, go up to the Viking Crown lounge on Deck 14 and you get the best view for the “Belly Flop contest” and such spectacular sporting events.

We attended both the Repeat Cruiser parties and the Platinum and Diamond parties each week. Captain Sullivan attended them all and introduced members of his staff. He is a very visible, down to earth and friendly person and is always walking around the ship saying "Hello" and chatting with passengers.. The Captain told us he is on the Navigator for 14 weeks and then off for 14 weeks when Captain Bang returns and takes command.

The Captain also attended the Meet and Mingles parties. At the Meet and Mingles they

serve finger foods, have a raffle and gave each guest a RCCL water proof holder to be worn around the neck. They officially last about 45 minutes or so.

We had an E1 cabin, 8320 middle of the hump, on Deck 8. Our cabin was the middle of the hump and has as good of a view as one could get. I was concerned when we first saw it as it was right opposite the doorway to the hall. Not in it’s own hallway as the Brilliance hump cabins were. There was a whistle coming in the cabin door that was caused by air moving when we sailed. I put a folded beach towel on the floor up against the door and it stopped. I did this every night and no more whistle. There was no noise at all from the people coming and going by our room from the elevators. I would book it again on another cruise.

The bathroom has sliding doors on the shower, so no friendly shower curtain to grab you from behind.

We got bars of soap, a shower cap, a scrubby, shampoo, cream rinse and body wash gel.

I didn't care to much for the new set ups on the beds. Pillows and spread all in white There are so many pillows on the bed that the cabin attendant has to leave the biggest ones on the couch at night. The pillows were way too hard and the heavy quilted thing in between the duvet is so heavy it is hard to sleep under if you fold it down as we do.

Disembarking on “turn around day”

(the day one cruise ends and the other cruise starts.)

We were instructed to meet in a certain place on the ship for an officer to come and escort us off. We were also told what to bring with us.

We were all escorted off the ship by the officer. This is usually done after the last passenger gets off, but I believe we were taken off before that on this ship. The officer took us though to customs/immigration and we waited our turn to go through. We then returned to the ship. It was pretty fast and organized. We had to wait on line for just a little while before going through.

Disembarking on the last day of our cruises.

We choose to do the express luggage with Delta.

For $10 Each, they give you your luggage tags, airline tickets and boarding passes on the last night. You put the ships colored tag on your luggage, the airline tag, and put them in the hall. I used the TSA locks, (after permission was given to me at the Rochester airport to use them) and my luggage was locked the whole trip.

On the last morning, we were eating breakfast at 7:02 when they called our color, Lavender. (Lavender is the color for all Express luggage handled by the airlines.) The paper they gave us said we would be called between 7:30-8:30, but they were clearing very early.. We left the Windjammer and went down to stand on line to leave the ship. It took about 45 minutes and we went through customs, immigration. We retrieved the luggage from the carousel, had a baggage handler take it for us to the Delta area and off we went. Since we had the boarding passes already, we did not have to do anything but show up at the gate and board the plane. We got a cab immediately and went to the airport.

Doing the Express luggage with the airlines was the best thing that ever happened after a cruise. The luggage was in Rochester with us when we landed.

My few complaints were.

The elevators are terrible. Slow, and not enough for all the people on board after shows and such. They wiz by you empty, but do not stop??? When they do stop they are all packed with people. Be prepared to walk the stairs or you will not get where you are going in time. Take any elevator you can and ride it up and down until it gets to your stop. That is the only way you will be able to get in one.

Very dirty balcony glass made it hard to see the water. Others commented on that too from other areas of the ship.

The computers on board are soooo slow that you will eat up time faster than you think. At .50 a minute, they are making good money on them.

All in all, the Navigator is a beautiful ship and has a great crew.

I will be happy to answer any questions if I can.

[starlake]

We did a B2B on the Explorer in June. We never had to get off the ship. we just stayed and watched new people board. Since we didn't have to leave we didn't need the Set Sail Pass for the 2nd part. My husband did need to run his credit card through for the second part. As many people have said, each ship has different rules.

You will receive a letter or phone call around the next to last day of the first week. This will tell you what to do, where to go (if anywhere). If you don't receive anything, just go to customer relations and they will help you.

Have a great trip

[cruisenfever]

We just returned from a b2b on Radiance. We did not need our Set Sail Passes for the second week, though I had them printed out. About 2 days before the end of your first cruise you will get a letter with instructions about turn around day. Usually you will all meet at a specific time and place, and when all other pax are off the ship you will be escorted off, through customs and immigration, wait in the terminal for about 10-15 minutes (since all ships must be cleared of all pax for that amount of time), then you will return to the ship, insert your new seapass, have your picture taken and you are good to go. You will receive your new seapasses the night before the end of the first cruise. Keep them with you, as we found on Radiance, that our cabin lock was changed when they issued us our new seapasses. They will also notify you the beginning of the second cruise, which CC you would like to use.

 

One thing I might suggest is that if you plan to leave the ship and explore the port, take your docs with you and not just your seapasses. Our experience doing a b2b out of San Diego was that the authorities at the terminal haven't a clue as to what a b2b is.........and even if you have your new seapasses..........they want to see boarding docs!!

[ckrobyn]

From what I have read about B2B cruises on the AOS - it seems that we won't have to disembark on turn around day.....just meet with the Purser to get our new sea passes for the week.

 

Does anyone know for sure if we have to get off and then on again?

 

It will be nice to have an all but empty ship to ourselves before the next set of passengers emabrk! :)

[cruisenfever]

From what I have read about B2B cruises on the AOS - it seems that we won't have to disembark on turn around day.....just meet with the Purser to get our new sea passes for the week.

 

Does anyone know for sure if we have to get off and then on again?

 

It will be nice to have an all but empty ship to ourselves before the next set of passengers emabrk! :)

When we did our b2b on Adventurer, we did have to get off the ship. But that was a couple of year ago, so things might have changed. And yes, it is extremely nice to have that whole promenade to yourself, if just for an hour or so. You get the real feel of exactly how expansive it really is.

 

I think the greatest part of a b2b is the morning of the end of the first cruise when you DO NOT have to disembark and everyone else does. You can walk around casually, no carryon luggage to fight with, no seapass account to settle up. Of course, come the end of the second week...........you'll be among those unhappy cruisers that will be leaving the ship. Enjoy your cruise.

[critterchick]

On the Jewel B2B a couple of weeks ago we tipped everybody on the last night of the first leg. We had the same table assignment for the second week, but the wait staff was rotated to different tables. We had the same cabin steward, but figured he would like to get his tip sooner rather than later. We received a bill for our other charges on the last morning.

 

We met in the Schooner Bar at 10 where they passed out our new Seapasses. We were then led off the ship in a group, showed our passports to immigration, waited about 15 minutes and reboarded. We did not need the Set Sail passes, just our passports or birth certificates/photo IDs. Interestingly enough, the second leg of the cruise included a stop in Nassau, but they didn't collect the immigration cards we had received with our cruise documents. We went to the Purser's desk on our own to turn them in. I don't know what the other passengers did about that.

 

It was all quite painless, although we only had the ship to ourselves for about 30 minutes before the new arrivals came on board. We were hoping for longer, greedy pax that we are!:D

[ckrobyn]

When we did our b2b on Adventurer, we did have to get off the ship. But that was a couple of year ago, so things might have changed. And yes, it is extremely nice to have that whole promenade to yourself, if just for an hour or so. You get the real feel of exactly how expansive it really is.

 

I think the greatest part of a b2b is the morning of the end of the first cruise when you DO NOT have to disembark and everyone else does. You can walk around casually, no carryon luggage to fight with, no seapass account to settle up. Of course, come the end of the second week...........you'll be among those unhappy cruisers that will be leaving the ship. Enjoy your cruise.

 

We are certainly looking forward to the feeling of not having to go home after the first week!

 

This may sound relatively insane (consider the source :o ) but did you find 15 days on a ship a little too long? As much as I adore cruising, I can't help but think it's a long time to be at sea.....what are your thoughts??

[ckrobyn]

On the Jewel B2B a couple of weeks ago we tipped everybody on the last night of the first leg. We had the same table assignment for the second week, but the wait staff was rotated to different tables. We had the same cabin steward, but figured he would like to get his tip sooner rather than later. We received a bill for our other charges on the last morning.

 

We met in the Schooner Bar at 10 where they passed out our new Seapasses. We were then led off the ship in a group, showed our passports to immigration, waited about 15 minutes and reboarded. We did not need the Set Sail passes, just our passports or birth certificates/photo IDs. Interestingly enough, the second leg of the cruise included a stop in Nassau, but they didn't collect the immigration cards we had received with our cruise documents. We went to the Purser's desk on our own to turn them in. I don't know what the other passengers did about that.

 

It was all quite painless, although we only had the ship to ourselves for about 30 minutes before the new arrivals came on board. We were hoping for longer, greedy pax that we are!:D

 

Jean - Thanks for sharing your experience!

 

By the way....we LOVED 1100 on the Radiance!! What an absolutely outstanding cabin :) *sigh* wish I could have that cabin for every cruise!

[cruisenfever]

We are certainly looking forward to the feeling of not having to go home after the first week!

 

This may sound relatively insane (consider the source :o ) but did you find 15 days on a ship a little too long? As much as I adore cruising, I can't help but think it's a long time to be at sea.....what are your thoughts??

Our actual total number of days was 29. 14 for the first cruise and 15 for the second............and NO, it was not too many days. The first cruise was to Hawaii and we had 4-1/2 days there and 5 days back and it was wonderful. Thought we would go stir crazy, but we had a fantastic CC group and we played TRASH (a card game....had up to 21 playing at one time) on all the sea days every morning at 10:00. We also got involved in early morning Trivia at 9:30 and afternoon trivia at 2:30. There was just a multitude of things to do, if you got bored, it was your own fault.

 

The second cruise through the PC was 15 days did not have as many consecutive seadays, but the CC group was just as fantastic and with their being more ports involved, the time really flew. And anytime you sail full transit through the PC, it's an adventure.

 

I think that you make the most of any cruise, a time to relax, no phones to answer, no mail to read, no bills to pay (well, they'll be waiting for you when you come home, of course)..........and with great CC people around, plus all the other folks that are always so friendly, we just make the most out of each day. I really think that once you do your b2b, you will never want to do a 7 day cruise again (I know my husband will never do 7 days again).

[CruiseKeeper]

It sounds to me that there are many different processes and someone should come up with a good one and make it universal for all RCI b2b’s.

 

After waiting about a half hour in the line of folks that procrastinated closing out their seapass accounts with cash, we were told at the pursers desk that we would have to come back when all the present cruise passengers left the ship. We came back at 11AM when all the pursers’ staff were late for their shift change and completely ignored us.

 

We found helpful experienced b2b’rs lounging nearby that helped us. (Thanks Roz, Fred, Barb and Kirk!:D ) They had us wait with them while a very helpful staff person came from behind the purser’s area and took our set sail passes and passports to the embarkation area where she came back with new sea pass cards for the second leg.

 

There were a few bumps, but all in all, it was a very nice cruise.

[critterchick]

By the way....we LOVED 1100 on the Radiance!! What an absolutely outstanding cabin :) *sigh* wish I could have that cabin for every cruise!

 

1602 is a fabulous alternative to 1100, just so you know - we've been in there on Serenade and Jewel and enjoyed every minute!

 

As for 15 days being too long, not at all! Our longest cruise (civilian, anyway - DH is retired Navy) before this was 9 nights and I was slightly apprehensive about all that time on a cruise. HA! Let's just say that those marks going all the way down the hall are from my fingernails as they dragged me off!:p

 

L&J, I think at least part of the reason it can't be a universal procedure is that it will have to vary according to specific port requirements.

[CruiseKeeper]

 

L&J, I think at least part of the reason it can't be a universal procedure is that it will have to vary according to specific port requirements.

 

You're probably right Critterchick. After reading much of the practical helpful contributions on these boards, I was really expecting to have some sort of notification in my cabin outlining the procedure. No biggie though, I survived a b2b and hope to survive many more! :D

[isujim]

We are certainly looking forward to the feeling of not having to go home after the first week!

 

This may sound relatively insane (consider the source :o ) but did you find 15 days on a ship a little too long? As much as I adore cruising, I can't help but think it's a long time to be at sea.....what are your thoughts??

 

I was on this 15 day cruise with Patti and her DH.......let me add my thoughts.......

 

This was our longest cruise to date...........we LOVED it........for the first time in 10 cruises.........we didn't count down days to disembarking. You know what I mean.........you board the ship........and by day 3 you are saying to yourself.......heck we only have 4 more days. With a full 15 days we never thought that once.........most relaxing cruise we have ever taken.

 

I can only imagine what Patti felt for 29 days.........but some day I may know.:)

[Alexis]

I was on this 15 day cruise with Patti and her DH.......let me add my thoughts.......

 

This was our longest cruise to date...........we LOVED it........for the first time in 10 cruises.........we didn't count down days to disembarking. You know what I mean.........you board the ship........and by day 3 you are saying to yourself.......heck we only have 4 more days. With a full 15 days we never thought that once.........most relaxing cruise we have ever taken.

 

I can only imagine what Patti felt for 29 days.........but some day I may know.:)

 

My husband used to drive me crazy every 7 day cruise we took. By noon on day 3 he would say, "Well it's half over now". From then on, we only do 11 - 14 nights. And you are so right, he never said it again on the longer cruises.

[Alexis]

As for the question on tipping on a B2B.

Your B2B cruises are considered 2 separate 7 day cruises, not a 14 day cruise.

Anyone doing a B2B is supposed to tip the help after your first week, then your second week. ;)

You are given your envelopes to tip at the end of the first week and again at the end of the second week.

Many of the employees leave the ships after the first week for vacations.

[Corby44]

We did a b2b out of San Juan last year. On the Serenade from Sat. to Sat., then RCI put us up in a hotel in Old San Juan for Sat. night and shuttled us to the Adventure for a Sun. to Sun. cruise. A little more of a hassle than staying on board, but it was worth it. Took a cab to a laundromat in Old San Juan on Saturday afternoon to have some clean duds for the second leg. Never thought I would have a good time doing laundry, but we met people there that lived in San Juan and got some tips on things to do. Would do this again in a heartbeat if I can get enough frequent flier miles built up so I could get there free again.

[cruisenfever]

Another thing to remember is that each cruise is handled separately. At the end of the first week, your seapass account is closed and a new one opened for the second week. If you have onboard credits, you can not carry them over to the second cruise.

[ckrobyn]

As for the question on tipping on a B2B.

Your B2B cruises are considered 2 separate 7 day cruises, not a 14 day cruise.

Anyone doing a B2B is supposed to tip the help after your first week, then your second week. ;)

You are given your envelopes to tip at the end of the first week and again at the end of the second week.

Many of the employees leave the ships after the first week for vacations.

 

Thanks Alexis -

 

I kinda thought that was the procedure, but I wanted to be certain. :)

[Murphy]

Robyn, I haven't done a B2B on the AOS, but we did do a B2B with San Juan as our turnaround and we did have to get off the ship and even worse, they wouldn't let us back on the ship for almost 2 hours. The Coast Guard did a drill onboard and wouldn't let any passengers onboard until they were done ( or at least that was what we were told). We did not need our set sail pass, our new seapasses were delivered to our cabin and we did not have to have our pictures taken again for the second week. I've heard all differing stories about how they handle these procedures though.

 

My only other suggestion is to tell your cabin steward and dining waiter you're doing a B2B. We had the same cabin steward, but were supposed to change tables in the dining room the second week. We loved our waitress, so spoke to the Maitre' D a few nights before the first week ended and he moved us to her table for week 2 as well.

[ckrobyn]

Robyn, I haven't done a B2B on the AOS, but we did do a B2B with San Juan as our turnaround and we did have to get off the ship and even worse, they wouldn't let us back on the ship for almost 2 hours. The Coast Guard did a drill onboard and wouldn't let any passengers onboard until they were done ( or at least that was what we were told). We did not need our set sail pass, our new seapasses were delivered to our cabin and we did not have to have our pictures taken again for the second week. I've heard all differing stories about how they handle these procedures though.

 

My only other suggestion is to tell your cabin steward and dining waiter you're doing a B2B. We had the same cabin steward, but were supposed to change tables in the dining room the second week. We loved our waitress, so spoke to the Maitre' D a few nights before the first week ended and he moved us to her table for week 2 as well.

 

Thanks Murph -

 

As you know, we are very excited about our first B2B and want to do things "right".

 

I will definitely let our waiter/waitress know that we will be sailing again the following week.....assuming we have a great server!? After your experience on the Radiance last month - it's hit and miss isn't it?

 

Thanks for your suggestions! :)