Back2Back

[earljr]

Info and/or advice please-- Wife and I are on a back to back cruise on Princess and would appreciate info on how this works when one curise ends and the other begins. Do we have to disembark and reboard? Go thru Customs, etc.? Any pitfalls or problems we can expect? etc.etc. Thanks for any help earl

[spongerob]

A couple of days before the first cruise ends, you will receive instructions from Princess on where to meet that morning with the rest of lucky B2B'ers. You will received new cruise cards, be escorted through customs, then returned to the ship to enjoy the rest of the day as you see fit. It takes less than an hour to accomplish.

[srphnx]

Rob, "escorted thru customs"?.. first mention of that for me are you sure?

 

I was under the impression that if you don't debark, you don't go thru just as crew doesn't.

[Toto2Kansas]

On our B2B we didn't need to do anything. Our new cards were left in our cabin the night before the first cruise ended and we were free to come and go whenever we wanted all day long. Didn't need to go through customs or meet up with anyone that final morning. It was fantastic!

[spongerob]

Sorry, I meant Immigration. My bad.

[BJS]

Have done on the Royal Princess- British Isles and the Dawn Princess- S. Caribbean and with both of theses letters were delivered to cabin several days before the end of the first cruise telling us what to expect as far as dining options, cruise key-cards, and going ashore. The letters had instructions to bring the cruise ticket coupons to the Purser's desk prior to the end of the first cruise. New cruise key cards were delivered the night before the second cruise and we were instructed to go to the gangway after the first cruisers got off and have our pictures taken. We were told should we want to go ashore for the day we'd have to meet at a certain time and leave as a group if we planned on doing this before all the departing passangers were off the ship and after that time we could leave when we wanted.

 

No pitfalls and no problems. Doing again in Sept. and the following August, if not sooner.

[Coral]

I did a B2B in Alaska on the Dawn Princess (Vancouver to Whittier and then back to Vancouver).

 

A couple of days before the end of the cruise, we recieved a letter on what we needed to do. We were told to bring our cruise tickets down to the Purser's Desk the day before and get our new cruise cards. We were issued a "Passenger in Transit" green card to carry with us. We were told which restaurants would be open and that our account would be carried over for the following week.

 

We did not need to meet with people the following morning or go through customs and immigrations. We were told that before we left the ship that day - to make sure our picture was taken so they could be synced with our new card.

 

I only figured out who were the B2B passengers at lunch that day. In Whittier, people embarked later then in Vancouver and the only people in the dining room were B2B passengers.

[kkorman]

One advantage of going through customs in between is if you plan on spending over your limits on the cruise. If you claim it the first week, you do not have to the second and you will have a clean slate for spending.

 

I did find that the account was not carried over on my Princess b2b last time and I ended up waiting in the line early in the morning on debarkation day. It was the only negative on the whole cruise. Kind of ridiculous considering they had all the info already.

[Coral]

I did find that the account was not carried over on my Princess b2b last time and I ended up waiting in the line early in the morning on debarkation day. It was the only negative on the whole cruise.

 

I was confused how they did this. I received a bill the last night of my first cruise with the balance. I thought they would have closed that week out. Then at the end of the next cruise, I received a bill larger then I expected until I realized they carried the balance over from the first week. There was only one charge on my CC for the 2 weeks.

[kkorman]

I had the two, but understand it was just an error on their part. I will find out again next week as I do 4 cruises back to back. I better not have to deal with that 3 times.

[srphnx]

I had the two, but understand it was just an error on their part. I will find out again next week as I do 4 cruises back to back. I better not have to deal with that 3 times.

In the dictionary under justification for envy... is the above.

[earljr]

Thanks to all for the info --really helpful. Checked the dictionary and now understand 4 back2backs. sounds really great. earl

[Angiem]

I'm still not quite up to speed on back2back cruising. Can u change ships? I would suppose you'd have to if the cruise was round trip? Anyway excuse my ignorance on this subject. Also do you get a deal doing that or is it the same as paying for 2 separate cruises?

 

Angie

[Toto2Kansas]

Angiem, Normally you don't get a price break unless your Travel Agent sees fit to discount the B2B.

Most B2B's on the same ship are taken when the ship does one week Eastern Carribean and the following week Western, that way your are not repeating the same ports. But there are some that do the same cruise over again to the same ports.

 

As for benefits from doing a B2B, the only one I have ever gotten is from the cruise line itself and that was when we did a B2B on the same ship. They often will have wine and other little goodies placed in your cabin for you. Other than that, nothing except a longer cruise.

[Coral]

I did a B2B in Alaska (Vancouver to Whittier and then Whittier to Vancouver). It was the same route but in Alaska - there is so much to see and do, it definitely wasn't a repeat cruise by any means.

 

I did not receive a price break for the B2B from the cruise line. I think on some Caribbean cruises, they will give you a 2 category upgrade (within the same type of cabin) but in Alaska, they didn't.