how do they handle B2B in FLL?

[m steve]

we are taking the same cruise 2 weeks in a row but in different category cabins. We have done collectors cruises and keep the same cabin and cruise card. What do they do with us for the second week for check in and cruise cards? Do the stewards move us to the new (upgrade) cabin?

[bepsf]

When we did B2B on the Eurodam years ago - new keycards were sent to our staterooms and any intercabin moves were handled by the stewards with luggage carts.

[adrift@sea]

we are taking the same cruise 2 weeks in a row but in different category cabins. We have done collectors cruises and keep the same cabin and cruise card. What do they do with us for the second week for check in and cruise cards? Do the stewards move us to the new (upgrade) cabin?

You will receive all necessary information the day before your return to Pt. Everglades. The Front Office will arrange for stewards to either assist you or will move all of your things for you to the new cabin--it is your choice. It is very easy. You will be told in the information that you receive when to pick up your new cruise cards at the Front Office or they will be sent to you. You will scan off with old card and scan on with new card.

We have moved ourselves, and one time we asked the Front Office to have our things moved for us as we had made plans in Ft. Lauderdale. Everything was placed in the new cabin exactly as it was in the old cabin--things hanging in closets were mirrored exactly. I was impressed.

[Krazy Kruizers]

You will get a letter the last full day of the cruise -- inside will tell you exactly what to do. And you will also get new cruise ID cards. You will also get your Intransit cards. Most times your picture should transfer over to the new ID card -- if not you will have to stop by the front desk and get a new picture taken.

That last morning you may want to stop by your new cabin and try to find and introduce yourself to your new cabin stewards. Explain to them that you are already on the ship and would like to move to your new cabin as soon as possible. Hopefully the people will leave the ship waely giving your new cabin stewards a chance to prep your cabin.

It is up to you whether you want to move everything yourself or if you want help.

Just be certain to check your old cabin to make certain that you have not left anything behind - especially in the bathroom.

On some ships the drawers are interchangeable.

[innlady1]

We were going to have to switch cabins on the stern one year on our Noordam b2b. I was told the stewards would move everything and things could be left in drawers as they would just switch the drawers out! As it turned out, due to a cancellation, we had the same cabin straight through.

[sail7seas]

Keep in mind you will have to go ashore to clear Immigration and wait until the ship zeros down before you can reboard. All who are leaving have to do so before you can come back aboard.

You will receive instructions the last day of your first cruise as to how and when to go ashore for the purpose.
As Sheila mentions, the drawers are interchangeable from your first cabin to the one you are moving to. Also all hanging clothes can be transported on rolling cart by the stewards. Rewmember they are hugely busy on turnaround day so be as organized and ready as possible if you wish help from the stewards.

Enjoy! We just did b-to-b on Nieuw Amsterdam and it was fun..... they all are. :)

[Kamloops50]

The easiest might to take a ship tour . The wait before re-embarking might be up to 4 hours .

When we did B2B on Princess,we where told to meet at given time to go thru customs & immigration and back on board.

If you leave the ship they usually don't let you embark until general boarding starts.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Since OP is changing cabins -- I would not suggest a tour -- JMO -- being as they have to get settled in. If they don't get their items moved from their old cabin in a timely manner -- then the new people using their cabin can't get settled in.

One person mentioned that the crew did move their items while they went ashore. With this new process where they are trying to get all the cabins ready for passengers by 11:30 -- and the cabin stewards have many more cabins than they did a few years ago -- they may not have the extra time to move people items.

[sail7seas]

I agree OP should not plan to do a tour. They don't know what time the people who occupy their cabin will be leaving. Until they leave and it is cleaned, OP cannot move his things in. Actually, seeing he must go ashore for Immigration clearance and wait to reboard, it is going to a little tight on time IF the previous occupants are slow to leave, there could be a time crunch.

OP has to empty their cabin so the new arrivals will have access when they board.

[GeriatricNurse]

The easiest might to take a ship tour . The wait before re-embarking might be up to 4 hours .

When we did B2B on Princess,we where told to meet at given time to go thru customs & immigration and back on board.

If you leave the ship they usually don't let you embark until general boarding starts.

This information is incorrect! ;) Our "intransit" group on a HAL btb, disembarked together, walked through immigration onshore and then just reboarded immediately! It took all of 15 minutes! I was back onboard at 1030 and it was another hour before embarkation began, at 1130! :) (By the way, it is "Immigration" that you are going through and not "Customs)! ;)

[CruiserBruce]

I can only see a wait of up to 4 hours if there was a major CDC or immigration issue, and that happens so rarely it is hard to imagine. On Dec 11, N. Amsterdam took almost 2 hours, due to 2-3 passengers who didn't follow directions, and had to be chased down. The shoreside staff, and one contract worker we talked to said that was the longest they had seen.

We were back on board about 30 minutes prior to the new passengers coming on.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Right Bruce -- we also had problems on Intransit day.

The day before we got our Intransit Cards -- there were 334 of us. This is the first time that we were given Intransit cards that were laminated and had the ship name on it as well as being numbered.

On our cruise only a handful of people took tours or went anywhere on their own since the majority of the Intransit people were from Florida.

We were told to report to the Show Lounge at 9:45 AM. There was coffee and pastries available. At 10:10 there was an announcement made that 200 other passengers who were leaving the ship for good still had yet to get off the ship and go through immigration.

At 10:30 we finally got to go into the terminal and we quickly went through immigration and went upstairs to sit. There were not enough seats for everyone. We were not at our usual terminal 26. Instead we were at terminal 21. Seabourn Quest was at terminal 26 and Rotterdam was at terminal 19. Liberty of the Seas was at terminal 25.

At 11 AM they were still looking for 4 people on the ship who had yet to come and go through immigration. They were finally found on Deck 10 enjoying the sunny day. They claimed that they had no idea that they were supposed to have gone through immigration.

When they finally showed up -- many people booed them. Then they had the nerve to try and push to the front of the line!! One BIG man stepped in front of them and blocked their being able to get in the front of the line.

Finally at 11:10 we were all allowed to reboard the ship.

No one collected our numbered Intransit cards -- so I have no idea what that was about.

Also -- we were not excused from the second lifeboat drill as had been the case in the last few back-to-back cruises that we have done. Everyone had to attend. Both of our lifeboat drills were at 4:30 instead of the normal time of 4:15.

[sail7seas]

We had about 300 in transits on our recent Thanksgiving cruise.
We, too, received the laminated card for the first time that were not collected back from us either. We were happy we had brought them ashore, as instucted, as they do ease your way. The shore ops people are speaking very loudly to be heard and a number kept directing us to luggage. All we did was walk by and held our in transit cards so they didn't continue giving us instructions that did not apply to us.

We chose to go on our own to clear Immigration and not go with the whole group that reported to the show lounge. We had inquired in advance if that was permitted and were assured that was fine. CBP officials in the terminal were perfectly fine with it. We showed them our in transit card, passports and were free to spend the day ashore or wait to reboard.

It was a beautiful day so we waited outside preferring that to sitting upstairs in a loud, crowded terminal building. We brought books but 'people watching' was very much more fun. :-)

We waited probably 40 or so minutes and reboarded with ease.

It was seamless, easy and not a problem. We've done a great many b-to-b's and we know this is the 'new normal' to have the ship zero down and make in transits do Immigration check. In the not so distant past, we used to have no requirements of anything we needed to do. But now we have a new activity to add to our turnaround days. :)

[Essiesmom]

Right Bruce -- we also had problems on Intransit day.

The day before we got our Intransit Cards -- there were 334 of us. This is the first time that we were given Intransit cards that were laminated and had the ship name on it as well as being numbered.

On our cruise only a handful of people took tours or went anywhere on their own since the majority of the Intransit people were from Florida.

We were told to report to the Show Lounge at 9:45 AM. There was coffee and pastries available. At 10:10 there was an announcement made that 200 other passengers who were leaving the ship for good still had yet to get off the ship and go through immigration.

At 10:30 we finally got to go into the terminal and we quickly went through immigration and went upstairs to sit. There were not enough seats for everyone. We were not at our usual terminal 26. Instead we were at terminal 21. Seabourn Quest was at terminal 26 and Rotterdam was at terminal 19. Liberty of the Seas was at terminal 25.

At 11 AM they were still looking for 4 people on the ship who had yet to come and go through immigration. They were finally found on Deck 10 enjoying the sunny day. They claimed that they had no idea that they were supposed to have gone through immigration.

When they finally showed up -- many people booed them. Then they had the nerve to try and push to the front of the line!! One BIG man stepped in front of them and blocked their being able to get in the front of the line.

Finally at 11:10 we were all allowed to reboard the ship.

No one collected our numbered Intransit cards -- so I have no idea what that was about.

Also -- we were not excused from the second lifeboat drill as had been the case in the last few back-to-back cruises that we have done. Everyone had to attend. Both of our lifeboat drills were at 4:30 instead of the normal time of 4:15.


This happened to us on Summit in San Juan. There was one passenger who never showed to exit the ship - we didn't know if he/she was supposed to be debarking or in transit. we stood around in the terminal, no seating, for 1-1/2 hours. Finally, after bringing us bottled water, the let us back on. One of my tablemates said they found her...They had taped up her cabin as a crime scene, because they had no idea what had happened to her, did she go overboard? She came to the fron desk to ask why her cabin was taped up...EM

[sail7seas]

This happened to us on Summit in San Juan. There was one passenger who never showed to exit the ship - we didn't know if he/she was supposed to be debarking or in transit. we stood around in the terminal, no seating, for 1-1/2 hours. Finally, after bringing us bottled water, the let us back on. One of my tablemates said they found her...They had taped up her cabin as a crime scene, because they had no idea what had happened to her, did she go overboard? She came to the fron desk to ask why her cabin was taped up...EM


Did they then pack up her bags and put her off the ship?

Should have !!!!

It's better than she deserved. IMO

[Krazy Kruizers]

This happened to us on Summit in San Juan. There was one passenger who never showed to exit the ship - we didn't know if he/she was supposed to be debarking or in transit. we stood around in the terminal, no seating, for 1-1/2 hours. Finally, after bringing us bottled water, the let us back on. One of my tablemates said they found her...They had taped up her cabin as a crime scene, because they had no idea what had happened to her, did she go overboard? She came to the fron desk to ask why her cabin was taped up...EM

I hoped they fined her!!

[kazu]

This has been a very helpful thread for those of us doing our first Collector/b2b cruise. Thanks so much for starting it and for all the contributions:D

[Krazy Kruizers]

This has been a very helpful thread for those of us doing our first Collector/b2b cruise. Thanks so much for starting it and for all the contributions:D

It is so much easier to have Intransit day in a foreign port as you don't have to worry about immigration or for the ship to go down to zero count.

[kazu]

It is so much easier to have Intransit day in a foreign port as you don't have to worry about immigration or for the ship to go down to zero count.


Really? Oh even better - ours will be in Tilbury, England. That will be fabulous if we can just bop off and on as we see fit.:D Thanks KK:)

[RuthC]

Really? Oh even better - ours will be in Tilbury, England. That will be fabulous if we can just bop off and on as we see fit.:D Thanks KK:)
On all my Europe turn-around days, it's been treated as just another port day. You can go ashore as soon as the ship is cleared, or later, or not at all.

[kazu]

On all my Europe turn-around days, it's been treated as just another port day. You can go ashore as soon as the ship is cleared, or later, or not at all.

Wonderful! Thanks so much Ruth. That's going to make it very painless and enjoyable too:):) One less thing to plan;) Appreciate the advice very much:)

[sail7seas]

This has been a very helpful thread for those of us doing our first Collector/b2b cruise. Thanks so much for starting it and for all the contributions:D

You're very welcome, Kazu. :)



Really? Oh even better - ours will be in Tilbury, England. That will be fabulous if we can just bop off and on as we see fit.:D Thanks KK:)


When we do turnaround in Montreal, if we don't wish to leave the ship (which never happens ;) ), we simply stay aboard and have no official requirements.

We go ashore with our passports, clear Immigration in mere minutes and go off for the day.

When we return, we have in transit passes, go around the rear (we've learned where and how :) ) and avoid the check in line to go directly back aboard.

Easy as can be.