Questions on B2B

[DEERINH2O]

Ok so we are booked on Oasis in 2011, now my hubby says we should do it as a B2B... okay by me but I have questions.

 

What do we do on the day every disembarks? My hubby wants to change cabins and not keep the same one for two weeks (don't ask????) so I said ok, but do I know have to pack everything up and take it off and then take it to the new cabin. Or can I pack it and have them just take it to the new cabin since we are already on board.

 

I am excited about doing a b2b on Oasis, just wish Hubby would keep the same cabin.

 

Thanks,

Kathy

[DHADEN]

First of all, talk him out of changing cabins. It is a real pain to have to pack everything and change and unpack everything again.

 

The best part of doing a B2B is that you DON'T have to pack when everyone else is. You get to relax and enjoy your evening. That will REALLY make a difference, I promise.

 

Second, on disembarking:

 

You will receive a notice a day or two in advance to meet a staffmember somewhere around 10:00. You don't need any of your stuff - leave it in the cabin. They will walk all the B2B'ers off the ship, through customs, and back onto the ship. This whole process takes about 15 - 20 minutes. Then you are back on to enyoy the ship.

 

When we were on the Mariner, there were only about 10or 12 of us, and we had the ship to ourselves for about two and a half hours. This is a GREAT time to go around and take pictures of the ship (if you like that sort of stuff) - all the public places without any people around.

 

HOpe This Helps.

[mjyanne]

Ok so we are booked on Oasis in 2011, now my hubby says we should do it as a B2B... okay by me but I have questions.

 

What do we do on the day every disembarks? My hubby wants to change cabins and not keep the same one for two weeks (don't ask????) so I said ok, but do I know have to pack everything up and take it off and then take it to the new cabin. Or can I pack it and have them just take it to the new cabin since we are already on board.

 

I am excited about doing a b2b on Oasis, just wish Hubby would keep the same cabin.

 

Thanks,

Kathy

 

Each ship has a slightly different process depending on where they port. We've done 2 B2B's.

 

In general, you will get info a couple of days before the end of the first week advising you to go to Customer Services to pick up your new Sea Pass Card (the weeks do not carry over so your account will be closed from week one). All of your info will transfer.

 

They will also issue you a in transit card should you want to leave the ship. This allows you to leave without the hassle of customs (you are NOT allowed to take big stuff off without going through customs).

 

As for changing cabins. Coordinate with both room stewards. Everything hanging can remain hanging. The small loose stuff can all be thrown/packed in your suitcases. The stewards will transfer everything to your new cabin. You will have access to your cabin whenever (assuming it is ready but that is another reason to coordinate as they will do your new cabin first and your old cabin last).

 

If you have valuables that you do not want to carry around with you, go to Customer Service and ask to get a safe deposit box (do this early the day before). Then you can place your valuables in there while the transfer takes place.

 

There is usually a special luncheon held for the B2B group. This will also be included in the paperwork they provide.

 

The whole process is pretty painless.

 

If you can keep the same cabin that would make life easier.

 

The B2B crowd usually has the ship to itself for a couple of hours. One thing I did learn on our last cruise is that the Internet is NOT available after midnight on the day of disembarkation. So make sure you use up any prepaid minutes as they do not carry over either.

 

Have fun.

[gerif]

If he insists on changing cabins, make HIM pack. Other than that, have an awsome trip.

[mjyanne]

...Second, on disembarking:

 

You will receive a notice a day or two in advance to meet a staffmember somewhere around 10:00. You don't need any of your stuff - leave it in the cabin. They will walk all the B2B'ers off the ship, through customs, and back onto the ship. This whole process takes about 15 - 20 minutes. Then you are back on to enyoy the ship.

 

This varies from ship to ship. On Adventure, last December, we did NOT have to meet or leave the ship. We DID do this process on Serenade in March 2009.

 

BTW you do NOT go through customs. You go through immigration. Customs is for declaring Duty Free items. On a B2B you are considered IN TRANSIT therefore do not need to declare anything.

[tms054]

We did B2B on the Independence last year and doing our next one on Liberty starting April 18th. We were surprised at how easy everything was. You will be requested to attend a meeting a day or two before the end of the cruise. The RCI staff will brief you and answer any questions you may have about the turn around day. Here is how it worked for us:

 

As I said we attended the meeting and they gave us our instructions. Turnaround day we all met in a room near the main dining room, they had coffee, juice and pastries. I believe we were given our new Seapass cards that morning. We waited there until the ship was cleared of all other passengers, then we were escorted off the ship and through Customs. I would say it took about 30 minutes for everyone to get done, then escorted back on the ship.The RCI staff told us we had the ship to ourselves and encouraged us to go "look around". We walked all around and were able to look at some of the very high end suites (they were amazing) then went and had lunch.

Because we booked the cruises at different times we did not have the same cabin. (this time we do) We packed everything that was in the drawers back in the suitcases but not the hang ups. The cabin attendant moved all our things to the new cabin (we helped but he would of done it alone). We only moved a few cabins down so we still had the same attendant. All in all it was very easy.

I remember hearing while on the first week ,if you ask the Staff they will give you info about the second week so you can plan for shows dinners etc. We didn't do that but I heard it's available. We were told to make sure Guest Relations knows you are doing B2B. (not sure why but we did let them know). Also, I believe but I'm not sure, you have to settle your SeaPass account at the end of the first week then start again. We were planning on doing that anyway so it was no big deal.

One thing we found about doing B2B (RCI calls it "consecutive cruises" now) is we didn't feel rushed to see and do everything in the first week. When we do a one week cruise we are exhausted when we get home. We really enjoyed doing B2B and now we try to do it everytime we cruise.

Hope this helps!!

[mjyanne]

I...We were told to make sure Guest Relations knows you are doing B2B. (not sure why but we did let them know)./quote]

 

We had this problem on our first B2B (since the reservations did not get linked in the system. When I mentioned to the Concierge that we were doing a B2B he said he had no idea as we were not on the list.

 

When he notified the desk (and the folks in Miami) all hell broke loose internally (not towards us). The reason they need to know is that you are considered IN TRANSIT. If they do not know you are doing a consecutive cruise you MUST disembark and reprocess using the normal process. This would mean not being able to stay on the ship, needing to go through customs (even B2B travelers must go through Immigration), etc.

 

You should have two booking numbers. If you booked on your own through RCI then call and ask to be transferred to consecutive cruises so they link your reservations.

 

If you use a TA contact them ask them to make sure the servation is linked.

 

We did receive a Cruise Compass outling the following weeks headliner acts and schedule which was nice.

 

Again, I think the process varies from ship to ship.