Nieuw Amsterdam 14 day or "hop-on/hop-off"? Oct 28 and Nov 4th

[amyj23]

Hello all,

I am a HAL virgin. I've only sailed on Carnival. We are looking for a 14 day cruise and one of the cruises we are considering is the 14 day 10/28/17 on the Nieuw Amsterdam. But I'm confused. I thought it strange that there was a port halfway through back in Ft. Lauderdale (the originating port). Well, I noticed that there's a 14 day cruise on Nov 4 on the same ship. I thought it was an error. Then it dawned on me that people must be getting on and off the "14 day cruise" every 7 days?? One of the things I liked most about our last 14 days was that we had the same fellow passengers for 14 days. This is like a back-to-back but they're selling it as one package? I've never seen anything like this and couldn't find an explanation on their site. Does anyone know if this is a normal practice on HAL?

[RuthC]

HAL frequently sells two successive cruises as "Collector's Cruises" at a (slightly) reduced price than the total of the individual cruises. It's a way to pay less for a back-to-back cruise. Many of the individual cruises are 7 days, but that is not a requirement to make it a Collector's Cruise. The combined cruises can be any length.

 

There are 14-day cruises that are one cruise. You just have to look for them.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Yes -- these are called Collector Cruise.

HAL started these quite a few years ago.

It is 2 different cruises combined to make one cruise. And yes, you do go back to Ft Lauderdale ( and other starting ports like Tampa, Venice, etc.).

The object is to save you a little money and not have 2 different confirmation numbers. And you only repeat a couple of ports.

One time we had over 900 people who stayed on for the second segment on a 14 day Collectors Cruise.

We have also done 14 and 7 day combined Collector Cruises as well as 10 and 11 day combined cruise. There are also other combinations.

You will probably see some of the same people on both segments.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Something else.

When you return to Ft Lauderdale after the first segment, you will be required to go through immigration. Depending on the number of people staying over for the second segment, you may or may not have to get off the ship to do this.

You will get a letter on the last full day of the first segment explaining the procedures for "turn around day" as you will be considered an In Transit passenger.

[amyj23]

This information is very helpful! Thanks, all! We've done B2B's twice on Carnival. But since it wasn't sold like this, it was a small number of us that stayed aboard and we had to go through the immigration process but it was quick. It's sort of nice that you can save money with HAL to do the same thing... The B2B's we did were ala carte. We were disappointed that there was no discount for buying two at once.

I'll chat with my husband about it. Thanks so much!

[geoherb]

By combining two 7-day cruises to make a 14-day cruise, you may notice repeating menus and entertainment according to older posts here unless HAL has changed.

[ski ww]

We just did the Eurodam 21 day New Years cruise which was sold as a 21 day east/west/tropical Caribbean Collector Holiday. We returned to Ft Lauderdale each week. We repeated HMC x3, Grand Turk x2, Key West x2. Those that stayed on had to gather in the main Show room for Immigration & Customs after which you could get off if you wanted. We really enjoyed it.

Allan

Edited January 28, 2017 by ski ww
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[Tampa Girl]

If you are looking for a 14-day, non B2B cruise, check out the Rotterdam's 2017-18 schedule out of Tampa.

[POA1]

By combining two 7-day cruises to make a 14-day cruise, you may notice repeating menus and entertainment according to older posts here unless HAL has changed.

There is a full 14 day cycle of menus. If I remember correctly, the only full repeat is the second gala menu, the lobster and filet mignon one.