Jump to content

Back to back cruise questions ....


YWW
 Share

Recommended Posts

We are seasoned cruisers but have never done a back-to-back cruise. In Sept we are doing a 10-day New England Canada cruise from NY to Quebec City on Caribbean Princess and instead of getting off we are staying on the same ship to sail back from Quebec City to NY on another 10-day cruise. Since this was a last minute booking, we are staying in one cabin on the first cruise and a different cabin on the second cruise but both on the Emerald deck essentially across each other. Do we have to disembark like rest of the passengers on the last day of the first cruise and re-embark again? How does all that work? Also, what do we do with our luggage? Can we just move our luggage from old cabin to the new cabin that morning? For those of you who have done these back-to-back cruise, please advise details. Thanks. [PS. We called Princess and the rep wasn't sure of the procedure]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, YWW said:

We are seasoned cruisers but have never done a back-to-back cruise. In Sept we are doing a 10-day New England Canada cruise from NY to Quebec City on Caribbean Princess and instead of getting off we are staying on the same ship to sail back from Quebec City to NY on another 10-day cruise. Since this was a last minute booking, we are staying in one cabin on the first cruise and a different cabin on the second cruise but both on the Emerald deck essentially across each other. Do we have to disembark like rest of the passengers on the last day of the first cruise and re-embark again? How does all that work? Also, what do we do with our luggage? Can we just move our luggage from old cabin to the new cabin that morning? For those of you who have done these back-to-back cruise, please advise details. Thanks. [PS. We called Princess and the rep wasn't sure of the procedure]

Whetehr gou jave to disembark and re-embark will depends on what the Canadian Immigrants officers decide. 

They may require all back to back passengers to do so, they may come aboard and do it in a group, or other choices. You'll receive a detailed letter a day or two before with the options. 

 

As for moving cabins, pack up any loose items, toiletries, drawer items, leave hanging items hanging, and keep your valuables/meds with you. The room stewards will move everything for you first thing - but they won't pack or unpack. And they'll ready your first room as soon as possible.  It's often a good idea to go scope the cabin a day or two before and introduce yourself to the steward - so they know who you are when you come by early in the morning ...  again, you'll receive a detailed letter with what to do 

It's very easy and seamless

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A couple of days before the end of your first cruise you should receive a letter explaining the procedure for passengers staying on board for the next cruise.  They should give you a time for them to move you. As previously mentioned, leave hanging items on hangers and pack loose items in your bags. The steward will bring a cart to move you to your new cabin. They are very quick and efficient.

 

Many places you can leave the ship after moving.  The letter will explain if you need to go thru Canadian immigration.

 

You should also receive an In Transit Passenger card for each of you.  This allows you to reboard the ship at your discretion, even when the new passengers are having to wait in the terminal.

 

You will not have to do the Muster drill on your second cruise.  We enjoy sitting on the balcony having a drink during the exercise.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

the only thing I can add is to follow that letter in your stateroom to the "T"... make sure if you are told to be at an assigned place at an assigned time ... be there, or it may hold up the whole process for B2B cruisers

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, voljeep said:

the only thing I can add is to follow that letter in your stateroom to the "T"... make sure if you are told to be at an assigned place at an assigned time ... be there, or it may hold up the whole process for B2B cruisers

It happens on every cruise. Either these people don't care or just can't get ready in time. 

 

1 hour ago, UT-Volsfan said:

Very good reminder. We were on a cruise where two B2B passengers delayed all of us for over an hour because they did not show up and did not respond to shipwide announcements.

Most of the time they're ahead of the published schedule & call the people earlier via an announcement. Many people can't speed themselves up to adjust to the new time so consequently hundreds of people have to wait till they decide to show up.

Not to mention those new people waiting in the terminal to board.

 

I've given up on going through with the crowd. I'd rather leave the ship & wander around rather than sit around waiting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As soon as you can on the first cruise,  go to the customer service desk -- tell them u are B2B with different cabins -- ask if u can stay in your present cabin. They may have to check with home base. We have done this on several B2B, and been successfully.

Worth a try......

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

When we have had to change cabins, we have gone to the new cabin steward and introduced ourselves a day or so beforehand.  Then we have asked if we could have access to the safe as soon as the cabin is vacated and always been allowed.  This way, we can stow our valuables and go about our way either on or off the ship without having to tote them.

 

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, UT-Volsfan said:

Very good reminder. We were on a cruise where two B2B passengers delayed all of us for over an hour because they did not show up and did not respond to shipwide announcements.

 

The something happened to me on the Regal b2b.  Almost 200 people were waiting in the terminal while the announcements were made for this family to leave.  When the family was finally escorted to the terminal, they casually walked to the seats. No sorry for the hold up  from the family. The waiting group just in unison clapped and glared at the people when they sat down.

 

In Dec I will be doing a b2b on the Sky. Since we will  have the Ocean Medallion, they should be able to track down the delinquents !   

 

Hopefully, you will have the OM operating on the ship. Then Princess will have no excuse not finding them.

Sali

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We had an inconsiderate mother-daughter pair on our first b2b cruises. They were paged repeatedly to go to the Wheelhouse, where we were instructed to meet. Finally, the people in charge decided to take those of us present off the ship. Then we couldn't get back on the ship because they still had not shown up. After another 15 minutes of waiting, they finally come down the escalator nonchalantly. I thought the staff should let us form a gantlet. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, geoherb said:

We had an inconsiderate mother-daughter pair on our first b2b cruises. They were paged repeatedly to go to the Wheelhouse, where we were instructed to meet. Finally, the people in charge decided to take those of us present off the ship. Then we couldn't get back on the ship because they still had not shown up. After another 15 minutes of waiting, they finally come down the escalator nonchalantly. I thought the staff should let us form a gantlet. 

 

If it was a MedallionClass cruise they should be able to find them faster if they were carrying their Medallions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

a) Unless Canadian authorities require a zero count of passengers like USA immigration does, there will be no need to meet at a certain time for the turnaround.

b) If such a meeting is needed, you can skip the meeting if you wish to leave the ship before the meeting time in order to do some sightseeing. You can leave the ship as early as the first scheduled disembarkation time for departing passengers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As Quebec City is not the first Canadian port call for the cruise, there will probably be no Immigration inspection (inspection of people) there as that would have occurred at the first port call. There might be Customs inspection (inspection of goods) at Quebec but that would only involve things being taken off the ship

 

Even at U.S. ports, the "zero-count" requirement applies at the first U.S. port which is where Immigration inspection occurs and not the turn-around port if it's not the first U.S. port (for Alaska one-way cruises from Vancouver to Whittier, since Immigration pre-clears the passengers at Vancouver, Vancouver serves as that first U.S. port).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We’re on the CB right now sailing from Quebec to NYC on B2B cruises. We were in Quebec for 3 days and we did not have to go through immigration. Nor did we go through immigration at any Canadian Port on the way to Quebec. You are free to come and go as often as you please however you must have a passport to reboard. We were given in transit cards which we needed on turnaround day. 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

31 minutes ago, sandyoftheseas said:

How about assessing a fee to the people that show up late.  Print it in the turn around letter and if someone is late the cruise line places a fee on their on board account maybe that will make people arrive in time.

I would agree with that but somehow I don't think it would happen any time soon.

I've seen the latecomers increase over the years from 10 minutes to over an hour. You would think that with the Medallion system it would no longer be a problem, but it is. As I see it there's no solution to the problem so I just get off the ship early & make the best of it rather than sit around getting aggravated about something you have no control over. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 weeks later...

We are currently on the Caribbean Princess wrapping up in couple of days the first leg of our B2B cruise from NYC to Quebec City before starting on the second leg of the 10-day cruise from Quebec City back to NYC. Here's something that took us by total surprise on this B2B cruise (two 10-day cruises back-to-back). The Princess Platinum guideline says Platinum members get a complimentary internet package of 250 minutes for voyages of 8 to 20 days which to us means we should get 250 minutes in the first leg from NYC to Quebec City and another 250 minutes for our second leg from Quebec City to NYC since this B2B consists of two separate bookings (two cruises). However, MedallionNet considers our two 10-day cruises B2B as just one continuous cruise which means we only get 250 minutes TOTAL. For those of you who have done B2B cruises, does this make any sense? It sure doesn't make any sense to us because we paid for two separate cruises, not one continuous cruise. Internet staff says this is the way MedallionNet is programmed and they can't change it. Princess customer service says we have two separate bookings but they won't get involved with the MedallionNet. We are totally upset with Princess MedallionNet on this issue. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, YWW said:

We are currently on the Caribbean Princess wrapping up in couple of days the first leg of our B2B cruise from NYC to Quebec City before starting on the second leg of the 10-day cruise from Quebec City back to NYC. Here's something that took us by total surprise on this B2B cruise (two 10-day cruises back-to-back). The Princess Platinum guideline says Platinum members get a complimentary internet package of 250 minutes for voyages of 8 to 20 days which to us means we should get 250 minutes in the first leg from NYC to Quebec City and another 250 minutes for our second leg from Quebec City to NYC since this B2B consists of two separate bookings (two cruises). However, MedallionNet considers our two 10-day cruises B2B as just one continuous cruise which means we only get 250 minutes TOTAL. For those of you who have done B2B cruises, does this make any sense? It sure doesn't make any sense to us because we paid for two separate cruises, not one continuous cruise. Internet staff says this is the way MedallionNet is programmed and they can't change it. Princess customer service says we have two separate bookings but they won't get involved with the MedallionNet. We are totally upset with Princess MedallionNet on this issue. 

I have never heard of this, but we have not been on b2b's on medallion ships. We always have received the complimentary minutes for every segment of b2b cruises. I would speak with the Captain's Circle desk. It's a Captain's Circle benefit. There are lots of things the entire medallion programs have not considered. In any case if you deserve the minutes the internet cafe can go into the program and provide them to you. If it is important I would not let this drop. I would also report this to HQ.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think that if you are b2b the point that every passenger must be off the ship seems to miss their brains at some point.

They feel, we are not leaving at this port, so we do not need to get off! Wrong!! You must get off and restart on the next leg of the journey , usually with a new pass card id.

If they have the same room they are probably on the balcony sitting watching the rest of the passengers empty - or sitting having a coffee and just relaxing - with no thought to anything! or anyone!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/11/2019 at 12:37 PM, UT-Volsfan said:

Very good reminder. We were on a cruise where two B2B passengers delayed all of us for over an hour because they did not show up and did not respond to shipwide announcements.

This is one of the good things about the Ocean Medallion. They will know exactly where you are and come and get you.

  Providing  you have the medallion with you. 🤞

Tony

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, YWW said:

We are currently on the Caribbean Princess wrapping up in couple of days the first leg of our B2B cruise from NYC to Quebec City before starting on the second leg of the 10-day cruise from Quebec City back to NYC. Here's something that took us by total surprise on this B2B cruise (two 10-day cruises back-to-back). The Princess Platinum guideline says Platinum members get a complimentary internet package of 250 minutes for voyages of 8 to 20 days which to us means we should get 250 minutes in the first leg from NYC to Quebec City and another 250 minutes for our second leg from Quebec City to NYC since this B2B consists of two separate bookings (two cruises). However, MedallionNet considers our two 10-day cruises B2B as just one continuous cruise which means we only get 250 minutes TOTAL. For those of you who have done B2B cruises, does this make any sense? It sure doesn't make any sense to us because we paid for two separate cruises, not one continuous cruise. Internet staff says this is the way MedallionNet is programmed and they can't change it. Princess customer service says we have two separate bookings but they won't get involved with the MedallionNet. We are totally upset with Princess MedallionNet on this issue. 

 

On a MedallionClass cruise on the Royal in April we had B2B 7-day cruises which should have been 300 minutes (150/cruise).  However MC cruises combine the B2B cruises as a single 14-day cruise which resulted in only 250 minutes.  Since we had free data & internet in ports that was sufficient for us however several people on our cruises went to the Internet Café manager who added the missing 50 minutes.  

 

They’re aware of this issue onboard & would recommend anyone in such situations to go to the Internet Café to get their missing minutes.  Sorry that you had a different experience but there is a way for the Internet Café manager to restore the missing minutes.  Unfortunately it’s just another example of Princess being consistently inconsistent & they need to redo their system to eliminate this problem.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...