Basics Regarding Back to Back: Off and Back on the Ship

[spocruiser]

Doing our first ever two-week cruise in June, (back to back one-week cruises) out of Rotterdam. Would appreciate any clarification about getting off and back on the ship upon our one week return to Rotterdam.  More specifically:

 

1) Where do the B2B passengers fit in with other disembarking passengers (first off, last off, etc.)?

2) Is the process seamless (i.e. get off, go through customs, get back on), or do B2B passengers end up in a waiting area for some period of time?

3) If there is a waiting area, what is the typical wait?

4) Where do the B2B passengers fit in with other embarking passengers (first on, last on, etc.)?

5) Any other pertinent information?

 

Thanks for any detail you can provide.

[Gibbie42]

We did a back to back last year (which we bought as one 10 night cruise) with a turn around in Amsterdam and there wasn't anything special we needed to do. Disembarking passengers disembarked at whatever time they needed to and we took a leisurely stroll off the ship when we were ready. (I think we even got room service breakfast that morning!). We had to show our passports to an agent when we got off the ship and that was it. We just headed off into Amsterdam. The biggest problem we had was not being able to fight through the traffic to get to the tram station across the street and wound up walking up to the one line one stop because it was easier to manage than trying to cut through busses and taxis.

When we were done we just got back on the ship. I don't remember if there was a special line or not. 

[spocruiser]

Had researched this yesterday with little success. Sure enough, after posting above, a new search with apparently better search terms led me to this which answered a lot of questions:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2989415-back-to-back-cruises/

 

 

[spocruiser]

Gibbie42 - Thanks for your response.

[Moriah]

I did a back to back last month - and the port was FLL, so it may be different in other places, especially a European port, but here's my recent experience. Almost half of the passengers were "transit", meaning they were staying on board for the next cruise, and our process was as follows.

We received a written notice in our cabins telling us that at a particular time (I believe it was 9:30 AM) we were to gather in the theater.  I got there about 20 minutes early and there were already about 300 people seated in the theater.  Once we were ALL there (don't be late if you don't want to annoy a lot of people LOL) we were led out, row by row, in a long procession into the terminal.  Once out there, we turned around, lined up, and waited about 10 minutes to be marched back on board.  I'm not sure why you asked about customs - you do NOT have to "go through customs" and you do not have to bring anything off the ship with you except your room key and your passport.  So customs is not a thing at that point.  Yes, it was seamless, the waiting all took place in the theater, and a few minutes waiting to re-board. 

Now, if you want to go ashore and treat your turnaround day as a port day and do something on land, you will have to re-board the same way the other passengers do, including security.  Then once they are ready to board, they will board "transit" passengers first, before priority boarding and group one.

Enjoy your cruise!

Edited April 27 by Moriah

[CruiserBruce]

There is no Customs if you are doing a B2B, (called being "in transit")in either the US, or foreign ports. The US typically requires an Immigration procedure, most foreign ports do not.

 

In foreign ports, you come and go as you please. You are not impacted by the departing or arriving pax at all. They frequently add a second gangway for crew and in transit pax.

 

You will receive very detailed and clear instructions.

 

Glad you searched...it has been discussed here many times.

[spocruiser]

Thanks Bruce!

[RuthC]

54 minutes ago, Moriah said:

I did a back to back last month - and the port was FLL, so it may be different in other places, especially a European port,

It is. I have never done a 'turn around' procedure in any European port, where I have done several turn arounds, in several ports. 
The only place I have ever had to do a turn around procedure, that was not the US, was in Japan. 

[Haljo1935]

On 4/27/2024 at 3:10 PM, RuthC said:

It is. I have never done a 'turn around' procedure in any European port, where I have done several turn arounds, in several ports. 
The only place I have ever had to do a turn around procedure, that was not the US, was in Japan. 

@spocruiser We did a "turnaround" in Athens - we treated it as a port day, getting off as early as we were allowed, took the HOHO (which stops right at the port) and got back on about an hour before All Aboard. To get back on, we just scanned our cards like at any other port. I don’t remember what we did when we got off, but it couldn't have been much or I'd remember it, lol. I do remember meeting and getting an "in transit" card.

That was June 2017, so things could definitely have changed.

Edited April 29 by Haljo1935
Additional comment

[RuthC]

3 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

We did a "turnaround" in Athens - we treated it as a port day,

That's exactly how they are treated in Europe, in my experience. Just another port day. The only time I can recall having an 'in-transit card' was in Sidney, Australia. 
In Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Rotterdam---more ports than I can count, it was just like any other port stop.