b2b???

[emtmom0104]

ok so we initially planned a 5 night bahamian cruise on the magic at the end of april. We are considering doing a b2b with a 4 night bahamian. We don't really care about the same itinerary, we probably won't leave the boat anyway. We have 3 children DD11, DS7 (who will turn 8 on the first cruise) and DS5. We have told the kids about the first cruise but if we decide to do a b2b we are keeping it a secret. Anyone with experiences with small kids?

 

[kcashner]

Your kids aren't exactly small......

We've done a couple of B2Bs, and each time it has been different. And after speaking with friends, they had a sightly different experience from either of ours. You will get a letter in your room on the last full day telling you exactly what the procedure will be in your situation.

OK, at PC, you need to get off the ship. You will be told to get off, go thru Customs, and take the stairway back into the terminal OR you will be told to meet at a specific place on the ship and be escorted thru the process. In Barcelona, we were not required to get off the ship at all; the whole thing was handled at GS.

If you leave the terminal for any reason, you'll have to reboard with the new people. If you stay in the terminal, they will process your check in (you'll have the terminal essentially to yourself for an hour or so) and then will be allowed to reboard. There are no ship services during the transition, but there will be food and beverages available to you--when it is a few families, this is usually at the Cove Cafe (open to kids for only that hour or so); when there were a lot, the letter indicated that the Cove was adult only and there would be snacks for families with children in the Promenade Lounge.

You do not need to take your luggage off--if you keep the same room, you don't need to pack up. If you change rooms, the stateroom hosts will take care of moving your luggage that morning. DO NOT put it out the night before!

 

[emtmom0104]

Awesome thanks for the details. When we leave the ship to go through customs and come back to the terminal do we need to bring our passports and such to get back on the boat? I am just going to pack up our bags and tell our kids they will come into our room and bring them down to our car since we are driving...the last time we flew. They have no idea we are even planning a b2b let alone another trip period. it is actually cheaper for me to do a b2b than to do the 5 day and then the parks for 3 days. :

oh well, I'll take it!

 

[rstout01]

Yes, you will need your passports and the same items you will need when you first check in, as you have to pass through customs and re-check in with the Disney personnel to get new KTTW cards for the second sailing. I would also bring items to keep the kids occupied, as we had a longer than expected wait in the terminal when we did our Dream B2B.

 

[samily]

We did a b2b on the Wonder a few years ago and my DD and DS were the same ages as your two oldest, and my youngest DS was 4.

We were off the ship in the terminal for a half hour or so (my memory is getting fuzzy, but it wasn't bad - we brought a couple of small things to keep the kids occupied) before we got checked in and were let back on. You will need your passports, etc. We had the same stateroom, so we were able to go right there when we got back on board. There were snacks in the Cove Cafe and the pools had already been cleaned and were open to use.

The kids loved having the whole ship to themselves! It was a good time to get some laundry done too!

Have fun - what a great surprise!

 

[AlexandNessa]

After we got back from our B2B in October, we were extremely disappointed in how Disney handled their B2B guests. Disney treated it as 2 seemingly unrelated cruises (we even had to wait to check in again, give our new cc info, new health form, etc?). We did get a letter in our stateroom telling us what to do. But no meeting place. No escort, like we have had on other lines. We kept being shuffled towards the exit of the ship (it was not quite 9). Once we got to the lobby, we actually took pictures of all the folks just hanging out, settling their bill, etc. The lobby was full. We tried to tell someone we were B2B, and they just pointed to us to get off the ship. Then we had to go through the line with all the tired families who were disembarking, trying to find their luggage. Many of whom were awkwardly trying to manage their luggage without a porter. We were in that line, just trying to get to a customs agent to check back in. Then we went right up the escalator to wait in the terminal. It wasn't even open yet, so we literally sat around waiting for a station to open. There were a few other people there ... I have no idea if they were B2Bers or had just shown up early. It took about 2+ hours, and most of that time we were wondering if we were really in the right place, because we've done B2B cruises on other lines before and it was painless and seemless then. We hung out in the concierge waiting area, and when we asked when we could get back on the ship, no one knew. Finally, they escorted the family of the cruise, and we were fed up and went in right behind them.

A meeting place with fellow B2Bers and a Disney escort would have gone a long way to alleviating confusion, and it wouldn't have cost them a thing to implement. We were so disappointed at Disney's lack of procedures, I did actually write them a letter afterwards, telling them how lacking they are compared to other lines. I got the stock answer back ("we're sorry to hear of your disappointment. Rest assured your letter has gone to the proper department to be addressed." I think my next job will be the new Rebecca at Guest Services...). Fortunately, I cc'd my TA on my letter. She too agreed the response wasn't satisfactory, and sent the letter up her chain. I didn't push for too many details, but I was told my letter made it very high up the chain. And now I'm waiting to see what happens on our B2B in NYC on the Magic.