Back to Back veterans please!

[crafty91]

Ok so we are doing our first back to back in March 2017 and I have a few specific questions about the process. For background it will be a 4 night followed by a 3 night. (2 Nassau days and 2 Castaway days )

1) Does DCL treat this like two separate cruises? For example do we need to get our pictures from the first cruise prior to the second? Also do we pay the tips at the end of BOTH cruises? If you buy liquor do they bring it to you as the 'last' night? ETC

2) What do you do on the turn day? Just hang in the room until the last possible minute? Go to the "final" breakfast? I assume there aren't any ships services open during this time.

3) Does DCL let us know where to go on the turn day? Like do we have to go through customs, then go outside and get back in line to get on with everyone else? Or is there a special process?

4) If we are able to be on the boat before everyone else what do you do with that time before others get on? Are ships services open?

Any other pointers and ideas are greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Quellman]

1. Yes. These are two cruises, and you will be credited for 2 in terms of your castaway club status. You should gather your photos from shutters at the end of the first cruise. I do believe there is a back to back special. Be sure to check with them the first day of each cruise to make sure everything is set up ok.
You do pay tips at the end of both cruises.
Liquor is not delivered to your stateroom. You MUST pick it up before leaving the actual ship and heading down the gangway. Now.... there are conflicting reports on if B2B cruisers can claim their alcohol or not after the first cruise. Some folks have reported that theirs was labeled as Back to Back, meaning they couldn't pick it up. On the flip side, if they do allow you to pick it up, do so earlier in the morning so you could take it back to your room before the "you must be out of your room by 8am time".

2. There are no ships services open other than breakfast, guest services, and shutters. I recommend having a leisurely breakfast if you can and spending time watching the hustle and bustle of everyone else who is going home. Then get off, go through customs, and check back in. Often, upon checking back in you will be allowed to sit in the concierge lounge or hang out in the terminal until the all clear to reboard occurs.

3. Sometimes you will get a note saying when and where to meet for back to back cruisers. On my cruise we did not. As soon as you go through customs, and leave that area you will be back at the front of the cruiseline terminal. DO NOT GO OUTSIDE. If you go outside they will not let you back in and you will remain out there until the terminal opens for the next cruise. Instead, take the elevator or the escalator on the right back upstairs to the check in area. If in doubt ask a cast member.

4. You can basically do whatever you want when you reboard but generally are confined to public spaces or your stateroom. They ask that you not go back and forth from your room multiple times as it can cause chaos when others begin boarding and are waiting for their rooms. The only ship services open will be the laundry rooms and Cove Cafe (the goodies including beverages should be free until around 1030-1100 as this will be the only place serving food and drinks until general boarding). You can often find the crew and captain in here and if they aren't discussing the next voyage may talk with you. You can also lounge near the pool or other areas on deck.

Take medication, all of your boarding documents and identification off the ship with you. Also take any books, card games, or other things to keep your family occupied while in the terminal or on the ship.

Let your stateroom host know that you are back to back and they will usually prepare your room first allowing you the opportunity to get in there upon reboarding.
The head server should also come around and ask if you would like the same service team or a private table for the second voyage.

You also only pay for parking for the 4 day cruise. Don't worry about paying for the last 3 days. Those are free.

 

[Trera]

We always have the deep clean done the day before while we are on castaway cay. That way on disembark day, they can turn our room around quicker.

If you are in concierge, you can go and sit in the lounge once back in board. We always walk around and get some quick photos before the boat starts boarding. Much easier shooting without photo bombers in the background all the time.

Good luck

 

[lorimay]

We are doing our first in April our turn around port is San Juan, we are not sure if we want to disembark and go check out some more of old San Juan or just re-board the ship.
If we leave the port area, I guess we will have to wait till boarding starts for everyone again.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We are doing our first in April our turn around port is San Juan, we are not sure if we want to disembark and go check out some more of old San Juan or just re-board the ship.
If we leave the port area, I guess we will have to wait till boarding starts for everyone again.

Enjoy your cruise!

Typically, as a back to back person, if you leave the terminal on the turn around day, you'll be required to join the new cruisers for admittance back into the terminal to checkin when they do. If you don't leave the terminal, you will be boarded before the Concierge guests on the second leg. How soon that is does vary. Reports are anywhere from immediately upon doing your re-check in to a couple of hours.

 

[gotomu212]

The first time we did B2B we did the special meet, led off, checked right back in, waited about 90 minutes with 2 other families, then re boarded.... I know there are varying opinions but we really felt like it was a partially wasted day.

The next time we did it, we treated it like an excursion day. We had breakfast and then exited the ship like a normal passenger (taking our IDs and paperwork for the next cruise), grabbed a cab, spent half the day at the beach, around 2:30 went back to port, checked in like a normal passenger (except we only had a backpack with our beach stuff), and re boarded. On the pro side there was almost no one in the check in and we walked right up and spent maybe 5 minutes checking in and sailed right on the ship with no waiting and everyone on board had their rooms so it wasn't rushed or crowded.
Cons-you miss the empty ship experience and we didn't feel as "special". Pro- we felt like we still had a fun full day and didn't spend our vacation time sitting around waiting somewhere.

In Barcelona we actually went on a ship excursion arranged by DCL that took us to the monetary and then back to the ship. That trip had a ton of B2B-ears though.

 

[clten]

You will get a letter letting you know what will happen on turn-around day -- some cruises have a meeting place and you are escorted off; some you get off yourself, go through customs and then head back upstairs. If you aren't leaving in a group, as others have said, don't leave the port, there will be people directing you after customs to the busses or ground transportation. Just tell them you are back to back and heading back upstairs.

One tip is to wait on the ship until you are among the last ones off. There are more comfortable places to wait on the ship than in the port. They cannot open up the next sailing until everyone is off the first one so there is no reason to rush off the ship. Another thing, I wouldn't plan on sleeping in that morning. There is a lot of activity and drawers opening and closing with neighbors doing last minute checks. We have even on two occasions received wake up calls we haven't set. They also will begin making announcements in cabins again. We typically have late dinner so our assigned breakfast is later so we plan to go there. If you have early seating, you may want to do the buffet just to sleep in a little bit.

They will charge tips to your account each cruise. If you want to make any adjustments, do so -- there is no guarantee you will end up with the same servers/cabin host for the second sailing. Usually the head waiter will ask you during the first cruise if you want to keep the same servers for the second - don't be afraid to answer honestly.

Bring all your stuff to check back in and bring your camera -- it's a great opportunity to see the port without crowds and snap some pics! (There were a lot of decorative touches in the port that we never knew were there until we did our first back-to-back!) When you check-in, they will give you a green boarding card (ours have always been green) to signify that you are back-to-backer rather than the white cards with the boarding group number. So when the ship indicates they can allow people back on, you will be among the first to get on (if you aren't in the concierge area, keep an eye out, they don't make any announcements that they are re-boarding back-to-back guests).

There isn't a lot to do once back on board until new guests start boarding. In the meantime, if the pools are cleaned, they will reopen them (remove the nets) or you can go to the designated area for coffee/snacks or the drink station is open; or you can wander around and see the ship empty and perhaps stumble upon something interesting (we've seen the captain go for a zip line ride on the Magic, we've watched the atrium transform to a Christmas wonderland, we've seen rehearsals for deck/atrium parties, etc.)

 

[tigerchic89]

can someone explain the PC parking, how do you only pay for the 4 day.... will they not tow you while you are on your 2nd leg? TIA

 

[PrincessShmoo]

can someone explain the PC parking, how do you only pay for the 4 day.... will they not tow you while you are on your 2nd leg? TIA

You pay for parking when you enter the garage. You pay for however long the cruise is that is departing that day. When you return (after your second cruise) you get in your car and drive out.

There's been no reports of people getting towed during there second leg. Really, they don't know who's on a B2B (or a B2B2B) and who's not.

 

[over50visits]

When our friends arrived for one they told them it was a B2B and they charged them for both. I suppose you could not tell them, and just "drive out" afterward, but....

If you don't pay up front, AFAIK there is no problem, just let them know when you finally leave that you owe for the second cruise and pay then. Either way, it's easy to do the right thing.