Question for those who have done back to back cruises

[BethA]

for those who have done back to back what is the procedure? Have you stayed in the same cabin or switched? What time do you have to get off? If you have the same room do you just leave everything there? Do they set up the room with clean sheets or just tidy up the room? We are doing the DVC member cruise in 2018 and planning to also do the cruise before. DVC did not give us the rooms they said and now we are in different rooms but thinking I should try to change to make it easier.
Thanks for any information

 

[PrincessShmoo]

for those who have done back to back what is the procedure? Have you stayed in the same cabin or switched? What time do you have to get off? If you have the same room do you just leave everything there? Do they set up the room with clean sheets or just tidy up the room? We are doing the DVC member cruise in 2018 and planning to also do the cruise before. DVC did not give us the rooms they said and now we are in different rooms but thinking I should try to change to make it easier.
Thanks for any information

Some of the answers depend on what the two B2B cruises are.

On our Magic B2B (turn around day in Barcelona) we were told to meet at one of the lounges onboard (there were over 300 B2B people on that trip) and we were all escorted off and through check in inside the terminal. Then we reboarded (time off ship about 10 minutes). We were in the same room for both cruises. Only had to take off our necessary papers for checking in again).

On our Fantasy B2B (East/West Caribbean, turn around Port Canaveral) we were directed to be off the ship by 9:00. We went through immigration and directly back up the escalator to the check in lobby (not open for check in yet. The check in desk opened about 10:15 for us (before the buses from MCO started arriving. Time off the ship 2 hours. We had 2 different rooms for this one. Had to pack our bags and have them available for our room host to pick up at 8:30 am. The room host(s) saw to getting our checked bags to the next room.

The only definite is that you will receive a letter at the end of your first leg telling you what your procedure will be for debarking/embarkation.

 

[lorimay]

Our B2B was in San Juan, it didn't go as smooth as we hoped, but thats just our luck!
We did not receive a letter in our cabin so on the last night the first cruise we went to guest services at about 10/1030 and asked. The man said oh wow so many people didn't get letters, of course! He told us to go to the Lounge at 9am and we will get further instructions then.
What surprised me is how people dawdle on disembarkation day, omg it was ridiculous, they must have announced 4 or 5 times all gusts must depart now.
One of the officers came and took all of our KTTWC cards and said she would swipe them for us and then we could all go down to re check in quicker.
We went through customs and then to recheck in, don't you know the computers go down as soon as they start checking us in. There were probably 50 people doing B2B cruises. We stood around almost an hour before it went back up. We were led back to ship, we were told there was coffee and pastry somewhere, but we just went to the cabin and put our bathing suits on to enjoy the adult pool while it was quiet. New guests started coming on the ship within 45-60 minutes........

We stayed in the same room, so that was nice and easy. If you can manage to stay in same room give it a try. Our room was cleaned just like we were new guests.

Also, on the last night of the cruise your Head Server will come over and ask if you are happy with your dining team and do you want to keep them for the next cruise. We were fine with that. Our dining rotation did change as did our table number, same location in dining rooms though, we had a table for 2.

Have fun!

 

[Cackyschmackers]

@BethA We switched rooms on ours. We got a packet in our room the night before debarkation day. We left all our luggage in our room, even though we were switching rooms, we just made sure to tell our room steward and also we put on the DCL luggage tags for the new rooms just to be safe. We left our room by 8am debarkation day and didn't feel rushed at all for bfast or debarking. After customs, we went back up into the terminal, it was completely empty and fun to take pics. Check in began at 10:30, we had been given a special bright neon orange boarding group card. There were about 50 of us so we filled up the Concierge boarding lounge. We began boarding at 11am through a special door in the Concierge lounge, not through the Mickey port ears. But we were able to get another boarding photograph, and we were not announced as we all came through at once (but the CMs applauded and said welcome back, it was cute ). We were the 30th pax to embark, so that was fun, too. We knew we weren't supposed to go back and forth to our rooms, crossing the blue barrier, but we had put two loads of laundry in (we used our extra DCL sticky luggage tags to mark the washers), and the room stewards seemed to understand and we kept out of their way. It was a fun experience. I will note one disappointing thing I had not been prepared for : we loved our dining team on the first leg, and told them so when they asked if we wanted to keep them as our next team. However, they told us our rotation would have to change, which I wasn't expecting and found odd! We felt so bad bc we expressly did not want a different rotation (would have put us in AP twice in a row, no thank you, that was my one and only dining request ) . So we were surprised by that and made sure to give them glowing reviews on the comment cards, to the maitre'd and told them again in person how sorry we were (saw them working at Tow Maters the next day). So we kept the rotation on our KTTW card, had the same rotation and same exact table too. All in all, the B2B was fun and went very smoothly! I was just surprised how many of us there were and that we got back on the ship later (after 11am, no complaints, just an observation) even though we were the first on. I'm guessing it was bc it takes that much longer to turn all the rooms around with that many B2B'ers. Have fun, I know you will!

 

[PhilipC]

We did East and West Caribbean recently, staying in the same stateroom. We didn't have to pack anything - just got off the ship as late as we could. The letter said 9am but there were still plenty of passengers onboard. We hung around a little bit longer - got off around 9:15, I think. By that time, the customs area was almost empty so that was very easy - through there, up the stairs, check back in (they had someone ready) and then wait in the Concierge lounge. I think we got back on board around 10:30.

We were able to get back to our stateroom. Since our belongings were still in the room, the door was shut - unlike the other rooms that were still being prepared.

What was nice was that the letter we got telling us about the procedure said we could have free coffees in either of the two cafes until 11:30am when embarkation started. This *generally* worked OK - I think I had about 3 free drinks but I had three different CMs each time and none of them knew about the offer and had to check with their manager each time. It was definitely an aspect that could have been improved upon, particularly since one of them gave me my coffee initially (so I thought he understood about the offer) then came up with a charge slip which made it feel a bit uncomfortable.

It was really nice being back on the ship so quickly - it was so quiet! Like @Cackyschmackers, we had a different dining team but often spotted our "old" team in the evenings which was nice, particularly when they said how much they missed us .

 

[bobbiwoz]

Some of the answers depend on what the two B2B cruises are.

On our Magic B2B (turn around day in Barcelona) we were told to meet at one of the lounges onboard (there were over 300 B2B people on that trip) and we were all escorted off and through check in inside the terminal. Then we reboarded (time off ship about 10 minutes). We were in the same room for both cruises. Only had to take off our necessary papers for checking in again).

On our Fantasy B2B (East/West Caribbean, turn around Port Canaveral) we were directed to be off the ship by 9:00. We went through immigration and directly back up the escalator to the check in lobby (not open for check in yet. The check in desk opened about 10:15 for us (before the buses from MCO started arriving. Time off the ship 2 hours. We had 2 different rooms for this one. Had to pack our bags and have them available for our room host to pick up at 8:30 am. The room host(s) saw to getting our checked bags to the next room.

The only definite is that you will receive a letter at the end of your first leg telling you what your procedure will be for debarking/embarkation.

We are doing B2B in Barcelona next summer, and I hope we have as good an experience as you had!

 

[IrishEye]

I don't think 50 B2B'ers seems like much any more. There was a time when we have only a few cabins but have not had that happen again for a long time. We have had well over a hundred guests recently and on our Southern / repo B2B coming up probably well over 200 given the number on the DIS and other social sites. No matter how many we really enjoy them, feels more like a relax day than rush to get aboard sand situated or rush off to the airport.

 

[LoveMickey]

We did a 4 day 3 day Dream back to back out of Port Canaveral. Had the same room. We did not receive our letter the night before. We hung around the debarkation area until most people left. You exit like everyone else except you don't have to get your luggage.

We were in line with one of the DVC agents and had a bit of a wait in line to get through customs. I'm glad of this because she told us of the orange card, which we did not have since we did not get the letter the night before. She said to tell the check in people this so they would give us a card. You need the card to get back through the door and onto the ship from the the concierge area.

We were off the ship for about an hour. The kids club opened up so we could check the kids back in, line was much shorter.

Getting back on the ship, I announced ourselves and we went directly to guest services to sign up for the cc race and a tasting. Then went back up to the room to finish our laundry. The cm allowed us in the room (not made up yet) and we changed into swimwear went to cove cafe. Met the captain and enjoyed the pool area. We were one of the first ones on the Aqua Duck. It was not open when we first got back on the ship. I think it opened when the rest of the public was allowed on the ship.

It was a fun experience

Let me know if I can answer any other questions

 

[ludari]

My B2B cruise I had to change staterooms since I didn't book my cruises at the same time. I received a noticed in my stateroom with instructions for disembarking and packing up my room. I essentially packed all my bags and the crew members moved it to my new stateroom. Passengers and other guest remaining on the ship (about 6 total passengers doing B2B) where instructed to meet in the Cadillac Lounge (I was on the Wonder). Once all the passengers where off the ship someone came to escort us off the ship and waited for all of us to check in again. Once the six of us where done checking in they escorted us back on the ship. We where instructed not to visit our staterooms until all the staterooms are available so I hung around the cove cafe and pool area until the staterooms where cleared.

 

[dcassetta]

Back to back on the Wonder last year. Same room and they didn't ask us to meet together to be escorted off the ship, but on the last night of the first leg we got the letter including the reboarding card. We were in the terminal maybe 30 minutes total, and there were about 20 people total. Once reboarding we were asked to either stay in our stateroom, or stay in the public areas, but not to go back and forth. Free coffee and pastries in Cove Café, so that was nice. Also, several of the officers came by to chat with the guests in Cove Cafe.

 

[Bella29]

Our B2B was on the Magic in Miami. We received a letter telling us to meet in the lounge at 9. We waited there over an hour with about 30 other people. Then we were trooped through the Miami port hallways/tunnels and had to stop halfway to stand in the hall and wait another 20 minutes for one last straggler family to come by. Not sure what their deal was but they had wet hair, appeared just out of a shower? Maybe sick kids delayed them? Then we entered the terminal, where new passengers were already checking in. We had to wait in line behind them to check into the new cruise. Then sit around in the main terminal awhile. Then finally our herd of turtles was led back onto the ship at about 11. We immediately changed and got onto sun loungers on the nice empty deck and we had a lovely conversation (not about the b2b process) with cruise director Clayton who was just wonderful. (From that point on everything was wonderful!) I have heard that the Miami port is not idea for B2B. And I'm definitely not complaining about the luxury of being able to be on a ship for 9 days straight, I just thought this part could have been much more streamlined.

Our stateroom host cleaned the room as usual. I didn't notice if he changed the sheets, but I think you could ask for that if you want it (maybe ask which day is more convenient for him/her as I think turn around day is their busiest, they might prefer to change the sheets the day before or after? Our next b2b is 14 nights total so I assume the sheets will be changed at some point!

Another issue for us was we stayed with our same server (who we've had several times before), so we followed him on his dining rotation, but we ended up having repeats of the same rotation restaurants too close together. (It was a 4/5 night). Our next cruise is a 7/7 B2B and I will make sure we keep the same dining rotation so everything is one week apart.

 

[shoes99]

We were also on a B2B out of Miami Jan 29th and Feb 3rd sailings. We stayed in the
same cabin 7638. We were asked to meet in Studio C (or D Lounge). We waited
quite a while, almost an hour because they had a problem in the terminal and stopped
all check in. It was a long walk back to check in and I had an ECV and had to find
a working elevator since the closest elevator at Miami terminal was not working.
Eventually they gathered up our group of about 100+ and said we could get back on.
We had been given a special pass to get back on, and continued the long walk. I had to
find an elevator and met my DH upstairs. We parked our ECV in the cabin and went
to go get something to eat. I've done B2B on the Dream so the Miami check in was not
as efficient as PC. We loved B2B and got our same table and same servers. Had a great
time.