Hello! We have a few back to back cruise questions :)

[wjackson2289]

Hello everyone! 

This november we will be disembarking on our first ever back to back cruise on oasis of the seas! 

I have a couple of questions I couldn't find solid answers to. Also i would love to hear about your back to back changeover story's/tips/experiences .

1. After the first cruise is finished, do we have to disembark with all the other guests or is there a procedure for people who are back to backing? I have seen this questions asked and seen multiple answers. 

2. Right now unfortunately after multiple phone calls we cant manage to get the same cabin for both cruises (without paying an extra $700  , what do we do with our luggage the night before the end of the first cruise? Will our bags stay on board and just get delivered to our room on the second cruise? or will we have to go collect them from port?

Thankyou for your help

[AshleyDillo]

I am also on a B2B on Oasis in November! 

Your luggage will get moved to your new room.

There is a meeting place where you will be walked through the process with the other consecutive cruisers.

[wjackson2289]

12 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

I am also on a B2B on Oasis in November! 

Your luggage will get moved to your new room.

There is a meeting place where you will be walked through the process with the other consecutive cruisers.

great! thankyou for your help. We are on the 6th  to the 13th and the 13th to the 20th how about you?

[Swar]

You can also disembark at the Port and do things. They will give you a pass to speed your way back on board.

[AshleyDillo]

34 minutes ago, wjackson2289 said:

great! thankyou for your help. We are on the 6th  to the 13th and the 13th to the 20th how about you?

We are doing the 2nd-6th and 6th to the 13th! Different rooms for both legs for us as well.

[wjackson2289]

34 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

We are doing the 2nd-6th and 6th to the 13th! Different rooms for both legs for us as well.

hope your trip goes amazing! the 2nd to the 6th didnt seem too busy or the 6th to the 13th, but the 13th to the 20th seems to be really really busy, no balcony rooms availible, not sure why.

[Morti]

wjackson2289,

We have taken a few back-to-back cruises. Here is our experience. Your mileage may vary.

1. There is a procedure for you to follow. You will receive a letter in your cabin describing that procedure. Basically, all those consecutive cruisers will meet in the area designated in the letter. Once all the other passengers are cleared off the ship, you will be escorted off the ship, maybe have your passport looked at, receive your new card for your new cabin and then escorted back onto the ship. No luggage unless you choose to carry a purse. You might have a special luncheon in the MDR. 

2. Switching rooms is not difficult.  Talk with your cabin attendant during your first cruise about this. We have found that the night before turn-around, you pack your small items, like all the stuff in the drawers and all your stuff in the bathroom. Your luggage stays in your room. The cabin attendant will move your luggage and all your hanging clothes for you. All your luggage and hanging clothes stay on the ship.

It took us a day or two to intentionally go to our new cabin on the second cruise. 

Enjoy your cruises.

[Linda R]

I have been on 2 B2B cruises on Oasis in past 6 months.  Back to Back is easy, even if you have to change cabins.   On the day everyone is disembarking you will meet with the other B2B cruisers and escorted off ship, thru customs, and back on ship.  And ususally there is a special lunch at main dining room for those cruisers, including wine and soft drinks. Unfortunately you cannot return to your room until they are opened for everyone, usually 1-2pm.    If you are changing cabins you just can leave all your hanging clothes and shoes, then I loosely pack the rest in a suitcase or 2.  Your cabin stewart with bring a cart and transfer everything to your new cabin.  Any food or drinks in the refrigerator I put on counter and they will bring that over also.   I usually take a tote with me that morning that have my medications, and items from the safe.  Just would rather have them with me.   Just in case the cart they are transferring on, lingers in spots along the way.  ENJOY!

[wjackson2289]

thankyou for all your advice! sounds great!

We are hoping to get lucky and get the same room for both cruises but i think our best chance might be guest services on boarding day

[Done]

On 6/28/2022 at 7:53 PM, wjackson2289 said:

Hello everyone! 

This november we will be disembarking on our first ever back to back cruise on oasis of the seas! 

I have a couple of questions I couldn't find solid answers to. Also i would love to hear about your back to back changeover story's/tips/experiences .

1. After the first cruise is finished, do we have to disembark with all the other guests or is there a procedure for people who are back to backing? I have seen this questions asked and seen multiple answers. 

2. Right now unfortunately after multiple phone calls we cant manage to get the same cabin for both cruises (without paying an extra $700  , what do we do with our luggage the night before the end of the first cruise? Will our bags stay on board and just get delivered to our room on the second cruise? or will we have to go collect them from port?

Thankyou for your help

For question 2, you need to pack everything but your hanging clothes in the wardrobe.  They will move your luggage and hanging clothes to the new cabin.

Early on during your first cruise, and the lines at guest service have dissipated, ask them to verify you're on the list of consecutive cruisers.  Near the end of cruise one they will deliver a set of instructions for you to follow to transition to cruise 2.

[Done]

On 6/28/2022 at 10:21 PM, Linda R said:

I have been on 2 B2B cruises on Oasis in past 6 months.  Back to Back is easy, even if you have to change cabins.   On the day everyone is disembarking you will meet with the other B2B cruisers and escorted off ship, thru customs, and back on ship.  And ususally there is a special lunch at main dining room for those cruisers, including wine and soft drinks. Unfortunately you cannot return to your room until they are opened for everyone, usually 1-2pm.    If you are changing cabins you just can leave all your hanging clothes and shoes, then I loosely pack the rest in a suitcase or 2.  Your cabin stewart with bring a cart and transfer everything to your new cabin.  Any food or drinks in the refrigerator I put on counter and they will bring that over also.   I usually take a tote with me that morning that have my medications, and items from the safe.  Just would rather have them with me.   Just in case the cart they are transferring on, lingers in spots along the way.  ENJOY!

I have read from others you can return to your cabin when you get back on the ship for cruise 2 before general boarding.  Maybe that applies only to those who have the same cabin? 

[twangster]

20 minutes ago, Toby said:

I have read from others you can return to your cabin when you get back on the ship for cruise 2 before general boarding.  Maybe that applies only to those who have the same cabin? 

During restart and since the restart they spray all guest areas and hallways with a fog like spray to kill any virus material lingering around.  There is a period of time where all crew leave the area and return only when it's safe.  

I know people who are frequent cruisers who ignore the signs and go to their cabin during this time.  Smart or dumb?  You decide.  There is a reason why they are telling consecutive cruisers to stay out right now.  Despite that some people don't listen and they do what used to be allowed pre-pandemic when staying in the same cabin.  I choose to listen and stay out.  

Most of the time pre-pandemic if I was changing cabins I would make a point of finding my new future cabin attendant as the cruise was nearing its completion.  Many times they would prioritize my cabin so it was ready early.  This wasn't required of them and not all of them did it.  Since the restart some ships move crew around assigning them new groups of cabins for the next cruise.  That makes it impossible to visit your next cruise cabin attendant because no one knows who it might be.  Each ship has their own practices. 

It's harder to predict what your experience will be right now.  Listen, read and go with the flow.

 

[Linda R]

6 hours ago, Toby said:

I have read from others you can return to your cabin when you get back on the ship for cruise 2 before general boarding.  Maybe that applies only to those who have the same cabin? 

We were in same cabin, and not allowed to return to cabin until opened for everyone.  The doors are all shut at the hallway entrances.  I have done many, many B2B.  If you can go back to cabin, I have never seen it.   I can only see that maybe the Star suites can get into their cabins?

[WAAAYTOOO]

I’m one of the rogues who just ignored the closed doors and went on back to my room once I reboarded.  Not sure I would do that these days but I sure used to do it !

[Done]

1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I’m one of the rogues who just ignored the closed doors and went on back to my room once I reboarded.  Not sure I would do that these days but I sure used to do it !

I watched a gentleman do the same thing about 40 minutes before we were told our staterooms would be available.  Others who were not B2B cruisers saw this and they created a "stampede."  The cabin stewards were visibly upset.

[Pattycruise]

Just completing my B2B on Oasis.  We were all assigned a 8:00 am check in at the Thester.  Customs was onboard and checked our passports as we entered  then Royal took our old seapass card and issued the new,  everyone is assigned seats in alternate rows, so the Royal people can walk in the empty tow snd go through with the check on iPad to review your online check in. Yes, you should be uploading your vaccine card, passport info, photo snd the health questions   

There was orange juice, coffee snd muffins/croissants available.  We were at the mercy of the 5 passengers who  did not disembark the multiple times they were called do we could be set free .  The ship must reach a zero count.  Once they all disembarked (by about 9:20) we were able to scan in and were free to roam the ship.  Keep in mind there was nothing open to eat at this point as the crew were readying the ship   The main pools were covered (nets) I did not notice if the solarium pool was available for use.  So there’s a period of time with pretty much nothing to do. Even guest services had no one at the desk, we wanted to address the credit card on file,  all guests were told they could not go back to their staterooms until they made the announcement that the cabins were available (1;00pm)

I’ve also done the B2B at Bayonne this past year where customs does not board the ship and we all traipse our way, following the cruise escort, to the terminal for a fast turnaround to renter.  

[bobroo]

I would caution anyone in the near future doing a B2B to have a back up plan in place in case of a positive COVID test on leg one.

A look at any FB sailing group shows that many, many people are coming home from their cruise vacation with COVID.

 

[Pattycruise]

On 7/1/2022 at 7:04 AM, bobroo said:

I would caution anyone in the near future doing a B2B to have a back up plan in place in case of a positive COVID test on leg one.

A look at any FB sailing group shows that many, many people are coming home from their cruise vacation with COVID.

 

They no longer do testing on B2B cruisers.  anyone who has symptoms should be tested (whether leg 1 or leg2).

positive cases are moved to isolation and given a prorated refund for the days in isolation and offered transport home, hotel accommodations, rental car, or even to stay onboard, also free WiFi and medication/doctor visit.
 

the plan I’ve gone with from the get go for my single weeks as well as my B2B is to carry meds I feel I’ll need, my prescription meds in case of extended stay (recommended anyway) a deck of cards for solitary confinement, a few magazines or books.

[BrianB]

I do lots of b2bs…mostly from Bayonne, NJ. I have experienced different turnaround days on different cruises. Sometimes we gather in the theater where we are issued new cards and get checked in, wait for a zero count (or nearly zero) then file off the ship. We go through customs and then stand in line in the baggage hall for a short while until they get to zero, then we re-board. Sometimes we’re instructed to go to a specific venue while they ‘fog’ the ship…but most b2bs just go where they want. Once on the Oasis, I went to the Music Hall as instructed. Although there were over 120 b2bs, it was only me and three others…the rest went their own way, many back to their cabins…some to the pool deck and others to the solarium.

Another time, we filed off the ship…through customs…and stood in the cold of the baggage hall while Public Health did a surprise inspection of the ship. That took over a hour. The port workers and our crew escorts were pretty good at scrambling to find chairs for some who really needed them…there are no seats in the baggage hall.

This past spring, we gathered in the theater where we were checked in…and then as we left the theater after zero count, customs officers were at the theater entrance and did the obligatory glance at our passports as we passed. Then there was a ship’s security officer manning a scanner where we scanned our new cards and walked out of the theater as new passengers. That’s the best scenario…not having to disembark, past the customs facial scanners, and then re-board.

The best advice I can give for b2bs is….have patience and hope for the best. And If you’re in a cold weather port, bring something warm to wear.

 

[sixbitskyle]

Once both sailings are booked, is there anything you need to do pre-boarding to be considered a consecutive cruiser? Or is it best to just visit guest services during the first sailing to confirm? 

[twangster]

32 minutes ago, sixbitskyle said:

Once both sailings are booked, is there anything you need to do pre-boarding to be considered a consecutive cruiser? Or is it best to just visit guest services during the first sailing to confirm? 

Yes.  It is best to ensure they have it noted as a consecutive cruise as soon as both are booked.  Call your TA or Royal if booked direct so they can note it.  On board it never hurts to visit guest services and ensure they see you as consecutive.