Carry on bag and luggage check in

[cruisingmom12]

When embarking is everyone required to check in their bags whether it is a carry-on or a full size suitcase? And I read that on your last night you set our luggage outside your door is this true for either bag? Any tips??????

[RunnerGirl26.2]

When embarking is everyone required to check in their bags whether it is a carry-on or a full size suitcase? And I read that on your last night you set our luggage outside your door is this true for either bag? Any tips??????

I am no expert (only one cruise under my belt). For embarking you can keep tote and/or small rolling bag with you. I plan to keep with me what I may need until the bags show up later in the cabin--extra layers (Alaska cruise), camera, binoculars, etc. Just remember this stuff will be tagging along with you till your cabin is ready. You hand off your other luggage to porters outside of the terminal (tip the porters) and they get them to the correct place to be loaded aboard. Your luggage shows up later in your cabin. If your cruise line allows it you can also "check" cases of water or soft drinks.

 

The last night of the cruise you pack and put what you don't need nor want to have to handle yourself outside your door. You will get tags (ours were colored) to place on your bags. Your ship newsletter will tell you what time the bags need to be out by. They will unload from the ship overnight and you claim in the cruise terminal.

 

Whatever bags and stuff you have left in your cabin, you are responsible for getting off of the ship. For me it was my tote and small rolling bag. Princess allowed people to sign up and bring all bags off themselves (I think) but it was a very early disembark time.

 

Hope this makes sense.

[omeinv]

Except for very large bags (to big to go through the x-ray machine), you can carry on whatever you like. However, if you board early, your room may not be ready immediately when you board, so you can be stuck lugging stuff around.

 

When you disembark, you can set things out the night before, and then you claim it in the terminal. This saves you having to tote it off the ship yourself. However, you can carry your stuff off yourself if you desire.

 

Cruise ships are not like airlines. On cruise ships the luggage handling is designed to make your trip easier, and you can use whatever portion of it you wish.

 

Harris

Denver, CO

[RunnerGirl26.2]

Forgot about the x-ray machine...

[cb at sea]

You MUST your valuables and medications...anything you might need for the next 5 hours or so....

You do not have to check anything, if it fits thru the scanner, but checking most of your stuff is the easiest way.

 

You don't HAVE to put your bags out the night before departure, but again, it's the easiest way to do it...of course, you keep 1 bag to put your valuable, meds, and the last day's clothes/toiletries in.....

And don't forget to keep out the clothes you'll wear off the ship!

[johneeo]

As always, anything of value should not be checked or let out of your sight. Passports, camera equipment, meds, jewelry, etc.

 

When you put your bags out the night before, make sure you have clothes for the next day in your cabin.

[beachbum53]

You MUST your valuables and medications...anything you might need for the next 5 hours or so....

You do not have to check anything, if it fits thru the scanner, but checking most of your stuff is the easiest way.

 

You don't HAVE to put your bags out the night before departure, but again, it's the easiest way to do it...of course, you keep 1 bag to put your valuable, meds, and the last day's clothes/toiletries in.....

And don't forget to keep out the clothes you'll wear off the ship!

 

As always, anything of value should not be checked or let out of your sight. Passports, camera equipment, meds, jewelry, etc.

 

When you put your bags out the night before, make sure you have clothes for the next day in your cabin.

 

There have been occasions when people forgot to keep out some clothes, and ended up going through disembarkation in their jammies and bathrobe.:eek::D

[Jimnbigd]

The rules for carry-on bags on the ship are not the same as airports. Whatever is permissible in your big luggage is also OK in your carry-on when boarding the ship -- lotions, scissors, etc. Ideally your checked luggage should be tagged before you get to the pier. The cruise line or your TA should mail you the luggage tags. On some cruise lines you have to order the tags when you do the online checkin or through a separate web page. Oh yes, most (maybe all) cruise lines strongly suggest (read that as "require") you to do an online checkin -- usually at least 4 days prior to sailing. Just do this at least a week before sailing and you should be fine. You will probably print some sort of sailing pass to bring with you. This speeds up checkin.

 

When you get to the pier, make sure the porters check only the bags you want checked and are not personally carrying onto the ship. And make sure these bags have tags. It does not hurt print your name and put it inside the luggage also -- this is even recommended for airline flights. I usually tag my carry-on bag(s) too in case I forget and leave it somewhere -- name and cabin number is sufficient. Masking tape works well for this. Or use an extra luggage tag if you have one.

 

The last night, you pack up (sad). You will likely be told to remove your ship's luggage tag and put on a new one that your cabin attendant have provided (probably placed on your bed the night before). Note what that tag is -- it is probably numbered or color coded or both. Write it down and keep it with you. You will need to know this to leave the ship when this number and/or color is called to leave the ship. No extra tip is required for this. When you get off the ship, you will probably find two lines -- one for porters and one for no porter. So decide if you want a porter to help you get your bags, go through customs, and get to your pick-up point. You do tip these porters, usually more than the porters at checkin because these porters stay with you much longer. I usually tip $2 a bag on checkin and $5 or more per bag on checkout -- depending how long the porter has to stay with us.

 

Or, if you want and it is allowed, you can keep your luggage and take it off with you when you leave the ship. Usually these people get off the ship first. This is pretty much required if you have an early flight.

 

If you have any questions about leaving the ship, just ask your cabin attendant.

[cruisingmom12]

Thanks for your responses, it really clears things up. All very helpful

[Jana60]

When embarking is everyone required to check in their bags whether it is a carry-on or a full size suitcase? And I read that on your last night you set our luggage outside your door is this true for either bag? Any tips??????

 

At the cruise terminals they require you to check any bag that is too big to travel through the scanner but you can keep your carry-ons. I NEVER set my luggage outside the door on the last night. I always do self debarkation which means I roll my own luggage off the ship for 3 reasons:

#1) I used to discover I needed an item to get ready in the morning which I lacked because it was in my big suitcase yet I can't carry many of my toiletries in my carry-on due to TSA regulations unless I want to repack my bag when I arrive at the airport.

#2) If you do self debark, you are permitted to get off the ship first or whenever you wish. You are not required to leave early but you are free to do so if you wish.

#3) I don't wish to offer my luggage and its contents to anyone who happens to walk down the hallway of the ship at 12 MN. Anyone could just roll it away and people would likely think they were just rolling their own luggage.

[Happy ks]

We've done both ways and find, for us, packing the night before and allowing the ship to handle our bags is the preferred way. We also prefer to board with a lighter load, so we turn our bags over to the porter when arriving at port.

 

If you choose self-disembarkation, make sure you are able to handle your own bags. I've seen many people struggling with multiple small bags, where one large bag looks a lot easier.

 

Since so many people do self disembarking these days, it's a whole lot easier to find suitcases in the terminal now. We just disembarked yesterday and it took us less than 2 minutes to locate our bags.

 

If I could manage to pack in only a carry on case, I wouldn't hesitate to carry off my own bags, but since I need/want a suitcase plus a carry on I'll use the provided service.

 

In more than 20 cruises so far, we've never had a misplaced bag, nor a bag tampered with. We do lock our luggage,

[gdisney]

#2) If you do self debark, you are permitted to get off the ship first or whenever you wish. You are not required to leave early but you are free to do so if you wish.

 

I believe this is correct, however on every trip I've been on the announcements and literature have made it sound like you HAD to get off before 'regular' disembarkation began. So just be aware of that...we also get off early anyway, just because we hate long goodbyes and we usually like to get started for home. :)

 

As far as embarkation goes, we used to bring carryons that had a fair amount of stuff in them, like a small rolling bag. They were always in the way; we like to explore and learn the layout of the ship and go have lunch on the first afternoon. So now we share a single small backpack that has our passports/wallet, our camera, whatever paperwork we have for our trip, some light toiletries, and a bottle of water.

[Jana60]

I believe this is correct, however on every trip I've been on the announcements and literature have made it sound like you HAD to get off before 'regular' disembarkation began. So just be aware of that...we also get off early anyway, just because we hate long goodbyes and we usually like to get started for home. :)

As far as embarkation goes, we used to bring carryons that had a fair amount of stuff in them, like a small rolling bag. They were always in the way; we like to explore and learn the layout of the ship and go have lunch on the first afternoon. So now we share a single small backpack that has our passports/wallet, our camera, whatever paperwork we have for our trip, some light toiletries, and a bottle of water.

 

I assure you, that you are NOT required to disembark early if you self disembark. I usually have afternoon flights so I always get up, eat a leasurely breakfast while others stand in lines, go back to my room and get my luggage and roll off the ship. No rush. Only question I've ever been asked is "are you either ____ color luggage tag or self assist?", because it was not yet time for the next color to disembark. Self assist can disembark before all others OR at any time while others disembark.