Can you carry your own big luggage on?

[Mom33]

Not on the Royal the last 2 cruises. Many people hadn't received their bags till the next day. It's been extremely slow for some reason.

 

How many people did you speak to that didn't have their bags till the next day?:confused:

[rpcv77]

What an interesting thread. I am always fascinated by people who try to make life mistake proof. I have only been on 5 cruises, so have relatively little experience, but never had a luggage problem. Can luggage delivery be late? Can bags gets wet or fall in the water? Of course, but this seems to be a low frequency occurrence and so the risk is quite small. Still, I understand that many people are averse to even the smallest risk and that is their prerogative. One should never, never check necessary medications. I also always care personal hygiene items, light weight pj's, change of top and undies in my carryon, just in case...

[Mindy97]

Maybe I'm weird, but I love to be in a position to be able to tip people for the service they give me! It makes me feel good to be able to do so.

 

I don't care if the baggage handlers are longshoreman who are members of a union or not. They graciously take my bags and keep me from having to drag them to and through the terminal.

 

I always seem to get the best wait staff on the ship! They remember me, even between cruises, and they provide outstanding service. If they are not too busy, they chat with me (which I like) and I get to find out what their life is like when they are at home. I know many/most of them have have hopes and dreams for the future, and many have families. If my waiters are like this, I love being able to tip them extra.

 

My room steward is very busy, because he/she has a lot of cabins to do, more than they used to. I am "high maintenence" the first day, unfortunately, but I smile and give them a list, and they give me everything I need with no problem. If I leave laundry to be picked up, I call, just so that he/she knows it is there (in case I am not on the early list). But my cabin is usually done by the time I'm done with breakfast! So I thank my room steward in the usual fashion, too.

 

I went out to dinner for Thanksgiving this year. Our waitress talked to us when she wasn't busy. She said other than her husband, who was also working (he is a heliocopter mechanic), she had on family locally. She figured she might as well work, and besides it was extra money. When she collected the bill, I tipped her 30%, because I could afford it, and would she be working if she didn't need it? She took the payment and then came back and asked me if I was sure I didn't want some change. When I said no, she thanked me profusely. I am happy I was able to help her.

 

I know I rambled here, but my thing is, let the baggage handlers help you. The tip isn't a big thing, and you'll start your vacation relaxed.

 

M.

[taxatty]

25" suitcase fit through the x-ray scanner in Ft. Lauderdale to get on the Regal.

Edited November 30, 2014 by taxatty

[pablo222]

not to mention big bags take up a lot of room in the elevator.

 

I know, but I think it's rude to mention someone's size...

[Holomoku]

I'm in agreement with those that feel they are on Holiday and don't want to schlepp their luggage anymore than necessary.;) Therefore, we usually stay at Princess hotels and utilize their transfers, thus when I get off the plane I grab the luggage get it to the airport shuttle and then to the hotel. The next morning the bellman gets it to the Princess ship transfer, Princess gets it to the correct bus, bus to ship and then the room. It has never arrived later than the Muster Drill. ;) Leaving the ship, when possible, I have it sent all the way back home so I don't have to mess with it till I get off the last plane. Never had a problem!:)

I am very lazy when on Holiday!:o

[compozer]

 

I know I rambled here, but my thing is, let the baggage handlers help you. The tip isn't a big thing, and you'll start your vacation relaxed.

 

M.

 

I don't think it is really about the tip. It is about the attitude of the porters. When they say they aren't going to put your bags in the cage until you tip them - that is a different story.

 

In NYC, the porters took our bag and then ran off to help others. I had to run after him to give him a tip and was told "it is not necessary".

 

Many years ago we took the shuttle to the Miami cruise port from the airport. When we got to the parking lot, the driver told us to wait in the bus until he had all the luggage off and he closed the door. When he was done, he returned to the bus, came on and told us that after we tipped him, we could go into the roped off area that he put up and get our luggage. That was the first and last time we took a shuttle. I also walked right past him and picked up my luggage and when he held out his hand, I said " you would have gotten a nice tip if you did not demand one".

 

Sorry Mindy but no one treats me like that and gets a tip. That is not the way I want to start my vacation. And tipping him would not have made me feel good. It still pisses me off when I think about it.

 

We always carry our bags off and we use the stairs.

[susiesan]

So what's the attitude of the porters at Bayport/Houston cruise terminal? Are they as obnoxious and aggressive as the Miami porters? Do they demand a tip, threatening to not load your luggage if you don't give them what they demand?

 

I'm with compozer. It's the attitude of union workers. They already make a huge amount of money for their jobs and then expect more from passengers to do the job they are already being paid for.

 

Since my rolling duffel is about the size of a 25" bag, I am going to carry it to my cabin myself. There are 5 people traveling in my party and I will let all of them know to be prepared to carry their own bags. We are all on the same deck, E deck aft. It should be an easy jaunt to roll the bags down the hall from the middle of the ship.

 

I still want to know what deck we will be entering the Emerald on. Anyone know?

[Cruisin' Chick]

It seems that luggage ending in the water and other incidents are one-offs. Read that thread about the cruise from hell, and undoubtedly it was one of those times that things went wrong for him (and a few others on the ship). Like one of those days that everything seems to go wrong for someone. And he seemed to have more complaints on that short cruise than we had on our last two cruises (totally 28 days), and our biggest complaint was our land transportation from our house to the port and the reverse (not the fault of Princess but a shuttle company that messed up by sending the vehicle to the other location on both ends of our booking). Even all the rain didn't "dampen" the fun and great service we got on board. I'm not saying this guy didn't have valid complaints...just saying that most of the time, passengers wouldn't encounter them.

 

As I said, we've gotten our bags fairly quickly, but never past the time we've actually needed something from them.

 

We have had a couple of mishaps with luggage but not due to the actual cruise. Our toddler's car seat managed to get broken when returning home (I can't remember if it was the shuttle to the airport or on the flight itself -- fortunately it wasn't a new seat). Also (for that same trip), we had boarded the flyaway bus to take us to LAX, and my hubby looked at and noticed our bags still on the sidewalk, and he had to yell stop. Don't know why the driver didn't load them into the baggage compartment -- maybe he was expecting a tip and hubby didn't deliver, again,I don't know what went on. And it was obviously supposed to be loaded.

 

Two times I have returned from a flight and my luggage wasn't on the baggage carousel. The first time was because a friend and I were offered seats on an earlier flight. The luggage didn't get transferred to the first plane. At least they delivered mine the next day to my building. The second time it was when I traveled with my mother who was being a pain-in-the-you-know-what at the check in counter and undoubtedly the clerks "accidentally" put the wrong destination tags on our bags so when we got back to LAX, we discovered our bags got a day in Reno. Not professional of the clerks, but I don't blame them. Fortunately both times it was on my return home.

[Boytjie]

I would only carry it to the cabin myself if there is some kind of delay in embarking. I have never sailed on one of these gigantic ships with 3000+ passengers before, and it seems like it would take hours and hours to get the luggage sorted out and sent to the correct cabin.

 

A bigger ship has more crew and therefor not that much of a bigger burden to deliver luggage.

 

 

If people are let on the ship late I don't see how the crew can distribute over 3000 pieces of luggage before the ship sails let alone before dinner. I have been on cruises on much smaller ships and have had to wait until 8:00 or 9:00pm to get the luggage.

 

Not Princess but once on Holland America's Eurodam (2,100 passengers) the ship came in late and embarkation did not start till 3:00 pm; we had our bags long before dinner time.

 

Another concern, and I have seen this happen when boarding ships in Miami: if you don't tip the porters an amount THEY think is sufficient, they handle your bag very rough, put it on the very bottom of the luggage crate, or even leave it sit on the dock.

 

In Miami (on MSC Divina), while having lunch after embarking I realized that I had a carry-on bag that I accidentally left with the other bags instead of carrying it in myself - and it did not have a luggage tag with my cabin number on it) so I got off the ship to see if I could find it. A porter helped me look for it and we found it in a crate ready to be loaded. He retrieved it for me - and then refused a tip! I think the porters often get a bum rap.

Edited December 1, 2014 by Boytjie

[crochetcruise]

Not on the Royal the last 2 cruises. Many people hadn't received their bags till the next day. It's been extremely slow for some reason.

 

That's EXACTLY why I've been advised to dress for a business meeting for embarkation, and put my swimsuit, sleep tee, and a dressy scarf in my carryon so I don't NEED to worry. I'm not an evening dress kind of person, but I do have 2 silky blouses-1 gold and black, the other a shimmery self-pattern deep blue, both long-sleeved which I will bring with me.

 

Dressing up for me, is smart business meeting-jacket and skirt with a modest top.

 

This is why Cruise Critic Forums are so great-a wide variety of experiences shared with others to give them the opportunity to learn new information.

 

Crochetcruise :cool:

[Oliver Wilson]

So what's the attitude of the porters at Bayport/Houston cruise terminal? Are they as obnoxious and aggressive as the Miami porters? Do they demand a tip, threatening to not load your luggage if you don't give them what they demand?

 

 

 

I'm with compozer. It's the attitude of union workers. They already make a huge amount of money for their jobs and then expect more from passengers to do the job they are already being paid for.

 

 

 

Since my rolling duffel is about the size of a 25" bag, I am going to carry it to my cabin myself. There are 5 people traveling in my party and I will let all of them know to be prepared to carry their own bags. We are all on the same deck, E deck aft. It should be an easy jaunt to roll the bags down the hall from the middle of the ship.

 

 

 

I still want to know what deck we will be entering the Emerald on. Anyone know?

 

 

Deck 7. We did the Bon Voyage experience on the 23rd as a dry run for our first Princess cruise on Dec 28th. I sure hope it is better than many posters described - I wasn't expecting that much better than my previous cruises but not as low as what I've read recently on this board v

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

[caribill]

 

I still want to know what deck we will be entering the Emerald on. Anyone know?

 

In November we embarked onto deck 7.

[caribill]

How big are the X-ray machines? Same size as the ones at airports? Big bags will ft in those, but no one carries on large rolling duffels because airlines don't allow it. The bag is 26" long.

 

Length does not matter. Height and width do.

 

Same size as airport scanners.

[Lovetocruiseprincess]

That's EXACTLY why I've been advised to dress for a business meeting for embarkation, and put my swimsuit, sleep tee, and a dressy scarf in my carryon so I don't NEED to worry. I'm not an evening dress kind of person, but I do have 2 silky blouses-1 gold and black, the other a shimmery self-pattern deep blue, both long-sleeved which I will bring with me.

 

Dressing up for me, is smart business meeting-jacket and skirt with a modest top.

 

This is why Cruise Critic Forums are so great-a wide variety of experiences shared with others to give them the opportunity to learn new information.

 

Crochetcruise :cool:

 

There's no need to worry about not dressing on the first evening as they don't really care about how anyone is dressed.

We've been carrying on all our own luggage for years since we perfer to put everything away immediately after lunch & before muster. This way it give us the evening to do as we like and not ever have to worry about misplaced luggage.

[cruiselvr1]

In spite of some comments on another thread, I can't imagine too much luggage goes into the ocean. :)

The worst porters are in SF, where some of the tags were pulled off (I doubt on purpose). So we learned to toughen the tags. The rest of our luggage was waiting for us in our stateroom, even though we boarded at 1130.

[trabeler]

So what's the attitude of the porters at Bayport/Houston cruise terminal? Are they as obnoxious and aggressive as the Miami porters? Do they demand a tip, threatening to not load your luggage if you don't give them what they demand?

 

Have sailed out of Bayport twice, most recently last week on the Emerald.

 

I've only experienced two porters, so my data set may be limited, however neither was pushy or solicited tips. Last week, I had to stop our porter from running off with the bags in order to give him a tip.

 

The porters load multiple cars worth of bags on their cart and then wheel it into the terminal. If you are concerned that your bags might not make it to the terminal, you can also walk your bags to the porter entrance and give them straight to the guys working at a counter that has extra luggage tags, etc on it.

 

Last week, we dropped off our bags outside the terminal around 12:15 and were on the ship a little after 12:45. All bags were delivered by around 4:30 pm. Emerald had also arrived over an hour late into Houston that morning, so we were surprised at how quickly check-in and embarkation went for us.

Edited December 1, 2014 by trabeler

[Mario100]

We went on the Golden last week for a three day with a full size suit case as a carry on.

It went through the scanner with ease,it is 22"wide X 31" long X 14" thick.

Some of the other cruisers were kidding us that we were on the wrong ship,

the South American cruise leaves next week.

[MrKenFL]

I am on vacation, I am paying a significant amount of money for the cruise which includes handling of my luggage. I have always had my luggage arrive in our stateroom by muster time ! Never had a problem .

Seems rediculous to me to be hauling suitcases around while getting to my stateroom !

Just one old man's opinion, which at 78 years young, I have the right to !

Everyone to their own thing !

Whichever cruise you're on - enjoy it !

[susiesan]

There you go, a reason to carry on your own luggage:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2134773

[Lovetocruiseprincess]

We've been doing it for years now & it works great having you luggage in the room to unpack befor muster drill. It may not be for everyone but it works for some of us. :D

[Hawaiidan]

in many ports, you may be required to use the services of union dock workers and not allowed to put your stuff on the ship...... some agreements require the ship to pay for them to load and each bag counts $$$ then there is the tips..

Its something you have to put up with because it aint going change

[soprano]

25" suitcase fit through the x-ray scanner in Ft. Lauderdale to get on the Regal.

 

Thank you! I'm hoping the one in San Pedro is the same...we're a no-checked luggage family. We even go to Europe (not cruises) for two-three weeks with carry-on's only. For us, it's no big deal to wheel our spinners onto the ship, and nice to maintain control of the luggage.

[Lovetocruiseprincess]

in many ports, you may be required to use the services of union dock workers and not allowed to put your stuff on the ship...... some agreements require the ship to pay for them to load and each bag counts $$$ then there is the tips..

Its something you have to put up with because it aint going change

 

They obviously must let people carry on some of their luggage. Do you happen to know what size constitutes it having to be checked?

[Colo Cruiser]

in many ports, you may be required to use the services of union dock workers and not allowed to put your stuff on the ship...... some agreements require the ship to pay for them to load and each bag counts $$$ then there is the tips..

Its something you have to put up with because it aint going change

 

 

What ports would those be? Never ran into porters blocking the entrance to the terminal and forcibly taking luggage from passengers. :eek: