Paperless Cruising?

[Swells1]

So, my edocs are ready (woo-hoo!), and I'm at work on a slow Saturday with plenty of toner and paper, and no one to remind me of costs. "What a perfect day," I thought to myself, "to print all the crap necessary to go on a cruise."

 

I printed the edocs and the luggage tags. Then I realized I don't really need to print anything else. I have the hotel's app, I have screen shots on my phone of rental car confirmations, all of my excursions have e-tickets...

 

Surely I'm forgetting something. If I embark on a cruise vacation with only two sheets of paper, I'm sure to feel a bit naked. Is this a thing? Am I the last person to the naked, paperless party?

[cb at sea]

You don't actually NEED to print anything...no worries!

[BS Racing]

You don't actually NEED to print anything...no worries!

You will not get my DW to believe that :lol

[Swells1]

You will not get my DW to believe that :lol

 

It doesn't seem natural. :eek:

[zqvol]

So, my edocs are ready (woo-hoo!), and I'm at work on a slow Saturday with plenty of toner and paper, and no one to remind me of costs. "What a perfect day," I thought to myself, "to print all the crap necessary to go on a cruise."

 

I printed the edocs and the luggage tags. Then I realized I don't really need to print anything else. I have the hotel's app, I have screen shots on my phone of rental car confirmations, all of my excursions have e-tickets...

 

Surely I'm forgetting something. If I embark on a cruise vacation with only two sheets of paper, I'm sure to feel a bit naked. Is this a thing? Am I the last person to the naked, paperless party?

 

You printed a lot more than I do. I print absolutely nothing. There is no need for the edocs, just save them to a phone or tablet. Get your luggage tags from the porters.

 

I also don't print airline boarding passes, they come right to my phone. I have electronic copies of all excursions, etc., but paper is not needed.

Edited October 1, 2016 by zqvol

[Oakman58]

You young people put way too much faith in the digital age. I always have a hard copy...just in case, because poop happens.

[june123]

Call me old fashioned if you like but what happens if you forget to charge your phone / ipad or have a problem with them and can`t access your edocs / flight tickets ect ? Sorry but i feel much happier having paper copies of everything and also backed up with email copies if needed .just my preference

[Barb Nahoumi]

Call me old fashioned if you like but what happens if you forget to charge your phone / ipad or have a problem with them and can`t access your edocs / flight tickets ect ? Sorry but i feel much happier having paper copies of everything and also backed up with email copies if needed .just my preference

 

Us as well.

[sha32]

I print everything too, then put it all in the order I will use them, including all amenities confirmation, (just in case). I Also have it all on my iPhone as back up.

 

 

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[MrMan]

Travel the world weekly foot work and have not printed anything for years. All confirmations on phone, and when phone is not available just give my drivers license. Easy Peasy.

 

 

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[zqvol]

You young people put way too much faith in the digital age. I always have a hard copy...just in case, because poop happens.

 

Thanks, for thinking that it is young people, but I am of an age where I can draw SS if I want. It has nothng to do with age, it has to do with traveling smart.

[spidybabe]

I print everything too, then put it all in the order I will use them, including all amenities confirmation, (just in case). I Also have it all on my iPhone as back up.

 

 

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This

Printed hard copies in order that they are needed.

Screenshots on my phone as backup

Safe sailing

[kathybelcher2433]

You young people put way too much faith in the digital age. I always have a hard copy...just in case, because poop happens.

 

 

And stay off my lawn.

 

 

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[ssalaam85]

You young people put way too much faith in the digital age. I always have a hard copy...just in case, because poop happens.

 

I love this post. I'm only 31 and I still print confirmations for everything. I don't trust computers 100% and for some reason when I print I feel like its real.

[Crusin6]

Sometimes old school is the best.

 

 

Btw I'm noticing that my teens and college kids are starting to understand this as well

 

 

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[Viv0828]

i'm ancient and i only print one page which is a summary of all our reservations. everything is on my phone, dh's phone and our computer.

[FireEater]

As long as you have "Proof" some how, some way, you have it covered. Paper, digital, smoke signals....:)

 

I have read way too many stories on here where the cruiser gets to the ship and the ship PC does not show their dinner package, drink package, certain excursion's, OBC, correct cabin type, etc. With a trail of proof, no matter the way, it will help if you have "Proof".

Edited October 2, 2016 by FireEater

[hawkeyetlse]

Usually the only thing I print out for NCL cruises is the first page of the edocs, because for some reason they really like to have that piece of paper. It doesn't save any trees not to print it out, because if you walk up to the check-in counter without that one sheet of paper, they will proceed to print out two pages for you to sign… :rolleyes:

 

For the rest (reservations, amenities, etc.), hard copy or digital copy, it doesn't matter. Neither one of these constitutes proof of anything, and they will not give you anything of value on board just for showing them something on your iPad or a piece of a paper. It helps to have this documentation, because it tells them what to look for in their own system. But if they don't find the corresponding info in their system confirming your entitlement, you are not going to get the OBC or onboard package or whatever, at least not right away and not without further effort (they will need to contact someone shoreside, like NCL Miami or your TA).

[srun04]

So I can just save the e-docs to my iPad and then show the iPad at the port?

[zqvol]

So I can just save the e-docs to my iPad and then show the iPad at the port?

 

Yes, and really you don't even have to have them, it just makes it easier to get in the main door. Once inside you don't need anything except your passport or BC and photo ID.

[atomax]

If you're going to print out documents, I hope you all at least re-use paper and recycle it on board!

 

On our last cruise out of Miami in April, I saved electronic copies of the eDocs on my phone and put everything else into the TripIt app on both my husband's and my phones. I showed the eDoc to the woman from the checkin staff and she was quite perturbed that the eDoc didn't have the exact cabin # (we were in a GTY, and I guess I had saved an old copy of the eDoc before the cabin was assigned). Why that would make a difference was beyond me, especially since I knew the cabin # and gave it to her. She insisted that I pull up the version with our exact cabin # on it. It was kind of ridiculous.

 

Anyway, the TripIt app is a great tool for traveling. I was able to save all info for all of our excursions, including maps, excerpts from TripAdvisor reviews, etc. Every day of the cruise, there would be alerts on the phone from the app so we didn't miss things like the M&G, latitudes parties, etc. It's a very handy app that I would highly recommend if you travel alot and want to organize yourself electronically.

[SquishTheWhale]

I print 3 copies of everything. Cruise docs, amenity confirmation, hotels, flights, excursions, and also one of my planning spreadsheets and maps and local info for ports etc. Then one copy goes in a folder where its all nicely organised by day, one copy of the important things like flights goes in my travel wallet and one copy goes in my suitcase as a back up.

 

I guess I'm an overplanner? :D but I don't trust that e-docs will be accepted and that I will be able to access them. What if my phone dies- guess I can't get on that excursion then! Oh if only I had a reliable paper back up copy...

[Oakman58]

If you're going to print out documents, I hope you all at least re-use paper and recycle it on board!

 

 

 

Recycle the paper? Heck no!! When I come back from my cruise those documents along with the dailies become a part of my journal/scrapbook.

[biker@sea]

If you're going to print out documents, I hope you all at least re-use paper and recycle it on board!

 

On our last cruise out of Miami in April, I saved electronic copies of the eDocs on my phone and put everything else into the TripIt app on both my husband's and my phones. I showed the eDoc to the woman from the checkin staff and she was quite perturbed that the eDoc didn't have the exact cabin # (we were in a GTY, and I guess I had saved an old copy of the eDoc before the cabin was assigned). Why that would make a difference was beyond me, especially since I knew the cabin # and gave it to her. She insisted that I pull up the version with our exact cabin # on it. It was kind of ridiculous.

 

Anyway, the TripIt app is a great tool for traveling. I was able to save all info for all of our excursions, including maps, excerpts from TripAdvisor reviews, etc. Every day of the cruise, there would be alerts on the phone from the app so we didn't miss things like the M&G, latitudes parties, etc. It's a very handy app that I would highly recommend if you travel alot and want to organize yourself electronically.

 

OHH Heck NO.

 

Last thing I want to hear on Vacation is my phone ringing. :eek: :eek:

 

.

[kmurph22]

another idea for those who are hestiant to go paperless and want backup: save a .pdf copy of each confirmation, and upload them to Dropbox. They can be accessed anywhere via the internet.

 

I took a 2 week, 3 city trip to Europe without a single piece of paper last spring, it's very freeing!