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Any reason to print and bring luggage tags?

BOS_CruiseGuy

By BOS_CruiseGuy,
in Royal Caribbean International

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Fouremco

Fouremco

Posted
Posted
I'm sorry but this is a ridiculous question. I know the price of one staple will set you back thousands of dollars. The cruise line personnel always ask if I have my tags and I do. I print two for each bag and put them in the holders I bought on Amazon, 8 for $8 and I have been on the same two holders for two years. I put them in my purse till I get to port. By the time the porter gets a tag, you hold up the line filling out your tag making everyone in line behind you furious, you will have to tip the porter at least $5. Price of a staple snd reusable tag holders and tipping the porter $5 every time, do what you want, you will anyway. Oh and my tag holders fit Carnival, Celebrity, Princess, NCL and Royal.

Someone needs to chill! :cool:

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robtulipe

robtulipe

Posted
Posted (edited)
Video please! :D

 

Sorry, I don't happen to have a used airline tag to demonstrate this very simple procedure in a video as per your request. I used all we had after our flight to our last cruise this past October to attach our cruise tags to our luggage .

If you re-read the simple instruction above, possibly a great number of times, I feel confident you'll be able to figure it out on your own. :rolleyes:. :D

Edited by robtulipe
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Fouremco

Fouremco

Posted
Posted
Sorry Fouremco but you have to admit that is a dumb question, something so trivial as luggage tags.

There's a very large variance in cruise experience among the members of CC, and what might seem a dumb question to someone with several cruises under their belt might be far less so for someone with less experience.

 

Remember too, that the responses aren't read just by the OP, but people who may not have even taken their first cruise. For them, the discussion on various approaches to luggage tags would be quite informative. Like you, I use holders that I bought a number of years ago, but it's clear that many posters prefer the porter approach. It's all a question of personal preference, and the OP's question served to surface a number of options.

 

Dumb question? Absolutely not.

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Fouremco

Fouremco

Posted
Posted
Sorry, I don't happen to have a used airline tag to demonstrate this very simple procedure in a video as per your request. I used all we had after our flight to our last cruise this past October to attach our cruise tags to our luggage .

If you re-read the simple instruction above, possibly a great number of times, I feel confident you'll be able to figure it out on your own. :rolleyes:. :D

LOL. I'd try it, but I suspect that I'd end up taping myself to the suitcase along with the luggage tag! :p:D

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hollykimalan

hollykimalan

Posted
Posted
Just curious why you don't want to do the online checkin ahead of time, and/or print your luggage tags? The hassle you might get at pier is more than offset by the small hassle of printing your setsail pass and luggage tags ahead of time. Of course, JMO.

 

 

Good question, on the occasions when I snuck back in to my office to do the online deed the RCCL website was down or our island had no internet. Usually the former. ImageUploadedByForums1482446587.744695.jpg.7b60f8f754e548835f1247d75b3eaf47.jpg

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tlatrice

tlatrice

Posted
Posted
There's a very large variance in cruise experience among the members of CC, and what might seem a dumb question to someone with several cruises under their belt might be far less so for someone with less experience.

 

Remember too, that the responses aren't read just by the OP, but people who may not have even taken their first cruise. For them, the discussion on various approaches to luggage tags would be quite informative. Like you, I use holders that I bought a number of years ago, but it's clear that many posters prefer the porter approach. It's all a question of personal preference, and the OP's question served to surface a number of options.

 

Dumb question? Absolutely not.

 

Thank you! This is SO not a dumb question. And I've actually purchased the tag holders from Amazon for me and my family! But it's certainly not a requirement. Yes, you will wait in line a little longer once you get to the port if you get the porters to do it, but not everyone wants to be FIRST on the ship.

 

I printed the tags for my family for our first cruise. Everyone had 4 bags so that was 20 tags! All printed in full color and with everyone's name AND cabin numbers PRINTED on them (used a template I found online and some clear labels). The template I found online lets you print 4 to a page, vs the one that RCI gives you that only does 1 per page. But having 4 to a page meant that I had to cut them out. And fold them over. And then slide them into the holders.

 

Now, I don't mind doing it. But I know that my parents would NEVER do all that. If I don't do them for our next cruise, they'll just get them at the port. They're just not tech savvy. And certainly don't want to have to cut anything out! And there ALWAYS seems to be a problem with their printer when it comes to something like this. ALWAYS! LOL!!! So I'm guessing that, for a lot of people, it just ends up being easier to get them at the port.

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robtulipe

robtulipe

Posted
Posted (edited)
LOL. I'd try it, but I suspect that I'd end up taping myself to the suitcase along with the luggage tag! :p:D

 

That might be a good thing as you are very unlikely to lose your suitcase on the way to your cruise after that happens. Also airline luggage tags aren't that long so it will most likely be just your finger or at most a hand that is attach to your suitcase and once at the ship a quick amputation by a qualified luggage handler will take care of that problem. ;)

 

PS- Amputation of the tag and not any body bits that is. :D

Edited by robtulipe
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SAS21

SAS21

Posted
Posted (edited)

San Juan terminal is nothing like the others from the US. There are no porters to help with luggage when you exit your transportation to the terminal. The 2 times we cruised from SJ we had to tote our luggage thru a parking lot and over the cement barrier ( one of those barrier's to stop cars) that was somewhat higher than the regular street curb. Taxi driver would not pull up any closer and also did not help with luggage retrieval from the vehicle. Needless to say he was not tipped. Also there is a line to drop off luggage and a line to get in terminal.

 

I would definitely be prepared with my own luggage tags. I print mine then use clear packing tape to make them more durable. After putting the tape around them add a piece of tape with a folded end to the taped tag ( I usually make it the full length of the tag) when you are ready to attach to luggage just pull the tape from the folded end and wrap around the luggage handle. You can also just punch a hole and use a ziptie to attach to luggage handle. I always put a tag on both the top handle and the side.

 

I know this all sounds like a lot to do, but to me it's part of the excitement leading up to the cruise.

Edited by SAS21
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denamo

denamo

Posted
Posted
"Expense and hassle of stapling"? Are you flying in the day before? Ask for a stapler at the front desk of your hotel.

 

That being said, I just like the look of the luggage tag on the bags, and I know it's legible (I even use photoshop to put our names on the tags). But there's nothing to prevent you from using tags the porters provide.

 

No need to use Photoshop. The "Fill & Sign" feature in Adobe Acrobat Reader allows the same thing. In the latest version of Acrobat Reader, click on tools and there are many features to use. Choose "Fill and Sign". I put my husband's name on tags and mine on others.

 

One hint someone mentioned here on CC was to put a luggage tag even on carry on's. This person accidentally left a piece of carry on sitting somewhere, and it showed up at their cabin. We do that as well.

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denamo

denamo

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Posted

One reason we'll probably always print out our luggage tags pre-cruise has to do with a delayed flight (even leaving a day early) and arriving super late to port. I had the tags in my carry on. We were literally running to get on the ship. Handed our tags to the porters who stapled them on. They were very complimentary that we already had our tags. :)

 

Funny part is that I had them in the clear plastic holders. They didn't wait for me to get out the zip ties. They simply looped the plastic holder and stapled! LOL :eek:

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robtulipe

robtulipe

Posted
Posted
No need to use Photoshop. The "Fill & Sign" feature in Adobe Acrobat Reader allows the same thing. In the latest version of Acrobat Reader, click on tools and there are many features to use. Choose "Fill and Sign". I put my husband's name on tags and mine on others.

 

Thanks for the above advise. That really worked well to add our names to the tag I saved as a PDF file for our upcoming Anthem cruise.

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  • 2 weeks later...
BOS_CruiseGuy

BOS_CruiseGuy

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Figured I should post an outcome to this thread.

 

Not printing tags (or doing any check-in online) worked out great. There was a guy in the baggage line that had tags and he filled them out while we were waiting in line. Baggage drop off took less than 5 minutes, and we did have any delay at all by not having the tags (nor did we delay anyone else).

 

Total taxi-to-ship time was less than 25 minutes.

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easyboy

easyboy

Posted
Posted
Figured I should post an outcome to this thread.

 

Not printing tags (or doing any check-in online) worked out great. There was a guy in the baggage line that had tags and he filled them out while we were waiting in line. Baggage drop off took less than 5 minutes, and we did have any delay at all by not having the tags (nor did we delay anyone else).

 

Total taxi-to-ship time was less than 25 minutes.

Good to know.

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