Luggage tag questions

[bestmamabird]

Do the colors on the printed luggage tags matter?  Are there any rules about adding a home address to our luggage tag? Thanks!

[CruiserBruce]

Yes, the color is different for each HAL ship. So, at a quick glance, it identifies which ship you are boarding.

 

Putting your address on your ship related luggage tag for boarding? Can't think of a reason to.

[bestmamabird]

1 minute ago, CruiserBruce said:

Yes, the color is different for each HAL ship. So, at a quick glance, it identifies which ship you are boarding.

 

Putting your address on your ship related luggage tag for boarding? Can't think of a reason to.

Our Princess luggage tags had a space designed for address, etc. Basically wondering if it’s ok to add it to Hal’s luggage tag. Thanks for the color information!

[fatcat04]

21 minutes ago, bestmamabird said:

Do the colors on the printed luggage tags matter?  Are there any rules about adding a home address to our luggage tag? Thanks!

It has been so long since we had color on our luggage tags (we print in black and white) I doubt it matters. I know it used to be waaaay back when your docs came to you in a lovely satin case (which I still have somewhere), the tags were color coded. Maybe different color for each ship I assume?  We bought some very durable silicone stretchy brightly colored luggage tags that we can put a business card sized piece of paper in with our info to hang off the handle. They are cheap and very durable and I highly recommend them. We had "Dam Luggage" tags we bought on the ship on our bags for a couple years but they broke. 

Edited May 4, 2019 by fatcat04

[bestmamabird]

1 minute ago, fatcat04 said:

It has been so long since we had color on our luggage tags (we print in black and white) I doubt it matters. I know it used to be waaaay back when your docs came to you in a lovely satin case (which I still have somewhere), the tags were color coded. Maybe different color for each ship I assume? 

Thanks for your reply!  Mine are in black and white, as well, and I’d just as soon not to have to reprint them.

[fatcat04]

Just now, bestmamabird said:

Thanks for your reply!  Mine are in black and white, as well, and I’d just as soon not to have to reprint them.

You are good. No worries. That is all we do now and our bags get to us.

[catl331]

1 hour ago, bestmamabird said:

Do the colors on the printed luggage tags matter?

As others said, the color doesn't matter ... but black would be perfect if you are on the Koningsdam, since that IS the color for that ship! 😄

[3rdGenCunarder]

Print extras and put one inside each case. Put your cell number on the inside one so they can contact you.

 

[catl331]

26 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

Print extras and put one inside each case.

... and we always put two on the outside of each bag, on the top and side handles.

[Fouremco]

We too use a b&w printer. We don't put a copy of the tag inside our luggage, as we place an information sheet there that includes flights, hotels and cruise(s). We often spend several days in out embarkation city in advance of our cruise, and hope that a lost bag finds its way to our hotel rather than the cruise port a few days later. 

[bestmamabird]

5 hours ago, fatcat04 said:

It has been so long since we had color on our luggage tags (we print in black and white) I doubt it matters. I know it used to be waaaay back when your docs came to you in a lovely satin case (which I still have somewhere), the tags were color coded. Maybe different color for each ship I assume? 

Thanks for your reply!  Mine are in black and white, as well, and I’d just as soon not to have to reprint them.

[bestmamabird]

Thanks to everyone for your responses! Lots of helpful hints!

[DAllenTCY]

Embarkation or disembarkation luggage tags no longer ask for any address.

 

Embarkation:  stateroom number, your name, ship name, and sailing date.

 

Disembarkation: stateroom number, name, phone number, airline & flight info.

 

 

David

 

 

 

 

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

We use packing tape. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

17 hours ago, Fouremco said:

We too use a b&w printer. We don't put a copy of the tag inside our luggage, as we place an information sheet there that includes flights, hotels and cruise(s). We often spend several days in out embarkation city in advance of our cruise, and hope that a lost bag finds its way to our hotel rather than the cruise port a few days later. 

 

If I have pre-cruise travel, I put an itinerary in each piece of luggage. If I'm flying to a non-cruise vacation, I print an extra boarding pass and put that in the suitcase.

 

They only time I had luggage get lost it was because someone took my bag by mistake. This was coming off Queen Mary 2. I walked around the Brooklyn terminal, but the bag was just not there. The luggage people (supervisors, not porters) helped me look, and as I was filling out the paperwork, the supervisor pointed to a black garment bag. She said, "I know it isn't your garment bag, but isn't it odd that it's sitting there all alone where yours should be?" So she went and got it. The tag had name, home address in UK, but no phone, so we couldn't call. Destination was "Anthem of the Seas" (or one of the RCCL ships). So we knew he was transferring to Bayonne. The supervisor called over to that terminal and put a notice on his account so that they could ask him about luggage when he checked in. When they asked him, he he said he had all of his luggage (and of course by now it was with the porters, so he couldn't check). NO he didn't. He had the right number of pieces, but if we were standing in Brooklyn looking at his garment bag, one of "his" pieces wasn't his. Unfortunately, Anthem didn't find my bag right away, so it went on a Caribbean cruise, and then was shipped to me when it returned to Bayonne (with MY Cunard disembarkation tag on it). So I did eventually get everything back, but it was a very stressful morning trying to track down the bag. 

 

This happend on a Saturday. On the following Monday, the supervisor called me to make sure I knew that the bag was "in the system and that I would get it." She said she took the man's bag over to the Anthem, and when she handed it to him IN PERSON, he still denied that he had taken anyone else's bag. I think when it got to his room, he just took it somewhere and left it rather than admit his mistake. 

 

So the moral of the story is, please fill out your disembarkation tag WITH A PHONE NUMBER. My number was on my bag--he could have called me, but I doubt he noticed the mistake (or that my bag was bigger and heavier than his). If this guy had 'fessed up and told someone he had the wrong bag, I might have been called in time to get the bag before it went on an extra cruise. And PLEASE, if you take someone else's bag, do that person a favor and give the bag to someone who can get it to the proper owner.

 

[Fouremco]

3 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

And PLEASE, if you take someone else's bag, do that person a favor and give the bag to someone who can get it to the proper owner.

There was an interesting anecdote posted a few years ago on one of the boards about a couple arriving in their cabin to find two suitcases that weren't theirs, so they shoved them under the beds. Their own bags arrived somewhat later, and they went about unpacking and enjoying their cruise. In the mean time, the owners of the bags went without their possessions or a change in clothing for the entire cruise, although the cruise line compensated them for a number of onboard purchases. The "missing" bags were finally discovered by the cabin steward on turnover day.

[bestmamabird]

17 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

 

 

Edited May 5, 2019 by bestmamabird

[bestmamabird]

Yikes!  Someone once once took a piece of my luggage, as well. I was frantic. And then suddenly it reappeared. Thankfully, the absconder discovered their mistake before they left the terminal.

[KroozNut]

Just curious... If the color on the luggage tags doesn't matter, then why does HAL even bother to provide them in color for printing?

[richwmn]

16 minutes ago, KroozNut said:

Just curious... If the color on the luggage tags doesn't matter, then why does HAL even bother to provide them in color for printing?

If there is more than one HAL ship in port the color is a quick indication that the bag might be on the wrong ship.

 

[KroozNut]

2 minutes ago, richwmn said:

If there is more than one HAL ship in port the color is a quick indication that the bag might be on the wrong ship.

 

Makes sense. Which also supports the need to print in color rather than black/white in those situations. We always print our tags in color.

[Fouremco]

5 minutes ago, KroozNut said:

Makes sense. Which also supports the need to print in color rather than black/white in those situations. We always print our tags in color.

None of the embarkation ports that we have used had a single drop off point for multiple ships. Consequently, I'm really not worried about my bags accidentally heading off to the wrong terminal and ship. I've used b&w luggage tags for several years without any issue and without any comment from the luggage handlers.

[Moriah]

2 hours ago, Fouremco said:

There was an interesting anecdote posted a few years ago on one of the boards about a couple arriving in their cabin to find two suitcases that weren't theirs, so they shoved them under the beds. Their own bags arrived somewhat later, and they went about unpacking and enjoying their cruise. In the mean time, the owners of the bags went without their possessions or a change in clothing for the entire cruise, although the cruise line compensated them for a number of onboard purchases. The "missing" bags were finally discovered by the cabin steward on turnover day.

 

O.M.G.  I am sitting here with my mouth hanging open. Are you serious? This kind of thing makes me embarrassed to be human.  I am just flabbergasted. 

[fatcat04]

4 minutes ago, Moriah said:

 

O.M.G.  I am sitting here with my mouth hanging open. Are you serious? This kind of thing makes me embarrassed to be human.  I am just flabbergasted. 

Yup. As my Granny said, "Some folks don't got the sense God gave a goose."

Edited May 5, 2019 by fatcat04

[SWeaster]

On 5/5/2019 at 2:29 PM, Moriah said:

 

O.M.G.  I am sitting here with my mouth hanging open. Are you serious? This kind of thing makes me embarrassed to be human.  I am just flabbergasted. 

You would think that they would call the Front Desk to report the luggage that wasn't theirs.  How would these people feel if they were on the receiving end of misplaced bags?