Luggage tags

[Stefken]

4 hours ago, GOARMY said:

Stefken: 

 

Referencing previous Posts 9,10, and 39--

 

Small, but important point--

 

Regent's pre cruise Hotel protocol over the past seven or eight years--at least--has been to place luggage INSIDE the room near to the front door NLT 1000H on embarkation day for pick-up by Staff.

 

Previous procedure was to put the luggage in the hallway outside one's hotel door.  Probably a change in the interests of security. 

 

Again, suggest you don't wait to find out what arrives, or does not arrive in your pre cruise packet in a few weeks concerning BLANK baggage tags.  (Blank except for the Deck designation.)  Call your TA and Regent.  Request an answer--now. 

 

Good luck. 

 

GO ARMY!

  

Hadn’t read posts 9, 10,39 before posting my three pence worth, sorry. 

I will get in touch with our Regent contact, see what’s happening.  Still looking forward to our cruise though.

[Boatmans Lady]

At The pre cruise hotel now. 

 

Instructions are to leave our cases outside our room doors by 07.30.

 

No deck labels (I have made my own and brought them)

 

No blank labels to fill in to say what bus we are on. 

There are 10 leaving at 20 minute intervals. 

 

I'm presuming that we will have to identify our luggage as per the emailed instructions at the pier and label them before checking in and boarding. 

 

This is from a Brits experience as we no longer get the Regent package with everything in. 

But why they can't email deck labels out is beyond me as other companies do, but getting 'that' package set Regent apart and started 'The Luxury' experience off. 

[CAT58]

11 minutes ago, Boatmans Lady said:

At The pre cruise hotel now. 

 

Instructions are to leave our cases outside our room doors by 07.30.

 

No deck labels (I have made my own and brought them)

 

No blank labels to fill in to say what bus we are on. 

There are 10 leaving at 20 minute intervals. 

 

I'm presuming that we will have to identify our luggage as per the emailed instructions at the pier and label them before checking in and boarding. 

 

This is from a Brits experience as we no longer get the Regent package with everything in. 

But why they can't email deck labels out is beyond me as other companies do, but getting 'that' package set Regent apart and started 'The Luxury' experience off. 

Sounds like a recipe for disaster!  Still finding it difficult to believe that a 'luxury' cruise company think this is ok - especially treating UK and USA clients differently.

[flossie009]

18 hours ago, GOARMY said:

Regent's pre cruise Hotel protocol over the past seven or eight years--at least--has been to place luggage INSIDE the room near to the front door NLT 1000H on embarkation day for pick-up by Staff.

 

This system led to an unfortunate experience for a couple we met on our Mariner voyage out of Miami last December.

Their luggage was not collected from inside their hotel room and did not make it to the ship before we sailed 😱

 

 

I agree with others that the lack of Regent luggage labels for UK guests is liable to make this type of error even more likely ☹️

 

[CJANDH]

On 3/24/2022 at 5:56 PM, scottie920 said:

Are you based in UK?

No. South Carolina, USA

[scottie920]

9 minutes ago, CJANDH said:

No. South Carolina, USA

Ahhh, that explains it!
 

Regrettably it is just UK guests that have to try to make their own. 

[Boatmans Lady]

Just a quick update. Luggage had to be outside our door by 07.30.

Was still there when we had finished showering and dressing, so we opened one case and put our toiletries and night attire safely aware in one of the cases. 

The coach tours run fairly to time, maybe a few minutes late whilst they searched for missing passengers who hadn't informed them that they were making their own way to the port. 

Transfer was trouble free and once at the port we were expecting to have to identify our luggage but got directed straight to check in.

Be warned they are also checking temperatures at Citivecchia. 

What we didn't know was the luggage wasn't travelling with us, it had been picked up by lorry which arrived after us. 

All was good and our luggage arrived in dribs and drabs but all was good. 

 

[scottie920]

32 minutes ago, Boatmans Lady said:

Just a quick update. Luggage had to be outside our door by 07.30.

Was still there when we had finished showering and dressing, so we opened one case and put our toiletries and night attire safely aware in one of the cases. 

The coach tours run fairly to time, maybe a few minutes late whilst they searched for missing passengers who hadn't informed them that they were making their own way to the port. 

Transfer was trouble free and once at the port we were expecting to have to identify our luggage but got directed straight to check in.

Be warned they are also checking temperatures at Citivecchia. 

What we didn't know was the luggage wasn't travelling with us, it had been picked up by lorry which arrived after us. 

All was good and our luggage arrived in dribs and drabs but all was good. 

 

Thank you for the updates. Enjoy your cruise. 😊🛳🍾

[islandchick]

14 hours ago, Boatmans Lady said:

At The pre cruise hotel now. 

 

Instructions are to leave our cases outside our room doors by 07.30.

 

No deck labels (I have made my own and brought them)

 

No blank labels to fill in to say what bus we are on. 

There are 10 leaving at 20 minute intervals. 

 

I'm presuming that we will have to identify our luggage as per the emailed instructions at the pier and label them before checking in and boarding. 

 

This is from a Brits experience as we no longer get the Regent package with everything in. 

But why they can't email deck labels out is beyond me as other companies do, but getting 'that' package set Regent apart and started 'The Luxury' experience off. 

This may be a stupid question but is it standard at the pre cruise hotel to have to put your bags out by 730 am. If so this is ridiculous. I certainly don't want to get up that early on a vacation. If this is true I guess we will uber from our pre cruise Miami hotel to the ship. 

[GOARMY]

Based on very-recent postings: 

 

Appears the only constant in pre-cruise hotel protocol as to baggage pick-up and transfer to ship is--- Change. 

 

The "standard" time for prepositioning luggage has varied a-bit; but cannot recall day of embarkation time being as early as 0730H.  One variable at play is distance from the hotel to dockside.  Longer the travel-time; earlier the pick-up.  Examples:  London to Southampton; Rome to Civitavecchia. 

 

Most-recent experiences were relative short hauls:  Stockholm in 2019; Barcelona last October.  We were in those hotels' lobbies awaiting van transfer to ship (Explorer)--when passenger luggage was being wheeled out to waiting trucks.  Recall pick-up time was NLT 1000H, same day, as referenced above.  Luggage arrived at Explorer before we did.    

 

GOARMY! 

 

 

 

 

[Stefken]

On our last cruise, Peru to Rio, we had to have our luggage outside our hotel room by 23.00hrs. Just kept a small carry on bag, in which to put over night stuff. Worked a dream.

 

Ready to see what the protocol is for Venice Hotel. 
 

Don’t fancy having to get luggage onto a GONDOLA . as hotel on an Island. Hehe. I have faith in Regent to do it right.

 

 

[swansong]

Just an update on this. As promised I said I would summarize the response from the MD Regent UK . 

The lack of sending out luggage tags in advance in the UK and Europe ( the UK is in Europe! ) is a trial of Edocs due to end in June. It appears it is going well ( not my experience) and is likely to be rolled out world wide in June.

 

Deck specific luggage tags should be given out at the port.

 

Apparently my experience was an aberration and has been brought to the attention of Miami.

No answer to my question relating as to how this trial was being evaluated was given.

 

I do hope that things do work out to the benefit of the guests but if anyone ( in Europe!) has a similar experience to myself then please let them know as otherwise I can’t think how Regent would know that there were issues.

 

Time will tell.

 

[seasickphil]

57 minutes ago, swansong said:

Just an update on this. As promised I said I would summarize the response from the MD Regent UK . 

The lack of sending out luggage tags in advance in the UK and Europe ( the UK is in Europe! ) is a trial of Edocs due to end in June. It appears it is going well ( not my experience) and is likely to be rolled out world wide in June.

 

Deck specific luggage tags should be given out at the port.

 

Apparently my experience was an aberration and has been brought to the attention of Miami.

No answer to my question relating as to how this trial was being evaluated was given.

 

I do hope that things do work out to the benefit of the guests but if anyone ( in Europe!) has a similar experience to myself then please let them know as otherwise I can’t think how Regent would know that there were issues.

 

Time will tell.

 

The cynic in me think it is nothing more than a cost cutting movement by Regent.

[flossie009]

@swansong,

Thanks for the update on the response you received from Graham Sadler in Southampton.

 

Just a few open questions that do not seem to have been addressed:

1. Did Regent(UK) bother to contact their customers, & TAs, in advance to explain that the trial was about to commence and to not expect a document package (including luggage tags) in advance of their cruise?
2. Was the process of issuing luggage tags at the ports communicated to customers, and port staff?
3. Does Regent not foresee potential issues with untagged luggage being transported from airport to hotel to ship? (especially on occasions when luggage is transported separately from the guests - see post #82 above)
4. What system is in place to collect feedback on the trial? 
5. What is the benefit to the customer of not receiving luggage tags in advance of the cruise?

 

 

Edited March 30, 2022 by flossie009

[seasickphil]

1 hour ago, flossie009 said:

@swansong,

Thanks for the update on the response you received from Graham Sadler in Southampton.

 

Just a few open questions that do not seem to have been addressed:

1. Did Regent(UK) bother to contact their customers, & TAs, in advance to explain that the trial was about to commence and to not expect a document package (including luggage tags) in advance of their cruise?
2. Was the process of issuing luggage tags at the ports communicated to customers, and port staff?
3. Does Regent not foresee potential issues with untagged luggage being transported from airport to hotel to ship? (especially on occasions when luggage is transported separately from the guests - see post #82 above)
4. What system is in place to collect feedback on the trial? 
5. What is the benefit to the customer of not receiving luggage tags in advance of the cruise?

 

 

flossie009

I can answer question number 1 and partly 2.

For our upcoming cruise 5th April we received an email on 11/01/22 regarding this trial. It went on say they have streamlined our operations in order that we meet international covid and safety requirements.

1 You will receive all necessary travel documentation and information,timeously,by email.

2 Simply check in online and on the day of departure arrive at the cruise terminal, passport in hand.

3 Luggage will be tagged before you step aboard for your unforgettable cruise.

 

Note they do not say who will tag the luggage. 

 

 

 

[PhD-iva]

13 hours ago, seasickphil said:

 

1 You will receive all necessary travel documentation and information,timeously,by email.

 

Again my favorite new word, “timeously”!

[flossie009]

17 hours ago, seasickphil said:

It went on say they have streamlined our operations in order that we meet international covid and safety requirements.

I am not sure that lack of luggage tags meets any international requirements or streamlines the boarding process 🤔

1 You will receive all necessary travel documentation and information, timeously, by email.

That is fine and is the same as previously

2 Simply check in online and on the day of departure arrive at the cruise terminal, passport in hand.

For most cruises the guest needs more documentation than just their passport - cruise docs, boarding pass, vaccination certificates & sometimes relevant visas or visa waivers

3 Luggage will be tagged before you step aboard for your unforgettable cruise.

Sounds simple but I worry that the process may not be that slick

I still do not understand the advantages of changing from the previous process. Surely the minor cost & environmental savings will be wiped out by reduced customer satisfaction and potential errors resulting from untagged or incorrectly labelled luggage ................ or am I just showing my age by objecting to change?

 

4 hours ago, PhD-iva said:

Again my favorite new word, “timeously”!

Someone swallowed a Scottish dictionary 😉

 

 

[UUNetBill]

21 hours ago, seasickphil said:

... It went on say they have streamlined our operations in order that we meet international covid and safety requirements.

...

3 Luggage will be tagged before you step aboard for your unforgettable cruise.

Can someone explain to me how tagging your own bags and setting them out to be picked up is a better process (Covid-wise) than clustering everyone together with the dock workers tagging stuff in person?  Seems WAY counter-productive to me...

[swansong]

I did reply to Graham Sadler suggesting that if Regent were determined not to send luggage tags in advance then it would be more appropriate to issue them either at the incoming airport or at the pre cruise hotel depending on the guests arrangements as they would have their luggage by their side at the time.

 

Guests travelling independently would arrive at the port with only their own luggage so it wouldn’t be an issue.

[Boatmans Lady]

On 3/26/2022 at 10:26 PM, islandchick said:

This may be a stupid question but is it standard at the pre cruise hotel to have to put your bags out by 730 am. If so this is ridiculous. I certainly don't want to get up that early on a vacation. If this is true I guess we will uber from our pre cruise Miami hotel to the ship. 

 

Just to add, our cases weren't picked up until about 9.30am

[flossie009]

On 3/30/2022 at 6:54 PM, swansong said:

Just an update on this. As promised I said I would summarize the response from the MD Regent UK . 

The lack of sending out luggage tags in advance in the UK and Europe ( the UK is in Europe! ) is a trial of Edocs due to end in June. It appears it is going well ( not my experience) and is likely to be rolled out world wide in June.

We are now in June, so what is the latest on the supply of luggage tags for European customers and elsewhere?

I do hope Regent has recognised that this "trial' was an unwelcome retrograde step

 

[Huggsy]

1 hour ago, flossie009 said:

We are now in June, so what is the latest on the supply of luggage tags for European customers and elsewhere?

I do hope Regent has recognised that this "trial' was an unwelcome retrograde step

 

As I've previously posted on here before, back in January I rang Regent requesting luggage tags. I was told that as staff were still working from home they weren't available to be posted out and I'd have to wait until arrival at the terminal to obtain them (I ended up making my own.) A few weeks ago in Regent's newsletter Graham Sadler's intro extolled the benefits of how wonderful it was to be back in the office (Southampton HQ) with a full complement of staff with everything back to normal. So you'd think that now,  something as basic as luggage tags could be provided by a so called luxury cruise company.🙄

[wishIweretravelling]

Cruise lines bled money for two years. The price of fuel, food, beverage, labor, and everything else is skyrocketing worldwide. If Regent can find ways to trim expenses that don't severely harm the on-board experience, so be it. If an alternative process for tagging bags works and helps them keep the fares from exploding and avoid the fate of Crystal Cruises, I'll go with it. 

[Huggsy]

33 minutes ago, wishIweretravelling said:

Cruise lines bled money for two years. The price of fuel, food, beverage, labor, and everything else is skyrocketing worldwide. If Regent can find ways to trim expenses that don't severely harm the on-board experience, so be it. If an alternative process for tagging bags works and helps them keep the fares from exploding and avoid the fate of Crystal Cruises, I'll go with it. 

Can't disagree with you there but if that's the case then they should treat everybody the same no matter which side of the pond are their customers.

[1982CruzStart]

I would have no problem with not receiving luggage tags with my documents if they would provide a pdf by email of the luggage tag that i can complete and print off at home. Other cruise lines have done that and it works very well. 

I concur it would be nice if everyone was treated the same but as been commented on many times on these boards the people from the US  (and by default Canada) have benefits that those across the pond don't get. As most ships have a majority of American passengers they are going to cater to their largest client base.