Embarkation-Dropping off Carry-ons in Room

[Homala]

I’ve read conflicting tips on CC about whether it is ok to drop off carry-ons in your room upon embarkation. I have a relatively early boarding time coming up (11:00), so I expect our room won’t be ready yet.  But IF the “fire doors” are open, would it be ok to drop off our carry-on bags before heading to lunch?  (I wouldn’t even try if the doors are closed.)  I don’t want to get in the way of the crew, who I know are working extra hard to get those rooms ready.  But, boy, it would be nice to drop off those bags before lunch. Or I may take my chances and leave them with my regular luggage with the porters to be delivered and hope it all gets to my room before (early) dinner. TIA

[CruiserBruce]

Your 11am time is "check in", not boarding. Check in can take a few minutes, and then you will likely find yourself waiting a little for boarding to begin. Boarding starts around 11:30, depending on when the rooms are ready. Yes, occasionally, the fire doors are still closed in a section or two, but that is usually for a very short time. I think its happened to us once in 15 cruises.

 

Otherwise it is definitely a good idea to drop your bags in the cabin.

[Homala]

Yes, good point that I won’t actually board at 11:00, but still probable that I’ll be on board before the MDR is open for lunch, which is where we typically have lunch upon embarkation. So it sounds like, if the doors are open in order to access the rooms, then we can drop off bags without annoying the crew. That’s great. Thanks CruiserBruce. You are always very helpful. 

[zgscl]

9 hours ago, Homala said:

I’ve read conflicting tips on CC about whether it is ok to drop off carry-ons in your room upon embarkation. I have a relatively early boarding time coming up (11:00), so I expect our room won’t be ready yet.  But IF the “fire doors” are open, would it be ok to drop off our carry-on bags before heading to lunch?  (I wouldn’t even try if the doors are closed.)  I don’t want to get in the way of the crew, who I know are working extra hard to get those rooms ready.  But, boy, it would be nice to drop off those bags before lunch. Or I may take my chances and leave them with my regular luggage with the porters to be delivered and hope it all gets to my room before (early) dinner. TIA

In 17 cruises with HAL I have never not had my room ready on embarkation even when we are among the first onboard. There is a 99.9995% chance your room will be ready for you. This is one of the things HAL does exceptionally well and is very consistent about. 

Edited May 21, 2023 by zgscl

[Florida_gal_50]

3 minutes ago, zgscl said:

In 17 cruises with HAL I have never not had my room ready on embarkation even when we are among the first onboard. There is a 99.9995% chance your room will be ready for you. This is one of the things HAL does exceptionally well and is very consistent about. 

I haven’t had quite the same luck.  I’d say about 70 percent of time the room was ready.  Had to wait until noon on my last cruise.

[zgscl]

2 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I haven’t had quite the same luck.  I’d say about 70 percent of time the room was ready.  Had to wait until noon on my last cruise.

I will knock on wood then! 

[Haljo1935]

Regardless of cabin being ready or not, so long as fire doors are open, it's completely acceptable to drop your bags in your cabin.

I put them on the sofa so they're not in the way and let stewards know if I see them. If I don't see them, I just leave a short note ("dropped off my bags - be back when the cabin's ready") and move on.

Eurodam April 29 it was not ready when we dropped bags but was ready when we finished lunch.

NA Feb 5 & 12 (B2B w/cabin change) neither were ready.

Koningsdam Nov 26 & Dec 3 (B2B w/cabin change) neither were ready.

NS Oct cabin was ready.

Enjoy your cruise!!

Edited May 21, 2023 by Haljo1935