Carry on for 3 day per cruise?

[vacationgogo]

Hi Everyone. I have read some posts in the "what to pack" threads referring to bringing a carry on for the 3 day land portion of the trip that precedes the cruise. I was wondering about this. Is this strictly for convenience or is the main luggage inaccessible during that time? I don't know why it would be but I am just confused about the whole thing. Thanks in advance.

[vacationgogo]

Sorry, the title should read pre cruise not per cruise.

[Nan_Sea]

If it Alaska you are referring to, you are only allowed a small carry on on the train. The rest of your luggage is shipped.

[Pam in CA]

If you are referring to an Alaskan pre-cruise, there are space limitations as you have only the space under your bench seat and around your feet. No overhead as that's clear for scenic viewing. It's very casual so you don't need that much. Your luggage is transferred directly to the ship.

[vacationgogo]

Thanks for your replies. Yes, it is the Alaskan cruise. We start in Fairbanks, take a bus to Denali and a bus to McKinley. Then it's a train ride to Whittier. When do they take our luggage and any suggestions on what we should pack in the carry-ons? I will be traveling with my husband and 2 grown daughters, so we are 4 adults. Are we permitted one carry-on per person? Thanks again.

[caribill]

You can read about the luggage on an Alaskan tour before the cruise at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1727858

[vacationgogo]

Thanks Caribill!

[vacationgogo]

Caribill, thank you so much for that comprehensive, thorough description of what happens to the luggage and where it goes and for all of those great pictures! The only thing I am still unsure of is if the "see you tonight suitcase is the same one that follows you on land. Is it just see you tonight for the first night and then marked each successive night for the next destination? In any event, I get the idea. One large piece of luggage will go directly to the ship from Fairbanks .

[caribill]

Caribill, thank you so much for that comprehensive, thorough description of what happens to the luggage and where it goes and for all of those great pictures! The only thing I am still unsure of is if the "see you tonight suitcase is the same one that follows you on land. Is it just see you tonight for the first night and then marked each successive night for the next destination? In any event, I get the idea. One large piece of luggage will go directly to the ship from Fairbanks .

 

Right, that is the one that follows you to each of the land stops.

 

All the luggage goes to your first hotel. For the remaining stops, only the "see you tonight" one goes with you. After your last land hotel, the next place you will see it is on the ship and you use the regular ship luggage tag for that.

 

Normnally on a trip we each have one suitcase with each person's "stuff." What we did for that trip was pack one suitcase with the "stuff" for both of us for land and one with "stuff" for both of us for the ship. Since there were two of us, we each could have had our one suitcase for the entire land tour, but it was convenient to have just one to deal with at each stop.

 

By the way, since the luggage travels seperately from you from place to place, both suitcases were already in our cabin when we first boarded the ship.

Edited February 9, 2014 by caribill

[LeeW]

They do a great job of handling luggage - usually your "travel with" suitcases are in your hotel room before you get there. Cruisetour explanations are pretty good on the Princess site:

 

http://www.princess.com/learn/faq_answer/cruisetours/cruisetours_alaska.jsp

 

You can also download the full Cruisetour Answer Guide at that link.