FTTF= No Need For Porters?

[Pesh]

I've never purchased FTTF and am not as experienced a cruiser as most of you are, so thanks for your help with this question! If you purchase FTTF, does it make sense to just carry all your luggage on-board (rather than giving it to the porters) since your room will be ready and you can drop it off? We never bring a ton of luggage, one small wheel bag each and a backpack/tote bag each. Seems like it makes sense to do that so you don't have to wait for your bag? Or is there something I'm not considering?

[KenMo]

If it fits through the scanner (like at the airport), you can carry it on.

[E&B]

One of the perks of FTTF is priority luggage delivery. Why schlep all that luggage when you'll have it sooner anyway?

[riffatsea]

We have always carried our luggage on and off the ship whether we had FTTF or not.

We travel light like you with only 1 wheeled bag +tote or backpack. We have never seen the point of handing the luggage to someone else when we are capable of carrying it ourselves.

[sid_9169]

I always carry everything on and off myself... No need to worry about when it shows up or how it is handled or mishandled...

[Pesh]

One of the perks of FTTF is priority luggage delivery. Why schlep all that luggage when you'll have it sooner anyway?

 

Well, as I said, I don't bring a ton of luggage, so there's not much to schlep. I fly every other week for work so I'm a (self-declared) expert packer :) Although I did forget about priority luggage delivery...still seems like more hassle to have to hand it off and wait for it (and risk it getting lost) than just wheeling it right to your cabin yourself.

[LostPuppy]

I do carry on only and give my airline roller bag to the porter keeping my back-pack. Works for me, just one less thing to schlep on my way to the Atrium Bar.

Edited January 14, 2016 by LostPuppy

[sandij]

If it fits through the scanner and isn't many items I don't see a problem bringing it on yourself. If you have more than two small pieces I could see problem when you have to wait in a room to board and you will need to keep it out of everyone else's way and keep track of it too.

[springs741]

If you can easily carry on your items then that would work. It sounds like a great way to make sure your luggage doesn't get lost or squished under everyone else's.

 

Personally I am vacation and have no intention of pulling my suitcase from drop off thru check in and up the long ramp to the ship and all the way to my room. For most cruises hubby and I each have a suitcase, hubby has his backpack and I have a carry on. Not excessive but I guess I am spoiled.

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[WLHyatt]

Most of the time with FTTF, our luggage beats us to our room.

[Pesh]

If you can easily carry on your items then that would work. It sounds like a great way to make sure your luggage doesn't get lost or squished under everyone else's.

 

Personally I am vacation and have no intention of pulling my suitcase from drop off thru check in and up the long ramp to the ship and all the way to my room. For most cruises hubby and I each have a suitcase, hubby has his backpack and I have a carry on. Not excessive but I guess I am spoiled.

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Springs, I know you're an experienced cruiser, so let me ask you - does luggage often get lost or misplaced? That's another concern of mine that's making me think it might be better to carry it on myself.

[evandbob]

Well, as I said, I don't bring a ton of luggage, so there's not much to schlep. I fly every other week for work so I'm a (self-declared) expert packer :) Although I did forget about priority luggage delivery...still seems like more hassle to have to hand it off and wait for it (and risk it getting lost) than just wheeling it right to your cabin yourself.

 

You've answered you're own question. The only time I didn't wheel my luggage onto the ship was for a Med and Alaskan cruise.

 

I'm platinum, so as boarding begins, my room is ready, and I can be unpacked in 15 minutes or so. I don't bother waiting to see if my luggage has arrived yet.

[The4Cruisers]

Unlike at an airport where bags are sent in different directions to different planes and cities, the cruise ship luggage is usually takes a direct route from the curb to the ship to the rooms.

 

Does luggage get lost? Yes, sometimes it can. Typically it would be delayed and not "lost". Luggage can also get wet while being transferred to the ship(oops!).

 

We had one incident where we didn't get our luggage. We arrived at the port with our tags on the luggage and we were upgraded at the check-in counter to a balcony room. After we didn't get our luggage delivered to the new room, I checked and found our luggage in the hallway outside our original room.

 

Nothing is perfect, but I think you'll find very little luggage is ever lost.

[Taters]

We usually take longer cruises, so have always checked bags with the porter. So far, have never lost one. Hooray! (Knocking on wood her, though!)

[BAV2005]

I'm sure it's very rare but a friend of mine was on a cruise where they dropped an entire load of luggage into the gulf [emoji15] I'm sure that's a one in a million chance but having FTTF, I'll be carrying on our bags! There will be 4 of us in a cove so packing light is a given! [emoji16]

[HectorAchilleus]

One of the perks of FTTF is priority luggage delivery. Why schlep all that luggage when you'll have it sooner anyway?

 

I am not FTTF but am a Plat. I have found that the early luggage is usually 50/50. I am not sure what time it is supposed to come, but on 3 of our last 6 cruises it came after the Muster drill or even after dinner.

 

Often the cabins around me without the stickers end up with theirs before we get ours. My wife attributes it to the fact that we get there early (around 10:00) and it gets buried by the later arrivals.

 

If you want it sooner, I would recommend carrying it on.

[Roscoe13]

I've never purchased FTTF and am not as experienced a cruiser as most of you are, so thanks for your help with this question! If you purchase FTTF, does it make sense to just carry all your luggage on-board (rather than giving it to the porters) since your room will be ready and you can drop it off? We never bring a ton of luggage, one small wheel bag each and a backpack/tote bag each. Seems like it makes sense to do that so you don't have to wait for your bag? Or is there something I'm not considering?

 

You will probably carry yours on and that's great. The very first perk of FTTF is handing my baggage to the porter and a soon as he/she puts the orange priority sticker on my bags I hand the porter a couple of ones and smile knowing that I'm being perked!

[Micahs Grandad]

I am not FTTF but am a Plat. I have found that the early luggage is usually 50/50. I am not sure what time it is supposed to come, but on 3 of our last 6 cruises it came after the Muster drill or even after dinner.

 

Often the cabins around me without the stickers end up with theirs before we get ours. My wife attributes it to the fact that we get there early (around 10:00) and it gets buried by the later arrivals.

 

If you want it sooner, I would recommend carrying it on.

 

We are recently Diamond and dont see a difference as to when our luggage arrives.

 

If you can bring it on the ship. Less chance of it being mishandled and destroyed. Have lost several pieces of luggage over the years due to mishandling.

[beachbum53]

I am not FTTF but am a Plat. I have found that the early luggage is usually 50/50. I am not sure what time it is supposed to come, but on 3 of our last 6 cruises it came after the Muster drill or even after dinner.

 

Often the cabins around me without the stickers end up with theirs before we get ours. My wife attributes it to the fact that we get there early (around 10:00) and it gets buried by the later arrivals.

 

If you want it sooner, I would recommend carrying it on.

 

Maybe it depends on how Priority bags are handled at a specific port. Most of our cruises have been out of Miami. Since we first started purchasing FTTF, we usually have our luggage by about 1:00 p.m. I think once we didn't get it until after we got back to our cabin after the Muster Drill, which was still before sail away.

[sandij]

In the 30 some years we have cruised we have never had luggage lost, we did have one delayed last year because the tag was ripped off. I just waited until after dinner and went to customer service and they took me to a room where all the undeliverable luggage was and I pulled my one piece out and left. We always think we attach those tags securely but with all the throwing and bumping they can be torn off. So you will avoid that if you carry your own on, but I still check mine. It's a long walk up the ramp and the main elevators are usually being used by the crew, so a lot of stairs if you're far from the boarding deck.

Edited January 14, 2016 by sandij

[Pyrate13]

Just an FYI, FTTF doesn't guarantee you will receive your luggage early either.

 

We had it (FTTF) for the first time on our last cruise, luggage didn't show up until after 5PM. Well after most other cabins had received theirs (we could see it delivered in the hallway all afternoon). I checked with GS at 3 PM and they had no idea where it was. They made a phone call and told me they didn't even show it coming aboard yet. Checked back at 4:30, after they made another phone call, again they had no idea where it was. Called the cabin about 5 and told my wife a housekeeping person had found it but didn't/wouldn't say where.

 

On another note, we didn't get priority check in either, which you are also supposed to get with FTTF. Waited in the long line only to have the counter person tell us we were in the wrong line (the line where we were told to go by the security person in the terminal) and needed to go to another line on the other side of the building because that's where they handled FTTF. Wrong answer lady, you take care of it right here was my basic response to that one. She did but she had to go to the other side to get our S&S cards.

 

After several complaints about paying for a service we didn't receive (luggage & check in) GS did refund the FTTF fee to our shipboard account.

 

Oh well, got past it, still had a great time.

[StolidCruiser]

I completely get the light traveller who carry on their luggage, but the more people who choose to carry on all their luggage for preference or fear of becoming the rare statistic of lost luggage only adds to the time it take to run it all through terminal security and the crowdedness of people of their multiple bags.

 

In no way do I mean to say people shouldnt be free to do so (I'm all for it!) but there are ramifications to doing so. Just my thought ... ignore my ramblings if you can. :)

[Pesh]

I completely get the light traveller who carry on their luggage, but the more people who choose to carry on all their luggage for preference or fear of becoming the rare statistic of lost luggage only adds to the time it take to run it all through terminal security and the crowdedness of people of their multiple bags.

 

 

 

In no way do I mean to say people shouldnt be free to do so (I'm all for it!) but there are ramifications to doing so. Just my thought ... ignore my ramblings if you can. :)

 

 

The reason I was thinking about carrying on wasn't due to fear of lost luggage, it was due to having FTTF and being able to drop off my luggage right away since the room will be ready. But after reading all these comments it looks like the juice isn't worth the squeeze [emoji4]

[franknberry]

One of the perks of FTTF is priority luggage delivery. Why schlep all that luggage when you'll have it sooner anyway?

 

Does this FTTF mean the other people bags are last?

[trippintex]

tip porter 5 dollars a bag gets in pile that moves tip just 5 dollars it gets moved in side and set to last money talks with longshoremen