Which is best for you (Bags outside cabin last night OR self assist)?

[SmoothFlying]

I surely don't want to start a 'feud'.:) Because up till out last cruise (March/2017) we've always done the 'self' thingee,. But this March we though, 'What the heck, we've got an extra day to get home, let's be wild and crazy and just leave the 2 bags outside the last night, keeping our important items-i.e. meds,paper work, passport, documents for ICE and toiletries with us in the carryon. And if debarking hadn't been pushed back an hour because of mechanical problems with the Port Auth Blg at Port Canaveral, I didn't see where it held us any longer than self assist. Of course we STILL had the long lines, both to get off the ship and passport but it seems like that's a fact of life regardless of which choice you take. Just wondering what the 'peanut gallery' choice and thoughts would be. :)

 

Mac

[Flatbush Flyer]

I surely don't want to start a 'feud'.:) Because up till out last cruise (March/2017) we've always done the 'self' thingee,. But this March we though, 'What the heck, we've got an extra day to get home, let's be wild and crazy and just leave the 2 bags outside the last night, keeping our important items-i.e. meds,paper work, passport, documents for ICE and toiletries with us in the carryon. And if debarking hadn't been pushed back an hour because of mechanical problems with the Port Auth Blg at Port Canaveral, I didn't see where it held us any longer than self assist. Of course we STILL had the long lines, both to get off the ship and passport but it seems like that's a fact of life regardless of which choice you take. Just wondering what the 'peanut gallery' choice and thoughts would be. :)

 

 

 

Mac

 

 

I'll never understand why that handful of folks cart their own bags around when they've already paid for someone else to do it.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[cb at sea]

We pack up and put our bags out...and still get off the ship in time for an early flight! About midway thru your cruise, they will ask those with early flights to let them know, so they can be off early. That's what we do.

[moswinner1]

I'll never understand why that handful of folks cart their own bags around when they've already paid for someone else to do it.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

If we are on a short cruise and only need a couple of small cases we take it off ourselves. Much quicker than the free for all that often goes on in the reclaim hall. Don't know if it's true or not but I've heard stories of peoples baggage going missing and their insurance company wouldn't pay out because the bags were left outside the cabin unattended where anyone can walk off with them.

[leaveitallbehind]

Out in the hall at night. RCI luggage valet where available.

[Hlitner]

We understand that some folks MUST book a relatively early flight for various reasons. But otherwise, we have long puzzled at why cruisers want to rush off the ship on that last morning. Instead, we prefer to be the last off the ship :). Rushing off the ship is often a real hassle of lines, tempers flaring, trying to find luggage among thousands of pieces or having to lug all our own luggage off the ship (express departure). And the latter can be a real hassle because with everyone fighting for an elevator just getting down to the right deck can be a hassle. So, we generally try to book an afternoon flight. Then, in the morning we go enjoy a leisure breakfast (while many are rushing to and fro). After breakfast we head back to our cabin, get our carry on/off stuff and head up to one of the top decks (usually the pool area) where we relax in a lounger and read our Kindles. While folks are fighting their way off the ship down below...we are relaxing in our loungers (often with some coffee) and enjoying our time on the ship (we paid to be on the ship..so why leave). Then, around 9:30 or a little later we grab an elevator (no wait) depart the ship, breeze through immigration (the lines are gone), grab our luggage (easy to find at this point), walk out of the terminal...and usually summon an Uber driver (although sometimes we will use a taxi).

 

Then we get to the airport and see that many of those folks who fought their way off the ship at the crack of dawn...are crammed into an airport seat (not nearly as comfy as our lounger on the ship) and already tired of waiting.

 

Hank

[wheezedr]

Really very cruise dependent. On most regular trips we leave them out overnight but last cruise we booked a very early, some said too early return out of FLL,, so we hand carried and went out as first group off and made the flight with ease. Not sure if picking up in the terminal would have worked as none of the bags were yet out when we walked through. Have also hand carried on a short 1-2 day repositioning where we had virtually no luggage.

[jamessemaj]

I have always put luggage out in the hall and every time worried about it. Once at the airport the security asked if the luggage was always in my control, and I to be honest I said no. Nothing happened and I was on my way.

[rkacruiser]

Luggage out in the hall is my choice. I arrange for travel plans post-cruise to accommodate possible delays in arrival and disembarkation. I want to be in no frantic hurry to leave my ship after the cruise.

 

And, I have learned to employ the services of a Porter in the Terminal to speed me through Customs/Immigration and to my transportation from the port.

[Nebr.cruiser]

I'm with Hank. If at all possible we try to be among the last off the ship. In the rare instance where we have to get off as soon as possible, we have done self-assist. Otherwise we put the bags out at night.

 

Flying to Nebraska, we often have limited options for flights, but still try not to do early ones. I'd rather sit in a comfortable lounge on the ship than in an airport. Our last cruise we were able to wait until the cruise line asked all remaining passengers to leave. Makes finding luggage and getting through lines much easier.

[SadieN]

We pack up and put our bags out...and still get off the ship in time for an early flight! About midway thru your cruise, they will ask those with early flights to let them know, so they can be off early. That's what we do.

 

 

Not every cruise line asks this. Princess does, Carnival doesn't.

 

For short cruises we take it off, as we take only one suitcase for both of us. Longer cruises we may or may not send them off at night. Really depends on how much we have with us.

[helen haywood]

The advantage of taking them off yourself? Not having to pay close attention to what you should leave in your carry on and what you can put out the night before. The disadvantage? Getting an elevator to disembark in the morning.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[griffy116]

In December, we went on a short cruise and only took a carry-on so we went off the ship with our carry on. All other cruises, we put them in the hall at night. I have trouble schlepping a large suitcase and carry-on by myself, which would put the burden of helping me on my family. We use a porter. As far as staying on the ship as long as possible? Just not for me. The ship's crew is on the pool deck with hoses, and is busy scrubbing everything down, readying the ship for the next group of passengers. That doesn't inspire relaxation for me and besides, I feel like I'm in their way while they're working on turn-around day. All the shops are closed and they are trying to get the food ready for the lunch crowd of new passengers. My cruise is over. Done. Ended. They are busy preparing my cabin for someone new. We clear out of the cabin as we head up to eat, thanking the cabin steward one last time for everything, and we don't return. We get off the ship and either head to the airport or head to a hotel for a post-cruise night before heading home. There is nothing leisurely about the last morning. I don't care how you try to think about it, leisure is just not what the last morning is about.

[Velvetwater]

I'll never understand why that handful of folks cart their own bags around when they've already paid for someone else to do it.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Some people might want to keep their luggage or pack in the morning instead. Theres also a lot of people that do not like bags outside of doors in general due to security.

 

The above is way more common among European cruisers and physically fit/young cruisers. On our Vista Med cruise we saw less luggage in hallways and lots of large bags around the Lido and Breakfast areas.

 

I find it slightly unnerving enough my bag is outside my room on embarkation day to want to put it out on the last day. Someone else handling it also increases the chance of it getting lost or being taken by someone else (on purpose or not) even though my bag is bright/unusual.

 

We do longish cruises mostly and my bag is huge (large size in most shops) but I am young and strong so carrying it off is no problem....but then again the same bag has trained it through Europe with with me pulling on and off transports.

[ExpatBride]

We always carry our own bags on and off the ship... mostly because they're Louis Vuitton and we don't want them thrown around.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We put our suitcases out the last night of the cruise. We always have 4 suitcases as our shortest cruise is 14 days plus we have hotel stays before and after our cruises.

[Flatbush Flyer]

Some people might want to keep their luggage or pack in the morning instead. Theres also a lot of people that do not like bags outside of doors in general due to security.

 

The above is way more common among European cruisers and physically fit/young cruisers. On our Vista Med cruise we saw less luggage in hallways and lots of large bags around the Lido and Breakfast areas.

 

I find it slightly unnerving enough my bag is outside my room on embarkation day to want to put it out on the last day. Someone else handling it also increases the chance of it getting lost or being taken by someone else (on purpose or not) even though my bag is bright/unusual.

 

We do longish cruises mostly and my bag is huge (large size in most shops) but I am young and strong so carrying it off is no problem....but then again the same bag has trained it through Europe with with me pulling on and off transports.

 

 

Do you really think someone wants somebody else's dirty laundry?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[cruisemom42]

Completely situational for me. All things being equal, I prefer to put out my bags and retrieve them shoreside. But occasionally I will need to get an exceptionally early start and I will carry off my own bags. For example, once I had to leave a ship at some ungodly hour like 3:00 am (ship was overnighting in Athens) in order to make my 7:00 am flight. There was really no other option...

[SuiteTraveler]

We do self-assist. It is generally no hassle as we pack light and we take a early flight home so we can get ready for work on Monday. Often the schedule in the US goes like this; up at 6am, shower, finish packing, breakfast at 6:30am, off the ship at 7:15, at the airport by 8:30, through security by 9:00, buy food for lunch on plane at the airport, do some window shopping in the airport or relax with our iPads. Board by 10:30 and at home airport by 1:30. Home around 2:30 or 3 pm. In the spring months, in particular, this schedule is beneficial as we tend to get powerful thunderstorms in Texas in the late afternoon or early evening, so getting home before 3pm pretty much saves us the hassle of our flight approaching our airport but not being able to land due to storms (and when that happens, planes often wind up flying to an airport north of our state, sitting on the ground and refueling while we wait for the storm to pass. I would rather do anything I could to avoid that. Also, if we land after 3, we have a chance of being in a rain storm or hail storm driving to our house, so getting home before 3pm is my overall goal.)

[Velvetwater]

Do you really think someone wants somebody else's dirty laundry?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

But many cases don't just contain that do they? We all know someone who throws valuable items in cases because its easier. Theres also the cruise line loosing it scenario and the 'sleepy person on embark morning' accidentally taking your bag if you own standard black rolling types.

 

I would just rather know whats happening with my bags and its also nice to leave whenever I like.

 

Slightly off topic but this point reminds me of a story ages ago where a lady was having a go at a UK train company as her Louis Vuitton luggage was stolen from a first class carriage luggage rack. That baby cost her over $1k

[jocap]

Once it'a that horrible last morning, I just want to be OFF! If possible, we want the 8.15 train, so we're usually in the queue bright and early...although we then hand our luggage over to a handling company once we're through immigration.

[grapau27]

The advantage of taking them off yourself? Not having to pay close attention to what you should leave in your carry on and what you can put out the night before. The disadvantage? Getting an elevator to disembark in the morning.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Good point.We always carry ours and in the morning our cases are sealed to go to the airport wheras we had to open the cases in departure's​ to put toiletries etc in as they are not allowed in hand luggage on the plane.

[SantaFeFan]

But many cases don't just contain that do they? We all know someone who throws valuable items in cases because its easier. Theres also the cruise line loosing it scenario and the 'sleepy person on embark morning' accidentally taking your bag if you own standard black rolling types.

 

I would just rather know whats happening with my bags .......

 

And there are those of us who aren't paranoid that every possible thing that can happen to our luggage will happen. We have always left our luggage out the night before and have never had a problem. And this is over dozens of cruises AND organized land tours. We prefer to enjoy our vacation rather than worry about every little thing that could go wrong. But, that is just us with over 50 years of travel to over 40 countries all over the world, so what do we know? ;p

[MrsPete]

I'll never understand why that handful of folks cart their own bags around when they've already paid for someone else to do it.

Several reasons:

 

- Keeping your bags in your room is safer. You're not subjecting them to the whims of any passing traveler who might have theft in mind. While theft isn't exactly common, it is quite possible.

 

- You will care for your luggage more gently than will the staff who will literally throw it down stairs /pack it into big canvas carts.

 

- You won't have to leave at a specific time frame so that you and your luggage will "meet up" in the terminal at the same time, and you won't have to search for your luggage amongst a sea of black bags.

 

- With the advent of rolling suitcases, it's not exactly hard.

[cruisemom67]

And there are those of us who aren't paranoid that every possible thing that can happen to our luggage will happen. We have always left our luggage out the night before and have never had a problem. And this is over dozens of cruises AND organized land tours. We prefer to enjoy our vacation rather than worry about every little thing that could go wrong. But, that is just us with over 50 years of travel to over 40 countries all over the world, so what do we know? ;p

 

We do self-assist for several reasons. The first is what happened on our 2nd cruise with our young children (didn't want to do self assist with children 8, 6 and 4). We went to get our luggage AND IT WASN'T THERE! We looked at the remaining luggage in our section, and there was 1 suitcase that looked similar to ours. We got through customs and complained to Carnival, and they said that what probably happened was someone accidentally took our luggage. We went out to the street, and lo and behold, there was an older man and lady PUTTING OUR SUITCASE IN THEIR CAR! We stopped them and told them that they had OUR luggage. Instead of being embarrassed, they started yelling at US, "THEN WHERE IS OUR LUGGAGE?" I told them it was most likely still inside and that they needed to give us OUR luggage. We finally got our suitcase back and went home. The ironic thing is that they had taken the suitcase that contained my children's things... Nothing in there they were likely to use. They were headed to Corpus Christie, a 5 hour drive from where we were. I guess I haven't been to 40 countries (only 35), but for this to happen even once, it is enough to make me want to pack light and carry off.

 

The second reason we self-assist is that I REFUSE to pack until my vacation is over. I don't want to pack the night before, as that ruins my last night. Disembarkation day we can just throw it all together without concern of what we will need for the last morning. And if you fly, many times you will have to repack your carryon that you kept to disembark, otherwise you will have to throw away shampoo/conditioner/hairspray or anything else that TSA has deemed unworthy of flying in the main cabin.