Question for those that have done the land tour first

[LindaJSteele]

We are a bit confused about how the luggage works during the land portion. Is there a restriction on the luggage size? What about the "backpack/hand carry" luggage for throughout the day? The listed dimensions for that seem extremely small; how strict are they? Or does it just need to be something that can fit under your seat? Thanks in advance.

[oaktreerb]

Backpack size bag that can fit under your seat or at your feet. It will hold all of those things you may want to access during the day...jacket, camera, binoculars, meds, snacks, reading materials..etc. They aren't very strict but you have to deal with it.

Mine just fits under the seat in front of me on the airplane.

[KirkWN737]

They are fairly fluid with the luggage requirements. Small day bag on the bus and normal sized luggage. As long as it's not 5 pieces of enormous luggage, you're fine.

[SeaThruU]

We have done two cruise-tours in Alaska and both were land tour first. On both, we packed one suitcase each for the land portion and one each for the cruise portion. The cruise line took our suitcases for cruise on the first day and we didn't see those bags until we boarded the ship 6 days later. The land suit cases are collected by the tour assistants each morning and taken to the bus/train and you get it back each night at the next hotel. We also carried a backpack each for our daytime touring.

 

 

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[MsK64]

I was just about to post a similar question, but I'll glom onto this one, and hope I can get an answer here in this forum.

We're on an RCL pre-tour (3B) next week, and I'm still a bit confused about how the luggage works during those 4 days. We're taking one large piece of luggage each for the entire trip (including the cruise), and then a backpack or tote for carry-on. We had assumed that you get your luggage each night at the hotel, and then have to put it out for pickup each morning. (or even bring it down to the bus yourself; which would be fine)

But some of these posts seem to suggest that our large luggage won't be taken off the bus each day as we get to the hotel. That we have to have several changes of clothes, all our outerwear, cosmetics, etc., with us in a separate bag for all 4 days of the pre-tour? Because if that's the case, we won't have enough room. The totes we're planning to carry on the plane are just large enough for the stuff you would want to take on the flight with you (or on a day trip outing); wallet, glasses, water bottle, phone and/or tablet, camera, snacks, maybe a change of underwear or a toothbrush. They're not going to be big enough to fit all of that PLUS pjs, 4 sets of clothes (or even one set), makeup, etc. Even our heavier coats are going to packed in the checked bags until we get to Alaska.

 

Perhaps I misunderstood what people were saying in this thread. I hope I'm worrying for nothing. But some clarification on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your help!!

[Sacto Rick]

If a person is traveling with two suitcases, they have the option of having one suitcase meet them on the ship and they can just take what they will need for their land trip with them. Makes it easier for all involved.

 

If you only have one suitcase, it will stay with you. They collect them in the morning and send them ahead to your next hotel room. You will want a daypack or a daybag to keep your personal items/meds etc in, and that you will carry with you at all times.

 

They will put a tag on any suitcase that is supposed to meet you on the ship and you won't see it until then. They will tag the other suitcase to meet you in your hotel room. If you only have one big suitcase, it will follow you the entire trip. You just have to put the proper tag on it. They explain it very well on the first day.

[MsK64]

If you only have one big suitcase, it will follow you the entire trip. You just have to put the proper tag on it. They explain it very well on the first day.

 

Thanks so much for this answer; it helped a lot. It prompts me to ask one more question. When do we get the suitcase tag that indicates we want the luggage to stay with us for the pre-tour? I just printed everything for the cruise; SetSail pass, cruise luggage tags, airline and excursion confirmations--but there were no tags for the pre-tour. Did I miss something, or do we get those at the hotel when we check in on the first night?

[SeaThruU]

On our last RCL pre-cruise tour, our tour guide met with us and others on our tour the first evening in Fairbanks at the hotel. He handed out things like luggage tags and info on additional excursions available to our group at that meeting. The next morning they took our tagged suitcases that were going directly to the ship? Our land tour suitcases were placed on our bus and taken to our next hotel. They then tell you what time you need to set your suitcases outside your hotel room door the next morning for collection. It's all well organized and they explain it all on that first night.

 

 

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[MsK64]

On our last RCL pre-cruise tour, our tour guide met with us and others on our tour the first evening in Fairbanks at the hotel. He handed out things like luggage tags and info on additional excursions available to our group at that meeting. The next morning they took our tagged suitcases that were going directly to the ship? Our land tour suitcases were placed on our bus and taken to our next hotel. They then tell you what time you need to set your suitcases outside your hotel room door the next morning for collection. It's all well organized and they explain it all on that first night.

 

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Thanks!

[skiiergirl]

I was just about to post a similar question, but I'll glom onto this one, and hope I can get an answer here in this forum.

We're on an RCL pre-tour (3B) next week, and I'm still a bit confused about how the luggage works during those 4 days. We're taking one large piece of luggage each for the entire trip (including the cruise), and then a backpack or tote for carry-on. We had assumed that you get your luggage each night at the hotel, and then have to put it out for pickup each morning. (or even bring it down to the bus yourself; which would be fine)

But some of these posts seem to suggest that our large luggage won't be taken off the bus each day as we get to the hotel. That we have to have several changes of clothes, all our outerwear, cosmetics, etc., with us in a separate bag for all 4 days of the pre-tour? Because if that's the case, we won't have enough room. The totes we're planning to carry on the plane are just large enough for the stuff you would want to take on the flight with you (or on a day trip outing); wallet, glasses, water bottle, phone and/or tablet, camera, snacks, maybe a change of underwear or a toothbrush. They're not going to be big enough to fit all of that PLUS pjs, 4 sets of clothes (or even one set), makeup, etc. Even our heavier coats are going to packed in the checked bags until we get to Alaska.

 

Perhaps I misunderstood what people were saying in this thread. I hope I'm worrying for nothing. But some clarification on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your help!!

 

I think your question has been answered but the PDFs in my review might help you.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2528515

[MsK64]

I think your question has been answered but the PDFs in my review might help you.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2528515

 

Yes, it was answered by previous posters, but I still appreciate your doing this. And while I'm not taking the same land tour as you, there were enough similarities between yours and mine to make this very informative, so thanks!!

[tamsocal]

We are a bit confused about how the luggage works during the land portion. Is there a restriction on the luggage size? What about the "backpack/hand carry" luggage for throughout the day? The listed dimensions for that seem extremely small; how strict are they? Or does it just need to be something that can fit under your seat? Thanks in advance.

what they would prefer vs what you can do are two different topics.

You can bring whatever luggage you want on land portion- there are no restrictions to number of pieces. if your "carryon" bag is too large for overhead on bus or under seat on train then it will be placed under bus or train. many times when we traveled from one stop to the next- I had a land excursion immediately after we arrived. I could not depend on the "checked" luggage being in our room to get out the items I needed/wanted for the excursion- so we would bring all the possibilities with us on the bus or train- snacks/rain gear/ warmer clothes, cameras, etc.- we had 3 backpacks and one was a very large hiking backpack ~ 35L. they fit above on bus or below seat on train and we never had an issue. I did notice that some people tried bringing the traditional airline carryon 21 " bags and they just left at door of bus and driver put under bus- but honestly I think there is a chance that they would have fit in the overhead- but who knows- space just seemed pretty big.

 

if you don't need all your checked luggage to go with you on land- it is somewhat easier to just have fewer bags in your hotel room but you can do whatever you want.

this past cruise I was only given one tag per person for join me tonight- I asked for more tags and was told you are only supposed to have one per person and I said I am sorry I have more thus I need more tags and they gave me two more.that was it.

 

I would highly suggest not waiting for the instructions upon arrival to your hotel it will waste your time if you have to significantly repack-

pack accordingly before you leave your house-

if all that you need for cruise and land is in one bag- that makes it easy- that will be a join me tonight bag- if you have 2 bags- try to pack one for send to ship and one for join me tonight.

if you are undecided and going to spend hours pondering will I need this or not-- don't bother-just send everything for join me tonight- its not worth the stress.

our issue was we had all small bags so we would not have to pay air checked bag fees- so we didn't have giant suitcases- so we could not fit all our join me tonight sadly in 3 bags and needed more.

we sent 2 bags to end point so didn't schlep everything on land tour