Carrying on Luggage

[Burtonelli123]

My DH and I are goign on our first cruise with Royal Caribbean in March for our 10th anniversary. We are so excited:D !

Anyhow, my question is, we will be landing at 10am and thought we would just take a cab on over to the port and wait until they will let us on Anyone know what time that might be?). Well, we thought we had read somewhere that we could take our own luggage on board instead of giving it to the porters. Is this true and do we have to do anything special to have this option? It would just be nice to go ahead and get all settled in as soon as possible so that we can get on with the fun.

[Big Al B.]

The time you can board is dependent on when they can disembark the incoming passengers. First they dock, then must be cleared by immigration and then disembark. I'd imagine that you could carry your luggage on board with you, but the problem is that your cabin may not be ready for you when you board especially if you are among the first. Then you would have to keep your luggage with you.

[cherylandtk]

All items carried on must fit through the xray scanner, similar to the one at the airport, which measures 11 x 17 inches. If your bags are bigger than that, you will have to give them to the porters.

[Kri]

For dh and I, carrying on the amount of luggage I usually have would be a LOT of work and I agree with the previous poster who stated the room isn't always ready! What I usually do though, is have a small carry-on type of bag that I do take containing enough things to let me freshen up if necessary. This is useful if my luggage takes awhile to be delivered to the room. Enjoy your anniversary cruise!

[Happy ks]

Congratulations on your first cruise!

 

After de-planing, you will probably make it to the port around 11-11:30, usually they will start check in by that time, boarding usually starts around noon. All this can change if there are problems, so take along some reading material. Many times there will be snacks and juice available in the waiting area.

 

The cabins are not always (I should say usually) ready until 1:30 or so, you will have to keep everything with you until then. I don't know about you, but I don't fancy myself a pack mule and I cannot start the fun while dragging suitcases everywhere.

 

So, we have learned to check in almost everything, with the exception of our camera bag, my purse and one very small carry on bag. We drop off those bags as soon as we can and use the day to explore the ship. Luggage is generally left at your door sometime between 2pm (yes we've gotten ours that early!) and as late as 8pm. We try to dress in clothing we would not mind wearing into the dining room that first evening, just in case.

 

If you wish, you can pack your bathing suit and a change of clothes in your carry on. I'd also advise you to cross-pack two suitcases with your husband, in case one case goes missing for a while. We've never not gotten a bag, but our last cruise, someone elses bag was delivered to our room in error.

 

Have a wonderful time!

[DEL67]

As others have said, you can only carry on cases that fit through the scanner; so you probably will need to check at least one bag. However, be sure to carry on everything you absolutely need or of real value, just as you should in an airplane. This includes medicine, jewelry, cameras, etc. Bags have been known to get lost or even dumped in the water (rarely.)

[kitty9]

The only bags that will fit through the ship's security xray machine are the ones that you can put in an overhead bin on an airplane. If you have anything larger, including soft side folding garment bags, you will have to give them to the porters. Inside the ship, there are huge xray machines that will scan large pieces of luggage. Besides, if you're one of the first one's on board, you cabin won't be ready until three, and I don't think you're going to want to be schlepping big bags all around the ship.