Carry On Luggage Check

[Daniel A]

I've read in the past that on embarkation day you can check your carry on bags until the cabins are released.  Does anyone know where it is on Regal?  Is it always in the same place or does is change from sailing to sailing?

[Potstech]

We usually just go by our cabin and drop off our carry on baggage.  Then go eat and explore.

[MissP22]

The baggage check to carried on luggage was something they tried for a while & most people just went to the cabins anyway. 

Even if the cabin isn't completely finished, they'll still let you drop off the bags & put things in the safe. 

[Daniel A]

It has been my experience that when you get on board before the cabins are ready, there are crew members operating the elevators who will only take you up to Lido. I've never seen access to the cabins before they are ready.

 

Does this mean they no longer have a carry on check room?

[disneyochem]

Not sure about the Regal but on the Grand, there was a staff member who overlooked carry-on luggage in the Wheelhouse.  We just dropped it off, had lunch and then came back and got them.  I still carried the important stuff (IDs, cash, electronics, medications).

 

We asked once on board where to drop since we had heard that each ship was different.  We were then directed to the right place.

[MissP22]

1 minute ago, Daniel A said:

It has been my experience that when you get on board before the cabins are ready, there are crew members operating the elevators who will only take you up to Lido. I've never seen access to the cabins before they are ready.

 

Does this mean they no longer have a carry on check room?

We've done a few of those cruises when they were informing people about using the checked luggage facilities & we just rolled out suitcases to the to the front of the ship & used those elevators since the central elevators are much to crowded the first day. 

On one of the trips our room wasn't ready & we just dropped off our bags & went to lunch. Another time the room was ready.

I've never encountered any closed fire doors but I suspect that's the reason why they stopped checking luggage. There are many people who are already sailing on the ship & want access to their cabins & it must have caused mass confusion. I haven't seen people using checking luggage areas in at least 1 1/2 years- Regal Princess, Caribbean Princess, Crown Princess.

 

[Pam in CA]

I've been on several cruises when the cabins were totally blocked off from the stairwells and elevators so don't assume you can just drop off in your cabin. I've never seen a check-in place for carry-ons on any ship other than decades ago in Manaus and that's a different story. Besides, you'd want to have your valuables and medicines with you at all times.

[disneyochem]

2 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

I haven't seen people using checking luggage areas in at least 1 1/2 years- Regal Princess, Caribbean Princess, Crown Princess.

 

May 2019 Grand Princess 10- day Alaskan cruise out of SF.

 

And, we weren’t  the only ones to use the service.  Had to wade through dozens of bags when we picked up ours.  

[Haboob]

1 hour ago, MissP22 said:

The baggage check to carried on luggage was something they tried for a while & most people just went to the cabins anyway. 

Even if the cabin isn't completely finished, they'll still let you drop off the bags & put things in the safe. 

On Grand last month, the fire-doors leading from the elevator lobbies were closed and signposted until the cabins were ready.

[crystalspin]

Is there a reason (besides the expected tip), not to leave your carry-on sized suitcases with the porters at the curb, keeping only a daypack or tote for the very important things with you? This is what we have always done on HAL. Always, or almost always, the suitcases showed up in the room before muster.

[Cruise Raider]

35 minutes ago, Haboob said:

On Grand last month, the fire-doors leading from the elevator lobbies were closed and signposted until the cabins were ready.

 

That's exactly what we experienced last month on the Grand as well.  We asked if we could drop off our carry ons (medical equipment so didn't want to check it) and we were strictly forbidden.  I didn't see a place to check it onboard but we went to lunch in the MDR on the Club Class side and saw a several bags tucked around the corner just inside the restaurant.

[Cruise Raider]

3 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

Is there a reason (besides the expected tip), not to leave your carry-on sized suitcases with the porters at the curb, keeping only a daypack or tote for the very important things with you? This is what we have always done on HAL. Always, or almost always, the suitcases showed up in the room before muster.

 

People are strongly urged to take any medical equipment onboard with you, plus, if you are carrying on your own wine, that is supposed to be brought on with you and not checked with the porters.  

Also, you may just want to take 2 or 3 days worth of clothing with you ... it only has to happen once but I've seen where travel mate's luggage went missing.  One time, there were two ships in port in SF and we heard that 25% of the bags made it onto the wrong ship ... and that happened to passengers on both ships.  Yikes

 

 

[XBGuy]

The policy seems to vary from ship to ship--nothing really unusual about that.  So, the only opinion that matters to the OP is one that comes from recent experience on the Regal Princess.

 

That being said, I will offer more comments that are meaningless to the OP.  In December 2018 we boarded the Ruby Princess at about 11:30 am.   The elevator operator advised that our cabin would not be available until 1:00, and we were taken to Deck 15.  No big deal.  Our normal embarkation ritual was to have lunch at the Trident/Salty Dog Grill.  So, we grabbed our normal order of burgers and fries, found a table and watched the world go by.  At about 12:45 we decided to see if our cabin was ready, yet.  Sure enough, the fire doors in the Deck 10 after elevator lobby were closed.  Several other passengers said they had tried enter and were shooed away by an officer.  A few minutes later, an officer opened the doors and we were able to go to our cabin.

 

In April 2019, we were on another cruise on the Ruby Princess.  This time we boarded at about 12:15 pm, and the elevator operator again told us that our cabin would not be available until 1:00.  However, if we desired we could check our carry-ons at the Conference Room on Deck 6 forward.  So, we went to the Deck 6 conference room and, sure enough, we could see that others had left carry-ons there.  There was an officer in the room who, I'm pretty sure, was recruited from the German army--or, I guess, navy might be more likely.  "If you leave your belongings here, you must retrieve them before 1:00 o'clock."  I cannot overemphasize the amount of sterness in that sentence.  We decided that it was no big deal to drag my wine, and my wife's backpack to Deck 15 to have our hamburgers and fries.

 

Have a great Cruise, Daniel.

[disneyochem]

55 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

Is there a reason (besides the expected tip), not to leave your carry-on sized suitcases with the porters at the curb, keeping only a daypack or tote for the very important things with you? This is what we have always done on HAL. Always, or almost always, the suitcases showed up in the room before muster.

Wine, soda, iPads, medications —we carry those—as well as overnight essentials in case our bags decide to take a different trip! 

[Daniel A]

1 hour ago, crystalspin said:

Is there a reason (besides the expected tip), not to leave your carry-on sized suitcases with the porters at the curb, keeping only a daypack or tote for the very important things with you? This is what we have always done on HAL. Always, or almost always, the suitcases showed up in the room before muster.

We had an experience once when our bags didn't get to us because of a wildcat strike.  If we didn't have our carry-ons we would have had no change of clothes or our meds for the three days it took to end the strike and for us to get to our luggage.

 

We are already tipping the porters/longshoremen for our full sized luggage so that's not an issue.

[MissP22]

3 hours ago, Haboob said:

On Grand last month, the fire-doors leading from the elevator lobbies were closed and signposted until the cabins were ready.

It seems that only some ships are still stopping passengers from cabins after all.

The Regal last Jan & the Crown were not. 

How did they handle the B2B passengers who wanted to go to their cabins? 

[Doug R.]

On my Regal cruise in January the cabins were open for occupancy when we boarded at 11:15 am just like all previous Princess cruises. I am a little disappointed that on some the current cruises the cabins are not available. Just another cutback  but I am not going to bleat about it endlessly like it is the end of the world like some who post here.,

[c-boy]

 ^ thank you  

[rdsqrl]

1 hour ago, MissP22 said:

It seems that only some ships are still stopping passengers from cabins after all.

The Regal last Jan & the Crown were not. 

How did they handle the B2B passengers who wanted to go to their cabins? 

   You keep asking this like it's some great big dealbreaker.  The cruise line isn't going to revolve their entire logistical arrangements around a few outliers.  It's very likely they simply show their in-transit card to whomever is policing entry. 

[MissP22]

11 hours ago, rdsqrl said:

   You keep asking this like it's some great big dealbreaker.  The cruise line isn't going to revolve their entire logistical arrangements around a few outliers.  It's very likely they simply show their in-transit card to whomever is policing entry. 

I'm just asking because I have yet to be blocked from my cabin during initial embarkation or during my second boarding caring additional luggage.  

[Mike45LC]

I too have never seen a baggage check room for carry-ons.  I simply keep my carry-on bags with me until the announcement that the cabins are available.  It is not a problem.

 

I do not know if they had fire-doors closed, or if they were enforcing the "No Admittance" rule.  I simply ate lunch and the "Cabins are now available" announcement came whilst I was eating.

[1965]

4 minutes ago, Mike45LC said:

 

 

I do not know if they had fire-doors closed, or if they were enforcing the "No Admittance" rule.  I simply ate lunch and the "Cabins are now available" announcement came whilst I was eating.

Same for us on the Caribbean a couple of weeks ago.

[Lucky TGO]

On 11/10/2019 at 1:31 PM, Pam in CA said:

I've been on several cruises when the cabins were totally blocked off from the stairwells and elevators so don't assume you can just drop off in your cabin. I've never seen a check-in place for carry-ons on any ship other than decades ago in Manaus and that's a different story. Besides, you'd want to have your valuables and medicines with you at all times.

Hi Pam,

I totally agree with you. I’ve  been on over 30 cruises with Princess and never seen a check-in place for carry-ons. 
I was on a cruise with a friend she had her Jimmy Chews shoes in her carry-on and wouldn’t let it out of her sight. 😳
Tony

[caribill]

5 hours ago, Lucky TGO said:

Hi Pam,

I totally agree with you. I’ve  been on over 30 cruises with Princess and never seen a check-in place for carry-ons. 
I was on a cruise with a friend she had her Jimmy Chews shoes in her carry-on and wouldn’t let it out of her sight. 😳
Tony

 

Until about a year or so ago, Princess did not start boarding until all cabins were ready. Thus there was no need to check any carry-ons. This situation probably applied to most of your over 30 cruises.

 

With changes that assigned more cabins to the cabin stewards, not all cabins could be ready by the normal embarkation time, so Princess started allowing passengers to board before all cabins were ready. When this started, some ships allowed passengers to drop off their carry-ons in their cabins even if the cabins were not ready. Again, no need for a place to check them.

 

But some other ships started physically blocking access to all cabins until all were ready. It is this situation that a place to store carry-ons became necessary.

[disneyochem]

11 hours ago, Lucky TGO said:

Hi Pam,

I totally agree with you. I’ve  been on over 30 cruises with Princess and never seen a check-in place for carry-ons. 
I was on a cruise with a friend she had her Jimmy Chews shoes in her carry-on and wouldn’t let it out of her sight. 😳
Tony

As someone who left a couple of bags with Princess personnel, I’m glad you’ve never noticed the drop off area for bags.  Must mean that their system is working—out of way location that doesn’t interfere with the embarkation process and less chances of theft and loss of property!

 

(My apologies if my responses in this thread seem defensive.  I did drop off my bags; it was a service provided by Princess on my cruise in May 2019.  YMMV.)