How big of a rolling suitcase can you take onboard yourself ?

[crusingrightnow]

What is the limit please? Thank you.

 

 

[Flatbush Flyer]

34 minutes ago, crusingrightnow said:

What is the limit please? Thank you.

 

 

 Depends on the embarkation port and the cruise line. 
That said, your best bet is to not exceed the max size for airline rollaboards since most ports and ships use the same carry-on scanners as does the TSA in airports. Ergo, it has to be able to fit through the scanner (in the port and on the ship.

[sparks1093]

I would echo Flatbush Flyer, if it will fit through an airport carry-on scanner it will fit through the port's scanner. We prefer to check all of our bags but one small carryon that has important things in it, such as our meds. That way we don't have to drag a lot of stuff through crowded hallways (the same reason we don't self-embark but pick up the luggage in the terminal).

[BoozinCroozin]

Since Carnival requires you to bring all luggage with you if anyone in the group is not vaccinated, pretty much any size for Carnival.

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 hour ago, BoozinCroozin said:

Since Carnival requires you to bring all luggage with you if anyone in the group is not vaccinated, pretty much any size for Carnival.

Tell us more about that. Are you saying you yourself must (personally) carry all luggage into the terminal or onboard (if anyone with you is unvaccinated)? 

In either situation, the luggage still needs to be scanned or otherwise searched before it is accepted.

Perhaps I’m missing something but, your post seems to be confusing. 

[Essiesmom]

1 minute ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Tell us more about that. Are you saying you yourself must (personally) carry all luggage into the terminal or onboard (if anyone with you is unvaccinated)? 

In either situation, the luggage still needs to be scanned or otherwise searched before it is accepted.

Perhaps I’m missing something but, your post seems to be confusing. 

Carnival does not want the luggage of unvaccinated guests to be loaded until they have a negative test.  This would include those traveling with them, as they would be considered contacts.  Recovering checked baggage would be nigh impossible if denied boarding

[Flatbush Flyer]

7 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

Carnival does not want the luggage of unvaccinated guests to be loaded until they have a negative test.  This would include those traveling with them, as they would be considered contacts.  Recovering checked baggage would be nigh impossible if denied boarding

In that case, Boozin Croozin’s statement that size of carryon doesn’t matter is wrong. Assuming the non-vaccinated folks test negative before boarding, the big bags would then be handled by the port or crew personnel while any carryons or other personal items would still need to be scanned on the ship and the size limits would be applicable.

[BoozinCroozin]

7 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Tell us more about that. Are you saying you yourself must (personally) carry all luggage into the terminal or onboard (if anyone with you is unvaccinated)? 

In either situation, the luggage still needs to be scanned or otherwise searched before it is accepted.

Perhaps I’m missing something but, your post seems to be confusing. 

There is another discussion on this on the boards. But yes, Carnival states on their page if someone in the group is not vaccinated, you need to bring all with you. I think it is in case they test positive at the terminal. Otherwise your checked luggage may cruise while your party goes to quarantine unless you drove.

[Flatbush Flyer]

4 hours ago, BoozinCroozin said:

There is another discussion on this on the boards. But yes, Carnival states on their page if someone in the group is not vaccinated, you need to bring all with you. I think it is in case they test positive at the terminal. Otherwise your checked luggage may cruise while your party goes to quarantine unless you drove.

Of course, the right thing for Carnival to do would be to ban unvaccinated people while Covid remains a significant threat. But, that’s another discussion.

In the meantime, do you see my point that, once the people are cleared by testing, their carry-on bags (kept in their possession due to valuables/meds/docs/etc) will need to be able to fit through the normal sized airport type scanner in order to get on the ship?

[BoozinCroozin]

Yes, but so does all their regular luggage as well. This must mean that luggage of any size can be scanned in the terminals.

[Flatbush Flyer]

14 minutes ago, BoozinCroozin said:

Yes, but so does all their regular luggage as well. This must mean that luggage of any size can be scanned in the terminals.

You are still missing the point. The original question regarded the size of a carry-on in your possession as you enter the ship (not the items surrendered in or near the terminal).
 

When you finally are allowed to board your luggage is handed over to terminal personnel (just like in an airport). But, if you keep that valuable/essential purse, backpack, carry-on suitcase with you, it will be separately scanned in your view as you pass through a metal detector. That scanner is the same size as those in an airport TSA checkpoint. 

[BoozinCroozin]

1 hour ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

You are still missing the point. The original question regarded the size of a carry-on in your possession as you enter the ship (not the items surrendered in or near the terminal).
 

When you finally are allowed to board your luggage is handed over to terminal personnel (just like in an airport). But, if you keep that valuable/essential purse, backpack, carry-on suitcase with you, it will be separately scanned in your view as you pass through a metal detector. That scanner is the same size as those in an airport TSA checkpoint. 

I think you are missing the point. Pack your giant luggage that you put under the plane. If you have someone unvaxxed in your party, that giant luggage has to be carried by you for the whole embarkation proceed. You do not check those in with the porters. All of those bags are now your ship carryons. The machines inside have to be able to scan those bags. It is a very simple concept.

[Flatbush Flyer]

29 minutes ago, BoozinCroozin said:

I think you are missing the point. Pack your giant luggage that you put under the plane. If you have someone unvaxxed in your party, that giant luggage has to be carried by you for the whole embarkation proceed. You do not check those in with the porters. All of those bags are now your ship carryons. The machines inside have to be able to scan those bags. It is a very simple concept.

Wrong. The cruise line would be extremely liable should you be required to “load” luggage (not to mention violating any longshoreman contract in place). At some point in that terminal, you will hand over those large bags (after Covid tested and before you actually board that ship).
A 90 year old grandma is not about to carry a 50 lb suitcase up a gangway. She may however carry her purse and perhaps a small carry-on with valuables. The large suitcases will be scanned either in the terminal before they are loaded or once off-loaded to the ship’s luggage area. Meanwhile, Granny (now cleared for Covid) will proceed with the boarding process and approach the ship carrying what she wants to keep in her possession. During that process, she will go through a metal detector and her carry-on possession(s) will be scanned by the “airport sized” scanner adjacent to the metal detector.

 

Two separate scanning processes. Not rocket science. Just SOP.

[Essiesmom]

10 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Wrong. The cruise line would be extremely liable should you be required to “load” luggage (not to mention violating any longshoreman contract in place). At some point in that terminal, you will hand over those large bags (after Covid tested and before you actually board that ship).
A 90 year old grandma is not about to carry a 50 lb suitcase up a gangway. She may however carry her purse and perhaps a small carry-on with valuables. The large suitcases will be scanned either in the terminal before they are loaded or once off-loaded to the ship’s luggage area. Meanwhile, Granny (now cleared for Covid) will proceed with the boarding process and approach the ship carrying what she wants to keep in her possession. During that process, she will go through a metal detector and her carry-on possession(s) will be scanned by the “airport sized” scanner adjacent to the metal detector.

 

Two separate scanning processes. Not rocket science. Just SOP.

On the contrary.  I have read that at some terminals, the longshoremen do not work after a certain hour, maybe 4 pm, for example.  Earlier if the ship leaves before then.  Those delayed, such as for testing if they have been given a later checkin time.  By the time they are cleared, the staff are gone and they have to schlep all luggage themselves.  At this point, security would have to allow the largest through without the scanner…. EM

[Flatbush Flyer]

59 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

On the contrary.  I have read that at some terminals, the longshoremen do not work after a certain hour, maybe 4 pm, for example.  Earlier if the ship leaves before then.  Those delayed, such as for testing if they have been given a later checkin time.  By the time they are cleared, the staff are gone and they have to schlep all luggage themselves.  At this point, security would have to allow the largest through without the scanner…. EM

I have to disagree. No unscanned bag is ever going to be delivered to a person’s cabin. Nor will a ship allow a paying passenger to carry large luggage up a gangplank. In the unusual absence of port longshoremen (who regularly are paid overtime to accommodate late arrivals), a crew member would be sent to collect any remaining luggage and it would be scanned/searched by the ship’s security in the area where “checked” baggage is received onboard.

[sparks1093]

6 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

I have to disagree. No unscanned bag is ever going to be delivered to a person’s cabin. Nor will a ship allow a paying passenger to carry large luggage up a gangplank. In the unusual absence of port longshoremen (who regularly are paid overtime to accommodate late arrivals), a crew member would be sent to collect any remaining luggage and it would be scanned/searched by the ship’s security in the area where “checked” baggage is received onboard.

Actually it's having a crewmember take a passenger's bag onboard is what is likely to violate the agreement with the longshoremen's union. The union cannot control what passengers bring onboard, they can only control what crew handle on the pier and from the pier to the ship. I am not sure how Carnival is handling the security screening but everything that I've read does say that if you have an unvaxxed person in your party (and that number is very limited, in the neighborhood of around 10% of total pax as I understand it) that you have to hand carry your luggage. How and when these bags are screened is Carnival's concern. Your preferred cruise line might not let a 90 year old grandma haul a 50lb suitcase onboard but Carnival probably would.

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 hour ago, sparks1093 said:

Actually it's having a crewmember take a passenger's bag onboard is what is likely to violate the agreement with the longshoremen's union. The union cannot control what passengers bring onboard, they can only control what crew handle on the pier and from the pier to the ship.

Please reread my post:

 In the unusual absence of port longshoremen (who regularly are paid overtime to accommodate late arrivals), a crew member would be sent to collect any remaining luggage and it would be scanned/searched by the ship’s security in the area where “checked” baggage is received onboard.

I qualified my statement- “unusual absence of port longshoremen.” 

And “No,” not even Carnival would allow granny to carry that suitcase up the gangplank.

[sparks1093]

49 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Please reread my post:

 In the unusual absence of port longshoremen (who regularly are paid overtime to accommodate late arrivals), a crew member would be sent to collect any remaining luggage and it would be scanned/searched by the ship’s security in the area where “checked” baggage is received onboard.

I qualified my statement- “unusual absence of port longshoremen.” 

And “No,” not even Carnival would allow granny to carry that suitcase up the gangplank.

Probably not but it's also very likely that granny has a traveling companion (and I don't think that a crewmember helping a passenger in such a way violates any agreements, which was my main point). In any event what Carnival does regarding the screening of the bags brought into the terminal is Carnival's concern and I can easily see them requiring those bags to be brought onboard by the passenger, with or without assistance.

[ldubs]

 

I've seen some awful large bags wheeled up the gangway.  I wonder what happens to those.  Is anyone out there actually wheeling on large luggage (larger than would be allowed as airline carryon)? 

 

[ldubs]

On 9/29/2021 at 11:48 AM, crusingrightnow said:

What is the limit please? Thank you.

 

 

 

I think posts #2 & 3 are safe assumptions when boarding the ship.  

 

It is an entirely different matter when you are leaving the ship.  You can wheel your large suitcases off if you want to --  as long as you can handle it.  Passengers with early or independent transportation arrangements will do this.  It is not uncommon at all.  

[sparks1093]

Something someone said on the CCL forum made me look it up, but checked bag service is only available until 2 hours prior to the published sailing time and the FAQ says that guests arriving before 1:30pm usually check their bags with the porters at the pier. This leads me to conclude that some passengers do in fact take their bags onboard and CCL has a system in place for security screening of these bags. In the luggage FAQ they do say that bags should weigh no more than 50 pounds and must measure less than 16 inches by 24 inches when laying flat (length does not matter).

[Flatbush Flyer]

2 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

Something someone said on the CCL forum made me look it up, but checked bag service is only available until 2 hours prior to the published sailing time and the FAQ says that guests arriving before 1:30pm usually check their bags with the porters at the pier. This leads me to conclude that some passengers do in fact take their bags onboard and CCL has a system in place for security screening of these bags. In the luggage FAQ they do say that bags should weigh no more than 50 pounds and must measure less than 16 inches by 24 inches when laying flat (length does not matter).

That is the standard size of a TSA scanner opening.
As for the 50 lb weight limit, that certainly can be an issue for folks who may be doing long and/or varied cruises (e.g., snorkel gear, hiking gear, personal booze, etc) and who may take advantage of some airlines’ 70 lb limit for bizclass and/or their own credit card users.

I just checked the Oceania policy. Basically, it says: No baggage or items heavier than 70lbs will be loaded onto or off-loaded from our vessels. 
There is no mention of size dimensions other than Guests may bring a reasonable amount of luggage on board an Oceania Cruises vessel. 
I assume it will be similar for other premium/luxury lines that have those longer/varied itineraries where the weight/volume of things like  “excursion gear” could be an issue.

[sparks1093]

9 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

That is the standard size of a TSA scanner opening.
As for the 50 lb weight limit, that certainly can be an issue for folks who may be doing long and/or varied cruises (e.g., snorkel gear, hiking gear, personal booze, etc) and who may take advantage of some airlines’ 70 lb limit for bizclass and/or their own credit card users.

I just checked the Oceania policy. Basically, it says: No baggage or items heavier than 70lbs will be loaded onto or off-loaded from our vessels. 
There is no mention of size dimensions other than Guests may bring a reasonable amount of luggage on board an Oceania Cruises vessel. 
I assume it will be similar for other premium/luxury lines that have those longer/varied itineraries where the weight/volume of things like  “excursion gear” could be an issue.

We've never weighed our luggage for a cruise (well, not any that we've not flown to) and I don't recall ever seeing that overweight luggage was ever an issue (Carnival's website only says that oversized or overweight luggage may be delayed getting to the cabin). I'll take your word for it regarding the TSA scanner opening, it always looked to me that our full sized suitcase would have a hard time passing through it (referring of course to the scanner used for carry-ons). 

[Flatbush Flyer]

9 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

We've never weighed our luggage for a cruise (well, not any that we've not flown to) and I don't recall ever seeing that overweight luggage was ever an issue (Carnival's website only says that oversized or overweight luggage may be delayed getting to the cabin). I'll take your word for it regarding the TSA scanner opening, it always looked to me that our full sized suitcase would have a hard time passing through it (referring of course to the scanner used for carry-ons). 

I found that scanner size in a Google search. Who knows if it’s correct. But, the opening is definitely bigger than the carry-on restrictions imposed by airlines.

FWIW, we just returned from Kauai where the “quaint” airport has the TSA checked bag screening machines out in the open. As you might expect, it is far larger than the carry-on scanner at the TSA security checkpoint.

[sparks1093]

1 hour ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

I found that scanner size in a Google search. Who knows if it’s correct. But, the opening is definitely bigger than the carry-on restrictions imposed by airlines.

FWIW, we just returned from Kauai where the “quaint” airport has the TSA checked bag screening machines out in the open. As you might expect, it is far larger than the carry-on scanner at the TSA security checkpoint.

Yes, our small airport in Burlington has them out in the open too. But those are behind the ticket counter and the scanners used for carry-ons is at the check point. I believe that in the terminal Carnival only has the carry-on sized scanner, so I'm not sure what their protocols are for handling the full sized luggage people have to carry on if they are there later in the process.