Porter vs carry on

[FantasiCat]

I’ve always carried on my bag myself and have been able to take it straight to my cabin but for my upcoming cruise I will be getting to the port much earlier than normal. I’m thinking about giving it to the porters to avoid having to deal with it until the cabin is ready but I’m a little nervous because of stories of bags lost or left behind or put on the wrong ship. How common are mishaps like that, and how early are cabins usually ready after boarding begins? I know I’m probably being paranoid but I’d hate to have no clothes for 8 days!

[Essiesmom]

I would never be without a change of clothes for 8 days, because I do carry on only.  But even when I didn’t, my carryon always had a change or two of underwire, second pair shoes, and two changes of clothes.  Plus meds, chargers, etc.  

   get an AirTag if you have an iPhone, or a tile if your phone is other, and put it in your suitcase.  That way you can keep track of it if it isn’t where you think it should be.  EM

[Steelers36]

36 minutes ago, FantasiCat said:

I’ve always carried on my bag myself and have been able to take it straight to my cabin but for my upcoming cruise I will be getting to the port much earlier than normal. I’m thinking about giving it to the porters to avoid having to deal with it until the cabin is ready but I’m a little nervous because of stories of bags lost or left behind or put on the wrong ship. How common are mishaps like that, and how early are cabins usually ready after boarding begins? I know I’m probably being paranoid but I’d hate to have no clothes for 8 days!

You can normally drop bag off in cabin (leave it in the closet area) and then come back later.  Not guaranteed as sometimes passageway doors are closed until after noon.  We had NP doing this in Oct and Nov on two different ships.

[Rick&Jeannie]

Certainly not wanting to tempt fate...but after 18 cruises we've never had an issue with porters "losing" our luggage.  YMMV!

[AZjohn]

Many cruises on many different lines and never had a issue with checked bags.

 

I do agree that a carry on with meds and change of clothes is always a good idea regardless if it’s a cruise, flight, or hotel.

[Mike45LC]

I don’t know about all the reports of lost luggage the OP is talking about, but it has never happened to us (knock on wood!).  
 

On Princess, the fire doors are often locked keeping passengers from their cabins until 1:00 pm or so.

 

I always give my bags to the porters.  I have no interest in dragging the baggage around myself.

[VibeGuy]

50+ Princess sailings, the bags beat me to the room more often than not.  I hate being my own Sherpa and generally hand over anything larger than my rucksack/messenger bag.  Never an issue, even in the most chaotic ports. 

[MissP22]

In the past 20 years we've been carrying our own luggage on board with us & not had any problem getting access to our cabin once aboard, at least to drop off the bags. 

We enjoy having our bags available immediately after lunch so we can unpack ASAP and not have to wait for delivery. 

Prior to that we've never had problems with the porters of any kind.

Saying that, if I were to have my luggage leave our sight, I would invest in an Apple air tag or android tracker just to keep closer track of it.

[beg3yrs]

10 hours ago, Mike45LC said:

...

On Princess, the fire doors are often locked keeping passengers from their cabins until 1:00 pm or so.

...

Just a nit here but the fire doors are not locked. They may be closed but they aren't locked. That wouldn't be safe. You can push them open if you want.

 

Oh yeah, we've never had a problem with bags being delivered (knock on wood as well). Some have given us a scare as they were delivered an hour or two AFTER sailing but we've always received them.

Edited December 6, 2022 by beg3yrs

[mtnesterz]

We had this happen. The stapled Princess luggage tag got ripped from one suitcase. We were among the last the receive a delivery, but it did get there. They used the well secured name tag which was also on the bag to find our cabin.

Point is, when you attach your Princess luggage tag, cover it with clear packing tape and staple through the tape.

[MissP22]

7 minutes ago, beg3yrs said:

Just a nit here but the fire doors are not locked. They may be closed but they aren't locked. That wouldn't be safe. You can push them open if you want.

That is correct. On one of our B2B trips I returned with a suitcase to find them closed & I just opened it & proceeded to my cabin. 

[buckeye7]

We’ve always brought just carry-on luggage and could always get to our room to drop it off — and we are usually very early onboard. 

[ChutChut]

I'd keep it with me. Last cruise on Sky, my bag didn't arrive until after we departed FLL. I was freaking out!

[bjkTX]

20 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Certainly not wanting to tempt fate...but after 18 cruises we've never had an issue with porters "losing" our luggage.  YMMV!

Same here after 23 cruises - and - we never knew anyone that had luggage missing.

[Mike45LC]

3 hours ago, ChutChut said:

I'd keep it with me. Last cruise on Sky, my bag didn't arrive until after we departed FLL. I was freaking out!

I had a bag delivered late -- it was delivered to the cabin during dinner.  There was no reason to "freak out", because I had delivered my bag to the porter at the pier and I was not worried that it had failed to get on the ship.  

[MissP22]

7 hours ago, bjkTX said:

Same here after 23 cruises - and - we never knew anyone that had luggage missing.

Honestly, how would you know, unless you talked to someone who experienced theirs missing.

I believe most of the late luggage deliveries are due to luggage tags being ripped off the handles. 

No matter how fast they are about getting the bags delivered I still prefer to carry mine onboard with me. It's really not all that much trouble.

[caribill]

4 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

Honestly, how would you know, unless you talked to someone who experienced theirs missing.

I believe most of the late luggage deliveries are due to luggage tags being ripped off the handles. 

 

 

At some ports where more than one ship is leaving from the same terminal, sometimes a piece of luggage gets to take a trip on the wrong ship.

[MissP22]

50 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

At some ports where more than one ship is leaving from the same terminal, sometimes a piece of luggage gets to take a trip on the wrong ship.

I know it won't be mine. 

[geocruiser]

We almost had a problem.  I say "almost" because it was corrected.  We got to the port, I gave the porter our luggage plus tip.  I started to walk away and I turned around to see if he put it on the rack.  A departing bus driver had my bag and was putting it into  the cargo hold of the departing bus.  I yell , the cruise porter yelled and grab the bag.  After that we use carry-ons only.

[Tonsoffun44]

Haven't had a lost/left bag - did have it kept in security well after sail away - didn't get the notice of come to the "Naughty room" until went to the cabin to change before dinner and couldn't change (freaked out they lost the bag until noticed had a phone message). Pretty sure if it was that common we'd be seeing many posts about it on here. 

[Happy2cruise]

On 12/5/2022 at 10:41 PM, Rick&Jeannie said:

Certainly not wanting to tempt fate...but after 18 cruises we've never had an issue with porters "losing" our luggage.  YMMV!

Same here, after 43 cruises never had an issue.