Newbie Embarkation Questions

[annmarz]

I am very excited that we will be boarding our first Virgin cruise on Sunday. (We are Virgin virgins, LOL!)  What exactly happens when we show up at the pier at our designated time?  We feel naked without our preprinted luggage tags.

[cantgetin]

You can drop off luggage early if you wish, and VV provides a shuttle bus to Bayside.  That's helpful if you have a late "terminal arrival" time but need to be out of a hotel early.

What happens is you give your luggage to the porter and tell him your room number.  He prints a luggage tag, which you can verify before you  walk away.  Luggage shows up at your cabin within about 30 minutes of boarding.

There have been instances of luggage not arriving...few and far between, but it happens.  If your luggage isn't there 30 minutes after you board, contact Sailor services so it can be located before the ship departs.  We also use air tags on checked bags.

Alternatively, provided that your luggage fits thru the scanner, you can choose to take it on board yourself.  Many people do short cruises with relatively little luggage.

If you are placing your luggage outside on the last night, you leave the same luggage tags attached.  If you remove them, you make more work for your cabin steward as he will have to print new ones.   They will be arranged in the terminal by floor.  If you are doing self disembarkation, you can take them off.

 

Edited April 21, 2023 by cantgetin

[annmarz]

Very helpful!  Thank you!!!

[Fogcityca13]

You can always dyi your own luggage tags, the porters will still tag your bag.

 

It does feel a little odd just showing up with a passport, we did keep printed copies just in case.

[cantgetin]

Those are cute....they are also not necessary.  If they make you feel more secure, go for it. I'm a firm believer in multiple tags before I hand my luggage to the airport people. Many things about VV are different than other lines.  There are many good You Tube videos about how things work on VV.  I particularly like the ones by "Cruisin' Walter" because he is very factual with not much opinion and he is an active participant on CC.  Unlike many other videos, I've never seen anything inaccurate in Walter's stuff.

[CruisingWalter]

7 hours ago, cantgetin said:

I particularly like the ones by "Cruisin' Walter" because he is very factual with not much opinion and he is an active participant on CC.  Unlike many other videos, I've never seen anything inaccurate in Walter's stuff.

 

You are incredibly kind, thank you so much! If we ever get to meet IRL onboard a Ladyship, first drink is on me. 🙂 

[chrisa2711]

I take a quick photo of my bag after it's tagged by the porter in the extremely unlikely event it goes missing...I figure it can't hurt and might help. 

[cantgetin]

20 hours ago, chrisa2711 said:

I take a quick photo of my bag after it's tagged by the porter in the extremely unlikely event it goes missing...I figure it can't hurt and might help. 

Agree, a photo helps.  Not having bags destroyed or missing is better.