Taking Luggage Off Early (in port prior to end of cruise)

[MKandA]

Has anyone ever taken bags off prior to the final port? We are doing a Transatlantic cruise and actually live in one of the ports (NOT the final port) and we want to take the majority of our luggage off the boat when we arrive. We will be getting back on the ship to finish the cruise but curious if anyone has had issues/recommendations from doing this before. Any information would be helpful!

[Mum2Mercury]

I don't see why this should be a problem.  

[klfrodo]

I would imagine that US Customs would have to be involved to inspect the luggage

[MKandA]

Added info - we are traveling from the US to an EU destination. 

[jsn55]

I suspect there will be some 'formalities' to prevent you from doing this, either the ship or the port authorities.  Not because it makes any sense, but bureaucrats rule the world.  I suspect you'd never get a straight answer, so it may not be worth bothering with.  Now I'm reading that you'd be trying to do this in a European port ... it would be most interesting to see if this would work.

Edited June 2, 2023 by jsn55

[CruiserBruce]

Customs in Europe is not really a thing. Yes, you might have to have this pre-approved (get your cruise line involved) but I suspect there will be a brief check. Maybe a little more serious if someone gets suspicious because it is a little unusual.

[Haljo1935]

Very curious how this plays out, if you update as to final results and what port.

Thanks; safe travels  - enjoy your cruise!

[MKandA]

UPDATE - we originally planned on taking our bags off and continuing on the cruise, but upon speaking with the ships Embarkation Officer, we were informed that doing so would be classified as "transportation of goods" and we would be subject to heavy taxation.  In addition, we would be required to fully itemize all of the luggage and its contents, applying values to everything so they could calculate the taxes.  Instead, we opted to just disembark the cruise early and not complete the last leg.  When doing this, our bags were considered personal luggage and were not subject to any taxes.  This saved us quite a bit of money and hassle.  

 

This was all arranged with the Embarkation Officer once onboard the ship.  I would recommend waiting until you get on the cruise vs. trying to arrange it in advance - in speaking to others, it sounds like there is a lot of pushback given when arranging prior.  We had no pushback at all. 

 

The port in question was Funchal, Madeira, Portugal. 

[kazu]

When we were going to arrive in Rotterdam, we planned on taking the high speed train to Paris to spend a few days there.

 

I wanted to ship a piece of luggage there from Portland so it would be there before we flew home and make our train travel easier.  It was a piece of cake - no problem at all.  Luggage was dropped at the depot and we continued on our private tour.

 

Mind you that was one piece - not ALL of our luggage.

[ColdCruise]

We did a long R/T from the U.k to the Faroes, Greenland and Iceland and decided to disembark in Iceland to fly back to the US. We had no problems with the ship or Icelandic authorities by disembarking in Iceland. The only issue we encountered was that we didn’t get credited for the days after we left the ship, despite paying for them.

 

This saved us several days vacation time and we only missed 1 port stop (at a city we’d previously visited on a land trip). I would definitely do that again.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Why do you think you should get refunded for the days you did not stay on  ? 🤔

[ColdCruise]

@Ex-Airbalancer 

Please reread my comment. I did not mention anything about a refund.

[jsn55]

4 hours ago, ColdCruise said:

@Ex-Airbalancer 

Please reread my comment. I did not mention anything about a refund.

A great many people don't understand the difference between credit and refund.  I can't imagine anyone thinking you'd expect a refund if you left the ship early.  

[Ex-Airbalancer]

9 hours ago, ColdCruise said:

@Ex-Airbalancer 

Please reread my comment. I did not mention anything about a refund.

Why would you get a credit for leaving early ?

[Ex-Airbalancer]

5 hours ago, jsn55 said:

A great many people don't understand the difference between credit and refund.  I can't imagine anyone thinking you'd expect a refund if you left the ship early.  

I can’t imagine why anyone would get a credit or refund  for leaving early 🙄

 

[ColdCruise]

Well … I paid for the entire cruise, i disembarked a 3 days early, I did not get a refund of unused cruise fare (which I did not expect) but they kept the DSC for the unused days as well as the port fees. I expected since they had 100% of the money for the entire cruise, I should have received credit for the entire cruise sailing but they only credited my account for 17 days. They actually shorted me 1 of the days I was onboard but I was able to get added back in to my cruise credits, ie their version of latitude points.

 

Credits can take many forms…not everything is monetary, but certainly cruise credits like frequent flyer miles, do have a monetary equivalent. They can be exchanged for or provide one with things of monetary value … early onboard reservation, specialty dining, receptions, early boarding, etc

[Ex-Airbalancer]

What is DSC ? 
I am even my confused by your logic 

“ I expected since they had 100% of the money for the entire cruise, I should have received credit for the entire cruise sailing but they only credited my account for 17 days. They actually shorted me 1 of the days I was onboard but I was able to get added back in to my cruise credits, ie their version of latitude points.”

🤔

what is written in your cruise documents about refunds and leaving the early ? 

 

[wrk2cruise]

@Ex-Airbalancer  I have a question for you I wonder if you could contact me via email at wrk2cruise at gmail.com