Printing Luggage Tags in Colour - An observation

[Jcol5786]

This is just an observation based on our last cruise on Anthem out of NJ. We left on December 17 and returned December 24'th. We have been on Anthem several times and always enjoy our time on her. Anyway here is my unoffical observation on luggage tags. We always print out our tags an put them on our bags just before we head out to the cruise port. We have tag holders and we drive so they stay on the bags pretty good. This time when I went to print them out on my home printer which is  black and white laser the tags came out too light, cartridge needed replacing. No problem - I emailed the cruise docs to myself and printed them out on a colour laser printer I have access to at my work. They were green. Fast forward to embarkation day on the ship. In the past when we go up to our room usually just after 1 pm our bags are not in the hall. They usually show up by 3 or 4pm. This time after getting in our room just after 1:30 pm I spotted our bags about 20 feet down the hall from our room. It was nice to get them so early. When I brought them back to our room and remarked that this was a record for getting them my wife commented that it might be because the tags were in colour making it easier for the crew to sort them. Sure enough I went back out into the hall and evwery bag that I saw had a luggage tag that was printed in colour. It might be a coincidence but after we returned to our room to change for dinner around 5:30 only then did I see bags with B/W tags. We are going on Anthem the last week in Februay and I plan on printing the tags in colour again and test my theory.😉

[irishgal432]

I have came to the same conclusion.  This is also true for people who don't print them out and have baggage handlers do them.

[zaylyn2590]

7 minutes ago, Jcol5786 said:

This is just an observation based on our last cruise on Anthem out of NJ. We left on December 17 and returned December 24'th. We have been on Anthem several times and always enjoy our time on her. Anyway here is my unoffical observation on luggage tags. We always print out our tags an put them on our bags just before we head out to the cruise port. We have tag holders and we drive so they stay on the bags pretty good. This time when I went to print them out on my home printer which is  black and white laser the tags came out too light, cartridge needed replacing. No problem - I emailed the cruise docs to myself and printed them out on a colour laser printer I have access to at my work. They were green. Fast forward to embarkation day on the ship. In the past when we go up to our room usually just after 1 pm our bags are not in the hall. They usually show up by 3 or 4pm. This time after getting in our room just after 1:30 pm I spotted our bags about 20 feet down the hall from our room. It was nice to get them so early. When I brought them back to our room and remarked that this was a record for getting them my wife commented that it might be because the tags were in colour making it easier for the crew to sort them. Sure enough I went back out into the hall and evwery bag that I saw had a luggage tag that was printed in colour. It might be a coincidence but after we returned to our room to change for dinner around 5:30 only then did I see bags with B/W tags. We are going on Anthem the last week in Februay and I plan on printing the tags in colour again and test my theory.😉

You should tag one bag with a color tag and another in black and white to truly test your theory 

[Jcol5786]

That's a great idea. I could put the BW tag on my wife's bag and when she doesn't get it as quickly as mine I can tell her is was an experiment suggested by someone on Criuse Critic😁.

[smokeybandit]

That's the whole point of why the tags are in color.

[soremekun]

21 minutes ago, Jcol5786 said:

This is just an observation based on our last cruise on Anthem out of NJ. We left on December 17 and returned December 24'th. We have been on Anthem several times and always enjoy our time on her. Anyway here is my unoffical observation on luggage tags. We always print out our tags an put them on our bags just before we head out to the cruise port. We have tag holders and we drive so they stay on the bags pretty good. This time when I went to print them out on my home printer which is  black and white laser the tags came out too light, cartridge needed replacing. No problem - I emailed the cruise docs to myself and printed them out on a colour laser printer I have access to at my work. They were green. Fast forward to embarkation day on the ship. In the past when we go up to our room usually just after 1 pm our bags are not in the hall. They usually show up by 3 or 4pm. This time after getting in our room just after 1:30 pm I spotted our bags about 20 feet down the hall from our room. It was nice to get them so early. When I brought them back to our room and remarked that this was a record for getting them my wife commented that it might be because the tags were in colour making it easier for the crew to sort them. Sure enough I went back out into the hall and evwery bag that I saw had a luggage tag that was printed in colour. It might be a coincidence but after we returned to our room to change for dinner around 5:30 only then did I see bags with B/W tags. We are going on Anthem the last week in Februay and I plan on printing the tags in colour again and test my theory.😉

Did you tip the porter?

[Jcol5786]

Just now, soremekun said:

Did you tip the porter?

Never saw the porter but I would have. We didn't see our room steward till the next day.

[Fouremco]

We changed from a colour printer to a B&W laser printer a number of years ago, and I've not noticed any particular change in delivery times. But it does seem that the earlier we arrive, the earlier we get our bags.

[jean87510]

Same exact thing happened with us last year on the Allure.  Our bags were at the door at 145pm.

[karena1]

1 hour ago, Jcol5786 said:

This is just an observation based on our last cruise on Anthem out of NJ. We left on December 17 and returned December 24'th. We have been on Anthem several times and always enjoy our time on her. Anyway here is my unoffical observation on luggage tags. We always print out our tags an put them on our bags just before we head out to the cruise port. We have tag holders and we drive so they stay on the bags pretty good. This time when I went to print them out on my home printer which is  black and white laser the tags came out too light, cartridge needed replacing. No problem - I emailed the cruise docs to myself and printed them out on a colour laser printer I have access to at my work. They were green. Fast forward to embarkation day on the ship. In the past when we go up to our room usually just after 1 pm our bags are not in the hall. They usually show up by 3 or 4pm. This time after getting in our room just after 1:30 pm I spotted our bags about 20 feet down the hall from our room. It was nice to get them so early. When I brought them back to our room and remarked that this was a record for getting them my wife commented that it might be because the tags were in colour making it easier for the crew to sort them. Sure enough I went back out into the hall and evwery bag that I saw had a luggage tag that was printed in colour. It might be a coincidence but after we returned to our room to change for dinner around 5:30 only then did I see bags with B/W tags. We are going on Anthem the last week in Februay and I plan on printing the tags in colour again and test my theory.😉

I always print mine in color.  They show up super fast

[SUESEABE]

2 hours ago, irishgal432 said:

I have came to the same conclusion.  This is also true for people who don't print them out and have baggage handlers do them.

So are you saying if it's a tag that the baggage handlers put on then you get it quicker?

[loug1601]

We have been sailing our of Bayonne for the past 10 years, mainly on Anthem, but also Oasis, Quantum, Liberty, Explorer, and I’m sure a few more I may have missed. 
We always print our luggage tags in color. We also get to the earliest check in time, and arrive early to the port. We also always tip the luggage dude. 
 

We usually book a Junior Suite, but have the same results when we book a balcony cabin. 
Our luggage rarely arrives early, and we frequently get our luggage between 4 and 5 pm, and at times as late as 6:30. I find this annoying as I would love to be unpacked prior to dinner. Additionally, our luggage is never near our stateroom, but quite a hike down a long corridor. 
BUT…

If this is the worst thing in my life, I’ll count myself as being a very lucky gal. 😊

Happy Sailing!

Edited January 20 by loug1601

[irishgal432]

22 minutes ago, SUESEABE said:

So are you saying if it's a tag that the baggage handlers put on then you get it quicker?

No later. My theory  Color coded, Black and White printed, Port baggage handlers.

[Another_Critic]

3 hours ago, zaylyn2590 said:

You should tag one bag with a color tag and another in black and white to truly test your theory 

 

3 hours ago, Jcol5786 said:

That's a great idea. I could put the BW tag on my wife's bag and when she doesn't get it as quickly as mine I can tell her is was an experiment suggested by someone on Criuse Critic😁.

 

I print my tags in B&W, my cabinmate prints them in color.  They are both at the cabin at the same time (either when we first get to the cabin or later in the afternoon).

 

ETA:  The last two cruises were on Anthem (Cape Liberty and Southampton)

 

Edited January 20 by Another_Critic

[Starry Eyes]

We printed our tags on a color printer for years.  We always arrive at port early.  Sometimes the bags arrive fairly early and sometimes fairly late.  Or color printer broke, so the last time the tags were B&W.  One bag came fairly early, the other rather late.  I think it is luck, not tag color.

Edited January 20 by Starry Eyes

[Starry Eyes]

5 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

That's the whole point of why the tags are in color.

I think each ship has a single color, so porters are apt to notice if luggage is dropped at the wrong ship if multiple RCI ships are in port. 
 

When we have changed cabins from forward to aft on a different deck our tags have been the same color.

Edited January 20 by Starry Eyes

[Eddie Wilson]

On our last cruise we were on deck 3 or 4.  I was on the lookout for luggage in the hallways and there was NONE on the entire floor.

 

Our room steward told us they like to start with the highest floors and work their way down.  She said it was more efficient for the service elevator.  

 

She suggested to look again around 4 o clock.  The service elevator room was packed with luggage.

[SG65CB]

If you don't have access to a color printer you can put your luggage tag document on a USB stick and take it to Fedex or Staples or anywhere there are self-service Xerox machines and print in color there. 

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Given that the instructions say "Preferably in color" that would indicate that color is more helpful to the crew handling the bags.

 

I pretty much always do carry-on but I print a couple in color just in case I change my mind on port arrival.

[Tlbecker1]

Just arrived on the Adventure yesterday and our bags were at our door at 1:30.  Fastest we have ever received them.  We always print ours in color at home before arriving.

[Starry Eyes]

2 hours ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

Given that the instructions say "Preferably in color" that would indicate that color is more helpful to the crew handling the bags.

 

I pretty much always do carry-on but I print a couple in color just in case I change my mind on port arrival.

Each ship has its own tag color. If someone pulls up to the wrong terminal, the wrong tag color hopefully will help the porters quickly recognize the issue even if there was a language barrier.  Same for crew on board if the bags make it onto the wrong ship

[wdwkings]

What a fun topic!  This is a discussion that my analytical side really likes but I have to say the answer really isn’t going to be answered but the sample size of one boarding party.  This seems more like an Association not a Causation situation.  
 

 

There are just too many variables at play and some are more impactful than the color of the tag.  The real test needs more data, so either we need to -

 

-recruit a large group across the fleet

-at all the ports

-to be assigned to a color or B/W bag tag groups

 

or @Jcol5786 needs to do hundreds, or thousands, of cruises to increase the data points.  
 

“But honey, we NEED to take all these cruises to tests my theory”.  What a great excuse to become Pinnacle!

Edited January 20 by wdwkings

[soremekun]

2 hours ago, wdwkings said:

What a fun topic!  This is a discussion that my analytical side really likes but I have to say the answer really isn’t going to be answered but the sample size of one boarding party.  This seems more like an Association not a Causation situation.  
 

 

There are just too many variables at play and some are more impactful than the color of the tag.  The real test needs more data, so either we need to -

 

-recruit a large group across the fleet

-at all the ports

-to be assigned to a color or B/W bag tag groups

 

or @Jcol5786 needs to do hundreds, or thousands, of cruises to increase the data points.  
 

“But honey, we NEED to take all these cruises to tests my theory”.  What a great excuse to become Pinnacle!

LOL at the example of the potential relationship of consumption of margarine and the divorce rate in Maine!

 

My thinking is the arrival time of one's luggage by 1:30 (or thereabouts ) and the luggage tag being printed in color is an example of association.

[Engineroom Snipe]

17 hours ago, loug1601 said:

We have been sailing our of Bayonne for the past 10 years, mainly on Anthem, but also Oasis, Quantum, Liberty, Explorer, and I’m sure a few more I may have missed. 
We always print our luggage tags in color. We also get to the earliest check in time, and arrive early to the port. We also always tip the luggage dude. 
 

We usually book a Junior Suite, but have the same results when we book a balcony cabin. 
Our luggage rarely arrives early, and we frequently get our luggage between 4 and 5 pm, and at times as late as 6:30. I find this annoying as I would love to be unpacked prior to dinner. Additionally, our luggage is never near our stateroom, but quite a hike down a long corridor. 
BUT…

If this is the worst thing in my life, I’ll count myself as being a very lucky gal. 😊

Happy Sailing!

Very similar situation from multiple Bayonne sailings. It is hit or miss when I have dropped off bags with multiple color identification strips with an appropriate tip.

 

Once in five years it was at our door when we checked in at 10:30am we arrived at our cabin at 1:30pm.

 

Most of the time, it arrived by about 4pm. The problem was where it arrived.

 

Like yourself, I went on a hunting expedition which could be just six cabins away to having to check one deck above and one deck below to find my luggage.

 

We pack light and I only bring one luggage of "checked bag size " for us to share.

 

"It's not heavy, it's my luggage". Reference to the Hollies, 1969,  song, "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother."

 

I have hoofed with it on many cruises knowing that we will both arrive together without drama.

 

☺️