Handling our own luggage when disembarking ????

[Ziggy7]

I read somewhere on these message boards ( and I cant find it again) that if you want you can take your own luggage off the ship and take it with you to the airport you can , dont you have to do this anyway ????? Hal is providing my transfer to the airport, and if my luggage doesnt go with me on the same bus I dont think I will be too happy! Anyone test this system as of yet on Hal ????

Thanks!

[debblue]

i have always used the transfer hal has, only one time did i have a problem after leaving the ship myy i peice of luggage could not be found so i went aboard the bus and left for the airport, after arriving in ny i then spoke to hal , then found my luggage and had it shipped to my residence. in all the cruises i have been on that is the only time i had a problem , if the bus is full they will be another one to take you and your luggage to the airport. they do count the passengers going on the bus so they will be room for the lugggage.enjoy your cruise

[gizmo]

Ziggy,

 

You must have been reading the NCL board. They have some kind of deal to haul your own luggage off the ship.

 

On Hal ,you will be given colored tags the night before to put on your luggage. You will be told what time the luggage needs to be put out in the hallway for the crew to collect. It is usually around midnight. When you disembark the luggage is in an area lined up by the colored tags. There will be porters around if you need help hauling your luggage to the bus or taxi area.

[anngie]

Ziggy, we recently sailed on the Carnival Ship Glory. We were given the choice to self assist our luggage to disembark. It was just great. We were allowed to have room service breakfast at 6:15 and as soon as the ship was cleared we were on the elevator and were quickly ushered off the ship. We were in our car and out of the port by 7:45am. Since we have all rolling luggage it was a breeze. We were amazed at how smoothly everything went.:) I would love to see HAL adopt this procedure too.

[Krazy Kruizers]

:)

 

I have seen a few people take their own luggage off HAL ships. But they didn't have BIG bags. It is usually the people on 7 day cruises who do this as they bring very little with them.

Anytime you buy a HAL transfer, your luggage is put on the same bus as you. The only exception would be if something happened like the posted said here.

:)

[anngie]

We always drive to the port and park there. We take a big rolling bag each. I guess we have learned how to pack after lots of cruises so a big rolling bag is fine for a 7-10 day cruise.

I take a large purse so that we can put our camera in it. It was great to be able to get off the ship early and get our car out of the port. It was also nice not to have to get into the hassel at the baggage claim area. This way you have your luggage in hand so you don't have to worry about someone getting yours by mistake. That happened to us once. :eek:

[Ziggy7]

Thanks Everyone!

I feel better now about my luggage finding its way home with me :)

I love these boards ! Your all the best !!!

[F5Loar]

You are asigned a color/number to disembark based on what you filled out on your embark form about your disembark plans. If you can handle your own luggage on your own with no help you may take it all of with you when your number is called. It does save time on going to hunt for your bags in the claim area but it's not that easy if you have big bags going through the terminal to the customs agent who knows you carried your luggage off and may think you have something to hide or something you didn't claim for duty tax. I believe if you do transfers you still have to claim your bags and go through customs for that reason. So there is no difference in how your bags get to the airport. Everybody and their bags go through customs(or is it imigration officials?)

[anngie]

The way the Glory does it is that people who have early morning flights go first, then self-carried luggage so that when you get to Customs only the people taking their own luggage off the ship are in line. The Customs agents took our cards just like they do when you have a colored luggage tag. I did not feel like they suspected that anyone was hiding anything. They told us that they hoped that we had a good cruise.

When we have sailed HA we have always been very much in the minority as passengers who drive their own car from home. It seems that most people either take the buses or are flying into the port.

[kac]

F5Loar,

 

Actually, these days it's BOTH a Customs and Immigration official rolled up in one. The inspectors from (old) Customs and (old) Immigration are now CBP (US Customs and Border Protection) Officers. Their respective agencies no longer exist and under Homeland Security they are all in CBP. They have only one uniform now, and the only way you can tell if they started out as Customs or Immigration is to look at their badges (which haven't been replaced yet).

 

They are cross-trained to do all of what we traditionally thought of as Customs and Immigration duties. You should only have to stop once if everything is going as envisioned.

[FlamingoT]

On both our previous cruises, one 14 days and the other 21 days, we took only carry-on luggage on the flights and then rolled them on and off the ships ourselves. We'll do the same when we spend 30 days on the Westerdam in the fall. This way we never worry about the airlines losing our luggage and we never wait for it to arrive at our cabin. We each have a rolling suitcase, my husband carries a backpack and I carry a canvas tote. We pack our pocket knife, scissors, tweezers and other dangerous items:) in a box and that is the only item we check at the airport. On this trip we are arriving in Europe 6 weeks before our cruises begin so I have to pack pretty carefully to get everything in, but when I pack a lot more I don't seem to wear it all and get tired of lugging it around. Obviously I have to do some hand laundry but since I'm not cooking or making beds I can squeeze it in:rolleyes: .Previously my husband rented a tuxedo on board which helped but for this trip he is packing a dark suit and sport coat. We like to dress for dinner, I choose formal wear that packs well! I have tried a dry run and it all fits, now I hope it all fits when its time to leave!