Tagging Luggage WITHOUT DCL Transfers

[Psiklops]

If we are flying in the morning of the cruise and are NOT taking the DCL bus (we've got a Happy Limo reserved) should we tag our luggage with the tags we got in the cruise docs?

The reason I'm asking is so that DCL doesn't try to put them on a bus and they get lost. Or would they transfer the luggage to the ship anyway without us having purchased the DCL transfers?

- Jim

[Señor Ferrari]

Put the luggage tags on your luggage after you have claimed them at MCO. This will avoid any possible problems.

If they have the cruise line's tags on them when they come off the plane, they might be pulled aside. I doubt that they would just go ahead and transfer the luggage if you haven't paid for the service, but there might be a delay in getting your bags while they figure out that they should not be transferring them.

You will need to tag the bags before you check them at the port, so they can be delivered to your room. I always tell people to put the tags on right before the cruise line becomes responsible for them, but not before.

Your docs should tell you specifically what to do with the luggage tags.

[Psiklops]

Señor Ferrari: thanks for the advice! I think that's what we're going to do.

Now I just need an excuse as to why we're not tagging the luggage since DMIL and DFIL don't know we're taking the limo (they think we've got the DCL transfers) ;)

- Jim

[Hygiene99]

u did the surprise for your wife , and now it is here already another cruise .... have a great time u2 take care peter

[Psiklops]

Pete: yeah, I was just thinking that this time last year we only had 9 days 'til the cruise as opposed to the 14 we have now!

I love surprising others: the in-laws already knew about the cruise, so the Limo was the only thing I could come up with that wouldn't give them a heart-attack. I think the plane ride will be more than enough heart-stopping action for one day :earseek:

- Jim

[MarkRG]

I would simply tell them it's a last minute policy change you read about on here.

BTW, what color are the tags? I thought the transfer ones were yellow and the ones you have to put on before arriving at port were blue?

[Psiklops]

The ones that came in our cruise docs are yellow. That's the same color as last year's when we had the transfers. I haven't heard of the blue ones...

- Jim

[Kurry]

I put my luggage tags on my suitcase before departing to Orlando (didn't know any better at the time) and was pretty freaked out when I went to claim it at MCO and it wasn't there. Even though I didn't have DCL Transfers, they took my bags for me. I guess I was pretty lucky. Thinking back now, I'm glad I didn't have to lug that huge thing around in the airport, etc. :p

[Psiklops]

Ok, called DCL and got the official verdict and it's actually quite surprising! Kurry, your experience was actually what was intended...

DCL said that it doesn't matter if you've purchased the ground transfers or not - as long as your flight is arriving the day of sailing, no matter how early (our flight arrives at 7:40am and that was fine), if you've tagged your bags they will be automatically taken from baggage claim and transported to the ship, then delivered to your stateroom between 4 and 5pm!!! :teeth:

That means we don't have to lug them through the airport to the limo. We will, however, still have to take them back to the airport with us after the cruise is over (:() so that they get on the right flight.

Anyway, just thought I'd pass that along...

- Jim

P.S. Last year when we didn't tag them and did have the transfers, one of the cast members took our tags and, after explaining what the bags looked like and our flight info, she went to baggage claim herself and tagged and picked them up!

[WDWLVR]

Yellow is for the Magic.

Blue is for the Wonder.

[house_of_princesses]

I am always amazed at how someone somewhere has the answer to the most minute detail! Now, Mary, where and when did you learn yellow=Magic, blue=Wonder? Here you guys are discussing transfers, and in the process we learn this tidbit. Am I just a sap, or does this amaze anyone else! I know this is off topic, but had to butt in. Sorry.:rolleyes:

[WDWLVR]

I know this because when we sailed in Feb. we got to the Radisson on Saturday and everyone outside had yellow tags on (going to the Magic). Our tags for Sunday (the Wonder) were blue. We are sailing on the Magic next Saturday and our tags are ....you guessed it...yellow.

[WDWLVR]

Psiklops

Actually it depends on what airlines you are flying. We fly American and can check out bags at the port, take the bus to the airport and don't have to worry about anything but are carry-ons. We even get our boarding tickets at the port.

In fact in February we had a 1:30 flight, skipped breakfast and got out by the airline check-in desk at 8. We asked if it would be possible to get on an earlier flight and they got us on an 11:30 flight. Got the airport in plenty of time and home 2 hours earlier than we had planned!

[Psiklops]

WDWLVR: I'm surprised that they would allow Disney to check your bags onto your flight home with all the new security precautions. I would think they would be suspicious of someone slipping something into one of the bags between the DCL terminal and baggage check at the airport.

Oh well, it's nice to know - we're flying a Delta commuter plane, so I'll have to check if we can do it then, too.

Thanks for the info!

- Jim

[WDWLVR]

We were checking it in with an American Airlines agent and it was loaded onto an American Airlines truck (each Airline had their own truck backed up). Don't know what the difference would be then doing it at the airport. I think it would be handled by just as many people behind the scenes either way.

[WDWLVR]

Airlines at the port to check luggage with:

American, Delta, Northwest, US Air, and Continental

[Psiklops]

Hmm...

I wonder how long they'll hold the bags - out flight isn't until 9:30pm that night.

We were planning on doing some shopping at Downtown Disney on Saturday and I rented a 15-person van for the 6 of us because of all of our luggage. If Delta will let us check it, I could get a minivan or something and save some $$$ (the more to spend at Downtown Disney :teeth: )

- Jim

[WDWLVR]

Jim,

I'm not sure of that one. We've always had flights that left within 3-5 hours after we left. Wouldn't hurt to ask.

[mmouse37]

Jim....we have checked our luggage at the port in the morning with flights that left at 7:30 pm. This was last August. This past January we had 6:00 pm flight and also checked luggage at the Port. Both on Continental.

Curious....who did you rent the 15 passenger van from....we rented one for our family as well from Budget when we disembark on 5/24 (5/17 cruise). You are on the same cruise, right??? We have a party of 11.

What actually happened to our luggage was that it flew home on an earlier flight and was being held at Newark until we flew home. When we did not see it at the baggae claim carousel we asked and they had all the luggage held in a separate room. Make sure you hold on to those baggage claim tickets because they wanted to see those plus ID.

MJ

[Psiklops]

MJ: We rented it from Alamo for $89.99 per day when we booked it (we just rented it for the day).

I talked to Delta (our airline) and the first answer we got was that you could not check your luggage more than 4 hours before departure time. The second time I called, I got the same story, so it looks like we'll just keep the behemoth-van and see if we can check in at the port (just in case their being nice or I was given the wrong information).

- Jim

[mmouse37]

So are you taking DCL transfers to MCO to pick up the van from Alamo or is there one near the port?

We are renting from Budget in Cocoa Beach for $79 for the day including tax.

MJ

[Psiklops]

We got a round trip with Happy Limo so we're picking up the van back at MCO. If I had thought about it more, we probably would have just gotten the limo for one way, picked up the van in Cocoa (there's an Alamo location there), driven to Orlando and dropped the van off at MCO at the end of the day. But, I figure it'd be nice to come off the ship and not have to worry about too much until we got back to Orlando...

- Jim

[yvettpal]

Psiklops-

We were also on Delta and were able to check our bags at the port and our flight departure time was over 4 hours away at 3:50pm. We were off the ship and checked our bags around 8:30. However, we were unable to get boarding passes until we got to MCO because of our flight time.

You may want to ask at the port if you can check your bags.

[jlp651]

We're doing the land and sea in Jan. We're using Disney Transfers from MCO to the Polynesian but not from the Polynesian to Port Canaveral...I'm assuming that I should put my tags on my luggage prior to leaving NY and leaving them on...its not going to mess anything up when the limo drops us off at port...am I assuming correctly?

[Psiklops]

jlp651: I'm not sure about that one - did your cruise docs say what to do with the tags? I might be afraid they thought you were doing the sea-part first and transfer the bags to the ship when you arrived.

Anyone else ever go this route?

- Jim

[Psiklops]

Well, just spoke with DCL again today to confirm what I was told earlier about transferring the luggage. The story TODAY is (and this CSR got it from her supervisor) that they will tranfer the luggage to the ship, but they have a manifest of who's purchased the ground transfers and if you're not on it, you will be charged. I'm not sure what the charge is, so we're just gonna pick up the luggage from baggage claim and take it with us...

- Jim