Keep Luggage with me on DCL bus?

[TigBaby]

Hi!
For my last three cruises, I've taken the DCL bus from my WDW resort to Port. The luggage gets picked up from my room around 8am and I don't see it again until it shows up at my stateroom door. I actually don't see a problem with this, generally speaking, although my luggage didn't show up at my stateroom until about 5pm on my last cruise. Anyway, my cousins are cruising in November, and wanted to know if they could keep their luggage with them on the bus rather than letting it be taken separately at 8am. Would that be allowed? Has anyone done that? Thanks!

 

[LWQuestie]

Do they want to take the luggage on the bus so they have access to it on the ship before 5pm? Or so they have access to it between 8am and boarding the bus?

I've only taken DCL transport between Houston and Galveston, so I had access to my luggage in the morning, put it under the bus for transit to the port and then checked it with the porters at the port, not to be seen again til around 3-5pm onboard.

 

[lanejudy]

If they want to keep the luggage with them and bring it to their stateroom themselves, each suitcase or bag will need to be small enough to fit through the security x-ray machines (similar to carry-on size at airports). They are allowed to carry-on as many bags as they'd like, but they will have to lug them around the ship until staterooms are ready after 1:30pm (might not be too long if using DCL transfers from WDW).

If they simply don't want WDW to handle the bags and wish to check the luggage themselves when arriving at the port...I suppose that's possible, the luggage can ride below the same bus. Not too sure of the reason here, though.

I hope your cousins enjoy their cruise!

 

[travelgirl06]

I assume this is fine, as they open up the storage under the bus for larger items (we put our stroller under and lots of people had bags, etc. that went under). The challenge would be in navigating through the terminal and onto the ship, which would be a hassle with larger bags (carry-on size wouldn't be so bad). We just did backpacks and the stroller and had everything else checked through from our room at WDW to the ship, we had the age by sail away (which was easier than our transfer between resorts earlier in the week...they forgot to transfer two of our bags and we didn't wind up getting them until like 8PM! As soon as they realized the age were missing they were on top of getting them back to us though)

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Yes, you probably could just bring your bags to the bus to transport to the port. However, any large (check in size) bags will need to be handed over to the porters at the terminal and will then join with the other bags being delivered to the rooms. You really won't gain much except the hassle of bringing it to the bus.

Anything you wish to carry on needs to fit through the security scanner at the port. Maximum size for carry on bags is 22x14x9 inches.

 

[mmouse37]

As mentioned above you can't bring onboard with you any bag that is larger than standard sized carry on. So, bringing the full sized luggage on the bus with you would mean it would then have to be handed over to a porter once you get to the terminal defeating the purpose of wanting your bags with you and not waiting until they show up in your room.

Either way your full sized bags will be taken from you and delivered to your cabin...either from your WDW room or by a porter at the port.

MJ

 

[TigBaby]

Thank you Everyone! The reason they want to take the luggage with them is to guarantee that the bags make it onto the ship. I'll give them your responses. Thanks again!

 

[lanejudy]

Thank you Everyone! The reason they want to take the luggage with them is to guarantee that the bags make it onto the ship. I'll give them your responses. Thanks again!

They'll at least be able to guarantee that it gets to the port and is handed over to a porter, but they won't see it actually go onto the ship. I haven't read posts about luggage left behind at WDW resorts, either, so I'm not sure it's a huge concern. Luggage from the resorts is usually picked up around 8am and taken to the port by truck, separate from the bus.

Enjoy the cruise!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Just have them bring what they might need for the first night in a carry on onboard the ship and let DCL handle the rest of their luggage.

 

[kiford]

We've done 8 cruises with Disney (although one doesn't count because it was the second leg of a B2B so no luggage pickup). For five they picked up our luggage at WDW resorts, two we were in Disney booked hotels in Barcelona. Never had a single problem.

When they say they pick up at 8 am, I find that they are there at 8 am. Not 8:01, not 7:59 - 8:00 am on the dot. We still take some clothes in our carry-on, partially because I don't know when we will see our luggage and I might want to freshen up, change, have dinner clothes, have swimsuit, but we've never had a single issue. I will admit to stressing a little until I see the suitcases, but I find that they are very efficient.