DCL in Miami: How to Deal with Baggage?

[Elias1901]

Hey all,

I've only done a couple cruises in my time and I am a bit foggy where arriving and debarking with baggage comes in. We'll be leaving on the Magic out of Miami, so I'm not sure things work differently at that port vs. Canaveral.

We'll be arriving at the Port of Miami in a Lyft with all our baggage with us. We'll probably have a backpack, one standard large suitcase and possibly two smaller carry-on roller luggage. Do we tote these onto the ship ourselves or do they take your bags for you when you arrive? If so, where? Is there a charge? If there is a charge/expected tip? If so, how is this handled? What is customary?) Do you have the option to handle your stuff yourself?

Likewise, when debarking at the end of the voyage... I know there's the option to leave your bags outside your door the night prior to debarkation. What time is the cut off for that? Again, is there any charge/tips expected for taking advantage of that? Where do your bags go/where do you find them (Port of Miami)? Is there any sort of delay to this that handling your own bags would be recommended instead?

Any tips that anyone has regarding this topic would be much welcome.

 

[Numtini]

There will be people to take the luggage right at the curb where you get dropped off. You're expected to tip. They will then show up at your cabin sometime later in the afternoon. You won't be able to get into your room right away, so you really don't want to drag too much around the ship for what could be a couple of hours, though we have carry-on bags.

When you debark, you will leave your bags outside your door the night before you dock, and then on the morning of debarkation, you take all your carryon stuff to breakfast in the MDR, then immediately after leave the ship, and pick up your baggage off the ship in the port building just before you go through customs. If you're doing express walk-off, you can keep your bags and bring them off yourself and this is faster if you're trying to catch a flight. FWIW we did express walk-off and ate breakfast at Cabanas and if you go to the outside section of Cabanas on the aft of the Magic, there's a beautiful view of the Miami skyline as the sun comes up.

 

[Elias1901]

There will be people to take the luggage right at the curb where you get dropped off. You're expected to tip. They will then show up at your cabin sometime later in the afternoon. You won't be able to get into your room right away, so you really don't want to drag too much around the ship for what could be a couple of hours, though we have carry-on bags.

When you debark, you will leave your bags outside your door the night before you dock, and then on the morning of debarkation, you take all your carryon stuff to breakfast in the MDR, then immediately after leave the ship, and pick up your baggage off the ship in the port building just before you go through customs. If you're doing express walk-off, you can keep your bags and bring them off yourself and this is faster if you're trying to catch a flight. FWIW we did express walk-off and ate breakfast at Cabanas and if you go to the outside section of Cabanas on the aft of the Magic, there's a beautiful view of the Miami skyline as the sun comes up.

Thanks for the tips and info! How much is customary to tip... $1 per bag? $2? Do you just hand the bills to the person who grabs your bags from you??

Our flight departs at 12:15 PM... would it be suggested to keep our bags in the room the night before debarkation and do express walk-off with a breakfast at Cabanas? Or, supposing we get an early start, is that enough time to let them handle our bags and have a sit-down breakfast (though we may just opt for Cabanas all the same, as that view sounds wonderful).

Thanks!

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

Thanks for the tips and info! How much is customary to tip... $1 per bag? $2? Do you just hand the bills to the person who grabs your bags from you??

Our flight departs at 12:15 PM... would it be suggested to keep our bags in the room the night before debarkation and do express walk-off with a breakfast at Cabanas? Or, supposing we get an early start, is that enough time to let them handle our bags and have a sit-down breakfast (though we may just opt for Cabanas all the same, as that view sounds wonderful).

Thanks!

Yes, $1-2 per bag is customary for the porters on embarkation day. You just hand them the tip.

You'll have time for DCL to handle your bags on disembarkation morning, & I'd let them do that as it's easier. No separate tip for that, as it's your stateroom host doing the work, who you're already tipping. Yes, you have time for a sit-down breakfast.

 

[Elias1901]

Yes, $1-2 per bag is customary for the porters on embarkation day.

You'll have time for DCL to handle your bags on disembarkation morning, & I'd let them do that as it's easier. Yes, you have time for a sit-down breakfast.

Thanks for the clarification! Is there a specific restaurant that they always do breakfast in on debarkation morning? I seem to recall that you are supposed to go to the dining room you ate dinner at the night prior... is that correct??

I seem to recall not really enjoying the food on debarkation morning when we ate breakfast on the Disney Fantasy. Does anybody recommend going to Cabanas instead for food quality? Or is the sit-down places generally better??

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

Thanks for the clarification! Is there a specific restaurant that they always do breakfast in on debarkation morning? I seem to recall that you are supposed to go to the dining room you ate dinner at the night prior... is that correct??

I seem to recall not really enjoying the food on debarkation morning when we ate breakfast on the Disney Fantasy. Does anybody recommend going to Cabanas instead for food quality? Or is the sit-down places generally better??

Yes, you're right about which restaurant to go to.

We prefer Cabanas for the much greater selection.

 

[Numtini]

Does anybody recommend going to Cabanas instead for food quality?

*raises hand* I thought the food was fresher and warmer at Cabanas, plus I could get what I wanted which is inevitably more meat and less starch (and for my partner the opposite). It's not the full Cabanas breakfast though. The view honestly made it one of the highlights of the cruise instead of a kind of sad-to-be-getting-off afterthought.

 

[Thumper99]

To the OP. Which airport are you flying into/out of? Miami or fort Lauderdale? You’ll have a 40+ minute drive to FLL so if your trying to make a 12:15 flight you might want to do express walk off. Especially on a weekday arrival as you’ll be dealing with morning commute traffic most likely.

If using Miami then you could, depending On your Arline, just pay for transfer with Disney. I think they send those bags directly to airport similar to how they do it at WDW.

One thing not mentioned that I still believe they do is put out character tags that you put on your luggage on last night. Then in the morning you have to wait for them to call your character before you can de-board and then head to hold area for luggage, find your luggage, and then go through customs.

I was just going to ask this question as we have a 12:25 flight from FLL so we are planning on keeping our luggage and doing express walk off with a shuttle company waiting for us. I remember being stressed waiting for my Minnie group to be called. If you do express check off they will have a general announcement that the dock is clear to begin deboarding the ship.

( if anyone know things have changed please let me know!). Thanks!

 

[Elias1901]

To the OP. Which airport are you flying into/out of? Miami or fort Lauderdale? You’ll have a 40+ minute drive to FLL so if your trying to make a 12:15 flight you might want to do express walk off. Especially on a weekday arrival as you’ll be dealing with morning commute traffic most likely.

If using Miami then you could, depending On your Arline, just pay for transfer with Disney. I think they send those bags directly to airport similar to how they do it at WDW.

One thing not mentioned that I still believe they do is put out character tags that you put on your luggage on last night. Then in the morning you have to wait for them to call your character before you can de-board and then head to hold area for luggage, find your luggage, and then go through customs.

I was just going to ask this question as we have a 12:25 flight from FLL so we are planning on keeping our luggage and doing express walk off with a shuttle company waiting for us. I remember being stressed waiting for my Minnie group to be called. If you do express check off they will have a general announcement that the dock is clear to begin deboarding the ship.

( if anyone know things have changed please let me know!). Thanks!

We're flying out of Miami International Airport and planned to take a Lyft as it appears it is about a 16 minute ride to get there from the Port of Miami and, I'd think, would likely be one of the cheaper options to choose, potentially.

 

[hrhdhd]

At the terminals we've used at PortMiami, at debarkation, the bulk of the luggage is on carrousels like at the airport. I am not sure if the terminal Disney uses has a setup like that.

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

To the OP. Which airport are you flying into/out of? Miami or fort Lauderdale? You’ll have a 40+ minute drive to FLL so if your trying to make a 12:15 flight you might want to do express walk off. Especially on a weekday arrival as you’ll be dealing with morning commute traffic most likely.

If using Miami then you could, depending On your Arline, just pay for transfer with Disney. I think they send those bags directly to airport similar to how they do it at WDW.

One thing not mentioned that I still believe they do is put out character tags that you put on your luggage on last night. Then in the morning you have to wait for them to call your character before you can de-board and then head to hold area for luggage, find your luggage, and then go through customs.

I was just going to ask this question as we have a 12:25 flight from FLL so we are planning on keeping our luggage and doing express walk off with a shuttle company waiting for us. I remember being stressed waiting for my Minnie group to be called. If you do express check off they will have a general announcement that the dock is clear to begin deboarding the ship.

( if anyone know things have changed please let me know!). Thanks!

With a 12-ish flight, if you allow 2 hours at the airport & a very generous 1 hour to get to the airport, and an extremely generous 1 hour to go through customs & get your bags, you can still finish breakfast by 8-ish & have plenty of time.

 

[Thumper99]

At the terminals we've used at PortMiami, at debarkation, the bulk of the luggage is on carrousels like at the airport. I am not sure if the terminal Disney uses has a setup like that.

We’ve come into Miami twice off the Magic and never had a carrousel. The luggage is stored in groups in a “basement feel room” and separated based on your character. Once we retrieve it we go to customs window.

 

[Thumper99]

With a 12-ish flight, if you allow 2 hours at the airport & a very generous 1 hour to get to the airport, and an extremely generous 1 hour to go through customs & get your bags, you can still finish breakfast by 8-ish & have plenty of time.

Yes that’s what we’re thinking. To add to my stress that is the morning I need to be online to try and get Moonlight Magic tickets. I’d rather be off the ship at first bell and get to airport as soon as possible so I can focus on that.

 

[cedricandsophie]

Depending on your airline I think at Miami you can check in your bags and get your boarding pass. I know you can at port canavrral and I thought Miami was the other airport but I could be wrong, but it’s a great service. when you put your bags outside your cabin, they show up at your home airport. And you avoid having To even get a boarding pass st the airport and go right to security and the gate. If there are several ships in at the same time, getting a Lyft or Uber may take some time. Also we have never missed breakfast at our main dining room primarily because we love saying goodbye to our servers. It would not be the same for us if we didn’t get a hug and a warm goodbye in the morning but that’s us,