Recent Hyatt? And carrying on all luggage?

[WDWAurora]

Hi! We are staying at the Hyatt the night before our upcoming first cruise. I know you can leave your luggage in the hall, but is it fine to just take our luggage down ourselves so that we can see it go on the right bus? Also, does anyone take their own luggage on the ship? My husband is not a big fan of letting others deal with our luggage. We do understand that would mean we have to deal with it until our room is ready (potentially several hours).

 

[dcassetta]

You can take you own. You can also carry on as long as your luggage will fit through the security scan - if it will fit at the airport it will fit at the terminal.

 

[lanejudy]

does anyone take their own luggage on the ship?

If you can pack just carry-on size bags, yes that is fine. The security scanners at the port are similar to airport scanners, so anything you carry-on must fit through the scanner or be checked. Also note there are no luggage trollies available, it is literally "you carry."

 

[Kwami]

Hi! We are staying at the Hyatt the night before our upcoming first cruise. I know you can leave your luggage in the hall, but is it fine to just take our luggage down ourselves so that we can see it go on the right bus?

I tried to do that last time, but I was only partially successful. I didn't put out any luggage for them to take, so they knocked on the door at something like 7am and asked if we had luggage for them. We said no and they left. At around 9am, we went down to the lobby to catch the bus and met the DCL rep. While checking us off the list, he had some other porters pick up our luggage and take it, then had someone else escort us to the bus. We did see our luggage on the cart that they wheeled over to the bus, though, and we also saw it when they unloaded the bus at Port Canaveral.

I actually didn't realize that our luggage was on the move until I'd finished checking in with the DCL rep. If I had, then I might have asked to hold onto everything until I got to the bus. I would have been the only one doing that, though. Nobody else came to the bus with their own luggage.

 

[Akck]

We took our first DCL cruise out of Galveston. The shuttle bus dropped us off directly across from the terminal entrance doors, so we missed seeing the bag drop off. It was a pain having to tote our bags around the ship. For our second cruise, we took the DCL shuttle from resort to Port Canaveral and let them pick up our bags at the room. It was definitely easier moving about the ship. I understand your husband’s concerns, as they knocked off a wheel from one suitcase (one we had just bought 6 months before). My recommendation would be to let them take your luggage.

For leaving the ship, we did tote our own luggage off. We were able to leave the ship quicker and get on with the rest of our stay. Maybe you can convince your husband to compromise, letting them pick up your luggage at the Hyatt and then keeping it when you leave the ship. In any case, do keep anything you might want first thing on the ship (I.e., swimsuits), in your carryon.

 

[brentm77]

Hi! We are staying at the Hyatt the night before our upcoming first cruise. I know you can leave your luggage in the hall, but is it fine to just take our luggage down ourselves so that we can see it go on the right bus? Also, does anyone take their own luggage on the ship? My husband is not a big fan of letting others deal with our luggage. We do understand that would mean we have to deal with it until our room is ready (potentially several hours).

Our family of four only packs carryon when traveling these days, regardless of the destination. We each have a standard carryon size suitcase and have a rule that we each carry our own stuff. No offloading junk to another family member just because they may have a little extra room. It takes some planning and packing smart, but we did two weeks in Europe, including a cruise with formal night, this way. It can be done and has so many benefits. We each have a small day bag too, with airplane essentials, 16oz plastic water bottle (much lighter than insulated), and the stuff we want easy access to. We then use that day bag for excursions from our hotel/cruise ship.

We also wheel our luggage onto the ship instead of using the porters. It really isn't that big of a deal to take it with us for our first Cabanas lunch and during the short free time before the room is ready. When the room is ready, we always have our luggage there, ready to unpack (had to wait a long time for one bag on our first cruise). We also disembark this way, which has even more benefits. The biggest one is not having to pack up and leave your luggage out the night before disembarking, which is a serious downer for me on our last day. The second one is being able to leave the ship whenever we want, and not have to hunt for our luggage.

Besides just the cruising aspect, packing this way ensures you get to your destination with your luggage (becoming rarer these days), don't have to wait at baggage claim, can pack and unpack quickly, and are nimble when moving about during travel.

The onebag movement has great tips on how to travel light like this, and so does Rick Steve's. It's more doable than many think. There wasn't a single thing me missed during our two weeks in Europe. But there was some stuff we realized we didn't need.

 

[WDWAurora]

Wow! So I did cruise twice as a teen (when I didn’t have to make the decisions!) and didn’t realize that this wasn’t possible anymore. We did it when I was a teen and were relieved we had brought our own bc one member of our group (we traveled with about 30 from our hometown) didn’t get his luggage until so late. I knew there was different security now, but I didn’t know the scanners were the normal small ones like at the airport. I assume there are larger ones most luggage goes through. I’m a chronic overpacker and already struggling to get my shoe selection down to reasonable, so we will have to bring our normal sized suitcases this time.

 

[gismo1554]

Wow! So I did cruise twice as a teen (when I didn’t have to make the decisions!) and didn’t realize that this wasn’t possible anymore. We did it when I was a teen and were relieved we had brought our own bc one member of our group (we traveled with about 30 from our hometown) didn’t get his luggage until so late. I knew there was different security now, but I didn’t know the scanners were the normal small ones like at the airport. I assume there are larger ones most luggage goes through. I’m a chronic overpacker and already struggling to get my shoe selection down to reasonable, so we will have to bring our normal sized suitcases this time.

Remember as well if everyone brought full suitcases on as walk on that would mean full suitcases being pulled around the ship and in the lifts etc for hours before rooms are ready. It would cause major traffic issues like it does on the last morning when people walk off with their suitcases. I always think of this bit of the process like when you check cases in for a flight. You have to just trust that they will make it to the destination perfectly fine. I always carry my evening outfit in my hand luggage I take on the plane so I'm covered if my case doesn't arrive in time for dinner/show.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

Wow! So I did cruise twice as a teen (when I didn’t have to make the decisions!) and didn’t realize that this wasn’t possible anymore. We did it when I was a teen and were relieved we had brought our own bc one member of our group (we traveled with about 30 from our hometown) didn’t get his luggage until so late. I knew there was different security now, but I didn’t know the scanners were the normal small ones like at the airport. I assume there are larger ones most luggage goes through. I’m a chronic overpacker and already struggling to get my shoe selection down to reasonable, so we will have to bring our normal sized suitcases this time.

I wouldn’t be too concerned about luggage not arriving at your stateroom once it has been handed off to DCL when you board the bus at the airport. The big concern is with the luggage handling by the airlines in getting checked bags to their destination along with the travelers. Once you have your luggage at the airport and hand it off to DCL, you should be okay.

 

[kathi]

For us, that is the whole reason to stay at the Hyatt. I really dislike having to drag my luggage all around. We have Apple AirTags in all of our bags, so we could watch them leave the room, get on the truck and arrive at the port. Had that not happened, we could have at least alerted DCL that the bags were still sitting at the airport and where they were located.

 

[anricat]

For us, that is the whole reason to stay at the Hyatt. I really dislike having to drag my luggage all around. We have Apple AirTags in all of our bags, so we could watch them leave the room, get on the truck and arrive at the port. Had that not happened, we could have at least alerted DCL that the bags were still sitting at the airport and where they were located.

We do the same! Each bag gets an AirTag and we can make sure they are en route. It really helps alleviate any anxiety.

 

[WDWAurora]

So how do you tip the porters if the Hyatt deals with your luggage? I’m not sure how you would tip anyone if you leave it in the hall.

 

[lanejudy]

So how do you tip the porters if the Hyatt deals with your luggage? I’m not sure how you would tip anyone if you leave it in the hall.

You can tip the guy who comes to pick-up your luggage; we’ve never left it in the hall at the Hyatt so not sure who’s done that. We have left it inside the door with the tip on top. You would not tip anyone at the port, except maybe post-cruise if one helps then.

 

[Starwind]

So how do you tip the porters if the Hyatt deals with your luggage? I’m not sure how you would tip anyone if you leave it in the hall.

At the Hyatt you don't leave your bags in the hall, you leave them INSIDE your room near the door.

We have always made sure that one of us present when they come pick up the bags (in part to make sure the right bags are taken/there are no issues) and we tip the person who picks them up, they same as we would tip any Bell Services picking up our bags.

SW

 

[WDWAurora]

At the Hyatt you don't leave your bags in the hall, you leave them INSIDE your room near the door.

We have always made sure that one of us present when they come pick up the bags (in part to make sure the right bags are taken/there are no issues) and we tip the person who picks them up, they same as we would tip any Bell Services picking up our bags.

SW

Super helpful. Not sure where I read outside the door. Still stressed about the porters not getting tipped but I guess I’ll just hope for the best!!

 

[shoes99]

Super helpful. Not sure where I read outside the door. Still stressed about the porters not getting tipped but I guess I’ll just hope for the best!!

If we leave our room for breakfast we leave the $$ tip under the luggage handles Inside the room. They appreciate the tip.

 

[Starwind]

Super helpful. Not sure where I read outside the door. Still stressed about the porters not getting tipped but I guess I’ll just hope for the best!!

I wouldn't be. When the bags are picked up for transfer to the ship they are all loaded on a large truck and transferred to the port where they are unloaded en mass and transferred to the boat.

I have always assumed it is salaried personnel at the port that are doing that transferring there, whose primary job is to do that work, NOT the same porters that would be receiving and handling luggage from guests arriving directly to the port [the porters would be engaged with those guests]. Or they could be the same porters, who part of their time are doing the truck work and part of the time doing the portering.

Keep in mind that in addition to the truck form Hyatt, there are also the trucks arriving from the WDW resorts that have to be processed too. Lots of "checked" luggage as it were where the guests are not involved.

Separately, you will have the guests leaving and then later arrive directly to the port who will need porter assistance with the luggage they brought themselves to the port.