NCL - Luggage drop off early on embarkation day?

[FrozenCruisers]

We will be arriving early morning to Oslo for our NCL cruise. Is it possible to drop off our luggage early (~ 10 AM) at the port so we can do some site seeing? The ship departure is 4 PM so we would like to site see until around 2 PM and then check in. 

[GeezerCouple]

1 minute ago, FrozenCruisers said:

We will be arriving early morning to Oslo for our NCL cruise. Is it possible to drop off our luggage early (~ 10 AM) at the port so we can do some site seeing? The ship departure is 4 PM so we would like to site see until around 2 PM and then check in. 

 

I'm not sure how soon luggage can be dropped off, but in most places -> in the USA, dropoff is much before one can even start to board.

 

However, be careful about the pan to return to the ship "around 2 PM".  Check the ship requirements for *your* specific cruise.  If one must be on board, say, 2 hours before sailing time, then if you arrive even a bit late, you may be denied boarding.  They have a lot to do, including checking the passenger list and coordinating with other authorities.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

GC

[jsn55]

15 hours ago, FrozenCruisers said:

We will be arriving early morning to Oslo for our NCL cruise. Is it possible to drop off our luggage early (~ 10 AM) at the port so we can do some site seeing? The ship departure is 4 PM so we would like to site see until around 2 PM and then check in. 

My automatic 'disaster meter' just went off the scale.  Seems that dropping luggage when there's so much going on at the port means that your luggage might end up anywhere.  But maybe I worry too much.  It would be wonderful to be free for several hours after a long flight but not at the cost of never seeing my bag again.  If you depart at 4, you'll need to check in before 2, and you may be held up by the formalities when you land.  So you really might be talking about a couple of hours.  One solution is to hire a car and go for a sightseeing trip with your luggage safely stowed.  My take on this is that I've paid thousands for a cruise, what's a few more hundred dollars.

[mjkacmom]

33 minutes ago, jsn55 said:

My automatic 'disaster meter' just went off the scale.  Seems that dropping luggage when there's so much going on at the port means that your luggage might end up anywhere.  But maybe I worry too much.  It would be wonderful to be free for several hours after a long flight but not at the cost of never seeing my bag again.  If you depart at 4, you'll need to check in before 2, and you may be held up by the formalities when you land.  So you really might be talking about a couple of hours.  One solution is to hire a car and go for a sightseeing trip with your luggage safely stowed.  My take on this is that I've paid thousands for a cruise, what's a few more hundred dollars.

What is the difference between giving it to a porter and then entering the terminal, vs. giving it to a porter and leaving the area? We always drop off at 9. Now, I wouldn’t be comfortable planning on checking in at the absolutely last minute.

[jsn55]

4 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

What is the difference between giving it to a porter and then entering the terminal, vs. giving it to a porter and leaving the area? We always drop off at 9. Now, I wouldn’t be comfortable planning on checking in at the absolutely last minute.

Wow, consider me educated!  Have you done this in Europe?

[FrozenCruisers]

Thanks all for the info. We would only drop our bags off with a porter so I'm not worried the luggage would be less safe. Good suggestions to not try to board at the last minute. We would be sure to be back to the ship before sail time.

 

I asked via NCL Chat on their website what is the earliest time a passenger can drop off their luggage but they said since the cruise isn't until September, they really can't say. Seemed kind of an odd answer since they have ships leaving from Oslo.

 

I'll check the NCL and Oslo Forums to see if anyone knows.

[nolatravelgirl]

why not just leave it with the bell desk at your hotel?

[jsn55]

Just to be clear, I don't think luggage would be unsafe, I think luggage could get loaded on to the wrong ship.  Consumer Rescue just had a case about luggage cruising on its own because it had been loaded on the wrong ship.  

[mjkacmom]

17 hours ago, jsn55 said:

Just to be clear, I don't think luggage would be unsafe, I think luggage could get loaded on to the wrong ship.  Consumer Rescue just had a case about luggage cruising on its own because it had been loaded on the wrong ship.  

Is this a Europe problem? In the US bags get dropped off with porters and then you don’t see it again until it gets to your cabin hours later, so it makes no difference if you enter the terminal or go off to explore.

[jsn55]

The issue at CR that I referred to was in Seattle.

[FrozenCruisers]

On 3/14/2024 at 1:37 PM, nolatravelgirl said:

why not just leave it with the bell desk at your hotel?

We will check out of an AirBnB 2 hours from the port so that isn't an option. 

[FrozenCruisers]

On 3/14/2024 at 4:00 PM, jsn55 said:

Just to be clear, I don't think luggage would be unsafe, I think luggage could get loaded on to the wrong ship.  Consumer Rescue just had a case about luggage cruising on its own because it had been loaded on the wrong ship.  

Our goal was to arrive to the port around 10 AM when the ship is there. We would give the luggage to a porter and check in. Then instead of walking onto the ship, we would go and do some site seeing. Sorry, I don't follow why this would risk the luggage being loaded on the wrong ship. 

[mjkacmom]

20 hours ago, FrozenCruisers said:

Our goal was to arrive to the port around 10 AM when the ship is there. We would give the luggage to a porter and check in. Then instead of walking onto the ship, we would go and do some site seeing. Sorry, I don't follow why this would risk the luggage being loaded on the wrong ship. 

I don’t understand either.

[Twickenham]

23 hours ago, FrozenCruisers said:

Our goal was to arrive to the port around 10 AM when the ship is there. We would give the luggage to a porter and check in. Then instead of walking onto the ship, we would go and do some site seeing. Sorry, I don't follow why this would risk the luggage being loaded on the wrong ship. 

 

Turning around a cruise ship is an enormous operation, with a very precise sequence of events. Disembark passengers and luggage, resupply, embarkation of new passengers and luggage. My worry is to enter the process out of sequence, as it were - if you drop off your luggage before disembarkation is over, or before embarkation usually starts (I would think there is usually a space of time in between the 2). They could end up lost somewhere in the system, either with disembarking luggage or with luggage going to another ship. 

 

The closest example from my experience that I can come up with is a flight we had to WAW on LOT, connecting via YYZ. There were 2 LOT flights that day from YYZ to WAW, and we were on the later one, but our connection arrived at YYZ before the first one left. When our luggage wasn't on the conveyor belt at arrival, I correctly guessed that it had been put on the 1st flight and was sitting in the back office with the rest of the unclaimed bags from that flight.  Humans are used to certain sequences and routines, and have a hard time adapting to exceptions.

[jsn55]

6 hours ago, Twickenham said:

 

Turning around a cruise ship is an enormous operation, with a very precise sequence of events. Disembark passengers and luggage, resupply, embarkation of new passengers and luggage. My worry is to enter the process out of sequence, as it were - if you drop off your luggage before disembarkation is over, or before embarkation usually starts (I would think there is usually a space of time in between the 2). They could end up lost somewhere in the system, either with disembarking luggage or with luggage going to another ship. 

 

The closest example from my experience that I can come up with is a flight we had to WAW on LOT, connecting via YYZ. There were 2 LOT flights that day from YYZ to WAW, and we were on the later one, but our connection arrived at YYZ before the first one left. When our luggage wasn't on the conveyor belt at arrival, I correctly guessed that it had been put on the 1st flight and was sitting in the back office with the rest of the unclaimed bags from that flight.  Humans are used to certain sequences and routines, and have a hard time adapting to exceptions.

Thank you for this post!  For the life of me, I could not express my thoughts about how your luggage could disappear when you did something 'out of the norm'.  the crew is dealing with a huge monolith of activity, schedules and checklists ...  'incoming luggage' may not appear anywhere.  I only know it could happen, it has happened.  I passed this on because wouldn't want it happening to me!

[mjkacmom]

In nyc, we show up at 9, the earliest check in, drop luggage with the porters, see it again when it comes to the cabin. The OP said they want yo drop off luggage, check in, and then explore. Nothing is out of order, no one had eyes on their luggage during the time between luggage drop off and boarding. If the all aboard time is at 2, sailing at 4, I can’t imagine why luggage can’t be dropped off early. While waiting in the cruise terminal we still see many disembarking, lots check in before the ship has been cleared.

[ldubs]

On 3/10/2024 at 6:35 PM, FrozenCruisers said:

We will be arriving early morning to Oslo for our NCL cruise. Is it possible to drop off our luggage early (~ 10 AM) at the port so we can do some site seeing? The ship departure is 4 PM so we would like to site see until around 2 PM and then check in. 

 

We have done what you describe but not at Oslo's cruise terminal.  As long as they are accepting luggage for the day's embarkation, you should be good and without worry.  By 10am I would think that is happening.   I'm not sure why folks would be frightened of dropping off bags when the bag drop off is open.  The people loading the bags have no idea when you will actually board the ship.  

Edited March 19 by ldubs