Under the Tuscan Sun Cruisetour Important Info

[jacksonwayne]

Those of you (us) going on the "Under the Tuscan Sun Cruisetour"; before you embark Emerald Princess in Venice on 17 May, be advised; The luggage restrictions imposed by Globus referred to in earlier posts are true. These differ with standard Princess luggage policy, but are not to be disregarded. I have verified them today with my TA and Princess. Each passenger, upon arrival in Milan, after luggage pickup, will be required to send all but 1 piece of luggage ahead and a small carryon at that time, to the Emerald Princess. The remaining piece of luggage (up to 50 lbs) any size, (remember airline restrictions) will go to the Milan Marriott Hotel with the tour passengers(us).. The You additional carryon you can take on the tour portion is described as "briefcase sized". I am trying to spread the word on this ASAP,so that a bunch of us won't have to repack at the Milan Airport. You will not be able to take all your bags to the hotel in order to repack. Feel free to verify this with your own TA, but don't waste any time waiting for a different answer.You can rest assured I have gone around and around with both Globus and Princess, their response is "read the fine print".Personally,my wife and I are repacking now, shifting the formal wear,and shoes mostly, into the luggage going to the ship. Hope this helps.

[Plainsman]

Those of you (us) going on the "Under the Tuscan Sun Cruisetour"; before you embark Emerald Princess in Venice on 17 May, be advised; The luggage restrictions imposed by Globus referred to in earlier posts are true. These differ with standard Princess luggage policy, but are not to be disregarded. I have verified them today with my TA and Princess. Each passenger, upon arrival in Milan, after luggage pickup, will be required to send all but 1 piece of luggage ahead and a small carryon at that time, to the Emerald Princess. The remaining piece of luggage (up to 50 lbs) any size, (remember airline restrictions) will go to the Milan Marriott Hotel with the tour passengers(us).. The You additional carryon you can take on the tour portion is described as "briefcase sized". I am trying to spread the word on this ASAP,so that a bunch of us won't have to repack at the Milan Airport. You will not be able to take all your bags to the hotel in order to repack. Feel free to verify this with your own TA, but don't waste any time waiting for a different answer.You can rest assured I have gone around and around with both Globus and Princess, their response is "read the fine print".Personally,my wife and I are repacking now, shifting the formal wear,and shoes mostly, into the luggage going to the ship. Hope this helps.

jacksonwayne-Have you got anything in writing on this policy? I am on the same front-end tour for the 6-10 Emerald Grand Med. I too have e-mailed and called Globus, Princess and my TA trying to get verification on the luggage but have yet to get any thing in writing. I have read all of my cruise docs from Princess and all it says about luggage is "All of your luggage will travel with you throughout your land tour. Your tour director will provide further instructions." If you have any more info please e-mail me at

 

wvl3006@gmail.com

 

Thanks

[Coral]

This is pretty common on Princess tours. I believe this is how they do things in Alaska.

 

Someone posted recently about their Ireland tour and I believe they said that they can not have any extra luggage - Princess will not hold it or send it directly to the ship. These people have to do creative packing to only have one bag per person each (total for entire trip).

[Toto2Kansas]

It is the 'briefcase size' that puzzles me. I know there are many tours that allow you to bring one small suitcase or a carry on, but have never heard of only being able to take a 'briefcase size' for several days???

[DrivesLikeMario]

It is the 'briefcase size' that puzzles me. I know there are many tours that allow you to bring one small suitcase or a carry on, but have never heard of only being able to take a 'briefcase size' for several days???

 

Toto, I think the briefcase-sized one is a carry-on and is supposed to be able to fit under the bus seat in front of you. It's not the suitcase that the Cruisetour allows you to take. That can be up to 50 lbs., but can only be 1 piece.

 

Princess does offer Luggage Concierge to those that would rather ship their luggage ahead of time to the ship from home. It's expensive, but could be worth it to some.

[mdamron]

Did they give any info as how to accomplish this?

[cactusrose]

Did they give any info as how to accomplish this?

 

You are not required to ship it. Princess will pick it up from you when you arrive and store it until the ship is in port. When the ship arrives in the port they will take it to the ship and it will be in your cabin when you arrive or very shortly after you arrive. Not to worry, they take care of all of it for you. The important thing to remember is each of you can take 1 50lb bag on the tour plus a very small carry on. You must be able to put this carry on under the seat in front of you or in the overhead which is not as large as the ones on an airplane.

[mdamron]

You are not required to ship it. Princess will pick it up from you when you arrive and store it until the ship is in port. When the ship arrives in the port they will take it to the ship and it will be in your cabin when you arrive or very shortly after you arrive. Not to worry, they take care of all of it for you. The important thing to remember is each of you can take 1 50lb bag on the tour plus a very small carry on. You must be able to put this carry on under the seat in front of you or in the overhead which is not as large as the ones on an airplane.

 

Thanks for the info, but I didn't explain that my situation is different.

 

We're actually on a Globus Ring of Kerry tour in Ireland - Fly into Shannon and then out of Cork in order to meet ship in Southampton England. Princess's flyer for the tour LAST YEAR said they would schlup the additional bags, but they apparently no longer provide this service. What with into one airport, out of another, and the ship somewhere else, this is awfully complicated.

 

As I have stated on another thread, all these details were not known until the final papers arrrived - which is way late in the game.

 

Sounds like you know what you are talking about, so do you have any wisdom for my situation. My TA and Princess have been going around on this and we have been told to not worry, then I see this thread.

 

Appreciate any comments you might have.

[jacksonwayne]

Nothing in writing.

No mention of restrictions in cruise docs, passage contract,etc.

Princess passage Contract only saysyou are allowed a "reasonable" amount of luggage.

Globus generated docs don't mention luggage specifically as to amount or type.

Princess BS from Princess reps (it's in the cruise docs).

I hate to say it, but this may be another sign of Carnivalism creeping into corporate Princess.

I think the bottom line here is that they (Princess) forgot to tell some of us or all of us(?), and now they are covering it up with BS.

Princess reps, care to comment? Please??

[jacksonwayne]

I have worked my way up the Princess Customer Service chain, and I am finally getting some help, although I am waiting now for a call from a Princess rep; they cannot confirm what their reps are saying, at this time, and they are checking it out. They do not know if "notice" was given, and are prepared to issue an emergency notification if necessary. At last, someone (thanks Princess) is taking note. When confronted about what thieir reps at 1 800 Princess are saying, they are concerned that those reps are quoting policy for other Globus land tours that Princess has (i.e. the inputs here about Alaska and Ireland tours), which may not apply here. As soon as I hear from princess, I will post the results.:confused:

[gr8aunt]

I am doing the same tour for the June 10 Venice/Barcelona cruise. The documentation I received titled Personalized Itinerary states under "Luggage Information" "All of your baggage will travel with you throughout your land tour.

Your Tour Director will provide further instructions. Your luggage will be delivered to your stateroom within a few hours of embarking the ship."

 

I did a cruisetour five years ago and all our luggage remained with us at that time also.

 

Maybe Princess has had complaints and have changed the policy.

[ocngypz]

Below is from the Globus terms and conditions.

 

 

 

Porterage for one suitcase is included in the vacation price. Airport porterage at the beginning and end of the vacation is not included. Due to limited coach capacity, bags should have dimensions not exceeding 30"x21"x11" and weight not exceeding 50 lb (22kg) or less if your air carrier has stricter weight/dimension limitations. We regret that we are unable to accept a second suitcase or any luggage exceeding these limits (except on river cruises).

[Host CJSKIDS]

Globus is very strict with their baggage allowence, our friends toured with them last summer throughout Italy. Everyone is allowed one suitcase and one small carryon.

[gr8aunt]

You're right in that Globus limits you to one bag for their land tours; however, the tour I'm referring to is part of Princess' cruisetour package. The land portion is followed by a 12 day cruise and, in that case, I believe Princess calls the shots on luggage. My niece did a Globus tour to Italy a couple of years ago and they were, indeed limited to one bag. In this case, however, Globus is contracted by Princess.

[jacksonwayne]

Direct from Princess Senior Customer care representative, Heather Williams, (Thanks Heather) and confirmed by upper management; THERE ARE NO RESTRICTIONS ON BAGGAGE EXCEPT FOR THOSE IMPOSED BY THE AIRLINES. BAGGAGE WILL TRAVEL WITH YOU THROUGHOUT THE TOUR.

[lovetosew]

The luggage is not a problem for us, but it got me to thinking about transfers and such. We have paid for the transfer from the Milan Airport to the hotel. Because we are staying behind in Barcelona we did not purchase their return airport transfer. But as I closely read the land portion of the cruise there was one line that I questioned and now have my answer from Globus. It read "After breakfast head for the rail station to board the Eurostar Italia for the trip to Venice. Transfer to the pier for embarkation. I began to panic. Does Globus dump us at the train station and we pay for our transfer to the ship or is it included in the 4 day package. It is included. Now I can sleep at night. But on your return please blog that I am correct, just to double check. We will be on the 9/10/07 cruise. We intend to skip the Tuscan countryside trip to Siena and do the Uffizzi and the Accademia on our own. ( tickets booked through Selectitaly which was very easy) Have a good trip and let me know how it goes on your return.

[jacksonwayne]

Relax, transfers also cover that part.

I will post here, upon return, any problems of this type.

I will also post any other important considerations encountered on the cruise.

I'm hoping to hear from others on this tour/cruise.

I am also going to inquire about sneaking in a side trip to Lake Como while in Milan (about 45 minutes North of Milan).

On the stop at Livorno, consider the Princess Chinque Terre tour, it is top notch, far better than the Piza, etc. tours.