DW and I took the 14 day Glacier Discovery cruise on the Veendam,  July 12-26, 2009.

We flew into Vancouver on United (Baltimore to Chicago to Vancouver) on Saturday, July 11th.   DW had frequent flyer mileage points on United.   We never had our carry-on luggage challenged before, but the gate agents in Baltimore questioned our two bags.

DW was able to fit her carry-on into the test form at the gate.   I didn't even try it since my bag was carrying my suit for formal nights.  Reluctantly,   I had the bag tagged thru to Vancouver.   So much for my spare change of clothes!  When we were on the Boeing 757 we discovered two things:  one was that my wife's carry-on easily fit into the overhead bin, and second, the plane was only one-third full which would have allowed me to easily fit the bag under an empty seat!  Besides, the bag would have fit the overhead bin too.   It wasn't a good beginning for our vacation, me wondering if my cases would arrive in Vancouver.   It was a mystery why the gate agents were so obstinate in denying us space on the plane for our carry-ons,  beyond my conspiracy theory that United only wanted to charge me additional fees for checking in another bag! Read more