The Luggage Tag Wars: What I Learned on the Queen Elizabeth

I thought I knew how to cruise. After all, I'd been on seven cruises in the past five years—two Carnival ships, a Royal Caribbean behemoth, a Disney cruise where I cried during the farewell show, and three Celebrity sailings that I genuinely loved. I'd mastered the art of finding the best buffet times, I knew exactly which cabin locations to avoid, and I could pack a carry-on like a Swiss watchmaker. So when I booked the Queen Elizabeth with Cunard Line, I was feeling pretty confident about my cruising credentials. Then I met Margaret in the cabin next to mine. I first encountered her in the hallway outside my stateroom on embarkation day, just after I'd dropped off my luggage for the porters to deliver. I'd used the standard royal blue luggage tags that came with my cruise documents—you know, the ones that have your cabin number printed on them in a font that looks like it was designed in 1987. Margaret was standing in front of my cabin, examining her own bags with the intensity of someone defusing a bomb. She had at least six pieces of luggage, and every single one had a different colored tag. Hot pink, lime green, neon orange, electric blue, and two shades of purple I didn't ev…