Port of Seattle launches free airport luggage service

Oh, I get it now. I'm flying Delta with priority boarding. Southwest must do things differently. Happy travels.

 

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Oh, they do it differently for sure! You can buy "Early Bird" and have Southwest check you in early for better placement. Or, you can check yourself in and get your own placement. You get a group: A, B, or C. And you get a number. At boarding time, you line up as your group is called and by numerical order. No assigned seating. Get on, sit down, and buckle up. It works well if you work it well. :D

This is a great service, and I have used it on RC, Carnival and NCL in both Ft Lauderdale and Miami.

 

However-- it only works on certain airlines, and the flight must leave after a specified time...like in Miami, the flight had to leave after 11:45, I think. So check the flight departure times carefully.

 

And you do end up paying like $20 per bag. But so much easier than slepping off the ship and to ground transportation, and checking it in at the airport.

I cannot say enough good things about the Port of Seattle offering free valet luggage service. I flew Southwest, so my two bags were free. A big plus for me was that I didn't have to pay an overweight charge for my over-50 lb. bag! Thank you Seattle, Celebrity, and Southwest! My bags were both delivered to my home airport baggage claim.

This is a great service, and I have used it on RC, Carnival and NCL in both Ft Lauderdale and Miami.

 

However-- it only works on certain airlines, and the flight must leave after a specified time...like in Miami, the flight had to leave after 11:45, I think. So check the flight departure times carefully.

 

And you do end up paying like $20 per bag. But so much easier than slepping off the ship and to ground transportation, and checking it in at the airport.

The Port Valet program is only available at the Seattle ports but it is almost identical to Princess' EZ-Check program and Holland-America's program (whose name slips my mind right now) as well as programs that other cruise lines have. Port Valet only works with flights on American, Alaska, JetBlue, Delta (domestic only) United and Southwest.

Tom

Question - We are flying Alaska, using "the Port Valet service". Will I still have to pay the $25. checked bag fee - if the service reads from ship to arrival baggage claim" free. ???

Question - We are flying Alaska, using "the Port Valet service". Will I still have to pay the $25. checked bag fee - if the service reads from ship to arrival baggage claim" free. ???

You will be charged the airline baggage fee.

Tom

Thank you, Do I pay that fee when I ticket my flight?

Question - We are flying Alaska, using "the Port Valet service". Will I still have to pay the $25. checked bag fee - if the service reads from ship to arrival baggage claim" free. ???

Tom is correct, you will need to pay your baggage fee as the Port of Seattle Cruise Luggage Valet Program states. The following link answers your question under the heading: Is the Service Really Free?

http://www.portseattle.org/Cruise/Pages/Port-Valet.aspx

Thanks again Tom and ransrider. I have only used the free shipping when on a Grand cruise endind in Europe Ship to door step and it was GREAT!

Jim & Wools

Thank you, Do I pay that fee when I ticket my flight?

You will be charged the baggage fee appropriate to your airline to your shipboard account. If there is some reason that you have free luggage then you will indicate that reason on the back of the form which you will get onboard the ship. Unless something has changed in the past few weeks, you will get the form early in the week of your cruise and it MUST be turned in by 12 noon of day you are in Juneau. You will receive all your paperwork the day you are in Victoria.

Any more questions, feel free to ask. I tried to include a copy of the form but it' a .jpg and I can't seem to do it. :rolleyes: Sorry

Tom

Question - We are flying Alaska, using "the Port Valet service". Will I still have to pay the $25. checked bag fee - if the service reads from ship to arrival baggage claim" free. ???

Yes, you will still have to pay the baggage fee. The charge will appear on your shipboard account as "Airline Baggage Charge"

You will be charged the baggage fee appropriate to your airline to your shipboard account. If there is some reason that you have free luggage then you will indicate that reason on the back of the form which you will get onboard the ship. Unless something has changed in the past few weeks, you will get the form early in the week of your cruise and it MUST be turned in by 12 noon of day you are in Juneau. You will receive all your paperwork the day you are in Victoria.

 

Any more questions, feel free to ask. I tried to include a copy of the form but it' a .jpg and I can't seem to do it. :rolleyes: Sorry

 

Tom

That sounds like the HAL 14-day cruise. We were on that itinerary and I think we had a bit more time than you state, but best to fill it in early and be done with it.

The form is very simple. If you know for certain that you will have no baggage fees, you have to state the reason. If you hope to be upgraded to first or business from coach/economy, you will be charged the fees that go with your booked coach/economy ticket. I don't know what happens to the fee you paid if your upgrade goes through.

We had no baggage fees because we were in first class. When we got our bags at Newark, I saw that the bags were double tagged, the Port Valet tag I put on and United's own tag--and they even remembered to add their Priority tag, so our bags came up pretty quickly.

One caveat--don't rely on the boarding pass that you get from your cruise line. We got to the passport/ticket check at security and they rejected our boarding passes. The woman said it sometimes happens with the Port Valet pass. So we had to go back to ticketing and have new passes printed. The man I spoke to there said it happens "once in a while" whatever that means. To avoid the possibility of standing in the security line twice, I recommend getting a fresh boarding pass when you arrive at the airport.

Just got back from Pacific Coastal cruise. Southwest Valet Service only works if your flight is between 2-6PM. We had a 1:00 flight and they would not allow us to use it. Had to sit longer on the ship and at the airport. We had planned a morning in Seattle. :-(

Port of Seattle complimentary luggage valet program was awesome. We flew out on Delta to Minneapolis at 3:30 p.m. and all went very well. If you use the Delta app, you were able to confirm that your luggage was put into the system the day before embarkation and then tracked when it was loaded onto the plane shortly before take off. Did not use the paper printed boarding pass as I had the app on my phone which showed the boarding pass. We will definitely use this program when in Seattle next year so will need to book out flight out after 2:00 p.m.

Port of Seattle complimentary luggage valet program was awesome. We flew out on Delta to Minneapolis at 3:30 p.m. and all went very well. If you use the Delta app, you were able to confirm that your luggage was put into the system the day before embarkation and then tracked when it was loaded onto the plane shortly before take off. Did not use the paper printed boarding pass as I had the app on my phone which showed the boarding pass. We will definitely use this program when in Seattle next year so will need to book out flight out after 2:00 p.m.

The Port Valet program may or may not be around next year. It was announced as a one year program but it might carry on. At this point I don't believe anybody knows for sure one way or the other. But is quite similar to the programs normally offered by Princess and Holland so if it's not around next year, those programs probably will be.

Tom

Port of Seattle complimentary luggage valet program was awesome. We flew out on Delta to Minneapolis at 3:30 p.m. and all went very well. If you use the Delta app, you were able to confirm that your luggage was put into the system the day before debarkation and then tracked when it was loaded onto the plane shortly before take off. Did not use the paper printed boarding pass as I had the app on my phone which showed the boarding pass. We will definitely use this program when in Seattle next year so will need to book our flight out after 2:00 p.m.

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Just got back from Pacific Coastal cruise. Southwest Valet Service only works if your flight is between 2-6PM. We had a 1:00 flight and they would not allow us to use it. Had to sit longer on the ship and at the airport. We had planned a morning in Seattle. :-(

My 1:10pm flight was eligible - I was on Solstice, flying Southwest. Something everyone needs to keep in mind: Depending on the cruise line, eligible flight times vary. And, for whatever reasons, not all airlines or cruise lines are participating.

You still need to get yourself to the airport. If you don't get information from your cruise line and ship regarding YOUR particular eligibility (prior to sail), go ahead and make your port-to-airport arrangements prior to sailing if you wish. If your ship is participating, there will be a form in your cabin (mine was there the first evening with a bunch of other stuff). FYI: Your flight must be the same day you dock, you do NOT pay anything if your 1-2 checked bags are over 50 lbs., but you do still pay if your airline charges a checked bag fee. I was eligible, did fill out and turn in the form ASAP, received not only luggage tags but printed boarding passes, and my luggage was there in baggage claim when I got to my home airport as promised. Of note, I'm glad I had time to spare, for some reason my pre-printed boarding pass would not scan and TSA sent me back to SW check-in for reprints. I also got PRE-TSA boarding, not sure if was because of port valet luggage program, or my luck. I hope this info helps clear up some of the confusion.

Any updates? Is this still working well?

I'm going to be on the Norwegian Bliss, departing on Southwest at 11:30 AM (as of now; still thinking of changing). If this is available to me, I'm more likely to pack more stuff rather than try to do all carryons with a family of 4.

Any updates? Is this still working well?

 

"I'm going to be on the Norwegian Bliss, departing on Southwest at 11:30 AM (as of now; still thinking of changing)."

 

Well, it appears the program is still in place, but Port of Seattle doesn't give any program-ending dates, nor do they list cruise lines (still, or new) participating, just airlines. I suspect it's because each cruise line, if participating, has their own rules (such as valid eligible flight time frames, maybe even which cabin class they allow to participate). Also important: Seems last year other people besides me said TSA was unable to scan the program's boarding passes supplied by the cruise line - have back up ready (boarding pass on cell phone?) you may have to go to airline counter for active boarding pass(es). I had to get in counter's line, but arrived so early, it was not an issue. Well worth it not to have to worry about my bag probably being overweight.

 

Hope this helps, sorry I couldn't answer fully; I added some info from the Port's website and (PDF) brochure (www.portseattle dot org./cruise

Is the service really free?

 

The Port of Seattle values your passenger experience and is pleased to offer this complimentary service. Passengers are only responsible for airline baggage fees. We hope this service from ship to plane makes your travel easier and your time in Seattle more enjoyable!

How does the service work?

 

• Complete an enrollment form on board your ship.
  
• Receive boarding passes and luggage tags in your stateroom.
  
• Ship's staff pick up your luggage the night before disembarkation.
  
• Enjoy hassle free disembarkation in Seattle.
  
• Your luggage is sent from the pier to Sea-Tac Airport via secure truck and delivered to your airline. No need to check your bags at the arport.
  
• When you arrive at Sea-Tac, proceed to security.
  

Questions?

Check the enrollment form in your stateroom toconfirm eligibility. Guest Services can also assist.

Participating airlines

• Alaska
  
• American
  
• Delta
  
• JetBlue
  
• Southwest
  
• United
  

Hi everyone,

I'm so glad to see this service is being offered again for the 2018 summer season.

Last year I contacted the port of Seattle and they advised me they didn't know if it would be running again this year.

I'm very much looking forward to this service after my Alaska cruise, and because I'm on southwest there will be any baggage fees!!

Happy and safe travels!

I hope that Royal Caribbean participates in this service. They do have a valet service but it's only available at a couple of ports.

They did participate in the program when we were on Explorer in September 2017 and it was great. Watch participation papers to be delivered to your cabin. Flight times and airline are also details to be considered. Good luck.

Where do we pay baggage fees if using this service?

Where do we pay baggage fees if using this service?

On the ship when you do the Port Valet paperwork. There is no overweight fee if the bag is over the weight limit.

Tom

Thank you Tom. Sounds easy

Thank you Tom. Sounds easy

It is easy, just read the documents you get on the ship so you'll know what is needed. I've added the PDF brochure provided by the Port of Seattle. It doesn't give any of the details but it does provide some info.

Tom

2018-Port Valet Interim Brochure Final.pdf

i hope Carnival will participate!