Vancover luggage service

Looking for info on the luggage service in Vancouver. We have a 11:25 pm flight and don’t want to carry the luggage. I see some info on line that they have a counter by the cruise terminal .

$40 for 4 pieces of luggage.

My questions are does it then go to Airport? Where do we pick up ? How much time should we allow ?

Thanks

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

This type of service is just against my principle. :) I am not sure about Vancouver in particular, but $40 in other US city can almost get me a rental car for a day so not only I have a place to store my luggage, I also have the transportation for visiting multiple places...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'll try and avoid compromising my principles while answering;-) And while the prior poster is welcome to their personal philosophy about renting cars instead of storing luggage securely, they'll find that things do operate very differently here than in US cruise ports.

Firstly Vancouver is not an 'other US city' (unless you count Vancouver Washington, which does have some river cruises that start or end in it) and secondly parking a rental car and risking having all your stuff stolen means the 'rent a car for the day' option is something a lot of tourists regret as they lose money here - unless you are actually visiting Not Vancouver sites you can actually end up spending more in parking by moving the car around than the cost to send your bags to YVR, even if you don't lose it all to theft. Plus there's the fact it's often quicker to cycle or even walk than drive around downtown, let alone find parking spots. All in all, car rentals are the proverbial mugs game for 95% of the popular one-day tourist stuff.

To answer your specific questions OP - yes, the bags go to the airport - that's why it costs $40 minimum instead of the 'on site' $7-8 a bag storage fee. Your luggage is moved to one of two offices at the airport - tell then where you're flying and they'll send it to the one that is in your terminal. Terminal maps can be found on YVR website - look for CDS locations on level 2.

They stay open until at least 11pm so there's no problem collecting it - and the only delays will be the completely random 'how many other folks show up to claim luggage at the same time as me?' so I can safely say however busy the luggage queue is at the pier, it'll be much quieter at the airport as only those folks with late flights like you are your competition - and even among folks on the very same flight as you there will be a range of times they arrive at YVR!

I'll add the $40 is Canadian. It's more like $31 USD for the airport transfer.

I'll add the $40 is Canadian. It's more like $31 USD for the airport transfer.

Actually it's $40 in either US or Canadian currency - so make sure you do pay in Canadian! This is the worst exchange rate in the city for folks who don't bother exchanging their cash...

Hi, I tried the CDS website but could not find much information about their service so I emailed them but got no reply. Would appreciate some more details from someone who knows. Disembark Westerdam at 9.00 am and flight back to UK at 8.30 pm.

Thanks in advance

Hi, I tried the CDS website but could not find much information about their service so I emailed them but got no reply. Would appreciate some more details from someone who knows. Disembark Westerdam at 9.00 am and flight back to UK at 8.30 pm.

Thanks in advance

They used to have a website for the pier operation, but it got out of date and it seems they went for a really simple 'nothing but contact info so we never have to get complained at about slow updating when prices and hours change' model - the actual YVR website gives more details about their airport locations & operating hours than their own!

Just to check you were on the correct website, since there have been occasional links supplied here to the wrong one... was the email you used info@cdsbaggage.ca? If so, that's odd - they're a year-round airport service with LONG hours every day. Possible Spam folder issues if you were using a free webmail address to send from? Try using a 'real ISP' email if that's the case. Given how cheap UK phone companies are though, if in doubt I'd ring them yourself - I know my mum only pays a penny a minute to call any US/Canadian number and has since we moved here almost 20 years ago...

Hi Martincath, thanks for the reply. I did send to the address from a normal account; nothing in my spam folders. I will try phoning them next. Have also found company called PorterGenie, have you used them?

Hi Martincath, thanks for the reply. I did send to the address from a normal account; nothing in my spam folders. I will try phoning them next. Have also found company called PorterGenie, have you used them?

I live walking distance from the pier, so I haven't used any of the luggage facilities;-)

All my info on this is from visitors who have used CDS - I've yet to hear anything bad about them, from many reports. The one real negative was their old branding as Priority Baggage - which was why I asked about the email address in case you'd found that site and used a link that might have sent your email into the ether. It's possible YOUR email went into THEIR spam folder though... if so, another email isn't going to help. Calling should give you the confirmation you need that they're still going to operate - and any change of pricing etc. for the new season.

Porter Genie as a concept has two fundamental flaws compared to CDS - firstly your driver could be a no-show, late, or early, due to traffic etc. on either end of the process. Just imagine having to decide whether to keep waiting and risk missing your flight or walk away and definitely abandon your bags! Secondly they're more expensive except in very niche circumstances (if you're a solo, or a small group traveling very light with few bags the Porter Genie total cost could be under the $40 minimum charge for CDS' bag transfer service). While both services have the same small risk of some kind of catastrophic vehicle issue, PG doubles these risks compared to CDS too - they take your bags to storage, then collect them again to then drive them to the airport, which means 2 journeys instead of one!

As someone who never 'curb checks' a bag at airports - and I've yet to meet any remotely-experienced flyer who does not share my opinion on the unnecessary additional risk vs. very marginal reward of doing so - I simply don't see the point of taking any additional risk for luggage storage when it brings no saving of money, time, or convenience. Standing around trying to spot their vehicle at the designated time in an unfamiliar place just seems like a stressful and riskier proposition than walking up to a physical counter with an easily-seen sign that doesn't change location. In port without a service like CDS - perhaps a very worthwhile service. But here, with a long-term franchisee that's been operating at both pier and airport for many years, I'm very much inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt re: your email and try calling - if they don't answer the phone either, THEN I'd start to consider alternatives!

We docked the morning of Sunday 6 May on Westerdam. I had called CDS on Saturday 28 April to check the service would be running and was told it was and that transfer of our bags to YVR was straightforward, all we had to do was find them in the terminal.

So we had a leisurely start to the dayand walked off the ship around 9 am, customs and border controls took only a few minutes and we looked for CDS counter. Was very busy as 3 HAL ships in but could find no signs, eventually a kind person led us to it. Was tucked away on the very LHS of taxi queue with only an A4 paper sign stuck on wall behind the counter. Longish queue and so got to the front after about 15 minutes. Was appalled to be told that they were not doing transfers to YVR! They were full and we should have pre-booked. Complained that I had called and was not told about this, also that I had sent three emails but had no replies. Counter staff apologetic but said they could do nothing!

The couple behind us also wanted a YVR transfer and they acomplained to staff as well, they had got no replies to emails either. At this the staff said they would get their manager to see us. We waited over 10 minutes and no one turned up. Luckily the lady from the other couple insisted that she was taken to see the manager and after another 5 minutes she returned to tell us we could have the transfer! We had been getting very anxious so this was a relief. Paid the $40 fee, filled out the form. A numbered tag was attached to one bag and sticky labels with same number stuck on the other three cases and given stub with number on it. Staff gave us directions to the pickup point at the airport.

When we arrived at YVR found the CDS counter easily enough although it is downstairs in the arrivals hall. Gave our stub to assistant who quickly got our two large bags but had to ask for descriptions of the other two. He went and found them quickly enough but not impressed as the sticky labels were not present. Not sure if this because my small samsonite has Teflon in the material! (Note to self - take pictures)

All in all it is not a service I can recommend as I expected a much more professional approach.

If I return through Vancouver again I will look for alternatives.

Thanks for actually coming back to post your experience. While a long queue to check them in has certainly been reported before, I've never heard anyone complain about the actual quality of the service before now. Perhaps the many years without competition has made them sloppier on that front - it certainly sounds like a poor show on their part. Glad you did get your bags to YVR and collected in the end - I can totally understand you looking at alternatives after what you described.