Seattle Pier 91 Baggage Drop-off ??

[tpginger]

We have a group going on an Alaska cruise out of Seattle in June. One of our group lives in Seattle & about 8 people will be staying there before the cruise. The current plan is to take all the luggage & a couple people and drop them off at the pier on the morning of the cruise & then they will wait for everyone else to arrive.

Can our drop-off peoples go ahead & check in all the luggage or can the bags only be checked in by their owner? Is it like the airport where the person & luggage must check-in together?

Thanks.

 

 

 

 

 

[JDinWA]

Since there's no limit on luggage per person, theoretically all of that luggage could be theirs. :) The luggage handlers just grabbed suitcases from us as we brought them up, they didn't check IDs or boarding docs or anything, so your plan sounds feasible.

 

Each piece of luggage should have a tag with the cabin number on it, of course.

[Travalot]

I ran into an issue trying to check in luggage in Seattle in 2008 (Amsterdam) for our cabins and my sister's family. (We had one mini van and 9 people, so I was trying to drop off the luggage first, before getting everyone.) I could NOT check in all the luggage, and had to go back and get my brother-in-law for them to take all our stuff (with his documentation). I wish I could remember the exact details, but I don't.

[vbmom87]

Anyone know the earliest you can drop off bags at pier 91? I would love to drop off the bags around 9:00 a.m., go do some touring and then head back to check in and board around 3:00 p.m. Is this feasible?

[Modern_Viking]

Anyone know the earliest you can drop off bags at pier 91? I would love to drop off the bags around 9:00 a.m., go do some touring and then head back to check in and board around 3:00 p.m. Is this feasible?

 

I don't know the specifics for Seattle, but I would say no, that plan would not work.

 

(1) I don't think HAL is going to want to accept arriving bags until most or all of the bags for disembarking passengers are gone. For that to be true, I think it will need to be around 10:30 (give or take).

 

(2) Departure is at 4:00pm, and the check-in process for new passengers must be complete by 3pm. So, arriving at 3pm is very risky. If you have checked-in on-line in advance, arriving by 2:30 is probably OK but doesn't leave much room for error.

 

(3) I don't think check-in for new passengers starts until most or all previous passengers are off the ship, so again, at least 10:30.

 

Still, you could check in early and have about 3 hours to explore before re-boarding the ship, but you won't be able to go very far.

 

Plan B: Pier 91 does have a luggage storage facility. You might be able to store your bags at the pier at 9am and then reclaim them (from the port authority) at around 2pm or so and proceed to check-in for your cruise (and turn in your luggage for delivery to your cabin at that time). It looks like the price is $3 per bag: http://www.portseattle.org/seaport/cruise/concierge.shtml

[cruisin'girl]

It would make me very nervous to have my bags in the same terminal with all the departing pax bags around. I know they probably have a system to handle it, but part of that system probalby is to not even accept embarking bags until the departing warehouse is cleared. Even if they did, I would be very nervous about it until all my luggage got to my cabin. I wouldn't drop bags off until at least 10-10:30.

[vbmom87]

(2) Departure is at 4:00pm, and the check-in process for new passengers must be complete by 3pm. So, arriving at 3pm is very risky. If you have checked-in on-line in advance, arriving by 2:30 is probably OK but doesn't leave much room for error.

 

Thanks for responding. Our ship actually is leaving at

5:00 p.m. I appreciate the information. I understand now that it is not a good plan. We will figure something else out. I still have over 5 months to work through our plans. Just wanted to know what options I could and could not consider. Thanks for setting me straight.