Checking Luggage Through from Ship to Home?

[VaLin]

Last year, we sailed Holland America and were able to pay a fee to have our luggage transported from our cabin the night before departure (when al luggage is picked up) and we didn't see the suitcases again until we were back home. We walked through Customs with just our carry-ons. The fee of $19.00 per person (not per bag) covered both the luggage transportation and a print-out of our airline board passes! Terrific service. Any chance there is something like this on the Celebrity Summit in March?

Thanx.

[kitty9]

Celebrity does offer luggage valet, but it does not cover all airlines or airports. Plus, your flight has to leave after a certain time, I believe noon, so if you have an earlier flight, you won't be able to take part in this service.

[VaLin]

Thanks for the timeline. Do you know if fees include printing off boarding passes?

[jaybird from SC]

<P>The valet luggage program does include printing out your boarding passes BUT you will have to retrieve your bags and carry them through customs before handing them off to luggage valet porters (or at least we did last cruise out of San Juan). You also still have to pay the airline baggage charge. </P>

[Lsimon]

We've done this program many times and it is very nice. However we've been denied twice. Once we got a form letter saying that the TSA routinely requires a random percentage of applicants to do airport check-in, and once my wife was denied as the airline had her marked for airport check-in which I think related to a pending upgrade request. So even if your ship and flights qualify there is a chance you might not be "accepted' into the program.

[John73]

<P>The valet luggage program does include printing out your boarding passes BUT you will have to retrieve your bags and carry them through customs before handing them off to luggage valet porters (or at least we did last cruise out of San Juan). You also still have to pay the airline baggage charge. </P>

 

This was not my experience. On my July 18th Solstice sailing I decided to do Luggage Valet for my 11:55AM Continental flight. After I put my bags out on the Saturday night before departure I didn't see them again until I arrived on my flight back to Seattle.

 

Honestly, I don't think I'll do it again. I would have liked to have checked my luggage myself to make sure that it actually made it to my flight.

[tuggers]

I've done this several times and the only times I have not seen my luggage until I got to my home airport was when sailing from San Diego.

I still like the program and use it when I can.

 

What I really liked was when you could ship things back FedEx from the ships. I don't think they do that anymore./COLOR]

[Lsimon]

All the times we've done luggage vale we've had to claim our bags in the cruise terminal to pass through customs then drop them off at a special station past customs. I've read that this isn't necessary at some ports as the procedure does vary based on the ship's itinerary and/or customs procedures as the port of disembarkation.

[VaLin]

Great responses. Thanks.

 

Additional thoughts: If this in available in San Juan, how would I pay for our checked bags beforehand? Would the airline fees for checked bags be added to our ship bill in with the printing of the boarding passes?

 

Also, What I'm concerned about is leaving the ship in the morning and not flying out until after 3:30. Would love to have my bags checked through to home while I sightsee -- with no need to go to the airport first. Possible?

[wineandbeach]

We did this in San Juan and we had to actually move our luggage through customs and the airline had a counter right at the port where they weighed your luggage and you would pay extra if you had to. It worked out great for us. We went to Old San Juan for awhile instead of spending many hours at the airport. My son just did it in Ft Lauderdale and he put his luggage out the night before and never saw it again until he landed in Newark. We weren't leaving until the next day so he was able to spend the morning with us without worrying about luggage. Our friends also did it in Ft Lauderdale but they were chosen for a random search and they had to watch as someone went through all their dirty laundry. Except for the random search thing, it is a great way to go if you have a later flight and don't want to go directly to the airport.

[chessbriar]

 

Also, What I'm concerned about is leaving the ship in the morning and not flying out until after 3:30. Would love to have my bags checked through to home while I sightsee -- with no need to go to the airport first. Possible?

Going to the airport first before sightseeing wouldn't help. You can't check your luggage in more than 3 hours before your flight. So you are stuck with the bags until 12:30. That's why we are planning on doing the valet on our next two cruises.

[cher1]

We did this on the Solstice last year and didn't see our bags until we arrived at the airport at home. Would do it again if it's available.

[Pointkitten]

At what point do you have the option to sign up for this?

[gisnered]

At what point do you have the option to sign up for this?

 

If I recall correctly, information about the Valet service is in the cabin as part of the welcome package. Forms and payment are accepted at Guest Relations during the first several days of the cruise. Boarding pass and luggage tags are delivered to cabins on the last day of the cruise.

 

If there are no forms in the cabin, inquire at Guest Relations early in the cruise. If the program is available for your particular cruise, Guest Relations will need several days to complete the arrangements with the service company and the airlines.

 

AG

[beynac]

Also, What I'm concerned about is leaving the ship in the morning and not flying out until after 3:30. Would love to have my bags checked through to home while I sightsee -- with no need to go to the airport first. Possible?

 

We tried to do this baggage service on our Century Cruise out of Miami, but there were not enough participants, so they canceled the service. :confused: We had the same situation - a late flight out, and we wanted to sight-see for a bit without lugging around our bags. The ship-arranged tours did not appeal to us and were prohibitively expensive, aside from the fact that we would have had to be up at the crack of dawn!

 

Our solution was to have a cab take us to a big chain hotel on South Beach (Marriott I think? we asked the driver to take us where he thought best), where we talked the bell hop into holding our bags for the day. We tipped him, of course, and he gladly held our bags and then arranged a car for us to take up to the airport at the end of our day. It worked out fabulously. We spent the whole day in South Beach and sure enough, a car was ready for us at the time we specified. He loaded up our bags and we were off! A great end to a wonderful cruise, and so much better than a ship tour or sitting in the airport all day.

 

Good luck!

[Buckeye 6]

Does X charge for this, if so how much? Do all airlines participate? We will be leaving from San Juan after a cruise on Millennium in Oct Thanks, Linda

[kitty9]

On our cruise, it was $20 a person. As I said, not all airlines are a part of this program, and you will have to wait until your board to see if your airline, and your departure time qualifies.

[Lsimon]

Replies to a few messages (didn't bother to quote):

 

 

If it is offered, we usually get a form left in our stateroom early in the cruise with a deadline several days before the end of the cruise. Someone suggested asking about the program if you don't get the form - that is a great idea.

 

Luggage costs - I've read comments posted on these boards from some who shouldn't have been charged fees but were anyways - usually those flying first class, higher level in loyalty program, etc. We're Gold on our airlines program and don't have to pay the fees so I asked about it when I turned in the forms and they gave me some special instructions - no issue after that. I have a feeling Celebrity pays the airlines luggage fees on a bulk basis so they are automatically charged unless you take specific action to make sure they know your fees are different early enough so they can clear the exception through the airlines. Also, our cases were never weighed for the 50lb limit - at least not that I know of.

 

The program is limited to certain airlines, flying to domestic USA final destinations on the day of disembarkation with flights leaving after a certain time. Details will be provided on the ship. It might also be limited to USA citizens but I'm less sure about that.

 

If you can't get into the program and have a lot of luggage and a late flight consider renting a car. We've done that at Ft. Lauderdale a few times. Rented a car with an agency that had port pickup, then returned to airport later in the day before our flight. Hung around the city & beach and had a nice lunch with bags kept in car. Total cost can be as low as $50 or so.