Your experience with Luggage Valet

[PuddyfromOz]

Just curious about this and may use it on the next cruise. What exactly happens? The night before do you get a boarding pass for the plane and are the luggage tags specific to the airline you are using? Has anyone experience the problem of lost luggage or not arriving at the final destination airport? Anything you can share would be helpful.

[judyfssw]

I've used it whenever I could. Yes, the boarding passes and the luggage tags were specific to our airline. However, I did notice that the airline put on longer tags at the airport. Our luggage was waiting for us at our home airport and the process worked perfectly for us. Hope it does for you too. Use it.

[sptrout]

We used it at the end of our Equinox cruise out of Fort Lauderdale (12/14), and it worked great for us. One thing often overlooked is that when using the program that the excessive weight charge(s) are waived. That saved us $100; a good return for the $40 it cost.

[jelayne]

We used it at the end of our Equinox cruise out of Fort Lauderdale (12/14), and it worked great for us. One thing often overlooked is that when using the program that the excessive weight charge(s) are waived. That saved us $100; a good return for the $40 it cost.

 

That's interesting- the paperwork says that you will be charged for any overweight luggage. We have used it and love it.

[FKGirl]

Used this in May in Seattle.. Worked perfectly for my bag but it seems DH's bag never got tagged and the bag was sitting at Port of Seattle for a week. We eventually got it back (and some OBC for our next cruise).

 

The other thing is look over your boarding passes carefully. Celebrity screwed up DH's reservation and he got bumped from TSA pre-check, which was pretty annoying.

 

That said, I would absolutely use it again. (incidentally, so would my husband).

[Tiggertastic]

I wish they could extend it to international, but I know it's too complicated to do

[doublemm16]

Used it in April on our Equinox cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale. We flew JetBlue and our luggage met us in Newark. No overweight baggage fees were charged.

[sptrout]

That's interesting- the paperwork says that you will be charged for any overweight luggage. We have used it and love it.

 

Maybe they have changed the rules since December. Our paperwork specifically said that overweight luggage charges would be waived (but not the total number of bags though). I even went to the front desk to confirm it since I did not believe it, but they confirmed the wording. I know our bags were overweight coming home since they were when we flew over to Fort Lauderdale and I don't think they lost any weight, I know a couple of folks that did not:D.

[outoftowner]

So if we were to fly first class, what would we pay?

 

Just the fee for the valet service and no more for the checked baggage fee because it is included with first class, right?

[JaneStarr]

We *almost* had an experience with Luggage Valet to report.

Unfortunately, the airline changed our return flight time at the 11th hour and made us ineligible for the program by fewer than 15 mins. We asked if they could make an exception, but they could not.

Just be careful if you have a flight time close to the earliest allowed for the program by Celebrity.

 

[Thinking back, this was probably on our Royal Caribbean Inside Passage cruise and not Celebrity. Going to leave this comment since the same caution probably applies.]

Jane

Edited June 22, 2015 by JaneStarr

[FKGirl]

So if we were to fly first class, what would we pay?

 

Just the fee for the valet service and no more for the checked baggage fee because it is included with first class, right?

 

Yes, this is exactly correct. There is a place on the form that you will check that says you are in first class so do not need to pay bag fees.

[outoftowner]

That question was bothering me, thank you for clearing it up!

[cruisestitch]

HOWEVER, sometimes you do get charged even when you are in First Class. If this happens, it takes a couple of phone calls to get the charge credited back to you. It always gets fixed in the end, but sometimes there is a bit of time and hassle involved. If you see a charge posted to your credit card account after you have disembarked, call Captain's Club and they will direct you to the vendor who runs the program to get it corrected.

[keithm]

Just curious about this and may use it on the next cruise. What exactly happens? The night before do you get a boarding pass for the plane and are the luggage tags specific to the airline you are using? Has anyone experience the problem of lost luggage or not arriving at the final destination airport? Anything you can share would be helpful.

We've used it twice in the past 2 years. It worked like a charm. They'll notify all pax with a "note". If you're interested,just go to guest relations & get the form to fill out.It is remotly possible(it says on the form) that "your" luggage might get pulled for "further" inspection. In that case you are refunded the $$ & the luggage will be in the terminal with everyone else's. Perhaps someone can chime in if that's happened to them.

[sr4mjc]

I wish we could do this in San Juan.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We've used it many times. There was only one time we had a problem with a bag going missing but the airline delivered it to our home within a day or two. I think the issue was with TSA and not related to Luggage Valet. We will use it any time we can.

[bbeltmom]

We use it whenever available. We fill out the forms at guest services as soon as we board. Just make sure you have a printed copy of your flight confirmation. I keep everything on my tablet in TripIt lately and that was not good enough for them on the Silhouette. We have never been charged for bags by the airline when we shouldn't be.

 

And yes, if your flight departs at 11:28 and not 11:30 that will not be accepted. However, once when Delta changed our flight time from 11:35 to 11:20 we were able to change our flight for no charge to a 1:00 pm flight when I explained that although it was really a minor time difference it prevented me from using the cruise line service. Delta was very accommodating.

 

My SIL had a bag pulled for extra screening In FLL last trip. Her card buzzed on exit from the ship and we were met by security and brought right through the terminal. We waited outside while she was brought in to a separate room and exited just a couple of minutes later. They just wanted her present to open and search her bag. It still got sent off to the airport and arrived in DTW without us having to take it. She was told that it was just a random screening.

[philpcruiser]

What do they charge for this service? Is it run by Celebrity or a vendor?

[cruisestitch]

It is operated by a vendor.

 

The charge is $20 per passenger plus whatever luggage fees your airline charges. That charge includes checking you in for your flight, issuing your boarding pass, and issuing your luggage tags.

[gotcha3]

Is the service available when disembarking in Vancouver for a flight to the US as we have US Customs and Immigration people at the Vancouver Airport? Thanks...

[cruisestitch]

No it is not available in Vancouver.

[PuddyfromOz]

WOW, you people have been so fantastic and your comments are so appreciated. Thanks to bbeltmom, for the info about taking along a printed copy of the flight confirmation. That thought had crossed my mind. I figured it would be best to just make an extra copy in case it was needed. This will be my second cruise and I’ve gathered so much info from these boards. In most cases people are extremely nice and informative. (Laughs) Well, in most cases.

[philpcruiser]

Is this service available for embarkation (Bags go from home airport to your cabin)?

[gergles]

Is this service available for embarkation (Bags go from home airport to your cabin)?

 

No.

[cruisestitch]

There are several private companies which will ship your bags from your home to the cruise. They aren't operated by the cruise lines and they are not inexpensive. You have to have your suitcases ready for them many days in advance (one to two weeks, as I recall).