Onboard check in and Luggage Valet service

[shellseeker]

Has anyone utilized this service yet, and how do you go about setting this up? And more specifically, have you used this service in Seattle, yet?

 

We have E mailed the C & A about this and they have not gotten back to us yet.

[cruiselovers]

We'll be using it next week...You arrange this while you are on ship at the Purser's Desk and it costs $20 for 2 bags (on AOS)

[Cruisingjer]

Yes, we used it. But you can only use for American American Airlines.

Just go up to guest relations and take flight information and they will print out your boarding passes. You also get will white tags from American Airlines along with tags from Royal Caribbean, that tell when you leave the ship.Both need to go on the luggage. It costs $10 per person, and then you have to check it in with American Airlines representitive at the port. From there you no longer have to worry about your luggage no more, except your carry on.

 

 

Jerry

[alprice]

we used it on the Mariner and we were on Delta....the paper we recieved said any airline....It worked perfectly!!! I think we paid $10/pp they printed our boarding passes for us and we were all checked in with Delta. Did not have to worry about our luggage from the night before until we got home..

[Cruisingjer]

Wow, I know before only American was able to do this. That is great news, hope they open it up to all major Airlines. It is a great feature to have.

 

Jerry

[Dockman123]

Yes, we used it. But you can only use for American American Airlines.

Just go up to guest relations and take flight information and they will print out your boarding passes. You also get will white tags from American Airlines along with tags from Royal Caribbean, that tell when you leave the ship.Both need to go on the luggage. It costs $10 per person, and then you have to check it in with American Airlines representitive at the port. From there you no longer have to worry about your luggage no more, except your carry on.

 

 

Jerry

Do you still pick up your luggage from the pier in the morning before going through customs and then give it to the AA rep after customs?

[alprice]

No - RCI takes care of that - you are all checked in with your airline - just go straight to the gate.

[byefairwind]

Is this for all cruises or are they just testing on a few? We're on Brilliance in April and flying AA from Miami. Thanks.

[MGoBlue2]

Do you still pick up your luggage from the pier in the morning before going through customs and then give it to the AA rep after customs?

On Adventure of the Seas that was how it worked. Everybody has to carry their own bags through customs in case they want to do a search, the place to drop them off with AA was just outside the customs area.

[MGoBlue2]

Is this for all cruises or are they just testing on a few? We're on Brilliance in April and flying AA from Miami. Thanks.

Selected ports, but I think Miami is one of them.

[Cruisingjer]

San Jaun is another port they do it at. In San Juan we had to pick up our luggage and take it over to American Airlines. It is really not that far, maybe a hundred feet to American Airlines check in. We then took a San Juan tour and did not have to worry about our luggage, just our carry on's.

 

 

Jerry

[Treven]

That sounds like heaven!!

[dougp26364]

It almost sounds as if two different services are being confused here.

 

AA has had a relationship with RCI where cruise passengers with flight leaving before a certain time (12:00 I think) can check in at the pier. You have to pick up your luggage and check in with the AA rep at the pier. This is not a new service and is only available at certain ports.

 

I believe the OP is asking about a new service that includes all airlines and everything is taken care of before you leave the ship. Once you set your luggage out, the next time you see it is when you pick it up at your final destination. Boarding passes are issued before you leave the ship and all you have to do is make it to the gate at the airport, bypassing all the lines. Just go through security with your carry on bags and boarding passes, you're already checked in.

 

I've only heard rumors of this service and, until now, hadn't read anything about charges ($10 per person or $20 for every two bags). If a service like this is available, it will eleminate a LOT of congestion in the airports that take on a lot of cruise ship passengers. I could see it at the heavily used ports like Miami and Fort Lauderdale. I'm not so sure it would be available at ports like Seattle. At any rate, I don't think there would be any RCI cruisers who had been able to use it in Seattle since I don't think Vision makes it's first port call there until May of this year. I believe it's been several years since RCI has sailed from Seattle.

[cruiselovers]

MGOBlue2

 

We are sailing on AOS in San Juan next week..So we arrange for this on the ship, put our bags outside the cabin door, and then we still have to go find our bags in that "sea" of luggage at the Port and take them to the airlines desk at the Port? BTW, we are flying USAIR home...I will let everyone know how this works when I return, but certainly want to have the right expectation ahead of time...thanks for your help.

[Cruisingjer]

That is what we had to do. We paid the $10 per person and still had to find our luggage and bring it to the American Airlines rep. They did print out our boarding passes prior to leaving the ship, we got them on friday the last day. They also gave us white tags from the airlines to put on the luggage.

 

Jerry

[dougp26364]

That is what we had to do. We paid the $10 per person and still had to find our luggage and bring it to the American Airlines rep. They did print out our boarding passes prior to leaving the ship, we got them on friday the last day. They also gave us white tags from the airlines to put on the luggage.

 

Jerry

 

Well, at least it saves standing in line to check in at the airport. To bad you still have to collect your luggage and check in at the pier. It doesn't seem to be that much in time savings if that's the case.

[cruiselovers]

Ok, 1 more post on this topic and I'm done. USAIR will not give us seat assignments until we get to the airport in San Juan...So my question is, will RCCL get us seats with those boarding passes and we're all set, or do I need to get to the airport early to get seats...

[hardingk]

Has anyone done this in Miami? Did it work well? We did it in San Juan and it worked great. We are sailing on the Freedom in September and our flight was just changed to 2 hours later. Now we will have some spare time before our flight. It would be great to get rid of the luggage so we can spend more time downtown.

[JENANDGENE]

I just got back from AOS I did not see anything about leaving your luggage and not seeing it again from your door to final destination.

 

However we disembarked the ship, found our luggage, cleared customs, and then there are 3 desks set up one for American Airlines, one for United, and one for US Airways. We had not set anything up prior to this but decided to check it out. We were asked if we had the transfer tickets from pier to airport, we did and we were not charged anything for the service. We were given our boarding passes for both that flight and the connecting one right there at the pier and when we got to the airport we just went straight to security.... It worked great!

 

~Jen

[Lightsluvr]

We used luggage valet service in Seattle last week. According to the literature we found in our cabin, all of the major airlines participate. However, Southwest Airlines was NOT listed. The service cost $15pp for a maximum two bags pp. The room steward brought a special tag for our bags; then you put them out in the hallway outside your cabin before 11:00 p.m. the last night of the cruise. After we put our bags in the hallway, we did not see them again until the laggage carousel at our home airport. It was nice not having to lug them through customs, etc. etc. We were given priority disembarkation.

 

Obviously, there is a chance for screw-ups, but it worked for us...

 

LL

[moofus]

Sooooo I guess you don't have to worry about the over weight fees if RCCI takes it from the ship and arranges it to be at your final destination?

I have seen so many people at the airport frantically pulling stuff out of their 3 overweight bags. What do you think will happen if the luggage valet takes care of the baggage?

[negc]

It almost sounds as if two different services are being confused here.

 

AA has had a relationship with RCI where cruise passengers with flight leaving before a certain time (12:00 I think) can check in at the pier. You have to pick up your luggage and check in with the AA rep at the pier. This is not a new service and is only available at certain ports.

 

I believe the OP is asking about a new service that includes all airlines and everything is taken care of before you leave the ship. Once you set your luggage out, the next time you see it is when you pick it up at your final destination. Boarding passes are issued before you leave the ship and all you have to do is make it to the gate at the airport, bypassing all the lines. Just go through security with your carry on bags and boarding passes, you're already checked in.

 

I've only heard rumors of this service and, until now, hadn't read anything about charges ($10 per person or $20 for every two bags). If a service like this is available, it will eleminate a LOT of congestion in the airports that take on a lot of cruise ship passengers. I could see it at the heavily used ports like Miami and Fort Lauderdale. I'm not so sure it would be available at ports like Seattle. At any rate, I don't think there would be any RCI cruisers who had been able to use it in Seattle since I don't think Vision makes it's first port call there until May of this year. I believe it's been several years since RCI has sailed from Seattle.

 

I believe you are correct. The "luggage valet service" which was announced by RCI and Celebrity in the past year is being tested in several ports (I believe that San Juan, Ft. Lauderdale, and Vancouver were specifically identified) and will, I hope, be extended to others in the future. With this service, you do not see your luggage again after you leave it outside of your room the last night of the cruise, until you reach your final destination airport.

The AA arrangement in Miami has been in effect for several years and requires you to pick up your luggage at the baggage carousel and bring it to an AA counter at the pier where they will tag it and transport it to the airport for you.

[Ohio-C-Luver]

:confused: I had called RCCL this spring when I heard of the valet service re: luggage and making the arrangements on the ship. We are sailing on AOS in Sept 06. At the time I checked, they were just doing it for AA and US air they did say they might possible expand the service to other airlines later in the season. We are flying Delta. Has RCCL included Delta for AOS in San Juan?That would be terrific news as our flight is 12:50 am and we have to transfer in Atlanta. I won't even want to look at my luggage till we get home! :) I do know all these arrangements are thru RCCL and not the airline, as spent many minutes and phone transfers with Delta before I figured out would have to call RCCL.

 

Adventure of the Seas 9/3/06

[Ohio-C-Luver]

opps Flight is at 12:50pm Sunday! Sorry

[Cruzon]

We are on the Vision of the Seas out of Seattle on August 25. Our flight home on September 1 is on Alaska Airlines. I'd love to not have to worry about our luggage at all once we put it out the night before we leave the ship!

 

One poster mentioned there being information in their cabin when they arrived about this "luggage valet service." Has anyone encountered this service on Vision in Seattle?