Port Valet and Southwest Airline

[lnhoney]

Will be cruising on the Majestic next week and had planned on using Port Valet for baggage at end of our cruise. We have a late afternoon flight out of Seattle and thought it would be great to let Port Valet take care of our baggage for our flight on Southwest Airline. Another member of Cruise Critic posted on the Alaska board that they were denied Port Valet because Southwest does not let you check baggage more than 4 hours prior to flight. I checked the Southwest website and did in fact find that information. So we will be sitting at the airport for hours be fore we can even check our bags in. Kind of bummed about that but at least we know ahead of time.

[Cruise-a-Hallic]

It was very disappointing.  Not sure what happened, as we were not the only ones affected.  I should have taken a picture of the letter received in our cabin from Princess.  It basically said the due to unknown reasons the Seattle Port Valet denied service.  My FIL (different cabin, different flight to different city all together, but on Southwest) also was denied and flipped his lid and complained to customer service on Majestic Princess.  Found out others were complaining too, who had booked Seattle excursions using the Port Valet service; only to find out that they couldn’t go on excursion.  Not sure if there was some sort of issue in port, or if it is the 4 hour baggage issue with Southwest.  But what I don’t understand, is that we had to supply all of cruise and flight information when booking direct through the Seattle Port Valet service online prior to sailing and even had a confirmation email.  We were never given any explanation.  So, instead of sightseeing around Seattle on our own prior to our flight as planned, we had to grab a taxi and haul our luggage to Sea-Tac airport after disembarkation only to find out that we couldn’t check our bags until 4 hours prior to our flight departure.  So we had to sit for 2-1/2 hours with our luggage until we could check our bags with Southwest and proceed through TSA security into terminal.  Maybe it was a random occurrence, but without a explanation from Princess or the Seattle Port Valet we don’t know why.  Hopefully it won’t happen to anyone else.

 

edit:  I should mention that my BIL & family flying home on Alaska Airlines were able to check bags at Sea-Tac with no issues longer than 4 hours before their flight.  They did not use the Seattle Port Valet service.

Edited July 9 by Cruise-a-Hallic

[Sea Hag]

1 hour ago, lnhoney said:

Will be cruising on the Majestic next week and had planned on using Port Valet for baggage at end of our cruise. We have a late afternoon flight out of Seattle and thought it would be great to let Port Valet take care of our baggage for our flight on Southwest Airline. Another member of Cruise Critic posted on the Alaska board that they were denied Port Valet because Southwest does not let you check baggage more than 4 hours prior to flight. I checked the Southwest website and did in fact find that information. So we will be sitting at the airport for hours be fore we can even check our bags in. Kind of bummed about that but at least we know ahead of time.

We got caught on the no more than four hours rule in LA last April. No fun at all! Have you looked into Princess excursions with airport drop off?

[lnhoney]

We don't really want another Princess excursion. We've been to Seattle a couple of times so were just going to head to the Market area and stroll around for a while before getting a taxi to the airport. Southwest Airline website says can't check bags more than 4 hours prior to flight so thinking we'll see if the airport has lockers for our bags and try to find something else to do for 5 hours. 🙂

[Anastas617]

Even on the confirmation email it states that this does not mean you are approved to use the service. I don't fly Southwest as they don't have much presence at my home airport, but knowing their 4-hour policy, I would not have assumed everything was all set.

 

It worked great for me on JetBlue (my flight was at 8:30pm), but it seems that Southwest isn't as accommodating. The service is great, but not knowing if you are approved until the evening before disembarkation can certainly be frustrating.

 

[www3traveler]

8 hours ago, lnhoney said:

Will be cruising on the Majestic next week and had planned on using Port Valet for baggage at end of our cruise. We have a late afternoon flight out of Seattle and thought it would be great to let Port Valet take care of our baggage for our flight on Southwest Airline. Another member of Cruise Critic posted on the Alaska board that they were denied Port Valet because Southwest does not let you check baggage more than 4 hours prior to flight. I checked the Southwest website and did in fact find that information. So we will be sitting at the airport for hours be fore we can even check our bags in. Kind of bummed about that but at least we know ahead of time.

Just reading the Port of Seattle website, it states that Southwest Airlines is a participating airline.  I would call Southwest and double check if you can use the Port Valet program for your particular flight.

Enjoy your cruise

[Cruise Raider]

Previously, I believe that your flight, if on Southwest, has to be scheduled prior to 6:30 PM to use port valet.  Now, they may have bumped that up a bit.  So, you can still use it but perhaps the timing of your flight has to be in the early afternoon.  
I think the service is invaluable, especially in Seattle.  

[Cessna140]

We disembarked on June 23 and had signed up for the Port Valet service. We also were flying out on Southwest but at 11am. We didn't get luggage tags so we went down to guest services to get them. We were told that the Port Valet system had crashed and we would be unable to use it. They said over 600 people had signed up. 

[Cruise-a-Hallic]

26 minutes ago, Cessna140 said:

We disembarked on June 23 and had signed up for the Port Valet service. We also were flying out on Southwest but at 11am. We didn't get luggage tags so we went down to guest services to get them. We were told that the Port Valet system had crashed and we would be unable to use it. They said over 600 people had signed up. 

That was our cruise that disembarked on 6/23!  At least you received an explanation as to the reason.  We we're left hanging to fend for ourselves with our all of our luggage.  We hadn't signed up for airport transfer from the cruise as we intended to sightsee without luggage and take advantage of the Port Valet service..  Wish Princess had a better contingency plan. 

 

At least now everyone can be reassured that our issue may have just been a one off with the system crashing, and not a reflection of the service itself.

[Cessna140]

So did you not know that the system was down? Were you ever notified? We weren't so it is a good thing we went to Guest Services. 

[lnhoney]

Sounds like it's possibly a one off situation with Southwest 4 hour baggage check. We'll try Port Valet for the 21st and see what happens. Could be pleasantly surprised with it working out. If it doesn't,  at least we'll be prepared.

We appreciate the heads up either way. 🙂

[Cruise-a-Hallic]

4 hours ago, Cessna140 said:

So did you not know that the system was down? Were you ever notified? We weren't so it is a good thing we went to Guest Services. 

We came back from dinner to find form letters in our cabin from Princess saying, “Due to unknown reasons, the Port Valet service had been denied.” We received a letter for each of our Port Valet reservations.  My In-Laws also got the letters.  We asked our steward and he could not explain why, which i understand.  He did at least give us luggage tags for our luggage to be collected and taken off of the ship to be picked up after we were off the ship.  At least we knew fairly early on Friday evening.  I wouldn’t have wanted to be one of the people who got off in Victoria right away and came back late, only to find out after luggage collection, that their Port Valet wasn’t happening and had to deal with their luggage themselves.  We were never given an explanation from Princess or the Port Service as the reason why.  Oh well, it’s over and done with now.  We had many amazing experiences and I don’t think the weather on all port days could have been any better.  At the end, we just had a change of plans and adapted on the fly.  Have the most wonderful memories for a lifetime!

[www3traveler]

It could be that the system on Saturdays and Sundays is simply overwhelmed with the number of requests.  For the rest of the Summer, three ships will be docked in Seattle each Saturday and Sunday-- two at Smith Cove (Pier 91) and one at the Bell Street Terminal at Pier 66.

[Ferry_Watcher]

On 7/9/2024 at 2:41 PM, lnhoney said:

Will be cruising on the Majestic next week and had planned on using Port Valet for baggage at end of our cruise. We have a late afternoon flight out of Seattle and thought it would be great to let Port Valet take care of our baggage for our flight on Southwest Airline. Another member of Cruise Critic posted on the Alaska board that they were denied Port Valet because Southwest does not let you check baggage more than 4 hours prior to flight. I checked the Southwest website and did in fact find that information. So we will be sitting at the airport for hours be fore we can even check our bags in. Kind of bummed about that but at least we know ahead of time.

 

Drop your bags at SeaTac airport luggage storage - then head back into Seattle to spend the day.  Just an FYI, there is lots of construction going on at SeaTac Airport, so just be ready for delays.  

 

https://smartecarte.com/seattle-tacoma/