New Luggage Disembarkation Service

[PhoneGoddess]

My TA just told me today that Princess has a new service where for $15 per stateroom, they will collect all of your luggage prior to disembarkation and you don't see it again until your plane lands back home! Apparently they handle taking it to the airport and getting it tagged for your flight. I'm not sure exactly how this works. I'll have to grill him for details later.

 

He said that clients of his used this service last week when returning from an Alaskan cruise and everything worked perfectly!

 

Has anyone else heard about this new service? Have I just been out of the loop and everyone else already knows about this? :D It's sounds very worthwhile!

[sashas_mom]

Hi,

 

This service is fantastic!!! We used it for our Alaska cruise and I think it's only offered to the Vancouver Airport (I think it's a special service Vancouver has set up). Anyway, it's true, you don't see your luggage until you get off the plane in your final destination. Well worth the money. We were even taken in special busses to the airport.

[JoefromBergenNJ]

Well this sounds like a promising break-through! It gives me hope that flying after a cruise is going to be less of a hassle.

 

Thanks for posting this info!

 

Do you know if this service is going to be offered on all Princess itineraries or just select ones such as Alaska?

[LARGIN]

We have been doing this on our Alaska cruises since 2004. Go here for best info. http://www.portvancouver.com/vanAlaCruise/content/infoPassengers/usDirect.html

[CruisinCoach]

I have seen this mentioned for cruises out of San Juan as well and would also like to know about it.

[ARRTrain]

Some are calling it US Direct and some are calling it Bags INC. for Alaska.

 

They tag you bags for your final destination and you claim your bags at your destination.

 

http://www.airportbags.com/

 

You buy the service onboard the ship.

[GBeret]

Some are calling it US Direct and some are calling it Bags INC. for Alaska.

 

They tag you bags for your final destination and you claim your bags at your destination.

 

http://www.airportbags.com/

 

You buy the service onboard the ship.

 

On our last cruise (Island Princess RT LA — Hawaii) some friends signed up on the ship for this service at the LA port and Alaska Airlines to PDX. The service was announced canceled before debarkation. No reasons given.

 

I would use it it anytime I could, especially on leaving the ship.

 

As for our arrival in Vancouver, BC (Same trip) our luggage was transported to the Vancouver, BC Airport no charge by Princess. We claimed it there and went through American Immgrat. & Customs with free carts provided by the airport there. The Vancouver airport is a 'class act.'

[harrynterry]

Is it available in Ft Lauderdale? That sounds like heaven!! No sea of bags to dig thru after the cruise!

[Coral]

Vancouver (and Princess) has been doing this since 2003 for Alaskan cruises.

 

This is actually a Vancouver airport program that they have enlisted airlines and cruise lines to work with them. There are several requirements that must be met in order to participate (must be a US citizen, must be flying to the US, must use a participating airline, participating cruise line, must fly duirng certain hours the day of disembarkation, etc..).

[gmoulton]

A caution for this type service. We used a similar service on our May NCL Hawaiian cruise. The flaw in this service is the tags you place on your luggage the last night are removed and re-tagged by the airline at the airport out of your sight. Our return flight was non-stop and only only 3 of 4 pieces arrived. The good news was the missing piece showed up, albeit 4 weeks later. When the missing bag was delivered we found it was tagged (by the airline) with another passengers name and a different destination airport. When checking my baggage at the airport I always confirm that tags with correct flight number and destination airport are in place before leaving my sight. The other saving grace was the missing piece of luggage was mine and not my DWs or we would have spent the 4 weeks at our destination airport searching for it.

[Shoalwater]

My TA just told me today that Princess has a new service where for $15 per stateroom, they will collect all of your luggage prior to disembarkation and you don't see it again until your plane lands back home! Apparently they handle taking it to the airport and getting it tagged for your flight. I'm not sure exactly how this works. I'll have to grill him for details later.

 

He said that clients of his used this service last week when returning from an Alaskan cruise and everything worked perfectly!

 

Has anyone else heard about this new service? Have I just been out of the loop and everyone else already knows about this? :D It's sounds very worthwhile!

 

As OP have said, the airlines are actually handling the luggage transfer, all Princess does is take it off the ship and line it up by disembarkation order like usual. In 2003 you claimed your bag and then went to your airline check-in desk in the same hall and handed your bag over to them and they tagged it to your final destination. Looks like Princess is extracting $15 to take your bags off the ship and instead of lining it up for you, they will line it up for the airline! Seems cheesy to me.

[Coral]

As OP have said, the airlines are actually handling the luggage transfer, all Princess does is take it off the ship and line it up by disembarkation order like usual. In 2003 you claimed your bag and then went to your airline check-in desk in the same hall and handed your bag over to them and they tagged it to your final destination. Looks like Princess is extracting $15 to take your bags off the ship and instead of lining it up for you, they will line it up for the airline! Seems cheesy to me.

 

There is actually more to this program in Vancouver. Officials board the ship and you pick up your boarding pass on the ship. Your luggage is tagged with your flight information on the ship (airlines are participating in program and tags are printed). You get in a special bus that bypasses the usual check-in at the Vancouver program. You go through a much expediated customs/immigration process and then get to your plane. Your luggage is transported seperately and you don't see it until you get home.

 

This is a Vancouver airport program that airlines, cruise lines, the American and Canadian government participate in.

 

Here is more information: http://www.yvr.com/guide/around/onboard/index.asp

[frisbee dog fan]

My husband and I just used this service when we got off the Sun Princess in Seattle on Sunday. News of this service got delivered with the Princess Patter sometime mid-week. It is $15 per person. You receive colored tags that need to be attached to your luggage. Once you put the luggage outside your door, you don't see it again until you get to your destination, in our case, California. I have to admit I was a little concerned but it all worked very smoothly.

[Cruising Carol]

We used the service in Vancouver last Saturday coming off Diamond Princess. The boarding pass for the flight and abbreviated tags (flight designation and our name and debarkation color and letter were on the tag) were given to us the evening before arrival. When we picked up our luggage at Los Angeles Airport, it had an additional tag with flight designation and destination airport code on it. We left the ship at 7:45 and were at our gate in Vancouver airport at 9:45 for an 11:49 flight. And both of us get special screening when we beep the metal detector at security (it is those titanium knee replacements). We felt that the service was worth the cost. The last time we flew out of Vancouver (2000) and before knee replacements, we had to manhandle our luggage to the check in counter, then to airport fee counter, then to customs, then finally to baggage carousel to get it on the plane. My husband was exhausted by then. And we had 5 minutes before called to board the plane. Read the directions carefully and have the correct tags on and customs forms filled out and all goes very smoothly.

[Yahtic]

We would have loved to use this service on our recent Alaska cruise; however our airline Delta is not participating in this service. This service is limited to a small group of participating airlines.

 

We were flying out of Vancouver and Princess did take our luggage directly to the airport where we reclaimed it and then proceeded through airline check-in, US Customs, then gave baggage to the conveyor belt, and went through security, 3 hours standing in line. NO real advantage, you still look for your color tag just like pier side except you did not have to take to bus and from bus into airport; however the claim area was congested. This recent Vancouver experience is the worst ever, probably due to 3 cruise ships disembarking at the same time. I have flown through Vancouver and cleared US Customs before and never experienced the disaster we encountered.

[Kenna]

The information we received yesterday about this service shows that Delta is taking part. We are flying Delta and plan to take advantage of what is being offered. It is worth the $15.00. According to the information only 6 airlines are participating.

[Hoyaheel]

This might sound like a stupid question, but....(how many times do we start with that phrase here??)

 

How is luggage tagging handled if you have connecting flights to make? eg we're flying YVR--SLC then SLC-RDU. Are the participating airlines making up the luggage tags?

[MaderaMan]

We just did it coming off the Coral at Vancouver last month. It is a huge advantage internationally going through customs. We were at our gate just 45 minutes after walking off the ship. Beats three hours standing in line with baggage.

 

We had a connection at Portland continuing to Fresno. All of our bags arrived with no problem.

 

Not sure I'd bother on a domestic connection. And the price is $15 per person, not cabin.

[Hoyaheel]

 

Not sure I'd bother on a domestic connection. And the price is $15 per person, not cabin.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by this comment? We won't have a domestic connection--we have an international flight followed by a domestic connection, I guess....

 

We're planning to take advantage of the US Direct program in Vancouver (that's the YVR in my original post) and adding on $30 to take our bags from our room to our final destination airport (which is the 2nd flight after Vancouver) doesn't sound terrible. Especially since Delta keeps changing our flight and it's now departing 25 minutes earlier than it was when I booked it.....:rolleyes:

[MaderaMan]

I'm not sure what you mean by this comment? We won't have a domestic connection--we have an international flight followed by a domestic connection, I guess....

 

 

Sorry....I didn't phrase that well.

 

In fact, I didn't think it out at all. What I meant was that it may not be worth it if I was debarking domestically and did not have to go through customs. But now that I think about it, all US cruises must go through customs due to the foreign port requirement.

[Hoyaheel]

Ah, ok. Makes more sense now:p I wouldn't pay for it if it weren't a busy port & busy airport (I've heard nightmare stories about Vancouver--not all, of course, but you just never know. I think there are 3 ships that are at port when we're there) but it seems to make sense to do it for us, for this specific cruise.....

[Eric95403]

Is it available in Ft Lauderdale? That sounds like heaven!! No sea of bags to dig thru after the cruise!

 

Still wondering if they do this in FLL (unless I missed it somewhere) .... anyone know?

[Nana G]

We also used what is called Express Check 2 weeks ago. Our boarding pass and air tags were delivered to the stateroom along with white ship tags for disembarkation. We were told we would be off the ship by 8:30. Turns out 7:30!! Then waited an hr. for our Seattle tour and then the airport for a 4 pm flight. Never saw our luggage until Chicago when we landed. $15 per person was well worth it. The limit was 2 bags per person. About 6 airlines participated. We did this in San Juan 3 years ago and loved it then too but our next trip to San Juan we were told Princess did not participate.

Melody

[jbrambach]

wrong info sorry

[cruisinbuddy]

Reminds me of my 1st 2 cruises, this service was included in the price. We thought all cruises were like that until we went on the Disney Magic.