My US Direct experience on June 9 departing from Vancouver

[calpoly]

Our TA is advising against using U.S. Direct (northbound VNR to Celebrity) because "there have been some glitches with this program so you might want to handle your luggage independently".

Does anyone know if it is only United having luggage problems or are other airlines like Alaska having trouble too? Or if it is related to a specific cruise line.

[Grego]

I am hoping to see what the experiences have been with returning passengers on the Tahitian Princess in Vancouver. We fly Northwest from there and the flight is at 12:30 which would mean we are good candidates for using this service.

[Mrsosci]

We used US Direct returning on Carnival Spirit 7-2. It did save time compared to those who did it normal way. We arrived at airport 2 1/2 hours before they did. It would probably have been more had we not had a bus driver who got lost. He took us into a high security area in teminal and customs had to reseal the bus. Then he took scenic route around Vancouver. Not a good idea.

 

We didn't have trouble with United and luggage but with delays. Our flight from Vancouver was delayed about 40min making our connection in Chicago about 15 min. Arrive in Chicago and ran to other terminal for connection. The gate posing did not mention our destination. Tried finding a United person to ask. Line at customer service was a far as the eye could see. Finally tracked down airport person and was told flight delayed. Ended up 5hr delay. We were last to leave Chicago for the night. I say skip United. Sounds like they have problems other than high fuel costs.

 

Mrsosci

[Lorraine Marie]

Just spoke to someone at Continental. They do not participate in EZ check with Princess. (YVR-EWR) Bummer!!!

[whale-watcher]

Note that US Direct will NOT be available to pax returning to Vancouver on board the Tahitian Princess...but they are assuring us that there will be no problems making flights as early as 11am due the small size of the ship and the fact that we will be the only ship in port tomorrow...

[Krazy Kruizers]

When I first boarded the Coral Princess on June 2 in Whittier, my first stop was to the Customer service desk to sign up for US Direct as had been suggested on this board. Early sign up was suggested as it seemed that the total number of seats on this program was limited and it was first come-first served.

 

The attendant at the desk was unfamiliar with the term US Direct. When I described the program he asked if we had signed up for a princess transfer from the ship to the YVR (yes) and if we had signed up for the luggage program, EZ Check (no). It costs 15$ per person and provides your boarding passes and airline luggage tags to your stateroom the night before you disembark. They take your luggage and the next time you see it is at your home airport. We had not signed up for this but the chance to get our boarding passes printed ahead of time alone was worth the cost for us so we were eager to sign up. It seems that on Princess, these two programs together, the princess transfer and the EZ Check constitute the US direct program.

 

In the morning we docked as scheduled at 7:30 AM. We went to our assigned gathering spot (Sabatinis) and waited until we were called at 8:30. We boarded a bus and traveled to the airport. We still needed the immigration/customs cards; you know the ones that you sign swearing that you are not bringing apples, gold bullion, farm animals or heroin into the US. We showed our passports to Canadian authorities and to US authorities several times, and went through airport security. We ended up in an area of the airport that was closed off from the rest of the airport and had only flights departing to the US. The traffic through Vancouver was quite heavy (rush hour Monday morning) and I didn’t note what time we got to the airport, but when we got to the terminal, the 11 AM flights to the US were just calling the first passengers to board. Our flight was delayed from 2:05 to 2:55 PM so we had plenty of time to kill.

 

We changed planes in Chicago and sadly, our baggage didn’t make it to Atlanta with us. However, it was a United Airlines problem and not a Princess or EZ Check problem. Our baggage didn’t make it out of Chicago. They couriered it to our home and we had it by 3 PM the next day. On our outbound flights, I was very careful to carry on my valuables and everything that I needed so that we would be comfortable for 48 hours should our baggage go astray. Somehow, I wasn’t thinking clearly on the way home and packed our camera in our checked bags. If we had permanently lost our bags, losing all our photos would have been especially painful.

 

I had one major complaint with the program and that was with the Princess side. I have written to Princess Customer service and time will tell how they decide to handle it. The bag tags and boarding passes are sent from the airlines to the ship via satellite. Well there was a satellite problem somewhere along the line after about 70% of the materials were received on our ship and ours was in the 30% not received. We didn’t get our materials until near midnight after being told that we had to have our bags out by 10 PM. I spent our last evening on board pacing the room and going back and forth to the customer service desk. My complaint was not that the tags were late; that was outside of anyone’s control. My complaint is that the ship’s staff failed to give me accurate information and keep me informed about what was happening.

 

That was the only problem that we had for the whole trip. Everything else was smooth as satin.

 

So glad that you did get your luggage and nothing was missing.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Note that US Direct will NOT be available to pax returning to Vancouver on board the Tahitian Princess...but they are assuring us that there will be no problems making flights as early as 11am due the small size of the ship and the fact that we will be the only ship in port tomorrow...

 

That's good for you!!

[letzcruz]

We are planning to utilize HAL's Signature Express Baggage Service in Vancouver in August. In these days of airline charges for baggage (each bag, overweight bags and/or extra bags), how are these charges collected? Has anyone had experience with this?

 

Thanks!

[Grego]

I'm sure the Princess program will be just fine. We are waiting to see some more postings of recent experiences. Either way, we will end up using this because of our flight schedule.

[whale-watcher]

sorry...double post

[whale-watcher]

I think that the reason most TA's don't know about US Direct/EZ Check is that they aren't involved with the booking. It's done aboard the Princess ship while on your voyage (which makes good sense).

 

We plan on doing this service on our return from Vancouver to Detroit because we have a fairly tight window with the flight leaving around 12:30pm.

I am sad to report the US Direct is not available to pax on board the Tahitian Princess (because of the port stop in Victoria prior to arrival in Vancouver). Fortunately, given the small size of the ship, disembarkation was relatively quick. We took a princess transfer...we boarded the bus immediately after leaving the ship, and then picked up our luggage at the airport. Those with earlier flights (before 11am) were able to claim their luggage first, followed by those of us with slightly later flights. We did then need to swipe our passports, print our boarding passes, and have our luggage tagged before passing through US Customs and immigration (a 45 minute process overall). We then dropped off our checked luggage and proceeded through YVR airport security. We were through security and in the boarding gate area by 10:20am...more than enough time to make our 12:05pm flight. The early group was probably all through security by 10am at the latest.

 

Overall, we would have vastly preferred the previously reported delay-free process of US Direct, but because the the Tahitian Princess is small (and the only ship disembarking) it should still be no problem to make a relatively early flight out of YVR...but I would hate to think about the delays on a weekend day when several large ships are unloading.

[gt2192c]

We paid for U.S. Direct but did not receive the benefits of the program. We landed in Vancouver on July 2nd, 2008 at around 11 AM. US Direct was "closed" as there were people in front of the entrance directing us to go through Canadian Customs with everyone else. We then waited in line through the normal Customs program, (if you read the text on the Carnival website that discusses US direct, it specifically states not to go through normal Canadian Customs) and then waited almost an our for our shuttle bus.

http://www.carnival.com/CMS/FAQs/Alaska_Direct_Program.aspx

 

In hindsight it would have been faster for me to catch a 30 minute cab from the airport to the port and drop off my bags at the port and had a few hours to enjoy Vancouver.

[clarku]

We used the USDirect program (transfer + Easy Check) when we disembarked in Vancouver and other people from our group who disembarked at the same time, but did not use USDirect, ended up getting to the gate before us. Not only that but we were overcharged by Princess for the Easy Check, now we have to spend time to sort that out.:(

[travelbuds]

We used the USDirect program (transfer + Easy Check) when we disembarked in Vancouver and other people from our group who disembarked at the same time, but did not use USDirect, ended up getting to the gate before us. QUOTE]

 

Hi,

Any idea how often that happens?

[Putterdude]

We used the USDirect program (transfer + Easy Check) when we disembarked in Vancouver and other people from our group who disembarked at the same time, but did not use USDirect, ended up getting to the gate before us. Not only that but we were overcharged by Princess for the Easy Check, now we have to spend time to sort that out.:(

 

Obviously I don't know the circumstances but suspect the other pax's bus filled more quickly than yours and departed the terminal sooner. There can at times also be some lulls at YVR which permits paxs to clear US customs and security with little or no line up waits. So what may have happend was the opposite of a "perfect storm" scenario, it could have very easily been the other way.

[YVRCruisin]

We paid for U.S. Direct but did not receive the benefits of the program. We landed in Vancouver on July 2nd, 2008 at around 11 AM. US Direct was "closed" as there were people in front of the entrance directing us to go through Canadian Customs with everyone else. We then waited in line through the normal Customs program, (if you read the text on the Carnival website that discusses US direct, it specifically states not to go through normal Canadian Customs) and then waited almost an our for our shuttle bus.

http://www.carnival.com/CMS/FAQs/Alaska_Direct_Program.aspx

 

In hindsight it would have been faster for me to catch a 30 minute cab from the airport to the port and drop off my bags at the port and had a few hours to enjoy Vancouver.

 

The only fee that is incurred for U.S. Direct (Airport to Pier) is the ship's transfer. As for the reverse process (Pier to Airport) a fee is charged by cruise lines for passengers to check-in for their flights on-board the ship. For all intents and purposes U.S. Direct from the Airport to the Pier is free, because passengers have the option to depart on cruise line busses from the regular arrivals area. Not everyone can use U.S. Direct: the criteria are tagging your checked luggage with cruise tags, flying in to Vancouver directly from the U.S. on the day of your sailing, being a U.S. citizen or permanent resident and pre-registering with US Customs (submitting your information) through your cruise line at least 72 hours prior to sailing.

 

Hope this clears some things up. Happy Cruising all!

[Grego]

I guess since we do hit a Canadian port (Victoria) before our ship settles in Vancouver, we don't qualifiy for the express customs stuff, which might not be a real problem afterall. We are the only ship in Vancouver which will ease the traffic through customs and being a small ship with less than 700 passengers the timing will be even better. Bottom line is that we save a few bucks.

[whale-watcher]

I guess since we do hit a Canadian port (Victoria) before our ship settles in Vancouver, we don't qualifiy for the express customs stuff, which might not be a real problem afterall. We are the only ship in Vancouver which will ease the traffic through customs and being a small ship with less than 700 passengers the timing will be even better. Bottom line is that we save a few bucks.

See my earlier post if you are sailing on the Tahitian...even without US Direct we were in the boarding gate area of YVR by 10:20am...the only significant delay was the US Customs/immigration line; everything else was a breeze.