I Have Info. on Luggage Express in San Juan!

[Queen B1]

We were on the July 13 sailing of the Destiny this summer out of San Juan and were able to use the Luggage Express program that was offered! Our return trip could not have been any easier nor leaving the ship quicker! Here is everything that we either experienced or learned about it:

 

Participating Airlines: American, Jet Blue, Continental, Delta, Northwest, US Air and United

 

Cost: $15 per person (We sent 2 bags each - still $15)

 

Sign-up: Eligible passengers receive a sign-up form in their cabins in the middle of the week. Each passenger fills out his/her own form and returns it to the Information Desk by 3:00 on Friday. You will need to have a hard copy of your flight information for the Purser to check. We took our flight confirmation sheet that we printed off the computer when we first made our flight arrangements. (They seem to need this to prove you have a flight and that the flight falls within their guidelines.)

 

Eligible Flight Times: I have misplaced my sheet with those times. The earliest flights were sometime after 12:00 as I remember. The last flight was definitely 11:59 that night. Our flight was with US Air at 2:30.

Boarding Passes/Luggage Tags:These were received on Saturday afternoon along with a special instruction sheet for debarkation. We attached the white luggage tags onto our handles and had to have our luggage in the hall by midnight that night. You were given group letters (AAAA, BBBB, Tours, CCCC, DDDD, and EEEE) which seemed to reflect the time of your flight. It was great to have our boarding passes in hand!

 

Debarkation Day: Luggage Express passengers were given priority debarkation, so they were among the first off. We met in the Criterion Lounge according to this schedule:

 

AAAA & BBBB & Tours - 8:00 (our group)

CCCC - 8:30

DDDD & EEEE - 9:00

 

We met at 8:00 in the lounge and were literally stepping into a taxi at 8:30. There is a crew member who leads you through the ship, so you don't come in contact with any other lines or people. You get off quicly and clear immigration. You continue to the baggage claim area and get your bags from your own special section (using your group letters). (We decided to use a porter.) You proceed out of the terminal building down to almost the end of the covered pier on the right side. That's where you hand over your luggage to the Luggage Express handlers (BAGS, Inc.). They replace your tags with the correct flight tags. We stepped to the curb and got a taxi!

 

Airport: We arrived at the airport and went straight through security. Thanks to Luggage Express, we avoided both the check-in lines and the USDA lines. We were sitting at our gate by 9:00. We were also thrilled to beat the crowds and zoo-like atmosphere that everyone talks about at the San Juan airport!

 

Arrival in Charlotte: When we arrived in Charlotte that evening, our bags were waiting for us!

 

This is a wonderful service and we would sign up for it again in a heartbeat!

[Bob&Janet]

Have been trying to get this info for weeks, QueenB1, so thank you ... thank you ... thank you!!

 

Luggage Express will be perfect for us, and I can now go ahead and book a 1:10pm JetBlue flight to LA (LGB) with confidence.

 

Cheers

Bob

[Queen B1]

I'm delighted that I could be of help. I only wish that I could be more exact about the time of the earliest flights out! Have a great cruise!

[goodml]

That sounds great! Thanks for posting. I can't tell you how much I wish they offered this service in New York.:(

[chev29]

Can you tell me if Princess also has this service? Thank You.

[ljtinney]

Can you tell me if Princess also has this service? Thank You.

 

Yes they do

[Queen B1]

As I understand it, Luggage Express is not offered at all ports, and airline participation varies from port to port. BAGS, Inc. has a website, and it allows you to e-mail them with questions. You might want to ask them about a specific ship and port. BAGS, Inc. did reply to my inquiries but, unfortunately, I didn't receive my answers until we were already on our trip.

[bobsydney]

I have had a look at Bags Inc's website and for future reference, I thought it would be useful to put a list on this thread of Bags Inc's airline and cruise partners, and the airports where this check-in and luggage service is available.

 

Airline Partners

AA

Air Canada

Air Tran

Alaska

Continental

Delta

Horizon

JetBlue

NWA

Ted

United

US Airways

 

Cruise lines

Carnival

Celebrity

Holland America

NCL

Princess

Royal Caribbean

 

Airports Serviced

ANC / Anchorage

ATL / Atlanta

BOS / Boston

DFW / Dallas

FLL / Ft. Lauderdale

HNL / Honolulu

LAX / Los Angeles

MIA / Miami

MCO / Orlando

ORD / Chicago, O'Hare

PHX / Phoenix

SAN / San Diego

SEA / Seattle

SFO / San Francisco

SJU / San Juan

TPA / Tampa

YVR / Vancouver, BC International

 

Cheers

Bob

[Queen B1]

bobsydney - Even though an airline is listed on their website, you might want to check your specific one for that port. To show you what I mean: in early spring, the Destiny offered Luggage Express, but US Air didn't participate at that time in San Juan (while it did participate in other ports) so we were very disappointed. Sometime between then and summer, US Air jumped on the bandwagon for the Destiny. We were quite relieved.

[Bob&Janet]

Point taken Queen B. Will check closer to the time ... I am interested in JetBlue and it appear from JetBlue and Bags' websites and your post that JetBlue offers the onboard check-in service with Carnival cruises in San Juan ... hopefully that continues to be the case.

[Queen B1]

Bob&Janet - Jet Blue did appear in the Destiny capers (twice) as participating in Luggage Express. Unless there is a sudden change, you should be good to go! I'm delighted for you!

[wrp96]

Queen B1 I am so glad to hear it worked out for you!

[Queen B1]

wrp96 - You were one of the many CC members who were so helpful in sharing information with us prior to our trip! Everything went like clockwork thanks to all of our CC board friends! Thank you so much!

[rick&james]

Is this still offered in San Juan on the Valor have a late flight for my cruise in a few weeks

[PennyAgain]

This is a wonderful (and cheap) service. Having the boarding passes is great. Skipping the check in lines is wonderful.

 

Thanks for posting this info.