Luggage question

Am I remembering correctly that there is an option to have your luggage taken directly from your stateroom to your plane, rather than you lugging it to the airport yourself?

Yes, EZ Check is available on many US disembarkations for certain participating airlines...$20/pp gets you a boarding pass & after putting out your bags on the last evening of your cruise you should next see them at your destination's baggage carousel. :)

This is a great deal if you have a flight after 11:30 am

This is a great deal if you have a flight after 11:30 am

It is great and I believe that time varies depending upon the port & distance to the airports. An example is FLL is about that time & MIA has a later flight departure time in order to participate in the program.

That is great! How do I sign up for that? Is there anything similar when you are on your way to the cruise?

That is great! How do I sign up for that? Is there anything similar when you are on your way to the cruise?

About midway during your cruise you'll receive an application form in your cabin. Since participation is limited, submit your form ASAP at the PSD.

Sometimes there is an expensive pre cruise luggage option that uses a shipping company to take luggage to the ship. Also if you have a Princess transfer to the ship your luggage "may" go directly to the ship or you'll claim your luggage & take it to the bus to go directly to the ship.

I've had it done both ways including the time we used Princess eZAir to arrive in Vancouver from LAX on sailing day without a Princess transfer to the ship. We very rarely arrive on sailing day so we added our Princess tags in case they got misdirected. Our bags did not arrive on the YVR carousel & the Princess rep at the airport said they "probably" went directly to the ship & they did. It surprised us to fly internationally and to have that happen but maybe the US & CA are okay with doing it that way...or maybe someone just made a mistake. ;)

Am I remembering correctly that there is an option to have your luggage taken directly from your stateroom to your plane, rather than you lugging it to the airport yourself?

What port?

I located the program for shipping luggage to the ship...Luggage Valet...under the Preparing for Your Cruise section of the Princess FAQs:

http://www.princess.com/learn/faq_answer/pre_cruise/prepare.jsp

Luggage is shipped with DHL & FedEx but it's not cheap: "Rates start as low as $90 US per piece each way for domestic express shipments and $250 US per piece each way for international".

We used EZ Check on our last cruise (FLL). It was great. When they send out the departure information during your cruise, they include the ezcheck info. I had printed out an extra copy of our flight confirmation to attach to our request.

We received our flight luggage tags with our disembarkment paper work. The fee also included our boarding passes. The best perk of all IMO is no weight limit. I stuffed that luggage as full as I could get it. We did have a bag marked "heavy" with no extra fee.

I was able to track our bags using the airlines baggage tracking system and was happy to see that our bags made it on our flight.

My DH wondered why we had never done ezcheck before...we will be doing it as often as we can....

Am I remembering correctly that there is an option to have your luggage taken directly from your stateroom to your plane, rather than you lugging it to the airport yourself?

Yes for $20 and it's well spent.

Am I remembering correctly that there is an option to have your luggage taken directly from your stateroom to your plane, rather than you lugging it to the airport yourself?

Not sure it's available at all Ports, but certainly at some.

Not sure it's available at all Ports, but certainly at some.

Correct, limited availability.

The best perk of all IMO is no weight limit. I stuffed that luggage as full as I could get it. We did have a bag marked "heavy" with no extra fee.

I first noticed the no weight limit on the last couple of cruises' EZ Check forms. That's definitely a great perk of this program particularly when returning home with souvenirs from the trip in our luggage.

How or when do you pay the airline its fee for the baggage? Airlines usually charge $25 for the first bag and maybe $35 for the second. Do you have to pay that amount at the airport?

Don

How or when do you pay the airline its fee for the baggage? Airlines usually charge $25 for the first bag and maybe $35 for the second. Do you have to pay that amount at the airport?

 

Don

On the form it states that any airline baggage fees will be charged to your shipboard account in addition to the $20/pp. fee for EZ Check.

The form requires flight info including the airline's record locator code & they state that those exempt from airline luggage fees will not be charged luggage fees. Once in awhile I've read about passengers who are exempt from luggage fees having them charged although I do know whether it was the airline or Princess who made the mistake.

Available in Seattle? Flight time?