Bring back Luggage Valet, EZ Check, Luggage Direct

I whole heartedly agree and have also called and written. I'm looking forward to my cruise next week, but am dreading the ending as it will be our first since the demise of Luggage Valet. I clearly remember the days before Luggage Valet when we disembarked with a cattle herd of disgruntled, harried fellow passengers into a vast luggage corral, then into a snaking line through customs, then another at the airport to check in and check luggage. It seems like X is saying "we've had enough of you, get off and leave us alone...Modern Luxury is over."

Well your cruise is over...

I don't have a problem schlepping myself off the ship from steerage with the angry commoners but a simple solution to this 'problem' for so many is easy.

Grab a porter as you come off the ship, check in to your flight from your phone, and ask your cab/Uber/etc to drop you off at curb-side check in. I don't know of any US airlines that do not offer electronic check in, the porter handles your luggage at the terminal, and the driver and/or skycap handle your luggage from car to the counter. It doesn't sound nearly as sophisticated as Luggage Valet but it works.

Or cruise on Crystal and use their Global Express to get you home.

Well your cruise is over...

 

I don't have a problem schlepping myself off the ship from steerage with the angry commoners but a simple solution to this 'problem' for so many is easy.

 

Grab a porter as you come off the ship, check in to your flight from your phone, and ask your cab/Uber/etc to drop you off at curb-side check in. I don't know of any US airlines that do not offer electronic check in, the porter handles your luggage at the terminal, and the driver and/or skycap handle your luggage from car to the counter. It doesn't sound nearly as sophisticated as Luggage Valet but it works.

 

Or cruise on Crystal and use their Global Express to get you home.

The last time we cruised without the Luggage program we did everything you said.

At the curb we got in a very long line (took over an hour!!!!) to check in our luggage. (And every few minutes the line advances just enough that you have to pick up or push your luggage forward ) NOT a great way to end a vacation!!!!

After that (with the program) I can't tell you the relief it was seeing that long line and walking right past it into the terminal.

Well your cruise is over...

 

 

 

Grab a porter as you come off the ship, check in to your flight from your phone, and ask your cab/Uber/etc to drop you off at curb-side check in. I don't know of any US airlines that do not offer electronic check in, the porter handles your luggage at the terminal, and the driver and/or skycap handle your luggage from car to the counter. It doesn't sound nearly as sophisticated as Luggage Valet but it works. Have you seen the long lines at the counter??

 

Or cruise on Crystal and use their Global Express to get you home.

Or Princess, RCCL, Holland;)

Well your cruise is over...

 

I don't have a problem schlepping myself off the ship from steerage with the angry comsmoners but a simple solution to this 'problem' for so many is easy.

 

Grab a porter as you come off the ship, check in to your flight from your phone, and ask your cab/Uber/etc to drop you off at curb-side check in. I don't know of any US airlines that do not offer electronic check in, the porter handles your luggage at the terminal, and the driver and/or skycap handle your luggage from car to the counter. It doesn't sound nearly as sophisticated as Luggage Valet but it works.

 

Or cruise on Crystal and use their Global Express to get you home.

Your suggestions are all good ones. They don't however solve the problem of what to do with said luggage when there is a long time lapse between disembarkation and flight time. Especially when we booked our flights (through choice air) late enough to use a non existent luggage valet . We specifically asked about times to take advantage of the program. Choice Air either didn't know, or chose not to tell us that Luggage Valet had already been dropped by celebrity when we booked our flights.

It's always about the money.

Obviously the Luggage Valet program did not generate the profit Celebrity requires so they dropped it.

As to why other cruise lines offer it, I suspect they have a different business model, and the program makes them money.

H.A.L has a more mature clientele, more people perhaps use the Program, due to physical limitations so the volume generates more revenue, hence H.A.L.offers the Program.

Royal Caribbean has larger ships, more U.S. domiciled customers, the volume generates more revenue, so the Program is a profit centre and offered.

Celebrity has more international customers, (the program is not offered for international flights due to government regulations) younger customers who will have no problems hauling their luggage or who use porters. The volume doesn't provide the return so it isn't offered.

That's why I suspect Celebrity has stopped Luggage Valet and others offer it.

If the Program is a "gotta have" other cruise lines offer it, simply cruise on a line that offers the program, and problem solved. If the goal is to have Celebrity bring back a Program that doesn't fit their business model, you may well be disappointed

Weren't these services provided by Luggage Forward (pretty sure they were the vendor)? I have not used them, but their website says they do cruise ports. I know it is more expensive than what was offered (and obviously you'd have to arrange the pickup off the ship), but is it an option for those who really have a tough time with this change?

Luggage Shipping from a Cruise

Don't feel like hauling all of those heavy bags from the cruise ship to the airport on your way home? Luggage Forward is the perfect solution. We'll collect your luggage from your disembarkation port and send it directly home or to your next destination. This allows you to travel hassle free to the airport, or to lighten your load if you have a post-cruise land itinerary.

http://www.luggageforward.com

Luggage Forward, and some other options, do no put your luggage on your flight. They fly it separately, on a flight of their choice, to your home city and then it is delivered to your house. The costs reflect this!!

I too called & emailed Celebrity - a rep called me and we talked for a while. She did say that she makes no decisions but only summarizes the info & passes it to the decision makers. She did add that they were getting many comments from people upset it was discontinued. Finally, she added that she thought the number of comments on any subject did matter in future decisions. This was probably 2 months ago.

Keep emailing & calling!!

Well your cruise is over...

 

I don't have a problem schlepping myself off the ship from steerage with the angry commoners but a simple solution to this 'problem' for so many is easy.

 

Grab a porter as you come off the ship, check in to your flight from your phone, and ask your cab/Uber/etc to drop you off at curb-side check in. I don't know of any US airlines that do not offer electronic check in, the porter handles your luggage at the terminal, and the driver and/or skycap handle your luggage from car to the counter. It doesn't sound nearly as sophisticated as Luggage Valet but it works.

 

Or cruise on Crystal and use their Global Express to get you home

 

Not having to search for your bags in the pier, grab a porter, stand in long line for customs, get to airport, more lines to get luggage tags, no place to drop off luggage if your flight is more than 4 hours away is a hassle.

Luggage Valet gives you convenience and freedom- walk off ship hands free with boarding pass in hand, no searching for luggage in the pier, no porter needed, no standing in line for luggage tags at airport. ,

Having hands free with boarding pass in hand gives you the freedom and convenience of going wherever you want until flight time.

 

You don't have to cruise on Crystal to get that service. HAL, Princess, and RCCL still offer it. Hopefully Celebrity will offer it again soon!

Just got off the Eclipse yesterday. On day 1 we went to the Concierge to ask to have our boarding passes printed for our return flight. She did, of course. We complained about Luggage Valet being gone and she told us it will be returning next year. They've had a LOT of complaints about it being gone. It will only be in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and San Diego. Yay!!!!!:D

Great news!

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Just got off the Eclipse yesterday. On day 1 we went to the Concierge to ask to have our boarding passes printed for our return flight. She did, of course. We complained about Luggage Valet being gone and she told us it will be returning next year. They've had a LOT of complaints about it being gone. It will only be in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and San Diego. Yay!!!!!:D

Having specified ports, it must be true!:)

Just got off the Eclipse yesterday. On day 1 we went to the Concierge to ask to have our boarding passes printed for our return flight. She did, of course. We complained about Luggage Valet being gone and she told us it will be returning next year. They've had a LOT of complaints about it being gone. It will only be in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and San Diego. Yay!!!!!:D

Hope it starts the first of the year. We get on the Eclipse on January 8 and made our airfare reservations to allow us the use the luggage valet (which has taken away the stress of finding and transporting bags to airport, etc.since we discovered it years ago)

I'll report back if it is available on our cruise

Hope it starts the first of the year. We get on the Eclipse on January 8 and made our airfare reservations to allow us the use the luggage valet (which has taken away the stress of finding and transporting bags to airport, etc.since we discovered it years ago)

I'll report back if it is available on our cruise

She told us the end of next year, they're looking for a new contractor. I'm hoping it'll be back by November when we sail Reflection. Please post if it's back in January. Friends of ours are on your cruise. Disembarkation from the Eclipse on December 21st without Luggage Valet was a disorganized, chaotic mob scene.

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What time do I have to book my flight to take advantage of this service?

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What time do I have to book my flight to take advantage of this service?

 

 

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If flying out of FLL, then it used to be 11:30AM at the earliest. MIA was later, but I do not remember its time since the service was not available the last time we sail out of Miami.

I sure hope that it returns, it was a great service! Not surprised that it may have been underused. Celebrity did all they could to keep it a secret.

Celebrity did all they could to keep it a secret.

I suspect you and some others believe this is true. This service was well know on some of my cruises and never looked popular.

I am not sure why anyone would think that Celebrity discontinued the problem for no good reason. If it was not cost effective they could have just increased the price.

Are you suggesting that you never saw any indication of the program while on board?

I hope the program comes back with a effective supplier at whatever price is necessary. I like it for the convenience and I know others really need it. Celebrity should at least break even while providing the necessary service.

I suspect you and some others believe this is true. This service was well know on some of my cruises and never looked popular.

 

I am not sure why anyone would think that Celebrity discontinued the problem for no good reason. If it was not cost effective they could have just increased the price.

 

Are you suggesting that you never saw any indication of the program while on board?

 

I hope the program comes back with a effective supplier at whatever price is necessary. I like it for the convenience and I know others really need it. Celebrity should at least break even while providing the necessary service.

We were only on two cruises when this program was available. The first time, 2 years ago, I would have never known about it if not reading about it here on CC before the trip. There was no mention of it on board and I had to go to the Customer Service Desk to ask if it really existed. The person said it was, but she had to ask others to confirm it.

Last year it was mentioned in the daily paper, but not really as well as it should have been IMO. Again, if I had not already knew about it I probably would have missed it.

I have no idea why Celebrity discontinued the program except that it may be very time consuming for their people the last day of a cruise checking all the paperwork and printing boarding passes and luggage tags. However, what really surprises me is that the program was ever allowed by the TSA and the airlines in the first place.

I hope they bring it back.

On the Silhouette now. Guest services told me they heard the program will be coming back. She could not tell me when though.

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Ah yes, the old Celebrity rumour mill. I'm pretty sure you could write a book about the things that didn't happen that were reported here on CC. That someone heard somebody working on some ship say.

I've experienced the opposite...on our previous 7 full charter Smooth Jazz Cruises on Carnival and Royal Caribbean, the promoter did an excellent job pre cruise of benefit selling the advantage of the program so it was heavily utilized (because of multiple theme nights required more suitcases)..this past October we were on NCL Getaway which did not have the program and the post cruise process of transitioning baggage from the ship thru the airport to your home airport final destination was a nightmare for a litany of reasons that did not exist when the program was in place

I suspect that with the increase of domestic terrorism threats and heighten security concerns on the part of Homeland Security and TSA, I do not foresee cruise lines bringing back the program (regardless of guest petitioning) simply because there are too many vulnerable points that exposes your luggage to being tampered with outside of the control of the person's whose name is on the luggage tag (you don't see your bag from the time you place it outside your cabin door the night before, until you see it in baggage claim in your home airport)...under the old program the cruise line checks you into the flight and issues claim checks the night before...what happens if the guest does not board the aircraft (for whatever reasons)...how long does it take the airline ramp staff to take the bag off the plane once the gate agent reconciles the fact that the person did not

actually board the aircraft (spells delays)...the other factor is as more and more mega ships are introduced into service, the greater the number of bags that are entered into the airline/airport baggage system which pushes back the "window departure bank parameters " that are in place (from Noon to maybe 3 pm) which lessens the number of guests that can utilize the program

in essence, due to the airlines aggressively collecting excess baggage revenue cruise guests will learn to travel with fewer bags that weight less and thus easier to manage when disembarking their ship... security trumps convience

" I do not foresee cruise lines bringing back the program "

No other cruise line, other than Celebrity, has dropped it. And Celebrity says it is coming back. We hope so.

NCL does not and no cruise lines with ships departing out of San Juan offer the program...also selective airports and airlines out of specific cities do not offer it so it is not a blanket system wide service...there are other types of services that many confuse with Luggage Express that offer to ship your luggage to your home but at a much higher rate

On the Silhouette now. Guest services told me they heard the program will be coming back. She could not tell me when though.

Safe answer from the lady. I can live with that though. At least, there is still a glimmer of hope.

Thanks for the feedback.

If flying out of FLL, then it used to be 11:30AM at the earliest. MIA was later, but I do not remember its time since the service was not available the last time we sail out of Miami.

 

I sure hope that it returns, it was a great service! Not surprised that it may have been underused. Celebrity did all they could to keep it a secret.

When I booked my airfare last June for my December cruise from Miami they told me 2:00PM. Of course by then the Luggage Valet Program no longer existed!

On the Silhouette now. Guest services told me they heard the program will be coming back. She could not tell me when though.

 

 

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We were told the same on Equinox last week.