Luggage Direct Near Failure

[Tom O.]

On my recent cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam, we nearly had a failure with Luggage Direct. Just thought I would share the experience, so that others can avoid the problem we nearly had.

We had signed up for Luggage Direct online about 2 months before our cruise.

While on our cruise we received promos for Luggage Direct delivered to our stateroom. We ignored these, because we were already confirmed by Luggage Direct.

On the last day of the cruise, we received luggage tags. But they were just the ordinary luggage tags you get when you are dealing with your luggage yourself.

So, I called Guest Services to ask them when would we get our Luggage Direct tags and boarding passes. They told me, they had no record of me having Luggage Direct. I said I booked online and had a confirmation number. They said they would look into it and call me back.

When they called back, they said they had called the Luggage Direct office and found my confirmation. But now they had to confirm with our airline. This took most of the day. Finally at 10pm on the night before debarkation, we received our tags and boarding passes.

I really appreciate the work that Guest Services did in order to get this solved. But, this would not have been solved if I had not called and asked about our tags.

Once the problem was solved, Luggage Direct was a great way to deal with our luggage. We didn't have to search among thousands of bags to find ours. We didn't have to lug our bags to the airport. And when we got to our final destination, there our bags were coming down the carousel.

So my advice to others is to not book Luggage Direct online, just do it onboard. If you have already booked online, I recommend calling Guest Services early in the cruise to make sure they have a record of you.

[HollDoll]

Thank you for this information. I have always booked it while on the cruise, but some information shared in this form suggested that was not a possibility anymore, so I did book it online. It did make me wonder if something like this could happen so I will definitely go to ship services several days before disembarkation and make sure they have the record. Again, thank you for this warning.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Very helpful information for those who wish to use Luggage Direct.

[freestyling]

Thanks for the heads-up.

I've booked 3 times online the last one being a Dec cruise on the Koningsdam.

Each time we received the "sign-up" forms on board for Luggage Direct I just went to the front desk with a copy of my preregistration and confirmation number. The front desk made a copy. Glad I did this as I may have avoided a problem!

[Happy2cruise]

Is this Luggage Direct the same as Luggage Valet??

[Cruising-along]

We have used Luggage Direct several times, always booked online. We get confirmation once onboard and have had no problem. We also bring our written confirmation from Luggage Direct.

 

The last time we did have to call HAL after getting home because they charged us $50 for baggage fees when we shouldn't have been charged. They took care of it quickly.

[missmishka]

Thanks also for the heads up. We reserved Luggage Direct online for our September Alaska cruise. We'll be sure to confirm with our concierge - we have a Neptune suite.

 

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[Happy2cruise]

Where do you sign up for it online? Our first Holland cruise is 4/2/17 and want to use it. Thank you.

[Tom O.]

Where do you sign up for it online? Our first Holland cruise is 4/2/17 and want to use it. Thank you.

 

Here is the page on the HAL website that describes the program. After clicking on this link choose "What are your recommended luggage services?"

 

http://www.hollandamerica.com/cruise-vacation-planning/PlanningAndAdvice.action?tabName=Cruise+Preparation&contentMenu=Baggage,+Packing+%26+Dress+Code&WT.ac=PopTop_Luggage

 

Not sure what Luggage Valet is, but this service is operated by an independant company, and several different cruise lines use them. Each cruise line has their own name for the service.

[Happy2cruise]

Here is the page on the HAL website that describes the program. After clicking on this link choose "What are your recommended luggage services?"

 

http://www.hollandamerica.com/cruise-vacation-planning/PlanningAndAdvice.action?tabName=Cruise+Preparation&contentMenu=Baggage,+Packing+%26+Dress+Code&WT.ac=PopTop_Luggage

 

Not sure what Luggage Valet is, but this service is operated by an independant company, and several different cruise lines use them. Each cruise line has their own name for the service.

 

Thanks for the link. Luggage Valet is what Celebrity calls their luggage program and Princess calls theirs EZ Check. Whatever it's called, it a great service!

[djhsolara]

So we can sign up for Luggage Direct online before the cruise? I never heard of that before.

 

 

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[DAllenTCY]

Luggage Direct is so very under-utilized service....and they are so good at what they do!

On a normal day in San Diego, only 2 or 3 guests use them. It is a shame because they have been so reliable in deliveries and pick-ups over the years.

The problem is that you cannot have an early departing flight.....so you have to choose one convenience over another when you disembark.

 

David

Edited February 2, 2017 by DAllenTCY

[Cruising-along]

So we can sign up for Luggage Direct online before the cruise? I never heard of that before.

 

 

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Here is the link to sign up before the cruise.

 

https://www.maketraveleasier.com/holland

[DaveOKC]

Luggage Direct is so very under-utilized service....and they are so good at what they do!

On a normal day in San Diego, only 2 or 3 guests use them. It is a shame because they have been so reliable in deliveries and pick-ups over the years.

The problem is that you cannot have an early departing flight.....so you have to choose one convenience over another when you disembark.

 

David

 

On our Fort Lauderdale port Luggage Direct customers had to debark just after the self-disembark group, which may be a plus or minus for some people.

[Tom O.]

On our Fort Lauderdale port Luggage Direct customers had to debark just after the self-disembark group, which may be a plus or minus for some people.

 

With our Luggage Direct tags, we were in the very first group to be allowed off the ship. Although this could have been because Guest Services was trying to be nice to us, after the confusion of the night before.

[Cruising-along]

On our Fort Lauderdale port Luggage Direct customers had to debark just after the self-disembark group, which may be a plus or minus for some people.

 

Same thing happened with us a couple weeks ago. We weren't real happy having to disembark so early (our flight wasn't until 6:30) but the pluses of the program made it worthwhile. We had a rental car for the day and had a nice day once I was awake enough to enjoy it. :D

[avian777]

On my recent cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam, we nearly had a failure with Luggage Direct. Just thought I would share the experience, so that others can avoid the problem we nearly had.

We had signed up for Luggage Direct online about 2 months before our cruise.

While on our cruise we received promos for Luggage Direct delivered to our stateroom. We ignored these, because we were already confirmed by Luggage Direct.

On the last day of the cruise, we received luggage tags. But they were just the ordinary luggage tags you get when you are dealing with your luggage yourself.

So, I called Guest Services to ask them when would we get our Luggage Direct tags and boarding passes. They told me, they had no record of me having Luggage Direct. I said I booked online and had a confirmation number. They said they would look into it and call me back.

When they called back, they said they had called the Luggage Direct office and found my confirmation. But now they had to confirm with our airline. This took most of the day. Finally at 10pm on the night before debarkation, we received our tags and boarding passes.

I really appreciate the work that Guest Services did in order to get this solved. But, this would not have been solved if I had not called and asked about our tags.

Once the problem was solved, Luggage Direct was a great way to deal with our luggage. We didn't have to search among thousands of bags to find ours. We didn't have to lug our bags to the airport. And when we got to our final destination, there our bags were coming down the carousel.

So my advice to others is to not book Luggage Direct online, just do it onboard. If you have already booked online, I recommend calling Guest Services early in the cruise to make sure they have a record of you.

 

This must be a problem unique to Nieuw Amsterdam, as we had almost exactly the same experience on our NA cruise that ended on 1/29 ... the only differences being that (1) I confirmed our online Luggage Direct reservation with the Front Desk when we received the on board LD sign-up sheet, (2) when I went to inquire why we had not received our luggage tags and boarding passes the afternoon before debarkation, the Front Desk person said NA had no record of our LD reservation and wanted "proof" (which fortunately I had in the form of an e-mail from LD) that I had signed up online, (3) when Front Desk person couldn't verify our LD reservation, he told me not to worry, as he would get us boarding passes and we could "schlep" our luggage ourselves , (4) when I informed Front Desk rep this was not an acceptable resolution, he said he would get help from his supervisor, and (5) after I made 3 follow-up calls to the Front Desk, we finally received our luggage tags and boarding passes shortly after 11 pm.

We have used LD (without a hitch or hiccup) on at least 12 previous HAL cruises and continue to think it is one of the best services available to travelers! In the future, I will definitely confirm our online LD reservations as soon as I board the ship.

Smooth sailing ...

Edited February 2, 2017 by avian777

[avian777]

With our Luggage Direct tags, we were in the very first group to be allowed off the ship. Although this could have been because Guest Services was trying to be nice to us, after the confusion of the night before.

 

... ditto for us!!!

[Tom O.]

This must be a problem unique to Nieuw Amsterdam, as we had almost exactly the same experience on our NA cruise that ended on 1/29 ...

 

This was the same cruise that we were on. Your story is almost identical to ours. We also made several calls before it was straightened out. So obviously there was a problem in communication between the ship and Luggage Direct.

 

Once we got the airline luggage tags, I was concerned they were not right.

We were flying American Airlines to Charlotte and then connecting to Las Vegas. But the tags only had Charlotte listed. But, I assumed that the bar code would tell the whole story of where the bags needed to go. All the way to Las Vegas I worried that our bags would not get there. But they showed up as scheduled. I noticed that the tags I put on them had been replaced by tags that mentioned both Charlotte and Las Vegas.

Edited February 2, 2017 by Tom O.
spelling

[Happy2cruise]

This must be a problem unique to Nieuw Amsterdam, as we had almost exactly the same experience on our NA cruise that ended on 1/29 ... the only differences being that (1) I confirmed our online Luggage Direct reservation with the Front Desk when we received the on board LD sign-up sheet, (2) when I went to inquire why we had not received our luggage tags and boarding passes the afternoon before debarkation, the Front Desk person said NA had no record of our LD reservation and wanted "proof" (which fortunately I had in the form of an e-mail from LD) that I had signed up online, (3) when Front Desk person couldn't verify our LD reservation, he told me not to worry, as he would get us boarding passes and we could "schlep" our luggage ourselves , (4) when I informed Front Desk rep this was not an acceptable resolution, he said he would get help from his supervisor, and (5) after I made 3 follow-up calls to the Front Desk, we finally received our luggage tags and boarding passes shortly after 11 pm.

We have used LD (without a hitch or hiccup) on at least 12 previous HAL cruises and continue to think it is one of the best services available to travelers! In the future, I will definitely confirm our online LD reservations as soon as I board the ship.

Smooth sailing ...

With all the problems being reported would it be better to just sign up for the program once on board?

[retafcruiser]

With all the problems being reported would it be better to just sign up for the program once on board?

 

Probably. But here is my dilemna - My flight is scheduled for 11:20 AM from SEA. Booking ahead allows this, but I fear that waiting until onboard they might set a deadline of no flights earlier than 11:30. This is an assumption, but is a strong consideration.

[HollDoll]

I do recall that being the case....flight had to be 11:30 or later. Ours was 11:28 and they let us use LD. But 11:30 is the cutoff.

[Tom O.]

I do recall that being the case....flight had to be 11:30 or later. Ours was 11:28 and they let us use LD. But 11:30 is the cutoff.

 

On the flier that was circulated on Nieuw Amsterdam last week, the cut off time was also 11:30.

[Sea Belle]

Several years ago we signed up for LD from FL to Norfolk VA via Charlotte. When I got the tags they said Charlotte so I took them to the front desk and asked why they didn't state the final destination. I was told they would be rerouted in Charlotte. That just didn't sound right to me. When we got to Charlotte I went to the Information Desk and explained the situation. A tracer was put out for our luggage and, just as I had thought, it was dead headed in Charlotte. The airlines quickly got them tagged for Norfolk and the luggage beat us home. It pays to inquire and also follow through if you have any doubts. :rolleyes: