Brightline Train to Ship Service

[kelleherdl]

Brightline (Virgin Trains).  Has anybody here used the Brightline train-to-ship service yet? We are using it Sunday. We have used Brightline before and love the train ride, but have not used the to-ship service. We are most concerned about the baggage handling. Since we are YC, will our bags arrive as we expect with white tent drop-off?

 

Dennis

[hbe30]

My understanding is that Brightline takes you to their Miami station where you will catch a Lyft ride to the terminal. You will have your luggage with you. Just tell the driver where to let you off. We will taking Brightline in Feb, so please let us know how it went.

[kelleherdl]

Actually, the Brightline final ticketing email clearly states this is a true one time bag check in West Palm Beach train station. Bags are going right to stateroom, similar to other airline bag checking.

 

I'm just looking for someone's experience with the service. While we will have a carry-on with pool wear and evening attire we are just spoiled with rapid Yacht Club bag arrival.  Bags are to be tagged with MSC bag tags.

 

Dennis

Edited December 5, 2019 by kelleherdl

[hbe30]

Wow, that's great. I haven't seen this on their website. I wish they would have that when i travel. Enjoy the cruise

[cruiseguyinorl]

4 hours ago, hbe30 said:

You will have your luggage with you.

 

Actually with the Brightline service, your bags show up in your cabin onboard. You simply hand them to the Brightline folks and the rest is taken care of. It is a little scary losing that control but I haven't heard from anyone who has used the MSC service, only regular Brightline for another cruise line.
https://www.gobrightline.com/traintoport/msc

 

It's actually a really good deal when you consider cost of parking in Miami.

 

Bret

[hbe30]

I saw it with Brightline, but it's only with MSC. This time i'm cruising with NCL and that service is not offered. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

That still doesn't answer the question whether the Brightline luggage-to-cabin service is as good as checking it in the YC tent.  Those bags get expedited handling to the cabin.

[kelleherdl]

8 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

That still doesn't answer the question whether the Brightline luggage-to-cabin service is as good as checking it in the YC tent.  Those bags get expedited handling to the cabin.

Thanks Jazzbeau for circling back around to the question.  I also posted the question on the MSC Yacht Club Facebook page.  There is interest in the question, but no answers on experience.  If you have used Brightline, MSC is a major advertiser on their trains and in the train stations.

 

We will try it this Sunday and post a review from the Meraviglia. 

[Kmkub]

1 hour ago, kelleherdl said:

Thanks Jazzbeau for circling back around to the question.  I also posted the question on the MSC Yacht Club Facebook page.  There is interest in the question, but no answers on experience.  If you have used Brightline, MSC is a major advertiser on their trains and in the train stations.

 

We will try it this Sunday and post a review from the Meraviglia. 

Thank you. We leave in 41 days, so I am curious. We are leaving from the Ft Lauderdale station. 

 

What did you select as your return train? The default is 9:00, which seems doable. If we miss it due to delays in customs or traffic, or whatever, do they let us get on a later train? We return on a Tuesday, so traffic may be a thing.

[CampNCruise74]

The Brightline service is excellent.   They are very thorough in the their bag checking service and will not lose yours.   Their stations are awesome and clean.   WARNING!!!!!   If you ride like we did and return to the FORT LAUDERDALE station you will literally have about 70 SECONDS TO GET OFF.   If you don't you will be going to Palm Beach.    (we found out from experience.   

[kelleherdl]

Thank you CampNCruise74 for the report.  How was the return handled in terms of disembarkation?  Will I be given further instructions?

 

Again thanks

Dennis

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

On 12/5/2019 at 10:26 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

That still doesn't answer the question whether the Brightline luggage-to-cabin service is as good as checking it in the YC tent.  Those bags get expedited handling to the cabin.

 

Theoretically.  I was one of the first at the YC tent.  My bag arrived in my cabin at 5:30 p.m.  The whole embarcation process was a complete cluster this time.  Many, many groups from the general population were allowed to board while we languished in the YC lounge.  Not their shining hour.

 

Rest of the cruise was great.

[CampNCruise74]

On 12/6/2019 at 9:20 PM, kelleherdl said:

Thank you CampNCruise74 for the report.  How was the return handled in terms of disembarkation?  Will I be given further instructions?

 

Again thanks

Dennis

On return you will have a Lyft code for a ride back to the train station, but your checked bags will be your own responsibility and will be with you.  With our family of four and the overpacking we did, we just decided to get a yellow cab minivan and head to the train station on our own dime.   It's a short ten minute ride in city traffic.   

[kelleherdl]

Ok.  We are home.

My review.

 

Check-in was tight. We were in line well before the suggested 30 minutes. Only one of the agents checking bags for train to port in West Palm had access to the whole reservation system. There was a problem with tickets for some passengers in front of us. That delayed our check-in considerably.  Also the station did not open until 7:30 for the 8:00 train. This was a Sunday morning. We literally needed to run to catch the train. I would suggest you do get to the station 45 minutes in advance.

 

We had Select (business class) seats. The service on-board was excellent.

 

We checked 3 bags. The instructions for parking and check-in that come with you ticket are actually quite good. I just didn't read them carefully enough. Lesson learned.

 

Once in Miami we followed the Lyft instructions.  Again the instructions are very clear. Just follow them.

 

The early train, 8:00 from West Palm, gets you to Terminal F real early, before 10:15.  We waited a good 45 minutes at the YC tent for even the first YC crew to show up. But once we started, it was a typical YC check-in.

 

Bags did start to arrive at the stateroom by 5:00. Only one at first, then the other two when our butler checked on them. Not really that different from normal YC delivery.  So initial question answered. The bags do get there about the same as curb drop-off.

 

Things to know about disembarkation. The Lyft voucher is only good for a regular size car. This is not a problem for embarkation day as you checked your luggage at the station. Coming home you will have your luggage getting to Miami station. For us this meant requesting a Lyft XL car.  That is on you, the voucher does not work.  It's a short couple of mile ride, I think $13.00.  We were happy to pay.

 

The Lyft pick-up zone at Terminal F is the passenger drop-off area, number 7/8.  It was hectic to say the least. We had to request a car 3 times before the driver actually stopped at that area.  

 

Check-in at the Miami station was much smoother. We had same relaxing ride back to West Palm with that same very attentive service agent we had on the way down.

 

Would we use again.  MOST DEFINITELY. Even considering less traffic in Miami on a Sunday morning, getting a relaxing train ride down and not hassling with port parking made it all very worth it to us.

 

Now if they just hurry up and get the service going from Melbourne, I'll be even happier.

Edited December 16, 2019 by kelleherdl

[APDMOM]

Thanks for reporting back!  I agree I can not wait until they expand the service, including the tracks all the way to the Port of Miami. 🙂 We will cruise a LOT more from Miami once all of that is in place.  We really don’t like the drive down 95. 

[gatorima]

Planning on doing this in just a few days. The recommended/default train on 

return trip is 10:40. Next option is 11:40. Would that be wiser “just in case” any issues with luggage, lyft, customs, etc.? Would we be able to change tickets to earlier train if we did arrive early enough? Thanks for any thoughts!

[Kmkub]

19 hours ago, kelleherdl said:

 

 

Things to know about disembarkation. The Lyft voucher is only good for a regular size car. This is not a problem for embarkation day as you checked your luggage at the station. Coming home you will have your luggage getting to Miami station. For us this meant requesting a Lyft XL car.  That is on you, the voucher does not work.  It's a short couple of mile ride, I think $13.00.  We were happy to pay. 

 

Thank you for the review. We are excited to try Brightline! One question - we booked the 9:40 a.m. train home. Is that enough time? I have some time left to change it to later if I need. Thanks.

[kelleherdl]

17 hours ago, gatorima said:

Planning on doing this in just a few days. The recommended/default train on 

return trip is 10:40. Next option is 11:40. Would that be wiser “just in case” any issues with luggage, lyft, customs, etc.? Would we be able to change tickets to earlier train if we did arrive early enough? Thanks for any thoughts!

For us the 10:40 train was fine. We had 8:00 YC escort to gangway. CBP was relatively fast.

[funinthsun]

On 12/5/2019 at 8:19 AM, kelleherdl said:

Brightline (Virgin Trains).  Has anybody here used the Brightline train-to-ship service yet? We are using it Sunday. We have used Brightline before and love the train ride, but have not used the to-ship service. We are most concerned about the baggage handling. Since we are YC, will our bags arrive as we expect with white tent drop-off?

 

Dennis

WE LOVED it.  Will never drive again.  I was a little worried about the bags, but it was great.  We got texts when they were onboard, and they were delivered right to our cabin.  I will use this again, in heartbeat. Great.

[funinthsun]

4 hours ago, Kmkub said:

 

Thank you for the review. We are excited to try Brightline! One question - we booked the 9:40 a.m. train home. Is that enough time? I have some time left to change it to later if I need. Thanks.

I would make it later, if possible. The later the better. The port gets very crowded, and a five min. lyft ride takes much longer as the drive cannot get to you. they need to improve on that.  Will be moot when the station is built at the port next year.  We took 12:20 and got off ship at 10!  It was a breeze.

[funinthsun]

2 hours ago, kelleherdl said:

For us the 10:40 train was fine. We had 8:00 YC escort to gangway. CBP was relatively fast.

take the 11:40...see my comments below...or take a cab to brighline station.  It's impossible for the LYFT drivers to get to you at that time.

[gatorima]

Just to followup, we did take the 11:40 and am very glad we did as we had very little time to spare. Thanks to everyone and especially to funinthesun for your helpful thoughts! We really liked parking at the station and taking Brightline.