Vancouver luggage embarkation question

[mrsbojamp]

I have a question about how the bags get to the ship in Vancouver. Should I put the tags on when we leave home so that they go directly to the ship, or do we have to claim the bags in the airport and take them with us on the transfer? We're really down to the last minute stuff. I can't believe we leave in just a little more than 24 hours!!

[Nebraska Admiral]

When I went to Alaska on the Noordam, there was a big mixup at Vancouver. Some of the passengers had to claim their bagage and go through customs with it while others on the plane just went through customs without it and the cruise line transfered it for them. I was one of the unfortunates that had to claim baggage and take through customs . The cruise line then gathered the bagage and took it to the ship. It was waiting for us in our cabin.

Dick

[Diva Onboard]

Mrs. Bojamp -

 

 

There are a few other threads on this board about this subject. We too are leaving for Vancouver in a few short hours.

 

Read your cruise docs - we are sailing on Royal Caribbean Serenade of the Seas. It states in the transfer from the airport to the pier -

 

Exception: If you are flying direct into Vancouver from the United States and you are embarking on the same day as arrival, if you put your cruiseline bag tags on your luggage before checking the luggage with the airline, your bags will be transferred directly to the ship.

 

Now, I can only say this is true for Royal Carribbean and American Airlines. If you are on RCCL please check your cruise documents. This information was found on our transfer from the airport to the pier.

 

Good luck!

[Budget Queen]

My advice- I ALWAYS want to verify my bags made it to my destination therefore- I would never tag my bags before seeing them arrive. If you place your faith in having your bags directly transfered- likely they will make it. But if they don't you are way too late to track them if you don't miss them until the ship is sailing. I have experienced bags not making my flights- I immediately start to track them, via the airlines and make arrangements for getting them.

[SConnolly]

Agree 100% with Budget Queen. Always verify your bags ahave arrived at the Airport of your destination before you tag them for the ship. We have experienced lost luggage twice and sometime the airline can track it down prior to sailing if you have arrived early enough.

 

Shay

[Poohb]

Hi. got off the Celebrity Summit on Friday 7/16. We had booked thru Celebrity and Northwest for all airlines. We had the option of on-board luggage check in for Vancouver. It was well worth the $15 pp. We filled out a form & gave it to guest relations. On Thurs morn we rec'd in our room specific colored tags with barcodes and instructions. Since our flight was at 12, we were in the 1st group to disembark. We had to have our luggage outside our door by 11 pm Thurs. with the white special tags. It disappeared within the hour and we never saw it again until we collected it ALL in Bradley/Hartford CT. Boarding/seat passes were given to us in the Celeb Theatre where we gathered at 7:30 AM Friday. They called flights by times: 11-11:15 AM, 11:15-11:30, etc. A rep from the invidual airlines was on the stage with their airline listed in front of them. We went to the NW rep, showed our pix ID and rec'd our boarding passes. We then were shown to the gangplank, then thru Canadian Customs which was simply handing over our declaration form and onto a bus (we had a transfer for that from our TA pkg). At the airport we went into a private garage and thru screening of our carry-ons, then American Customs and into the airport. It was a lot less hassle than I think for those who need to pick up their luggage off the ship and then get transport to airport. Of course this is IMHO since it's our first time cruising.

[Budget Queen]

It's a WHOLE different story transferring your bags on the way home vs on the way to your cruise. :) The above option is excellent for going home- but I still would never consider anything but MY verification of bags making it to my destination.

[Diva Onboard]

Just wanted to let everyone know that we returned from Alaska on the Serenade today.

 

 

We used the onship airline boarding procedure. It cost $15 per person and the amount was billed to our sea pass account.

 

I will tell you that the new procedure is absolutely wonderful. We filled out a form a few days before our last day. It required obvious information such as airline, flight number/time, our transportation arrangements upon disembarkation, number of bags to be checked, etc.

 

The night before disembarkation, we received white bar coded luggage tags. We put our luggage out (from 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM) as usual. That was the last we saw of our luggage until we landed in Chicago. The luggage was automatically taken and loaded onto our plane. We did not have to go through the pier terminal to claim our luggage and then proceed to the coach for our transfer transportation.

 

The day of disembarkation, we gathered in the theater and were given our airline boarding passes with seat assignments. We were ushered through a separate side of the terminal where we passed through a special Canadian customs booth and handed in our customs form. We were then ushered to a waiting coach and taken to the airport.

 

At the airport, we were driven to a security checkpoint and then dropped off at the terminal where we were ushered through a U.S. Customs booth. We then simply proceeded to our airline departure gate.

 

The process was efficient and well worth the additional charge.

 

While we were waiting for our flight, we could not help but notice the hundreds of people inline to get through customs. Some of the people were from other cruise ships, as well as RCCL. They told us that they were in line for at least 45 minutes.

 

We are certainly glad that we took advantage of this new procedure.

 

NOTE: Not all of the cruise lines and/or airlines are participating at this time. RCCL is and so is American Airlines. Other airlines that I noted were Alaska Air and Continental. If you will be sailing in and out of Vancouver, check with customer services while onboard your ship to see if they are participating in the new program. It is great.