Excellent Luggage Service

[Sundagger]

My flight home from Ft. Lauderdale isn't until 5:30 pm. Does anyone know if they will do this service for flights that leave that late in the day?

 

In April, I also had a late plane departure - no problem. As long as it was after 1PM, it was fine. I was on Delta - there are about 6 airlines, mostly the legacy ones, that had the program.

[takemewithyou]

Just returned from Panama Canal cruise on Volendam 10/17. We really wanted to use the Signature Express Baggage Service. We got the form mid-cruise to fill out for using the service. The letter from the front desk that came with it said any flight leaving from FLL after 11:30 Am could qualify for the service. So we applied since our plane left at 12:24 PM.

 

Last night on board, we got our boarding passes, luggage tags. etc. We were very happy. We got our final statement and saw that we had been charged $15 pp for the service. Well, after clearing customs, we rolled our luggage out to the area where they were collecting the luggage and the representative said "we are sorry, but your flight leaves too early and you can not use this service". We said we had applied, been accepted and had our boarding passes and luggage tags and had paid for this service. He said "you will have to talk with HAL and request a refund."

 

I tried to call Shipboard Services who referred me to Guest Services who referred me to a Claims Dept for Luggage. I am going to talk to my TA.

 

While it certainly didn't ruin my wonderful cruise - it was inconvenient and annoying and troublesome.

[Jimjam]

Luggage service sounds great---With my flight departing San Diego to Philadelphia at 11:36 AM, and the airport close to the pier, what are my chances that I will be able to take advantage of this service? I know from FLL the departure must be after 1 PM.. Thanks...

[Jimjam]

Thanks Holland America for some fine creativity with the special luggage service idea and the bus transportation to the New York pier from the Northeast..It's nice to see this kind of forward thinking for the convience of the cruise passengers. The minium cost for this sevice is more than worth it !!

[Jimjam]

Thanks Holland America for some fine creativity with the special luggage service idea and the bus transportation to the New York pier from the Northeast..It's nice to see this kind of forward thinking for the convience of the cruise passengers. The minium cost for this sevice is more than worth it !!

[KAYEF]

takemewithyou

I don't understand what you are saying.

Withe THIS service, you place the tags on the luggage and set it outside your cabin before 1 a.m. just as the other people do.

You don't have to take it off the ship; you never see it again until you get home.

Why did you roll your luggage off and through Customs????

I'm confused.

The whole purpose is that you don't have to handle your luggage.

[billsrobb]

I'm looking forward to checking this out after my Volendam cruise.

I've already applied directly w/ the airline for my upgrade on the return trip, so we'll see how it goes.

what kind of upgrade did you apply for on the return trip with the airline?

See ya soon

Robb

[takemewithyou]

KAYEF:

Yes, I placed my luggage outside just like everyone else does with the luggage tags on there that were provided by the front desk with the express luggage service. It specifically states in the letter that you receive with your disembarkation procedures through this service that you still have to claim your luggage and pass through customs with it. Then after you clear customs, you take it right outside the door to the designated place for those of us who purchased the signature express baggage service. It is there, on the curb, that I was told that their terms were different than what was in the letter from the Volendam front desk. I applied for the service, I was accepted for the service, I did what was specified in the letter and the boarding passes were issued, the luggage tags were issued and applied, the bags were placed outside my room at the approprite time, they were taken to the approprite place and it was on the curb that I found out that the terms had changed.

 

I believe that HAL contracts with an outside service to provide this service to its guests and apparently there is some mis-communication on what flight times qualify for this service. Does this answer your question?

[bepsf]

what kind of upgrade did you apply for on the return trip with the airline?

See ya soon

Robb

 

Robb--

 

Cashing in some miles for an upgrade to 1st on the Dulles-SFO leg of my flight home aboard a 767 - I figured I'd need a little extra coddling for my 5-hour flight home post-cruise...

;)

[bepsf]

takemewithyou

I don't understand what you are saying.

Withe THIS service, you place the tags on the luggage and set it outside your cabin before 1 a.m. just as the other people do.

You don't have to take it off the ship; you never see it again until you get home.

Why did you roll your luggage off and through Customs????

I'm confused.

The whole purpose is that you don't have to handle your luggage.

 

That's why they didn't accept it: The luggage for the earlier flights was already on the way to the airport by then and HAL personnel couldn't guarantee that the later truck would get the luggage to the airport in time for unloading, screening, distribution and loading onto the plane.

[takemewithyou]

Brian, I did put the luggage outside at 10 pm with the special bar coded luggage tags provided. It was taken with all the other luggage. I did what the letter said to do. It said to claim your luggage in the big hall accoding to color and number(in a special section where every one else's was who has express luggage service) and take it through customs and then the express luggage people would meet you outside the doors and take it from you. I should have been able to never see it again until I got to my final destination at that point.

 

The problem was that the ship said I would qualify for the service - me and anyone who had a flight after 11:30 AM. My flight was at 12:24 PM. Yet, the express luggage representative told me that my flight was too early- after I had paid and done everything to the letter!!!

 

Why is this so hard to follow??? Things don't always go as they are supposed to. I just want a refund.

[bepsf]

Brian, I did put the luggage outside at 10 pm with the special bar coded luggage tags provided. It was taken with all the other luggage. I did what the letter said to do. It said to claim your luggage in the big hall accoding to color and number(in a special section where every one else's was who has express luggage service) and take it through customs and then the express luggage people would meet you outside the doors and take it from you. I should have been able to never see it again until I got to my final destination at that point.

 

The problem was that the ship said I would qualify for the service - me and anyone who had a flight after 11:30 AM. My flight was at 12:24 PM. Yet, the express luggage representative told me that my flight was too early- after I had paid and done everything to the letter!!!

 

Why is this so hard to follow??? Things don't always go as they are supposed to. I just want a refund.

 

Im sorry - I misunderstood.

Then I agree w/ you that it doesn't make much sense.

I didn't realize that one still had to claim their own luggage at the pier - IMO, that sorta defies the reason for doing it, at least for me...

[takemewithyou]

Brian, I agree with you. But, you still have to claim it in the big hall and drag it through customs and then they take it from you never to be seen again until your final destination. If all goes well and as stated......:rolleyes:

[puli]

:) :) I've not seen this mentioned (yet) but we just disembarked from Zaandam in San Diego and took advantage of the "new" luggage service. We turned in our air information, the ship contacted the airline who apparently e-mailed back our boarding passes and the long, bar-coded strips that go on your suitcase handles.

We affixed the strips, put our luggage outside our door and never saw it again until we got home to Portland. YES! It was on our flights and arrived with us!

All we had to do was walk off, give our cards to Customs and climb into a shuttle for the airport ($5.).............there were cabs all over the place as well.

This service was $15.

We did not have to check in at the airport.............just went through Security and straight to the gate.

THANK YOU HAL for beginning this service (if you do it in all ports!!).;)

Takemewithyou, I guess this is what has us confused. Your instructions seem to differ with those given to KAYEF. You were told to find your bags in their special section and take them through customs whereas KAYEF never had to touch a bag after putting the bags outside the cabin the night before disembarcation.

Sounds like HAL may have two different policies. I hope the instructions in the letter you received is changed to the instructions KAYEF received before I try it our in San Diego in April. If I have to find and take my bags through customs I might as well save the $30, catch a cab and go directly to the airport bags in hand.

[takemewithyou]

Yes, Puli, I went back and read the original post by Kayef and noticed that Kayef did not mention having to pull luggage through customs. Our letter specifically told us that we had to claim our luggage and roll it through customs. Then they would take it from us outside the building. Now, we disembarked in FLL. Perhaps that is the difference. Maybe the requirements are stiffer because of the ports we visited: Mexico, Costa Rica, Columbia???

 

I really was surprised that they would qualify people with flights anytime after 11:30 AM because I had already read on this board that your flight had to be after 1 PM in FLL. When the letter differed from what I had read here, I thought, oh well, they have changed the requirements. I wasn't going to argue with the front desk!

[puli]

Takemewithyou, San Diego appears to be much more lenient than Fla. My plane leaves San Diego at 10:55 AM and HAL has told me twice that I will not have a problem requesting their express luggage service. I guess FLA has an entirely different way of doing things. I read on another board that even Vancouver's Express Service is more direct and "bag free". I hope at least that you had a great time!

[Sundagger]

Takemewithyou, I guess this is what has us confused. Your instructions seem to differ with those given to KAYEF. You were told to find your bags in their special section and take them through customs whereas KAYEF never had to touch a bag after putting the bags outside the cabin the night before disembarcation.

Sounds like HAL may have two different policies. I hope the instructions in the letter you received is changed to the instructions KAYEF received before I try it our in San Diego in April. If I have to find and take my bags through customs I might as well save the $30, catch a cab and go directly to the airport bags in hand.

 

In April in FLL, I had to put my luggage out at night as usual, pick them up in the "warehouse" and take them about 100 feet to go through customs prior to giving them to the porters for the baggage service. It was still very worthwhile, since I didn't have to take them to the airport and check them in.

 

The airline tags were provided and I didn't see the bags from the time I went through customs until I reached my destination - and I had to change planes in Atlanta. According to other reports at other ports, such as San Diego, the passengers using the service could skip the step of having to move the luggage from one part of the "warehouse" through the customs part of the building. I'll be using the service every opportunity I get.:)

[Gsel]

The difference here seems to be Customs. When we used this service in Seattle we did not have to go thru Customs and we set our bags outside the cabin the evening before disembarkation and didn't see them again until they rolled off the belt at DFW. No Customs! But, if we had to go thru Customs, we would have had to reclaim our bags after leaving the ship, take them thru Customs, return them to the luggage service and then they would take them to the airport. It is much easier if you don't have Customs involved, HAL has no contol over this. It is made very clear on the letter you get in your cabin about this service that your flight has to leave after 1pm, or it was in the letter we received. Sorry this didn't work well for you, it was a dream for us.

[Jimjam]

It would be very helpfu if someone that recently disembarked in SAN DIEGO and used the "express luggage" service could advise as to what exactly was the procedure..

 

1. After putting your luggage outside your stateroom door the evening before, were you required to claim your luggage FIRST in the warehouse, go through customs and than to a luggage handler that would take the luggage directly to the airport??

 

2. OR, once the luggage was placed outside the staterrom door the evening before with all the proper tags in place, did you just go directly to the airport after going through customs with your carryon luggage without having to claim your luggage first??

 

3. What time was your flight and what, if any, were any flight departure time limitations??

 

I hope I don't add to any confusion on the subject but it is obvious there are different requirements at various ports..

[KAYEF]

I am the OP.

We DID disembark in San Diego.

We DID have to go through Customs. (We had boarded in Vancouver and had done a back-to-back so had been in Mexico as well.)

We followed these specific instructions:

1-We filled out the papers and turned them into the Front Office.

2-They sent us Boarding Passes and Barcoded Luggage Tags the night before we got to San Diego.

3-We affixed the BARCODED LUGGAGE TAGS to the suitcase handles. They look exactly like the ones they put on at the Airport.

We did NOT have the color coded ones the other folks had.

4-We set our luggage in the hall just as everyone else did before 1 a.m.

About five minutes later, I opened the door for something and noticed OUR luggage was gone but the hallway still had suitcases all up and down so guess they were looking for the "go straight to the airport" ones.

5-In the morning, when our number was called, we went through Customs where we turned in our card and they looked at our passports. We did NOT go into the room where the luggage was; we had been informed we only had to claim our luggage at our DESTINATION.

6-We walked outside and got a shuttle ($5. each) to the airport.

7-We were at the airport before 8:45 a.m. and alas, our plane was not until 1:55 p.m. I could have booked one far earlier!

8-We NEVER SAW OR TOUCHED OUR LUGGAGE until we got home to Portland, Oregon.

Perhaps it's different in other ports.

I just started this thread to say how wonderful this new service is and "Thank you" to HAL and the airlines for this service............and to let folks know it WORKS!:)

By the way, we use TSA locks on our luggage. You can buy them in many places...........online, Radio Shack, Target, etc.

[hammybee]

Thank you KAYEF.

 

This was our exact experience in SEA, last May, with the exception that my DH's luggage was denied for reasons, unknown. It is possible that his luggage was denied because he was born elsewhere, 60 years ago or perhaps it's a random rejection by TSA or airline. The point of this is that HAL does not know why luggage is rejected or accepted.

 

It is available only at some ports, for some airlines for some flights leaving after X:00, which also seems to vary by port and airport. Passengers apply well in advance of disembarkation for the service which can be denied for unknown reasons.

 

We all have to present ourselves to Customs at the appropriate time and luggage processed via this service also goes through Customs, independent of the owner, who is still on the ship

 

The next time one sees their luggage, with any luck, is at the destination airport.

 

In your case, the service may not have been available had you chosen to take an earlier flight. But then again, the proxcimity of the port to the airport makes SD different from others. I do not think it possible for there to be hard/fast rules, given so many different ports, airports, airlines, rules and hands are involved, in the process.

 

No one was more surprised than I too actually see my own luggage, at the destination airport.

 

.

[clyde3]

KAYEF, What shuttle did you use?

[Sundagger]

KAYEF - that was also the procedure reported by RevNeal in San Diego. I can't even guess at why the procedure is different in FLL.:cool:

 

In January, I'll be going through San Diego, but am flying out on Southwest, so I'll have to use their similar system instead of HAL's Signature system.

[hammybee]

I can't even guess at why the procedure is different in FLL.:cool:

 

1) Different Port Authorities

2) Different Airline

3) Different Risks

4) Different local Custom Officials

5) Different local TSA Leadership

6) Different Handlers

7) Color of your Luggage

8) All of the above

9) None of the above

10) Serendipity

 

Ain't life grand. :D

[KAYEF]

clyde3

I don't know.

Had planned to get a cab because on CC I learned they're $10. - $12. to the airport. BTW, no worry that luggage would fit into a cab's trunk because we didn't have any!:)

But, when we exited the building there were people holding signs for $5. to the airport..............white vans / shuttles.

We boarded, then another couple and a third couple and off we went.

They are THICK................no problem with finding transportation to the airport, for sure.

If we had to go into the big hall and locate our own luggage and haul it to another place for transport to the airport, it surely wouldn't be worth the extra $15. per person. There would be tipping as well.

We flew ALASKA.