what are the options for baggage checkin/trasfer at end of a cruise in San Juan?

Hi,

I posted this to rec.travel.cruises and had only one response; surely
there are many folks traveling on Carnival Cruise ships from San Juan
so I am taking one more shot at seeking info:

I and few friends are going on a week long cruise on Carnival Desity
cruise ship out of San Juan in March 2007. When we return to San Juan
it will be a Sunday. We arrive at San Juan at 7am but our American
Airlines flight out of San Juan airport is not till 8:50 pm. Here are
some questions that if anyone can answer or hint at I would be most
appreciative.

1) Does either the cruise ship or the airline provide baggage transfer
at the port side? Do they charge extra for this services, if so, how
much?

I called American airlines and the person had no real idea though she
tried to find information for about 10 minutes. She gave me a phone #
of American counter in San Juan but that turned out to be a bogus #.

I would like to forward/check in luggage so that we can have the rest
of the day free
to explore san juan before flying out late that night.

2) If port side checkin of baggage is not possible what do people do
in such cases? If we get to the airport by 11am, will American let us
check in luggage at that time (whcih is many hours before our flight
actually leaves) permitting us to possibly return by another taxi to
the old san juan area?

3) I have read/heard that if you book an excursion with cruise ship on
last day in san juan they do take care of baggage transfer. This si
not a first option since due to cost and other limitations, but if
anyone knows about this I welcome comments.

Thanks for any other suggestion any one might have.

George.

In article .com,
" writes
Hi,

I posted this to rec.travel.cruises and had only one response; surely
there are many folks traveling on Carnival Cruise ships from San Juan
so I am taking one more shot at seeking info:

I and few friends are going on a week long cruise on Carnival Desity
cruise ship out of San Juan in March 2007. When we return to San Juan
it will be a Sunday. We arrive at San Juan at 7am but our American
Airlines flight out of San Juan airport is not till 8:50 pm. Here are
some questions that if anyone can answer or hint at I would be most
appreciative.

1) Does either the cruise ship or the airline provide baggage transfer
at the port side? Do they charge extra for this services, if so, how
much?

I called American airlines and the person had no real idea though she
tried to find information for about 10 minutes. She gave me a phone #
of American counter in San Juan but that turned out to be a bogus #.

I would like to forward/check in luggage so that we can have the rest
of the day free
to explore san juan before flying out late that night.

2) If port side checkin of baggage is not possible what do people do
in such cases? If we get to the airport by 11am, will American let us
check in luggage at that time (whcih is many hours before our flight
actually leaves) permitting us to possibly return by another taxi to
the old san juan area?

3) I have read/heard that if you book an excursion with cruise ship on
last day in san juan they do take care of baggage transfer. This si
not a first option since due to cost and other limitations, but if
anyone knows about this I welcome comments.

Thanks for any other suggestion any one might have.

George.


In view of national and international security precautions I would
suggest that it is highly probable that you cannot check-in your baggage
by proxy (i.e. have the cruise company do it for you/on your behalf).
You will have to present yourself and your baggage at the appropriate
time to the American check-in and security agents, have them scrutinised
and, if they deem necessary, searched and certainly X-rayed/screened. If
you leave them in the care of another entity you will not be able to
answer the question "have these bags been in your care the whole time
since packing" with a truthfully positive reply.

Perhaps Carnival has a security approved storage facility .... it is
unlikely that this is the first time the question has been posed. But it
is _your_ baggage the responsibility for which you cannot abrogate to
others. These are difficult times for airlines and passengers but you
will agree, I'm sure, that security and safety is paramount.

Tom W.

--
Tom Withycombe
Dorset/UK

On Feb 22, 6:01 pm, Tom Withycombe wrote:
In article .com,
" writes





Hi,

I posted this to rec.travel.cruises and had only one response; surely
there are many folks traveling on Carnival Cruise ships from San Juan
so I am taking one more shot at seeking info:

I and few friends are going on a week long cruise on Carnival Desity
cruise ship out of San Juan in March 2007. When we return to San Juan
it will be a Sunday. We arrive at San Juan at 7am but our American
Airlines flight out of San Juan airport is not till 8:50 pm. Here are
some questions that if anyone can answer or hint at I would be most
appreciative.

1) Does either the cruise ship or the airline provide baggage transfer
at the port side? Do they charge extra for this services, if so, how
much?

I called American airlines and the person had no real idea though she
tried to find information for about 10 minutes. She gave me a phone #
of American counter in San Juan but that turned out to be a bogus #.

I would like to forward/check in luggage so that we can have the rest
of the day free
to explore san juan before flying out late that night.

2) If port side checkin of baggage is not possible what do people do
in such cases? If we get to the airport by 11am, will American let us
check in luggage at that time (whcih is many hours before our flight
actually leaves) permitting us to possibly return by another taxi to
the old san juan area?

3) I have read/heard that if you book an excursion with cruise ship on
last day in san juan they do take care of baggage transfer. This si
not a first option since due to cost and other limitations, but if
anyone knows about this I welcome comments.

Thanks for any other suggestion any one might have.

George.

In view of national and international security precautions I would
suggest that it is highly probable that you cannot check-in your baggage
by proxy (i.e. have the cruise company do it for you/on your behalf).
You will have to present yourself and your baggage at the appropriate
time to the American check-in and security agents, have them scrutinised
and, if they deem necessary, searched and certainly X-rayed/screened. If
you leave them in the care of another entity you will not be able to
answer the question "have these bags been in your care the whole time
since packing" with a truthfully positive reply.

Perhaps Carnival has a security approved storage facility .... it is
unlikely that this is the first time the question has been posed. But it
is _your_ baggage the responsibility for which you cannot abrogate to
others. These are difficult times for airlines and passengers but you
will agree, I'm sure, that security and safety is paramount.

Tom W.

--
Tom Withycombe
Dorset/UK- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Here is another option. There is a restaurant in OSJ that will hold
your luggage free of charge. Their name is Barrachina. You can find
out more information on their website. There is a taxi stand less than
a block away. They may only hold luggage until 5:00 pm, I'm not sure.
We also are cruising on the Destiny (March 25) and taking an 8:50 AA
flight home. I've read that there is a place at the dock to hold
luggage, so I'm not sure what we'll do yet.

On 2/22/2007 5:16 PM wrote:
Hi,

I posted this to rec.travel.cruises and had only one response; surely
there are many folks traveling on Carnival Cruise ships from San Juan
so I am taking one more shot at seeking info:

I and few friends are going on a week long cruise on Carnival Desity
cruise ship out of San Juan in March 2007. When we return to San Juan
it will be a Sunday. We arrive at San Juan at 7am but our American
Airlines flight out of San Juan airport is not till 8:50 pm. Here are
some questions that if anyone can answer or hint at I would be most
appreciative.

1) Does either the cruise ship or the airline provide baggage transfer
at the port side? Do they charge extra for this services, if so, how
much?

I called American airlines and the person had no real idea though she
tried to find information for about 10 minutes. She gave me a phone #
of American counter in San Juan but that turned out to be a bogus #.

I would like to forward/check in luggage so that we can have the rest
of the day free
to explore san juan before flying out late that night.

2) If port side checkin of baggage is not possible what do people do
in such cases? If we get to the airport by 11am, will American let us
check in luggage at that time (whcih is many hours before our flight
actually leaves) permitting us to possibly return by another taxi to
the old san juan area?

3) I have read/heard that if you book an excursion with cruise ship on
last day in san juan they do take care of baggage transfer. This si
not a first option since due to cost and other limitations, but if
anyone knows about this I welcome comments.

Thanks for any other suggestion any one might have.

George.


Have you contacted Carnival? Have you contacted American Airlines? Do
this by telephone as opposed to rooting around their web pages.

Have you called your Travel Agent? My TA is totally up on anything
involving cruising. In the past she has arranged for me to take a
ship's excursion tour of the home port terminating at the airport. It
was billed to my account at a discount. My TA is really great at
finding these bargains. So I had something to do from the time that I
disembarked and the time to board my flight home. The tour bus securely
brought my luggage along for the ride so I didn't need to worry about
storage.

If you don't have a TA and did this one yourself, look for a similar
excursion provided by Carnival.

--
____
Brian M. Kochera
"Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once!"
____
View My Web Page: http://home.earthlink.net/~brian1951

In article et, Brian
K writes
On 2/22/2007 5:16 PM wrote:
Hi,

I posted this to rec.travel.cruises and had only one response; surely
there are many folks traveling on Carnival Cruise ships from San Juan
so I am taking one more shot at seeking info:

I and few friends are going on a week long cruise on Carnival Desity
cruise ship out of San Juan in March 2007. When we return to San Juan
it will be a Sunday. We arrive at San Juan at 7am but our American
Airlines flight out of San Juan airport is not till 8:50 pm. Here are
some questions that if anyone can answer or hint at I would be most
appreciative.

1) Does either the cruise ship or the airline provide baggage transfer
at the port side? Do they charge extra for this services, if so, how
much?

I called American airlines and the person had no real idea though she
tried to find information for about 10 minutes. She gave me a phone #
of American counter in San Juan but that turned out to be a bogus #.

I would like to forward/check in luggage so that we can have the rest
of the day free
to explore san juan before flying out late that night.

2) If port side checkin of baggage is not possible what do people do
in such cases? If we get to the airport by 11am, will American let us
check in luggage at that time (whcih is many hours before our flight
actually leaves) permitting us to possibly return by another taxi to
the old san juan area?

3) I have read/heard that if you book an excursion with cruise ship on
last day in san juan they do take care of baggage transfer. This si
not a first option since due to cost and other limitations, but if
anyone knows about this I welcome comments.

Thanks for any other suggestion any one might have.

George.


Have you contacted Carnival? Have you contacted American Airlines? Do
this by telephone as opposed to rooting around their web pages.
Have you called your Travel Agent? My TA is totally up on anything
involving cruising. In the past she has arranged for me to take a
ship's excursion tour of the home port terminating at the airport. It
was billed to my account at a discount. My TA is really great at
finding these bargains. So I had something to do from the time that I
disembarked and the time to board my flight home. The tour bus
securely brought my luggage along for the ride so I didn't need to
worry about storage.

If you don't have a TA and did this one yourself, look for a similar
excursion provided by Carnival.

Brian's points make good sense - especially the luggage storage on the
tour bus. Also, if you get a good tvl agt - stick to him/her. I have
found really good ones are pretty few and far between, and I work in the
leisure travel arena (not as a travel agent, I hasten to add).

Have fun!

Tom W.
--
Tom Withycombe
Dorset/UK