DCL and Airline Particiaption

[rosaciri]

Hi Everyone

How can I check to see which airlines participate with DCL so that when we leave our luggage out the night before disemarkment day we wont see it until we land at LAX?.

On return (after our cruise) we are traveling from Orlando to LAX to return home to Australia (which is a midnight flight) and we were hoping to be able to receive our boarding passes etc for Orlando to LAX the night before disemarkment. Not sure if we are able to check in our luggages all the way home to Australia from Orlando or if we are only able to do it to LAX and then we would need to do it from LAX to Australia at the airport. As we have a day in Orlando (most likely we will be getting a day room at Orlando airport) we didnt want to drag our luggage around. TIA

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Hi Everyone

How can I check to see which airlines participate with DCL so that when we leave our luggage out the night before disemarkment day we wont see it until we land at LAX?.

On return (after our cruise) we are traveling from Orlando to LAX to return home to Australia (which is a midnight flight) and we were hoping to be able to receive our boarding passes etc for Orlando to LAX the night before disemarkment. Not sure if we are able to check in our luggages all the way home to Australia from Orlando or if we are only able to do it to LAX and then we would need to do it from LAX to Australia at the airport. As we have a day in Orlando (most likely we will be getting a day room at Orlando airport) we didnt want to drag our luggage around. TIA

Are you flying directly from MCO to LAX to Australia? I'm not sure that would qualify. If you have one flight MCO to LAX, and then a separate flight (separate ticket) to Australia, that might work.

Here's the requirements from our last cruise:
From Port Canaveral:
The requirements are below
You must have purchased DCL Air and/or DCL Ground Transfers

1. • Your flight has to leave from Orlando International Airport after 11:30 am on the same day your cruise vacation ends.
   • Your flight must be on a participating airline:

AirTran Airways (no longer in business)
Alaska Airlines
American Airlines (USAirways merged)
Delta Air Lines
JetBlue Airways
United Airlines

1. • Your final destination must be within the U.S. (including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands)
   • Each luggage piece can weigh no more than fifty (50) pounds.
   • Airline specific baggage fees may apply and can vary by airline. Please check with your specific carrier for more details.
   • Applicable airline baggage fees will be posted directly to your shipboard account.
   • Some Guests may be selected to check in at the airport and may not be able to use this service.

 

[rosaciri]

Are you flying directly from MCO to LAX to Australia? I'm not sure that would qualify. If you have one flight MCO to LAX, and then a separate flight (separate ticket) to Australia, that might work.

Here's the requirements from our last cruise:
From Port Canaveral:
The requirements are below
You must have purchased DCL Air and/or DCL Ground Transfers

1. • Your flight has to leave from Orlando International Airport after 11:30 am on the same day your cruise vacation ends.
   • Your flight must be on a participating airline:

AirTran Airways (no longer in business)
Alaska Airlines
American Airlines (USAirways merged)
Delta Air Lines
JetBlue Airways
United Airlines

1. • Your final destination must be within the U.S. (including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands)
   • Each luggage piece can weigh no more than fifty (50) pounds.
   • Airline specific baggage fees may apply and can vary by airline. Please check with your specific carrier for more details.
   • Applicable airline baggage fees will be posted directly to your shipboard account.
   • Some Guests may be selected to check in at the airport and may not be able to use this service.

Thank you PrincessShmoo - I knew you would have an answer. As our last stop is home to Oz I dont think we qualify from your info above but I will double check. We leave Orlando at about 6.30pm, flying to LAX, we have a few hours at LAX airport and then leave to come home to Oz.

Staying at WDW for a week before our cruise so I know we will have DCL transfers from our WDW resort to the port on embarkment day and getting back to Orlando airport on disemarkment day but was hoping when our cruise ends that we could send our luggages all the way to LAX/Australia without us having to worry about them/drag them around as we have a full day in Orlando after our cruise.

 

[SuperDry]

We leave Orlando at about 6.30pm, flying to LAX, we have a few hours at LAX airport and then leave to come home to Oz.

You never mention if both segments are on the same ticket or separate tickets. If separate tickets, then you will have no problem, as you can treat the flights separately, check in your bags on board through to LAX, and then retrieve them there and check them in again for the Oz flight. But if both segments are on a single ticket, then you can't use the on-board services to check bags to an international destination, and checking them through only to LAX when your ticket has you connecting onward to Oz would be called a "short check." It's probably too specific a question to explain to anyone not intimately familiar with the on-board check-in process, so there's no way to get a definitive answer in advance. Even asking guest services on board is unlikely to get a completely reliable answer. But, the way on-board check-in works is that you fill out a form, and they check you in behind the scenes and deliver you the boarding pass and airline luggage tags to your cabin the night before. If I were in your situation, I'd give it a try: fill out the form stating LAX as your final destination. It will either work or not, but if not, you'll know before it's time to set out your bags as you won't get your boarding passes and luggage tags, but probably a note instead explaining that there was a problem.

 

[FigmentSpark]

I know it would be early, but you could try checking in your bags as soon as you get back to MCO (you said you had transfers from Port Canaveral to MCO). Even though your flight isn't until after 6pm, it's possible that you could just check them. The down side is there is more time for the airline to lose your bags if they're sitting around waiting to be put on a plane.

Does anyone know if there's a limit as to how early you can check your bags in?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I know it would be early, but you could try checking in your bags as soon as you get back to MCO (you said you had transfers from Port Canaveral to MCO). Even though your flight isn't until after 6pm, it's possible that you could just check them. The down side is there is more time for the airline to lose your bags if they're sitting around waiting to be put on a plane.

Does anyone know if there's a limit as to how early you can check your bags in?

Usually it's about 3-4 hours before the specific flight.

 

[michellekcm]

We booked ours on American, and had a separate flight home to Australia. The benefit of American was a) they participate in onboard checkin, b) they land at the terminal right next to the international terminal at LAX, literally less than 5 minutes walk, even with young kids, and c) since we were flying Qantas and they are a one-world partner, they are responsible for ensuring you get home if they have a delay, even if the ticket is purchased separately. (Which was a great comfort when planes were getting cancelled left, right, and centre due to weather issues in Dallas!)

We did the onboard checkin through to LAX, collected our bags, then checked-in to our Qantas flight.

One thing to note, our boarding passes from onboard checkin were all over the plane. I assume DCL just takes whatever is offered. Our 3yo son was placed 11 rows behind us! We did get it sorted out, but we had to do that at the gate so it was a bit stressful for a while - even though I'm sure someone would gladly have swapped seats with me so they weren't responsible for a 3yo

 

[bumbershoot]

One thing to note, our boarding passes from onboard checkin were all over the plane. I assume DCL just takes whatever is offered.

I take it you hadn't chosen seats when you booked the flights?

We just get the seats we booked when we've done OAC.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I take it you hadn't chosen seats when you booked the flights?

We just get the seats we booked when we've done OAC.

I was wondering about that, also. Once we have our reservation booking number, I go to the airline website and select seats. I don't let DCL pick my seats.

 

[michellekcm]

I take it you hadn't chosen seats when you booked the flights?

We just get the seats we booked when we've done OAC.

Correct. We didn't choose seats. This whole having to pay extra to choose seats annoys me. . Airlines are just squeezing more and more money out of us for things that used to be free - and the fares haven't gone down that much that it compensates. (This is coming from an Australian perspective, it might actually be different in the US. But then again, our dollar is so bad that it costs us a fortune to add on things like choice of seats...)