We're back from CBR - disappointed with luggage service

[Alderbrook]

Back from a really great trip, perfect weather & had a nice time. No line ups really for any rides & crowds were great.

Only disappointment was with luggage. We landed at 3:30 & checked in to the hotel just before 5 pm. Had our carry ons with us which were kind of large & used the ME luggage tags for 1 suitcase.

CBR could not find a bellhop to take our luggage for us after we checked in. We waited at the check in for 45 mins before we finally said "screw it" & walked to Jamaica with our bags dragging behind us (10 min walk). We needed our bathing suits & other things in it so we brought them. Not a big deal, it was nice out. At 8 pm our luggage from the ME had not showed up yet. I call them & after being on hold for 10 mins I finally get a hold of someone. Apparently it's 3-5 hours after you check in. Nowhere said this. Not even the recording you get when you call luggage service, it all says 3 hours after you check in. They tell me that luggage got held up at the airport & that our bag was loaded onto their truck at 5:13 pm but that the truck had not arrived at our resort. I ask them if they are planning on delivering our bags at 2 am if they are ready by then, Luggage people can not give me an answer & tell me to call back at 9:30 pm if it has still not shown up. Then the rain starts. My DH calls back & they tell him that our luggage has been there since 8:20 but because it's raining they can't deliver it & can't guarantee when it will show up because they can't deliver bags in the rain. So in the rain, my DH makes the 10 min "jog" to front desk again to get our bags. When he gets there he asks them "Doesn't it rain a lot in Florida?" to which they reply "yes" so then he asks why they don't have a vehicle that can transport luggage in the rain to which the bell guy has no answer. So then my DH runs back in the rain with puddles the sizes of lakes with a 43 lb suitcase. It took 2 days to dry out his running shoes.

Other than that the trip was good & no other glitches. If it hadn't been so late I wouldn't have cared about the bag being that long, but we were tired & wanted to go to bed & I had a 3 year old with me that was exhausted & I wouldn't have slept knowing that my bag wasn't with me yet & I didn't want them knocking on my door at midnight with my bag. I also didn't want them showing up in the morning because we needed some things out of it for the morning time.

Needless to say, we won't use the tags again. The ME bus service was great & we used their air line check in service without a glitch, but the luggage service at the hotel, IMO, sucked.

 

[crazyfordisney2000]

We got back from POFQ Sept 24 and this is exactly why I chose to claim our own luggage instead of letting ME handle it. Sorry it was a bad experience for you. We arrived at the airport at 1:15 , claimed our luggage, then took magical express and got to our resort at 2:20. I like to unpack so when we get back to the room, it's all put away, and we can relax.

 

[dancin Disney style]

Not the best way to start your vacation. Sorry that happened.

On our trip we also landed at 3:30pm and were in our room by 5pm. I was a little nervous about them getting my bag but I went ahead and let them do it. We usually only have carry on so it has never been an issue. Anyway....our bag was brought to the room before 6pm. We were just about to leave for dinner when it arrived.

 

[daisypaisyduck]

That sucks!! I've never had nothing but great experience from ME.
When we stayed at CBR last month we took the internal shuttle after we got off the ME bus to our room with our carry-ons. We never had to take our carry-ons through the resort.
We did wait about 10 minutes for the shuttle though.

I did see a few times while at the pool people trucking their luggage through the pool area and wondered why they would have to do that.

The Bell Services uses vans so I don't see why rain would be an issue, unless of course if it was pouring bc even from the driveway to the covered area where the rooms are is quite a distance and your luggage would get soaked.

Hope it didn't ruin your trip!!

 

[minnie56]

That's too bad..

We just got back from Bay Lake Towers and the ME experience was awesome. In fact we have never had a negative experience.
Our bags arrived about an hour after we did..just popped up in the room while we were at lunch.

On the return..we used the Resort check in for Jetblue..again...great!! Only thing I did notice were the hefty tips..had to tip Bell Svcs to take the bags to the storage as some bags were good to go and a couple not, tipped the fellow at the Resort check in as the Disney CM kept saying "JB will ensure that your bags make your flight safley and JB will be careful with your bags and thanks to JB blah blah blah" I knew where she was heading and then we tipped Baggage Svcs AGAIN when we got the last couple of bags out to take them to the ME Bus and then there was the ME driver!!! WOW....$20---poofff!

Was nice to not see our bags tho from the Hotel to the AP in Buffalo..for sure.

 

[tone.def]

On advice of my travel agent in my last trip, we did not use the ME tags and took our baggage with us on the bus.
Too bad you weren't warned ahead of time.

 

[minnie56]

On advice of my travel agent in my last trip, we did not use the ME tags and took our baggage with us on the bus.
Too bad you weren't warned ahead of time.

Really? I am a TA and have not had one client complain about ME?

 

[fivebyfive]

On advice of my travel agent in my last trip, we did not use the ME tags and took our baggage with us on the bus.

Same here. My TA said someone had a problem with ME leaving their suitcases out in the rain!!! Boy would I of been ticked if that happened to me!

 

[minnie56]

Well, that wouldn't thrill me either but then many times I have sat in an aircraft looking out the window at bags getting soaked as they await loading so I guess it can happen? It's always unfortunate when someone has a negative experience...

 

[glenpreece]

Back from a really great trip, perfect weather & had a nice time. No line ups really for any rides & crowds were great.

Only disappointment was with luggage. We landed at 3:30 & checked in to the hotel just before 5 pm. Had our carry ons with us which were kind of large & used the ME luggage tags for 1 suitcase.

CBR could not find a bellhop to take our luggage for us after we checked in. We waited at the check in for 45 mins before we finally said "screw it" & walked to Jamaica with our bags dragging behind us (10 min walk). We needed our bathing suits & other things in it so we brought them. Not a big deal, it was nice out. At 8 pm our luggage from the ME had not showed up yet. I call them & after being on hold for 10 mins I finally get a hold of someone. Apparently it's 3-5 hours after you check in. Nowhere said this. Not even the recording you get when you call luggage service, it all says 3 hours after you check in. They tell me that luggage got held up at the airport & that our bag was loaded onto their truck at 5:13 pm but that the truck had not arrived at our resort. I ask them if they are planning on delivering our bags at 2 am if they are ready by then, Luggage people can not give me an answer & tell me to call back at 9:30 pm if it has still not shown up. Then the rain starts. My DH calls back & they tell him that our luggage has been there since 8:20 but because it's raining they can't deliver it & can't guarantee when it will show up because they can't deliver bags in the rain. So in the rain, my DH makes the 10 min "jog" to front desk again to get our bags. When he gets there he asks them "Doesn't it rain a lot in Florida?" to which they reply "yes" so then he asks why they don't have a vehicle that can transport luggage in the rain to which the bell guy has no answer. So then my DH runs back in the rain with puddles the sizes of lakes with a 43 lb suitcase. It took 2 days to dry out his running shoes.

Other than that the trip was good & no other glitches. If it hadn't been so late I wouldn't have cared about the bag being that long, but we were tired & wanted to go to bed & I had a 3 year old with me that was exhausted & I wouldn't have slept knowing that my bag wasn't with me yet & I didn't want them knocking on my door at midnight with my bag. I also didn't want them showing up in the morning because we needed some things out of it for the morning time.

Needless to say, we won't use the tags again. The ME bus service was great & we used their air line check in service without a glitch, but the luggage service at the hotel, IMO, sucked.

This has happened to us a few times too which is why I too won't
use the ME Tags anymore. I'd rather just get my own luggage. I don't want them dropping it off at 2:30am like they did to us one trip.

 

[ferris198]

Just wondering, if you have carry ons why do you need a bell hop to help you ?

 

[seashoreCM]

If your yellow tagged checked baggage took that long to arrive in your room automagically, are you sure it wasn't mislaid for a moment at your home airport and got in on a later flight?

 

[Alderbrook]

Just wondering, if you have carry ons why do you need a bell hop to help you ?

As I stated in my post, we had 2 rather large carry-ons (suitcases) plus a diaper bag, plus a stroller, quite a bit to carry, plus a 3 year old. The luggage station appologized over & over to us for not being able to find a bell hop for us, but when my son starts to have a temper tantrum at custom house, it's time for us to go on our way from waiting so long.

If your yellow tagged checked baggage took that long to arrive in your room automagically, are you sure it wasn't mislaid for a moment at your home airport and got in on a later flight?

As I stated again in my original post, the luggage department told me that tons of luggage had been held up at the airport & lots were delayed. Do I know if this is true, nope, but I did see people finally getting luggage delivered at 10:30 pm to our complex, after I had finished unpacking. I heard the people next to us getting their luggage & I peeked out & spoke to the bellhop.

The luggage people seemed to be completely clueless about what was going on. Even the man I spoke to on the phone didn't seem to want to answer my questions. I actually had to say "hello?" a few times because I thought he had hung up. I wasn't being rude at all, just frustrated sounding & they were completely useless.

I'm sure people have had wonderful service before. I had read horror stories about people getting their luggage super late, but we decided to take a chance & use it to try it out. We will never use it again, we will get our bags ourselves the next time.

 

[minnie56]

That really is unfortunate..I tend to think it was circumstances out of the norm though rather than the usual. I would not let it put me off from using ME..it's so great to just get to the Resort and not worry about bags IMO. A shame that the system wasn't up to par for you..

 

[Alderbrook]

I think it was unfortunate too. It was the only downside to the trip, but they are now 1 for 1 with us & we won't take that chance again. I have always found when it comes to luggage, no one cares except the people that the bags belong to. My GF had her luggage lost at the Las Vegas Airport. It ended up being on the wrong carosel but when we asked for help, no one was interested. My husband left one of our bags in the Tampa airport & when he went back no one would help him there either & we ended up having to wait until the next day for someone to call us because we flew in late & there wasn't the right person to talk to still there.

 

[ferris198]

Actually, all your post said was that you had carry ons.
No mention of a stroller or a diaper bag.

 

[minnie56]

As for Airlines losing bags that is not uncommon and if the personell aren't concerned I tend to think for them, it's such a common problem that they are immune to the inconvenience it causes. They aren't the ones that 'lost' the bags..so basically just the messenger and we all know you can't shoot the messenger! You can't always be in control of your bags and belongings so sometimes, we have to trust in the system in place. Of course, when it goes awry we are ticked and rightly so but feedback is often all we can express and hope that things improve based upon that.

Overall, given the copious quantities of bags Disney move in a day via Magical Express, I think they are doing an amazing job!

JMHO..

 

[fivebyfive]

...quantities of bags Disney move in a day via Magical Express, I think they are doing an amazing job!

It's not Disney, it's Mears.

 

[minnie56]

It's not Disney, it's Mears.

Yes, under contract to Disney. But the OP was complaining about the Bell Services that deliver the bags after ME drops them and that, last I checked, IS Disney!!! They have to unload all the ME bags and get them where they are going and THEY do an amazing job overall, IMO. Magical Express is a 'group effort' by both Mears and the Disney employees. Can you imagine how many arrive at each Resort every hour to be dispersed?

 

[fan1080]

We've used ME for 4 trips, no problems.

Disney states it can take up to 3 hours for bags to arrive. Many sites, this one included, indicate late bag arrival is not uncommon.

For our trips, we have always arrived around noon. If you are arriving later, that could be the reason for delays, just a thought.

This is not a show stopper, imo. If having your luggage is very important, don't use the service. For us, we like to get to the resort and head to the parks as soon as possible. IMO, ME is great for us in that regard. Land, head to ME, get on a bus, check in at resort, drop carry-ons in room (or leave at front desk until later), and head to the parks! Awesome.