Luggage

We have a one week tour in Italy prior to us boarding our Regent cruise out of Venice. We are being limited to 1 suitcase per person on the pre-cruise tour. Question: Does Regent have a program where you can ship your luggage to the ship? I know Princess has a luggage shipping program but I can't seem to find anything on the Regent website.

Regent does not have its own program (not sure who they use for the world cruises where luggage shipment is included in the fare). Many people love "Luggage Free". I have a friend (currently on the world cruise) that uses them for every cruise and has had no difficulty. You will likely hear from others.

How about just taking one case each on the tour and shipping the rest right to the ship? I know of two companies that do this and Regent can probably refer you to the one they prefer. On the Arpil TA on Explorer, we had our luggage shipped back from Barcelona. We used carryons for our extended stay in that city. The only time we don't ship our luggage is when we do Miami/Miami. We live on South Beach, a half hour max from the port. Enjoy your trip.

Mary

Regent uses https://www.luggagefree.com

Luggagefree has worked well for us.

Thank you for the information, big help. Luggage Free is definitely a possibility or I'll just have to learn how to pack 3 weeks worth of stuff in one large bag... eeks!

Luggage Concierge is excellent as well. We use them all the time.

Miles

We used Luggage Forward most recently to and from the Explorer and must say we have had no problem with any of their shipments- domestic or international.

We have used two of the services that have been mentioned (Luggage Free and Luggage Concierge) but I have also read positive reviews on Luggage Forward which was mentioned by Silver Sweethearts.

I would go to the web sites for all three:

http://www.luggagefree.com

http://www.luggageconcierge.com

http://www.luggageforward.com

They all provide similar services but there are some differences with each in terms of pricing and how that is calculated. For example, some just charge a flat rate based on the city of pickup and delivery and on the size of the piece of luggage and others do it by weight. Some offer other options for pickup.

Usually all goes well but yes a problem could happen just as it can happen if you check your luggage on an airplane. The problem is usually not due to one of these companies but things happen. I've had two things go wrong but that is out of using this type of service many times. In all our years of doing this we have encountered two problems with one happening with each of the two companies we used but in both cases it was not due to their negligence.

So while you didn't ask let me just give you a suggestion. Be sure that in addition to the tags that each of these companies will place on your luggage that you also include your own luggage tag which includes your telephone number while you are traveling so a cell phone. One time the tags that the luggage company placed on my luggage was removed by customs of the foreign port to look at it and it was not put back. Thankfully, they had my contact information from my luggage tag and called me. Otherwise, who knows what would have happened.

Again, go to their web site and even call them. Figure out pricing as well as which one works best for you.

For a slightly higher fee, you can arrange a two hour window for pickup of your luggage with Luggage Free which I like. But in the end they will each likely use the same shipping companies (should be DHL for Italy).

Be sure to get the tracking number(s) after the luggage is picked up so you can track it yourself. Some provide them without asking others do not. Also take the phone number(s) of the company you select with you and not just a toll free number which will not work from Italy. Take their regular number long distance number.

One other thing. Verify with them if they store the luggage in a secure locker and who is their local operator. Sometimes it is actually the port agent.

And one last thing.

Ask them when your luggage needs to be picked up to arrive on time. Yes, they will pad it. My recommendation, pad it some more because when we shipped luggage last year (four pieces )and the tag on one of them went missing having padded this myself gave us additional time for that piece of luggage to get to the port before we boarded the ship.

We now use luggage services often and just consider it part of the cost of travel.

Keith

Be aware if shipping from or to South America Luggage Concierge does not ship there or from. LC's insurance carrier will not cover them. The reason is the high rate of theft. We tried to ship from BA on our last cruise and they told us DHL was the only one. FedEx will not ship bags either at least from BA. DHL charges a lot.

We ship our bags all the time when we cruise and love it.

Miles

Great information and recommendations. Another quick question: Do they deliver the luggage to the actual ship or just to the cruise terminal?

Great information and recommendations. Another quick question: Do they deliver the luggage to the actual ship or just to the cruise terminal?

At least with Luggage Forward, we meet up with our luggage when we get to our suite. On Seabourn, for instance, it was outside our door when we arrived. On Regent it was in our bedroom.

Great information and recommendations. Another quick question: Do they deliver the luggage to the actual ship or just to the cruise terminal?

My experience is this can vary by port around the world. Same when you get off if you ever ship luggage home.

It normally will be handed over to workers at the port who will take it from there to get it to the ship.

A couple of other things.

Each company does it slightly differently (some with a form such as Luggage Concierge and others you just create your own list such as Luggage Free) but you will be asked to provide a summary of what you are shipping. (eg., five men's shirts, four women's tops, etc., etc.). If you were shipping more then one suitcase one summary does it and they don't need an individual summary for each piece of luggage.

You will provide this ahead of time along with a copy of your passport and likely a copy of your flight information.

Now if you were sending your goods say from your home in the USA to the ship leaving out of the USA or from the ship in the USA to your home in the USA then you would not have to provide a listing of what is being shipped nor passport nor flight information.

The additional information for shipments between USA and international countries is needed for customs.

Each web site will detail what you are allowed to ship and what you are prohibited from shipping.

Keith

This is really good information, it will be the first time I try this-thabnks for taking the time. Rick

This is really good information, it will be the first time I try this-thabnks for taking the time. Rick

Greetings from South Beach, ronrick. I wrote to you about shipping luggage but didn't mention the company we use because we had an incident on this last cruise, and I hadn't decided if I would use them again. The pickup was supposed to be at the Port of Barcelona. The agent didn't arrive at the right time so we left with out luggage to our hotel. We never did receive an email from the agent. I called Luggage Forward and agreed to have the luggage picked up from our hotel the next day. My goal was to have only carryon at arrival in Miami. We received our luggage in good order along with a price reduction for the failed port pickup. We will use them again because we don't have to reinvent the wheel. Since we use the same luggage and our passports are current, arrangements are simple. Bon voyage!

Mary

Thanks, Rick