Luggage Foward

[jomarie10]

Has anyone used this service? For a fee they will pick up your luggage at home and have it delivered directly to the ship and then at the end of the cruise reverse the process. Since I'll be wheeling my mother in a wheelchair I thought it would be perfect for us. Saw the link on the HAL website so apparently they recommend it. I would love to hear if anyone has tried the service and what their experience was.

[Nasmas]

I thought about trying it but it is very expensive and you have to ship about a week in advance or pay the exorbitant express fees. Also, I think I saw that they don't deliver or pickup on Sunday. So, that knocked us out. I agree its a great idea but everything has its drawbacks, I suppose. If you decide to use it, please let everyone know how it works.

[byucougs]

I thought about trying it but it is very expensive and you have to ship about a week in advance or pay the exorbitant express fees. Also, I think I saw that they don't deliver or pickup on Sunday.

 

You should call them. They have an agreement with Holland America so I am sure they have worked something out to do weekend delivery/pickup. Most hotels will store your luggage if you have it delivered there (assuming you are coming in a day or two early).

 

Also, UPS and FedEx do luggage delivery. In fact, most luggage shipping companies use them. What you pay for from LuggageForward or one of the others is the customer service to track your packages for you along the way and make sure it arrives on time.

[Boatdrill]

Any recent update on this service ?

[shippmates]

We have used White Star Service to ship our luggage to the Queen Mary in NY. They used DHL and I was lucky enough they would pick the luggage up at my office. It was pricey but that was one of the less stressful cruise we have taken. We are sailing in November on the Noordam and plan on shipping our luggage to the ship. It maybe a little more expensive than what the airlines charge but then again the shipper will have a few days to find the luggage if it would get lost. The greatest thing about shipping your luggage is when you get aboard your luggage is in your room and you did not have to worry about getting it to the ship from the airport. Also by shipping you can take a larger suitcase, larger sizes of toiletries than on the airlines.

[Sunflower&Scientist]

I would love to know how much this cost, when you say pricey, how pricey was it? Sounds like it might be what we need as I lost the use of one arm and it would be wonderful not to deal with luggage.

[JORAY]

Using shippmates qoute

It was pricey but that was one of the less stressful cruise we have taken.

 

We used them on our Voyage of the Vikings cruise. with 3 large bags. (Charlotte, NC to port in Boston, MA)

 

However, I didn't think they were that pricey -- If you total up the tip fees for airports porters, hotels porters, dock porters for the round trip and we traveled with only our carryons.

 

They picked up at our home & returned them home. If you are using Cabs they charge for large bags also.

 

In our case they did change extra for weekend delivery & pickup you have to ask them for weekend service which they do for HAL customers (I think it was $40 for both wekend days we had) -- I used the thread on HAL web site.

 

I figured it cost me $20/bag more using them VS handling the bags ourself (we are seniors). Well worth the money.

 

PS: if you are stay a night before in a hotel & after they will deliver & pickup at hotels saving the Weekend charge

 

Ray

[shippmates]

We used them back in 2008 and it was $100.00 per bag. It is really nice not to have to worry with bags in the airports or even on the transfers. If cruisers are like my husband, he watches every suitcase put on the plane just to make sure ours get on the original flight. As he says the best flight we ever had was the one to NY.

[CaveDiving]

We have used the luggage forwarding service several times and are quite satisfied.

 

In our case the bags were picked up from our home and delivered to our stateroom. After the cruise, once they were picked up from our stateroom and several times we needed to walk them (using a porter) through customs and then hand them off to a representative. Each time they were delivered to our home in about a week.

 

The problem with sending your bags FedEx to the ship, is there is no one to accept the bags, hold them for a day or two and then get them to your cabin.

 

Scott & Karen

[LocoLoco1]

Jomarie10

Hi. We used HAL's 'modified' Luggage forwarding last month with our HAL cruise when LEAVING the ship. We set our bags outside the stateroom and Presto, there our luggage was at our home airport terminal baggage claim. $25 bucks well spent. True Luggage Direct Door-to-Door was $pricey$ for 5 bags. $975 bucks. If money isn't a concern..go for it considering your circumstance, IMHO. Locomotiveman