Shipping our luggage?

[bundito]

We are headed for a 14-day Transatlantic/Med (RCCL) cruise in April. As a general rule, I loathe airport procedures and dread having luggage lost or damaged.

 

Is shipping our luggage any kind of realistic possibility? I couldn't find anything on RCCL's website and I don't have the patience to call Guest Relations today.

 

I would love to do this, and fly only with small carryons. Wouldn't that be great?

 

 

-Dito

[greatam]

We are headed for a 14-day Transatlantic/Med (RCCL) cruise in April. As a general rule, I loathe airport procedures and dread having luggage lost or damaged.

 

Is shipping our luggage any kind of realistic possibility? I couldn't find anything on RCCL's website and I don't have the patience to call Guest Relations today.

 

I would love to do this, and fly only with small carryons. Wouldn't that be great?

 

 

-Dito

 

$300-500 per 50# pound suitcase using UPS/FedEX international shipping.

 

Priority Mail is about $175.00 for the same suitcase BUT it must be boxed to go via USPS. U-Haul has a great underbed box that fits suitcases almost perfectly. You MUST have an address to deliver to AND not all hotels will accept packages.

 

I am in the international shipping business. It is NOT cheap to ship much weight overseas UNLESS you are willing to ship via sea (3-4 weeks delivery).

 

You can hire a lot of porters and take a lot of excess luggage overseas for what one suitcase will cost. Save the shipping money and apply it to upgrade your international flight to at least business class (buy and use FF miles IF your ticket allows it). The airlines RARELY misplace/damage first/business class luggage with the bright PRIORITY/FIRST CLASS/VIP stickers/tags on them.

[MrsPete]

Since airlines have made so many rules (and fees) for carrying suitcases, several companies have emerged to deal with getting your luggage to where it needs to be. Luggage Free and Luggage Forward were, I believe, the first two; I googled an article on this topic that lists several other companies: http://www.smartertravel.com/travel-advice/shipping-baggage-ahead.html?id=1332544

 

I looked into this last summer when we expected a very right flight schedule, but we rejected it because it is VERY expensive (from my east coast home to Las Vegas). To carry ONE standard suitcase ONE WAY was over $100; one suitcase each for my family of four would've been around $1000. And that's the lowest price -- it assumes that you have the bags ready a week ahead of time; it's more than double that amount if you want a bag transported last-minute.

 

I compared the cost of mailing bags via UPS, and it was much less than any of these companies -- but it was a little more difficult. We'd have to have the bags packed into boxes, and for the return trip we'd have to locate a UPS store (not an easy task since our return trip was on a Sunday).

 

In the end, we chose to carry our own bags; we just couldn't justify the cost. We each had only one 21" rolling carry-on and a personal bag, so it cost us nothing to carry them on the plane. I did mail all our liquids and toiletries (and a couple items like my husband's pocket knife and a kitchen knife) to myself at our first hotel. I used a large pre-paid mailer and paid the extra for delivery confirmation; it was around $14. That was well worth the effort; we boarded the plane with NO liquids whatsoever, which made things easier.

[hajekfam]

We checked into shipppin our luggage for one of our transatlantics - we were doing a Med cruise/transatlantic back to back for 28 days. The cost was really outrageous - it was actually cheaper to pay for an overweight bag or two than to pay to ship. Plus when you ship overseas, your package could be tied up by customs.

[AShann]

Hi, this site gives some info on shipping your luggage, if you're interested: http://*****/cruise-preparation/luggage-delivery-services/

[BIG_Steve]

What it costs is your business. But it sounds like you'd be trading one headache for another.

 

Let us know what you do.

[kitty9]

We've tried to ship to Royal Caribbean ships and they will not accept shipped bags. Your only alternative is to find a hotel to ship your bags to, and stay overnight in that hotel before your cruise---and many hotels will not accept shipped bags for security reasons. And, it's insanely expensive. On my last cruise I shipped to Copenhagen for a Baltic cruise on Crystal, and the cost, one way for two bags was over $650.

[kitty9]

We've tried to ship to Royal Caribbean ships and they will not accept shipped bags. Your only alternative is to find a hotel to ship your bags to, and stay overnight in that hotel before your cruise---and many hotels will not accept shipped bags for security reasons. And, it's insanely expensive. On my last cruise I shipped to Copenhagen for a Baltic cruise on Crystal, and the cost, one way for two bags was over $650.

[BIG_Steve]

We've tried to ship to Royal Caribbean ships and they will not accept shipped bags. Your only alternative is to find a hotel to ship your bags to, and stay overnight in that hotel before your cruise---and many hotels will not accept shipped bags for security reasons. And, it's insanely expensive. On my last cruise I shipped to Copenhagen for a Baltic cruise on Crystal, and the cost, one way for two bags was over $650.

 

Wonder how much cheaper it would have been to ship the clothes, then buy a suitcase when you caught up with them?

[Putterdude]

We are aware of some people who do ship their luggage ahead however one of them is disabled and unable to handle luggage. They are also very well to do and sail for a minimum of 28 days at a time. However as stated above it is a pretty expensive proposition but in their case it works.

[bundito]

Bah. That's disappointing. But pretty much what I expected.

 

For our transatlantic, we have to leave Denver at 9pm on Friday, route through Las Vegas around midnight, then arrive in Miami around 6 or 7am. And on the way home, it's Rome -> Philadelphia -> Denver.

 

If the prices had been reasonable, I would have looked into shipping our stuff.

 

But it looks like we'll be ordinary tourists schlepping our steamer trunks after all.

 

Ah well. Thanks for the replies.

[jimbo5544]

Interesting posts. Seems like there should be an economical way to accomplish this.

[cruiserbryce]

aside from the logistal issues that could pop up...where would you ship? If they are shipped and delayed what then? While the aiprorts and all the pains that come with flying stink...its part of the deal and I think that cost wise and logistically, taking them on the plane may still be best

[Hlitner]

We do a lot of traveling and think the idea of shipping luggage is much ado about nothing. The reality is that it costs a lot of money to ship luggage and you need to send it several days (sometimes weeks) in advance. It is much cheaper to simply take it with you on the plane and pay the airline fees (much less than the shipping companies). The exception to the rule involves some of the European budget airlines (such as Ryanair) that often have outrageous charges for checking luggage. We generally avoid these airlines when we are flying within Europe with a lot of luggage.

 

Hank

[greatam]

Interesting posts. Seems like there should be an economical way to accomplish this.

 

Intra USA-use Priority Mail or even parcel post if you have time, although as I posted you have to box your luggage AND have a hotel/condo, someplace to deliver the packages to.

 

To give you an idea how expensive international shipping is:

 

This morning, our office arranged shipping for 9 boxes of cheese out of the Netherlands to NYC. Each box weighed about 20 pounds. We get a tremendous discount on freight with the airlines. Still cost over $550.00 for 180 pounds. FedEx/UPS would have been over $750 even with our industry discount.

 

I am currently in Iraq. I ship freight and people every day around the world. I am getting some specialty product in from the USA (it's actually 7 specialty cheescakes for a party for a colonel who is retiring). Even flying it military air from Dubai into Iraq (which is basically free other than the $30.00 transfer fee), our company is paying $462 to get SEVEN cheesecakes from NYC to Dubai. I was astounded at the price-the weight can't be over 30 pounds total. And that is a US government contracted price.

 

Shipping ANY amount of weight internationally is very very expensive UNLESS you ship it parcel post (which goes by sea and take 3-4 weeks for arrival). IF you are KNOW in advance you absolutely, positively won't need what you are shipping, you can ship by sea and save aout 70%. I ship a lot of personal stuff for my international travels. Never had anything lost, but always insure to the maximum amount allowable.

[jimbo5544]

Oh, I was not doubting you. I was thinking (mainly US only, not international) , that there might be a business opportunity here. Specifically all of the over the road trucking companies that are sitting on their hands in this economy.

[greatam]

Specifically all of the over the road trucking companies that are sitting on their hands in this economy.

 

Other than union companies, no one is sitting on their hands. Freight rates aren't as good as they were a year ago, but fuel is almost $2.00 per gallon less. While our company almost always hauls refrigerated products (which gives us a little more "umph" in the market-people always need to eat) and all our guys were off from Dec.22 until today, every one of 60 trucks is loaded and rolling this morning other than 4. Two aren't ready to go back to work until tomorrow, one is in the shop and one driver has been AWOL since Dec. 28 (so maybe he QUIT!!!-ya think)

 

ABSOLUTELY NO possible way to move luggage for a cruise ship passenger from their home to a cruise ship terminal or even a hotel with an over the road truck that would make any money. If it did, we would have already done it. You need the local pick up guy, the local delivery guy, the warehouses to consolidate the freight in a lot of places before you even get it on the truck. ALL cost money. FedEx and UPS both run over the road operations as well as the post office with their contracted carriers. Nothing cheap about moving a couple of suitcases or a couple of 50# boxes OTHER than parcel post with the Post Office.

[kitty9]

Wonder how much cheaper it would have been to ship the clothes, then buy a suitcase when you caught up with them?

 

 

I'm disabled, and cannot handle luggage by myself, using a scooter. There are some things where money can't be a consideration. So, my reasons for shipping are very different than most. When I cruise as a solo, it's usually cruises in Europe, Asia or other exotic locales, so for me, shipping is the most viable option, despite the cost. I'm just fortunate I can afford to do this.

[euro cruiser]

Darcie, I'm curious - where do you ship luggage to for a cruise? I understand a land-based vacation, and asking a hotel to hold it for your arrival, but how does this work with a cruise?

 

My mother and aunt both travel in wheelchairs but, so far, have always had at least one of us with them to manage the luggage situation. My brother, who is basically wheelchair bound, travels for his job and makes great use of customer service agents and porters at airports all over the country. So far, thank goodness, he's never had a problem. They walk him and his stuff right out to the car, and he's off. He spends a lot in tips, but it's the only way he can get around.