Princess Luggage Valet Service in partnership with Luggage Forward

[teacher1977]

My husband and I will be sailing on the Crown Princess in October 2018. We will be flying from Washington, DC, USA to Barcelona, Spain where we will spend a couple of days in Barcelona prior to boarding the ship. It is a twenty-five day Western Mediterranean Trans-Atlantic cruise and as such we will each have multiple pieces of luggage. In order to make travel a bit easier (and make sure we fit into taxi cabs!) we were thinking of trying the Princess Luggage Valet service. The service is offered in partnership with Luggage Forward. According to the information I have read, for a fee, the service will pick up our suitcases from our home in Pennsylvania and then they will be in our stateroom once we board the ship. Has anyone ever used this service (especially from the USA to an overseas port)? If so, were you pleased with it? Would you recommend the service? Did your suitcases actually arrive?! Were your suitcases damaged? Thanks for any information!

[fishywood]

I'm sure you will get mostly positive reviews of the service for those who splurged for it. And it certainly is a splurge: you will have to wait until Monday to call for an estimate, but shipping from the US to a European embarkation port can cost as much as $9/pound. And my understanding is that you can only ship clothing and shoes, no toiletries or cosmetics even of TSA-allowable sizes. And of course no electronics of value.

[alolewis]

My husband and I will be sailing on the Crown Princess in October 2018. We will be flying from Washington, DC, USA to Barcelona, Spain where we will spend a couple of days in Barcelona prior to boarding the ship. It is a twenty-five day Western Mediterranean Trans-Atlantic cruise and as such we will each have multiple pieces of luggage. In order to make travel a bit easier (and make sure we fit into taxi cabs!) we were thinking of trying the Princess Luggage Valet service. The service is offered in partnership with Luggage Forward. According to the information I have read, for a fee, the service will pick up our suitcases from our home in Pennsylvania and then they will be in our stateroom once we board the ship. Has anyone ever used this service (especially from the USA to an overseas port)? If so, were you pleased with it? Would you recommend the service? Did your suitcases actually arrive?! Were your suitcases damaged? Thanks for any information!

have used the service a few times both through the cruise line and booking direct with luggage forwarders. no problems. luggage in stateroom when we boarded. highly recommend. yes the cost is high but with airlines charging up to $100 for excess luggage makes it seem more reasonable. we did so we didn't have to handle more than one piece of luggage each before/after cruise as we did lots of touring. underground in london has lots of stairs.

 

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[caribill]

Also I think they have to pick it up from you at least a week before embarkation day.

 

 

Princess Luggage Valet Service

 

Reservations must be secured at least 35 days prior to your sailing date. For more program information and rates, contact us at 800.399.7350 from the U.S. or Canada or by email at luggagevalet@princesscruises.com.

 

Princess Luggage Valet is provided by DHL Worldwide Express and Federal Express. DHL World-wide Express and Federal Express are independent companies and are not owned or operated by Princess. Princess reserves the right to modify or withdraw this service at any time.

[HaveDogWillTravel]

Be aware that your actual bag is not covered. I purchased a brand new suitcase (TravelPro and not cheap) for a cruise this June. I used Cunard’s White Star service which cost over $100 more than Luggage forward. White star uses the same carriers as Luggage forward.

My suitcase arrived home completely destroyed, taped with packing tape shut and our belongings thrown in.

 

A very long story short, neither FedEx nor White Star are responsible for this damage. So read the fine print. If your suitcase is not covered for damage I’d walk away.

 

We’ve also personally mailed things to our destination and have better protection. If you put your case in a box then the case and it's belongings become contents. Those are covered by FedEx insurance.