Delivering goods/gifts to friends in mid-cruise Caribbean island port

[Dogstar]

Hi CC HAL Friends,

 

Mrs. Dogstar & I will be visiting Dominica next month (Koningsdam; Southern Caribbean; Dec 10-21, 2018), the island birthplace of my best friend here in Canada. We’ll be bringing extra suitcase(s) of household goods, Christmas gifts, etc. for our personal delivery to his family, relatives, etc.

 

[ Dominica suffered a direct Category 5 hit by Hurricane Maria last year.  His sister still does not have a permanent roof reinstalled on her house. ]

 

Anybody have experience taking aboard a cruise ship some extra luggage with gifts destined to be taken/left ashore with resident friends at a port mid-cruise?  Storage during cruise? Retrieval from storage prior to the port? Customs declaration(s) upon cruise ship embarkation &/or when we go ashore at the port with the suitcase(s)?

 

We will ensure that the contents are itemized, with receipts for value declaration, & unwrapped (ie. not in Christmas paper).   Prepared to pay duties, etc.

 

Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts, wisdom & experience. 

 

Cheers. Dogstar.

 

PS. If there’s another suitable sub-forum please advise. The Dominica forum is quiet.  I know many of you here on HAL are very well travelled, hence my thought to post here first. 

 

 

[OzCanuck]

We did this on a cruise to Papua New Guinea last year. My son fund raised and bought a few hundred dollars of school supplies and we visited a school and donated the stuff. 

 

Regulations vary, but we had to fill out cargo import forms and have it checked by PNG customs. Suggest you just bring the stuff on board and then talk to customer service onboard about to take it off. Shouldn’t be a problem. 

 

As as an aside stupid security in Sydney wanted to confiscate the 30 pairs of safety scissors we had purchased. Really?  Finally calmer heads prevailed. 

[wander]

In my experience it depends on the country or what country has local jurisdiction.  Historically I have specifically taken school supplies off the ship to give to schools, but it always fit in my good sized backpack and It was NOT stuffed - rather did not really look like it had a lot of supplies in it.  I always just walked off the ship and gave the supplies to teachers in the schools we were to visit.  On some cruises a number of us did the same.  (In one west Africian country where a ship tour specifically visited two schools, we were most generous, only to learn that the school did not have any pencils, crayons, etc.  to use on the paper we brought.)  

 

However, after several cruises of success using the above message - when I went to one port (in like Vanuatu    or Palau) I had a small rolling suitcase of supplies being sent by several folks as a follow-up to a recent weather disaster there where whole schools were demolished and they were desperate for supplies.  Well, once on the ship i started checking on what paperwork or such I needed to complete to deliver the supplies.  Well, after much head scratching, contacts with local authorities, etc.  the answer was that I could not disembark with the suitcase or supplies.  The local folks reason was that there would NOT be any officials available to clear them.  Well, I spent hours on this and finally gave up, and just went to shore myself the next day (after trying one more time).  What did I see there but a group of students forming a small band, playing and asking for money for school supplies lost to the storm from the very village I had the goods for.  

 

I marched back to the ship with pictures of the kids and pleaded my case once again - NO LUCK with the locals.  Outcome - the ship did ask the Port Agent (NOT A government official) to take the suitcase off the ship with him and get the goods to the kids.  Well he agreed to do so - I gave him the case.  Heaven only knows what he did with the contents, I can only hope that he was getting them to the correct folks as a donation and not diverting where they went or selling them. I will never know, but I am sure someone used them, even if he profited from them.

 

 

[kazu]

We did this in Guatemala for a school.

We were concerned items would be seized (there can be some corrupt officials) so our group each carried some of the supplies in a HAL bag with a hat or towel on top.  HAL kindly lent us additional HAL bags (yes, I did say lend - they wanted them back 😉 )

We had no problem with Customs leaving Canada and entering the U.S. But that was probably because they were school supplies?

 

The items were all stored in my cabin.  I had room so didn't ask for storage but, I would think it could be arranged.  I'd just make sure you ask for it back at least a day before.

 

It might be worth a call or even better, an email to Ship Services to see what arrangements can be made.  (And bring the email with you).  

[Dogstar]

11 hours ago, OzCanuck said:

Regulations vary, but we had to fill out cargo import forms and have it checked by PNG customs. 

 

9 hours ago, wander said:

Well, once on the ship i started checking on what paperwork or such I needed to complete to deliver the supplies.  Well, after much head scratching, contacts with local authorities, etc.  the answer was that I could not disembark with the suitcase or supplies. 

 

8 hours ago, kazu said:

The items were all stored in my cabin.  I had room so didn't ask for storage but, I would think it could be arranged.  I'd just make sure you ask for it back at least a day before.

 

It might be worth a call or even better, an email to Ship Services to see what arrangements can be made.  (And bring the email with you).  

 

Thank you @OzCanuck, @wander & @kazu .  I never thought to contact HAL Ship Services ... duh!  I’ll shoot them an email right away for their arrangements assistance & report back their response here. 

 

Happy Friday everyone!