Luggage Questions @ Southampton

[Joe33472]

I tried searching for prior post, but couldn't find anything on a couple of questions I have regarding luggage for QM2 out of Southampton.   I wonder if there is any size restrictions for carryon luggage by Cunard and/or the port of Southampton.  I've read that in Ft. Lauderdale, nothing can be wider than 24" to fit through the scanners, but I can't find anything about Southampton or Cunard having any restrictions.  I'm also wondering if there is a limit to the number of bags.  There are two of us traveling, so I'm anticipating 2 medium sized luggage 24" and a duffle bag, and probably two large backpacks (not those huge things, but good sized).  

 

The other question I'm having is about the luggage service partnered with Cunard.   One post I read says that the earliest you can have the bag picked up is 12 days prior to the trip, but I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with longer advanced notice and how that worked out.    We're leaving late April 2024 and don't need the luggage we'd be sending until late June 2024.   I'm wondering if it would be better to pay extra for the storage or potentially leave the luggage we want to ship with a friend or family member or pickup in mid June.   My gut is saying sending too early is just too many chances for things to go wrong.  We'd be only shipping formal clothes. 

Edited June 9, 2023 by Joe33472

[exlondoner]

4 minutes ago, Joe33472 said:

I tried searching for prior post, but couldn't find anything on a couple of questions I have regarding luggage for QM2 out of Southampton.   I wonder if there is any size restrictions for carryon luggage by Cunard and/or the port of Southampton.  I've read that in Ft. Lauderdale, nothing can be wider than 24" to fit through the scanners, but I can't find anything about Southampton or Cunard having any restrictions.  I'm also wondering if there is a limit to the number of bags.  There are two of us traveling, so I'm anticipating 2 medium sized luggage 24" and a duffle bag, and probably two large backpacks (not those huge things, but good sized).  

 

The other question I'm having is about the luggage service partnered with Cunard.   One post I read says that the earliest you can have the bag picked up is 12 days prior to the trip, but I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with longer advanced notice and how that worked out.    We're leaving late April 2024 and don't need the luggage we'd be sending until late June 2024.   I'm wondering if it would be better to pay extra for the storage or potentially leave the luggage we want to ship with a friend or family member or pickup in mid June.   My gut is saying sending too early is just too many chances for things to go wrong.  We'd be only shipping formal clothes. 

It says on the labels that the max weight is 23kg, but they don’t check whether it is over the limit. It doesn’t mention dimensions that I can see. No limit to numbers, though they did get fed up with the number of cases the Duke and Duchess of Windsor took.

[Summergee]

For 2 weeks we have 7 pieces of assorted luggage, plus carry on. 2 large cases, 1 medium 4 suit carriers for dresses, suits etc.

[exlondoner]

For two weeks? I don’t think we have enough summer clothes in total to fill that much luggage.

[Victoria2]

1 hour ago, exlondoner said:

For two weeks? I don’t think we have enough summer clothes in total to fill that much luggage.

I have enough clothes to fill them but don't have enough hired help with me all the time to do the lifting and shifting!

 

[D&N]

3 hours ago, Joe33472 said:

and probably two large backpacks (not those huge things, but good sized).

If you are taking these on flight(s) as carry on there shouldn't be a problem going through the carry on scanners at Southampton.

We have very light weight backpacks that can go to max size for traditional airline carry on: 56x45x25cm, which I calculate to be 22.05x17.72x9.84 inches. Some budget airlines have introduced smaller sizes in recent years.

We pack them with enough to last us the first week including some formal wear, just in case our checked bags go missing on the flight to London. It guarantees we can dress as we please on first night too.

I don't know what happens if you have an item that is too big for the scanner. If you think yours might be too big to go through a scanner and you want to carry them aboard, you could pack an empty plastic bin bag in each and decant some of the luggage to fit the scanner.

However I imagine those behind you might not be impressed. 😀

[techteach]

@Summergee We took 4 large suitcases and little little little carryons. Our issue was getting everything into the car we had booked. We’ve learned our lesson and we’re using luggage forward this time.

[esrs]

19 hours ago, Joe33472 said:

 

The other question I'm having is about the luggage service partnered with Cunard.   One post I read says that the earliest you can have the bag picked up is 12 days prior to the trip, but I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with longer advanced notice and how that worked out.    We're leaving late April 2024 and don't need the luggage we'd be sending until late June 2024.   I'm wondering if it would be better to pay extra for the storage or potentially leave the luggage we want to ship with a friend or family member or pickup in mid June.   My gut is saying sending too early is just too many chances for things to go wrong.  We'd be only shipping formal clothes. 

We were supposed to be on QM2 on 30 April,  which was,  of course,  canceled,  leaving us to find a flight so as not to lose our entire trip.  We needed to ship our luggage for the QV departing 25 May. Luggage Forward indeed would NOT take the bags until 12 May and our flight was on 2 May, and they would not budge.  So we had it picked up from a friend's house and all was well.

[Joe33472]

 

9 hours ago, esrs said:

We were supposed to be on QM2 on 30 April,  which was,  of course,  canceled,  leaving us to find a flight so as not to lose our entire trip.  We needed to ship our luggage for the QV departing 25 May. Luggage Forward indeed would NOT take the bags until 12 May and our flight was on 2 May, and they would not budge.  So we had it picked up from a friend's house and all was well.

 

Thanks for the info!  I figured that Luggage Forward wouldn't likely take our bag so far in advance, or if I trusted the luggage to be eventually delivered if I deposited it with them so early.  I'll have to figure out who we can leave our bag with while we're traveling.   Thanks again! 

 

On 6/9/2023 at 10:45 AM, exlondoner said:

It says on the labels that the max weight is 23kg, but they don’t check whether it is over the limit. It doesn’t mention dimensions that I can see. No limit to numbers, though they did get fed up with the number of cases the Duke and Duchess of Windsor took.

 

Thanks for the heads up about the weight limit, but it's good to know that they don't check.