Post Cards -- when are they mailed?

[sailaway5]

Our friends recently received some postcards from us which we mailed from the Prinsendam in July, 2007 on our Baltic Cruise. They were made out in Helsinki, Finland & Tallin, Estonia. Of course, we paid the pursers office for the appropriate postage to be mailed from those areas. The purser then took the postcards for mailing.

 

Of course they never showed up until a couple months ago and were postmarked in Florida. This is a year and a half later.

 

Has anyone else had this happen? Is this a common occurrance?

[sail7seas]

The ship sends all mail off the ship in every port. Port agent for each and every port takes the mail when they leave the ship and it is posted. Delivery is notoriously slow from many foreign locations. What you describe is particularly awful but slow delivery is not rare.

 

 

[nitnyleo]

To be postmarked in Florida leads me to believe that the pursers office had an inspection; did a quick clean-up; and stashed your sack in a cupboard; and, forgot about it.

 

Also, when mailing from foreign ports, it is best to spend extra for airmail if you want to ensure that the cards arrive before you do. (It may be hard to believe, but many countries have slower mail service than the US).

[orangearmy]

My relatives are still waiting for the ones from the ship in February 2008:(

[sailaway5]

To be postmarked in Florida leads me to believe that the pursers office had an inspection; did a quick clean-up; and put your sack in a cupboard.

 

Also, when mailing from foreign ports, it is best to spend extra for airmail if you want to ensure that the cards arrive before you do. (It may be hard to believe, but many countries have slower mail service than the US).

 

Actually, we paid the purser for the foreign postage required (which was a lot more than the U.S.). Should of I have asked for a receipt for posting the cards? They did not allow me to put the postage on a shipboard account. I had to pay cash for the postage (about 10 different postcards). It was quite puzzling when those particular cards never showed up until recently.

 

Thank you all for your input.

[off2ctheworld]

The postcards we sent from Half moon cay in December 2008 showed up in the U. S. about 2 weeks ago.

 

At least what we wrote is still true-wish we could stay here forever!

[nitnyleo]

I had to pay cash for the postage (about 10 different postcards). It was quite puzzling when those particular cards never showed up until recently.

Thank you all for your input.

 

It is puzzling as to why they don't put postage on account; always a cash only transaction. (And, this has been on every line that I've ever sailed.)

 

I wish I had an answer . . . perhaps, DBA can explain.

[Sandy64]

On the Rotterdam in Ushia on 1st January 2008 we handed over cash for 4 postcards - 3 going to England and 1 to Germany. We were shown very nice Argentine stamps (the grandchildren will like these I thought), and I specifically asked the front office staff if those stamps would be put on the cards, and was assured they would be, and that the cards would be posted in Ushia (would have been a nice postmark). The cards arrived several months later - no postage stamps but rubberstamped "DHL Mexico".

 

Lesson learned - will never again post cards on a ship.

[Sandy64]

Sorry about the spelling in my earlier message. We were of course in Ushuaia - end of the world, beginning of everything.

[jhannah]

We've not had any problem turning postcards in at the front desk. Yes, it sometimes takes weeks and weeks for them to show up. But it's the same when we drop them in a mail box on land in some countries. The OP's cards were obviously put where they shouldn't have been and only recently discovered.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I know that when we mailed postcards from foreign countries it did take a couple of months for some of them to get to their final destinations.

But never nearly a year and a half.

Someone obviously messed up -- especially since they ended up with Florida post marks.

Unfortunately they will not give you a receipt for the stamps you by on board the ship.

They ask for the cash as that money is kept separate from the ship's cash and must be turned into the country where the ship has bought those stamps. They don;t write out a check for them as far as I know.

[timothy998]

The postcards we sent from Half moon cay in December 2008 showed up in the U. S. about 2 weeks ago.

 

At least what we wrote is still true-wish we could stay here forever!

 

 

....when we sent our postcards from HMC on March 28th, the box felt pretty full...too full to have been emptied anytime recently and particularly more full than it should've been had anyone recently "mailed" them out. That said, the agent said the mail would go out on "Monday," although she never promised "which" Monday that would be.

[willowoodf]

An employee who remain nameless on a HAL ship which shall remain nameless told me that they only mailed the mail when someone remembered. The box would get very full sometimes...

 

Mary

[Essiesmom]

In Sept 2000 I was on Millennium in the Baltic and wrote postcards every day, from each port. They were supposed to be mailed from each port, but all arrived postmarked from the last port. EM

[GeriatricNurse]

It is puzzling as to why they don't put postage on account; always a cash only transaction. (And, this has been on every line that I've ever sailed.)

 

I wish I had an answer . . . perhaps, DBA can explain.

 

 

 

Also, when obtaining rolls of quarters at the Front Desk to use in the Launderettes onboard, it is a cash transaction only!

[brownie1005]

It is puzzling as to why they don't put postage on account; always a cash only transaction. (And, this has been on every line that I've ever sailed.)

 

I wish I had an answer . . . perhaps, DBA can explain.

 

 

When I was in Germany & the UK last month, the hotels made me pay cash only for postage, also. But this thread makes me wonder why, and if it's only ships.

[NHBob]

I've had similar experiences with cards mailed from ships, and it doesn't seem to matter which cruise line. Although third world mail service can be pretty bad, that doesn't explain why it should take cards 3 months get from Stockholm to the USA. My guess is that the local agent simply let them pile up for a while before mailing them.

 

My standard practice now is to take along a supply of US stamps, write the cards as I go along, and then drop them in a mail box at the first US port (which includes San Juan and US Virgin Islands). They will almost always reach their destinations much sooner than those mailed from ship.

 

The other thing I do, if I have some cards I don't want to hold that long, is to find a local post office in port and airmail cards from there. This doesn't always work, however. On my last cruise I dropped some cards in a local mailbox in St. Lucia, with correct air mail postage, and they were postmarked 10 days after mailing.

 

I too have wondered why mailing things from the ship is a cash transaction on lines like HAL and Cunard, but can be charged to shipboard accounts on others like Crystal.

 

Bob

[nitnyleo]

Also, when obtaining rolls of quarters at the Front Desk to use in the Launderettes onboard, it is a cash transaction only!

 

But, funny how you can go down to the casino on some ships and get "chips" added to your account.

[RuthC]

It is puzzling as to why they don't put postage on account; always a cash only transaction. (And, this has been on every line that I've ever sailed.)

Could the reason have to do with cash-flow? Could the ship have to hand over exact cash to the port agent who is going to purchase the postage? :confused:

Just speculating here.

[Toots]

I've learned my lesson on mailing from the ship. If it's anything important, like paying a bill, don't do it. We left San Diego on a 10-day Mexican Riviera cruise. I had forgotten to mail some bills and asked the desk if they would still go out before we left port. They said, no problem. When we came back, I found out my mail didn't go out of San Diego until our return date.

 

Also, when we were in Ushuaia in December, I mailed four postcards from the local post office, airmail, which was pricey. The postcards arrived anywhere from a month to three months later. At least their excuse is that they are "at the end of the world"!

[timothy998]

We mailed postcards from HMC on Saturday March 27th. My mother received hers last Thursday, April 23rd. They must've been put onto the rowboat!