Help! Letters home

[cowtec]

We leave tomorrow on the Dawn Canal transit. We have promised family and students a "virtual trip" with us through postcards and letters from the different ports. Do we need to buy postage in the various ports to mail or do we just mail through the ship and buy stamps onboard? Thanks for all your help!!

Sue

Dawn Princess - Panama Canal
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[srphnx]

Either but be warned... nothing will get to friends before you do. Amazing as it sounds our postal service is amongst the best and fastest in the world. I got a post card from a friend on a Mexican cruie that got home 2 weeks after she did.

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[Desertbelle]

Just remember that you will be a long time home before any of these postcards and letters get there!! On our cruise to the Caribbean a couple years back it took a few weeks for some of those postcards to arrive.

Better to send them emails each day, or if you want real postcards, etc, you should take an envelope for each person along and add something from each stop to the envelope and hand it to them when you return. http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

Margie

Celebrating Our Parents 60th Anniversary - Legend of the Seas to Mexico 9/5/04!!
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Carnival Elation 1999
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[todd-r]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by cowtec: Do we need to buy postage in the various ports to mail or do we just mail through the ship and buy stamps onboard? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Most 'touristy' places that sell post card will also sell stamps. And, as mentioned above, you can also mail from the ship -> but, and this is a big but -> when you're mailing on the ship you need to put on a stamp based on the country of the *next* port stop. Letters/Post Cards mailed on board are all taken off at each port stop and mailed locally. Usually the post box (located near the pursers desk) will have a sign (that is changed daily, if necessary) that tells you what countries stamp you need.

Good luck - and bon voyage http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

Up next - Pacific NorthWest Coastal!

http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=0000ff&cdt=2004;05;12;17;0;00&timezone=GMT-0800

Navigator of the Seas - 01/05
Dawn Princess - 10/04
Grand Princess - 11/04 (Cancelled)
Grand Princess - 10/04 (Cancelled)
Island Princess - 05/04
Grand Princess - 10/03
Norway - 10/03 (Cancelled)
Wind Surf - Transatlantic 4/02

[jhannah]

We found that even fairly early in the morning, stamps for that port were no longer being sold. I guess they bag up the mail the night before and have it down in the hold for offloading.

'Vegas Jim

[cowtec]

Thanks everybody! I should have thought about the time issue. Had the same problem last summer from East Coast to West - we were home before the letters. Desertbelle, that was a great idea about the envelopes! I think I will do that and keep everybody up to date with email whenever I can.

Sue

Dawn Princess - Panama Canal
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[KreinKrunker]

cowtec

Do a real virtual cruise. With the web cam on the Dawn, and web cams at both the Gatun Locks and Miraflores Locks.

Dawn Princess http://kroooz-cams.com/dawn/dawn.htm

Gatun Locks http://kroooz-cams.com/ports/gatun.htm

Miraflores Locks http://kroooz-cams.com/ports/panama.htm

Thanks to Jeff at kroooz-cams.com

If you put up both the Dawn and the Lock cams at the same time, they can see you coming and going.

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Until sailaway to Hawaii on the Island Princess

[todd-r]

One other thing... even though you'll be home before the post card arrives, it's always nice to have a gentle reminder show up in the mail box a few weeks after you've been back!

Up next - Pacific NorthWest Coastal!

http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=0000ff&cdt=2004;05;12;17;0;00&timezone=GMT-0800

Navigator of the Seas - 01/05
Dawn Princess - 10/04
Grand Princess - 11/04 (Cancelled)
Grand Princess - 10/04 (Cancelled)
Island Princess - 05/04
Grand Princess - 10/03
Norway - 10/03 (Cancelled)
Wind Surf - Transatlantic 4/02

[This message was edited by todd-r on 04-17-04 at 03:37 PM.]

[Coral]

It took two months to get my post cards from Mexico to the US. I can't remember which port I mailed them in but I couldn't believe how long it took.