Postage for sending postcards etc from ship?

[wsdiii]

Stupid Newbie Question: We leave tomorrow for our first cruise (Cost Rica, Ecuador & Peru) . How do we get postage to send postcards etc? Are stamps readily available on the ship or in port?

[Seas the Day]

When I was in the South Pacific, I gave my filled out, unstamped postcards to the front desk and asked them to mail them. I was gone for three weeks - and most of the postcards were sent to my children. They received, perhaps, one postcard prior to my return home - and about ten postcards the week I got home. So, commentary aside, the answer to your question(s) is:

* front desk will mail your postcards for you
* they will charge your onboard account (probably a nominal amount, maybe just postage? I don't remember the actual amount, so it must not have been that much.)
* postcards won't be mailed until they get to the next "major" port
* you may beat the postcards home

On another trip, I had them ship a very large souvenir home for me. I was asked to fill out a blank credit card slip for the cost. They were in New Orleans. The charges were OUTRAGEOUS - more than $150 - and the piece was improperly packed (though it was received intact.) However, I didn't have to give up a half day of vacation and pay taxi fares to find a mail & ship on my own, and I love the souvenir, I just wished I'd known how expensive it would be ahead of time. The concierge had absolutely no idea as the item I was sending was large, wooden, and odd.

[luxlady]

You must come clean. what was "large, wooden, and odd".??? that cost $150 to ship??? Where were you shipping it .......antarctica? Inquiring minds........

[Seas the Day]

From San Andre island in Colombia... a wooden fish made out of very old driftwood. Painted and weathered in the sun. It was in the front yard of a woman's house -- not a shop. I stopped, asked the price, and paid her the $40 she asked, quickly... thinking I hope I'm not cheating her and she knows the conversion rate. She was shocked. I didn't bargain (it was a great "deal" for $40 even if I did have to figure out how to get it home.) She said, in faltering English, "Many people stop, but very few people buy (because they realize how impossible it would be to get home!) This is very good. I am very happy. It is my birthday." She pointed across the street to a figure in the ocean. "That is my husband" she told us, "he is getting octopus for a special dinner tonight. It is a very good day." I wished her happy birthday, and left with my 6+ foot husband and 5-foot long driftwood fish. I named the fish "Andre" after the island. I wish the woman had gotten the $150 - and Silversea the $40 - but at any price, it was one of those "souvenirs" you never regret purchasing. (It was shipped to my home in the US)

[luxlady]

So seas, where did you put the 5' painted driftwood fish? In the garden? Greeting guests in your entry? By the pool? Inquiring minds......

And, I'm so glad you are happy with it. Sounds like you knew instantly you had to have it, and I'm glad it has stood the test of time (sounds like it had withstood lots of tests of time!) in your memory book.

glenda

[Seas the Day]

In a dead tree that I can see from my windows, about 20 feet from the river which borders my backyard. He lives in the crotch of the tree (I believe that's the correct term.) It's a very small dead tree, and works well as a fish holder. I've had 8 trees taken down from my property in the past six months, but that particular tree stayed put just for Andre.