Shipping luggage to ship? Who to use?

Check out luggage concierge. We have shipped luggage and and it did not take three weeks from HKG. We had our luggage in one weeks with a tracking number.

For our two Regent world cruises the shipping of 200 lbs on Luggage Free was included (notice I did not say free) in the price of cruises. On both FedEx was shipper. We had no problems with LF either time but when Fed Ex delivered our luggage back to house after cruises it appeared they drug the bags through dirt. Filthy!! LF was suppose to have bags wrapped second time but that did not happen.

Luggage Free does not guarantee that the bags will remain wrapped.

Please note that often the wrapping has to be removed because of security checks/custom checks.

Keith

Be sure to use TSA locks and if your luggage is inspected you will know it as they leave a note in your luggage. Also, the new TSA locks will show that the lock was opened with a red indicator.

It is because of Poss' example mentioned above that when we ship luggage from a ship to our home we prefer to use the luggage shipping company that is affiliated with the cruise line. This way if we have an issue I look to the cruise line to get it corrected for us. I also feel this increases the odds that others will be using the same service as we do which to me increases the odds that they will show. I have heard of other cases where the company didn't show up on time or did show up but a couple of hours later. If you have a flight to catch the latter might not work.

As to sending luggage most companies use the same carriers. The odds say that at some point if you have not had a problem you will whether that is a delay in luggage arriving home, the attempted delivery of luggage to your home when you asked for it to be held, damaged luggage, etc. It happens. Thankfully not very often. Of course if you have the luggage with you there is always the chance your luggage will be lost or delayed. Things happen.

One thing I learned from experience is whatever company you consider ask how they deal with situations after hours. If you have an issue you don't want to just get an answering service.

Again when we ship luggage to a ship we are not concerned with which company we select. When we ship luggage from the ship to our home we are and prefer to use the one affiliated with the line even if the cost is higher.

Keith

It is because of Poss' example mentioned above that when we ship luggage from a ship to our home we prefer to use the luggage shipping company that is affiliated with the cruise line. This way if we have an issue I look to the cruise line to get it corrected for us. I also feel this increases the odds that others will be using the same service as we do which to me increases the odds that they will show. I have heard of other cases where the company didn't show up on time or did show up but a couple of hours later. If you have a flight to catch the latter might not work.

 

As to sending luggage most companies use the same carriers. The odds say that at some point if you have not had a problem you will whether that is a delay in luggage arriving home, the attempted delivery of luggage to your home when you asked for it to be held, damaged luggage, etc. It happens. Thankfully not very often. Of course if you have the luggage with you there is always the chance your luggage will be lost or delayed. Things happen.

 

One thing I learned from experience is whatever company you consider ask how they deal with situations after hours. If you have an issue you don't want to just get an answering service.

 

Again when we ship luggage to a ship we are not concerned with which company we select. When we ship luggage from the ship to our home we are and prefer to use the one affiliated with the line even if the cost is higher.

 

 

 

 

Great advice, Keith. We always use the preferred luggage shipping company of the particular cruise line. Sometimes it is difficult to determine who that is without a telephone call to customer service(as it is not obvious on the cruise line website). This way, the charges are made to your respective cruise line invoice and you have their assistance if some goes awry.

Thank you all for your input

As always very much appreciated

After a bit more research have decided we will just have to limit our packing to meet the weight limit of 44 lbs on the flight from Peking to Shanghai before embarking on the Mariner.

This will definitely be a challenge but if we are a little over, the cost is must less than shipping additional luggage . Certainly less complicated than dealing with potential customs issues.

Will just do laundry on the ship and we will be gold on this trip which will cover the cost of sending out some laundry.

We are also on the Beijing pre-cruise trip. Although I think we can stay within the weight limit, I am not too concerned about going a little over. We were on a post-cruise trip with Regent once (in India) and packed very carefully to remain within the weight limit, only to realize at the airport that Regent just combined everyone’s luggage and checked it in separately. Nothing was ever weighed. The same also applied to carry-on luggage; the tour company just handed out everyone’s boarding pass and we did not have to go to the check-in desk individually. Of course, that is no guarantee that it will work that way in China. However, I suspect that the tour company will try to handle everything expeditiously rather than having potentially a couple of hundred people check in individually.

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We are also on the Beijing pre-cruise trip. Although I think we can stay within the weight limit, I am not too concerned about going a little over. We were on a post-cruise trip with Regent once (in India) and packed very carefully to remain within the weight limit, only to realize at the airport that Regent just combined everyone’s luggage and checked it in separately. Nothing was ever weighed. The same also applied to carry-on luggage; the tour company just handed out everyone’s boarding pass and we did not have to go to the check-in desk individually. Of course, that is no guarantee that it will work that way in China. However, I suspect that the tour company will try to handle everything expeditiously rather than having potentially a couple of hundred people check in individually.

 

 

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Thanks so much. Look forward to meeting you.

Sharon

Luggage Free asks that you do NOT use any locks on your luggage if shipping international. TSA locks are fine for domestic travel.

We have shipped many times internationaly with no locks and have been fine using Luggage Free, not so with another well known company. Be careful who you ship with! The most expensive is not always the safest.

I use plastic ties when shipping internationally . . . .

Peggy

Yes, we have been asked not to lock the luggage by some of the luggage carriers.

For domestic we do.

Ties are also a good option.

We just check with the shippers in each case.

Keith

We have used TSA locks and give them the combo if needed by customs. In some areas of the world they cannot use a special key to open your bags it is best to use a combination lock and put it on your paperwork.

My experience is if you put a lock on the luggage and they want to get in they will just cut it off. They just don't really care. I can understand that.

We just do what they ask us to do.

On some cruises where we are shipping luggage home where they don't want the locks on we place the lock on the luggage when placing it outside the room and then when we retrieve the luggage before handing it over to the shipper we remove the lock.

Bottom line is we do what they want.

Our other experience is that procedures often vary depending on where you are shipping luggage to and where you are sending it back so always just wise to ask lots of questions. We always pad our dates when sending luggage to the ship. In other words if they say allow two weeks we allow three. We ask what storage facilities are used. And on the return all of this can vary by port and based on the arrangements. For example, in many ports when you get off the ship you claim your luggage and hand it off to the company either inside or outside the terminal but there are some where it is even easier and you don't see your luggage until you arrive home. We confirm all of that on the ship.

For those of you who were thinking of using the service but have decided not to I am glad to hear that you have a good approach which is either to keep to the weight or to pay the additional cost if needed.

We often do ship our luggage. Many years ago I have to say I was stunned about the price to ship it but now we look at it as just part of the price of travel and it has made it much easier for us to travel. We vary when we use the service. In our case if we are taking one or two large bags we take them with us because we can manage them and a carry on. However, anything more than that we do ship the excess ones and either take one or two with us.

Again we do vary who we use and in my case when I send from the ship to home I will only use the company that the ship has an affiliation to because once again I look to the ship to coordinate all of the details and if the company does not show up I look to the ship to take care of the situation. Sending to the ship I will vary it. I do allow a lot of pad as I mentioned sending the luggage to the ship.

Also even if you have used someone in the past keep up with them on any changes. For example one of the three companies recently changed their pricing. I am not knocking that just that it's good to check to see if there are any changes before you finalize your plans.

Same goes about countries. From time to time a country will be added or removed from a carriers list. For example I know that once in awhile one of the companies we use will drop a country if they have encountered major problems with them. Some carriers might ship just one directional to a country. For example, from the USA to x country but not in reverse or from x country to the USA but not in reverse. And arrangements change as to who is the in country rep. So again we check each time even sending to or from a country that we have sailed to or from.

We do keep a complete listing of what goes into each piece as we do if just taking them on the flight. It really helps should your goods be lost or just in general. Also take photos of your luggage so that if there is some type of damage you can prove that the damage occurred.

Also place your name, address,-mail address and telephone number both inside and outside your luggage. A couple of years ago when Canadian Customs looked at the paperwork from the shipper that was placed inside a plastic tag on the outside of our luggage they didn't put it back on it. The local delivery service knew the luggage was for them as it had the shippers tag but that is all they knew. They e-mailed me asking about it and I not only was able to get them the answer but I got the shipping company engaged. That saved time and probably prevented a disaster. Also we shipped the pieces earlier than recommended and I think if we went with the recommended date it might not have reached the ship in time.

Whatever you do there is nothing like that feeling when you get to your room and the luggage is there. By the way the same is true when you drop it off at the pier because there is always the worry that something goes wrong.

Finally, one benefit to sending luggage home. Sometimes you are so stressed out and jet lagged from that flight home that you might not want to deal with unpacking the luggage and getting clothes cleaned, etc the moment you get home so sometimes we appreciate it when the luggage arrives home days or even a week after we get home.

Keith

One very important thing is to get your tracking number as you can monitor where your luggage is. We had one ocassion where one of our bags was held up in customs for a random spot check.

We love not having to drag our luggage through airports and facing the laundry room on our return.

Forget the locks. If they want to get in, they will. A quick search on YouTube will show you how they do it with a cheap pen. This includes unscrupulous TSA agents.

That said you should never check anything you couldn’t bear to lose.

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Just a quick post to say that Regent's preferred luggage shipper is now Luggage Forward. When we did the 2017 World Cruise, Regent used Luggage Free.