Leaving luggage onboard for return journey

We will be taking a transatlantic crossing to New York then a road trip and a return crossing back to Southampton 3 weeks later. We don’t need to take our formal wear on our road trip so we were wondering if there is any way to leave a suitcase in CUNARD’s care, or even onboard. I have looked at their White Star service, but that seems to be more of a luggage delivery service, unless I am misunderstanding. Any ideas please?

This is from the Cunard.website, and we are thinking of doing this next year!

Yes it possible to arrange for your luggage to be stored in New York. This is available for for guests disembarking the ship in New York who plan to return to New York to embark the ship again within a few days.

Please speak to the Pursers Office once you are on board who will be able to check availability for you.

If there is availability you will need to place your luggage outside your stateroom the night before disembarkation between 6.00pm and Midnight and attach your standard luggage labels.

You will then need to collect your luggage from the baggage hall which is in the cruise terminal ashore, attach your second set of luggage labels to your luggage and drop your luggage off at the dedicated luggage Concierge Stand after going through Customs and Immigration.

The cost to leave your luggage in New York is $85.00* per bag for up to 30 days and a further $30* per 30 days thereafter. This includes transport from/to the correct terminal, secure storage and insurance cover.

We did something similar a couple of years ago...NYC > Southampton, staying for a week+, and return to NYC on QM2. Our room steward agreed to keep our formal wear in his cabin for this period and returned it to us when we boarded again. Of course we left him a generous tip for providing this service for us.

We have used the Cunard/White Star luggage storage in Southampton for storing our formal clothes suitcase(s) between crossings. Very convenient. Leave your bags outside your cabin just like you normally would do at debarkation but with the special tags from the purser. Your bags will be returned to your cabin for the return crossing. There are some cheaper ways to do it, but I've not found another that is as convenient.

We have used the Cunard/White Star luggage storage in Southampton for storing our formal clothes suitcase(s) between crossings. Very convenient. Leave your bags outside your cabin just like you normally would do at debarkation but with the special tags from the purser. Your bags will be returned to your cabin for the return crossing. There are some cheaper ways to do it, but I've not found another that is as convenient.

I agree. We stored bags between crossings this summer in Southampton and our experience was the same as yours. Expensive, but worth it for us.

At Southampton, we didn't need to do anything with the bags on the pier. I have seen the drop-off kiosk in the Brooklyn terminal. IIRC, it's about halfway down the long hallway from the baggage area to the customs/immigration lines and exit.

We have a similar situation as we are on QV Caribbean 18th November 2017 - 24 nights but our son is also travelling with us. We are having 2 large cases couriered to the ship, to make the journey down comfortable for 3 adults. Then my husband and I are on QV again 7th January 2018 for 75 nights.

I contacted Cunard to ask if we could leave 2 cases onboard until we return in January, they could not give a definitive answer it will depend on capacity onboard.

As an alternative I have checked self storage in Southampton to leave some luggage and collect on our way down to the ship. They vary in cost between £30 - £48 for 26 days. I requested a quote from the baggage company but this was £140 on top of the initial courier charges.

I looked into self-storage in Southampton and found it cheaper than Cunard's service, but admittedly, the Cunard option is convenient. We chose to do self-storage in London as we were staying in London and then returning to London before we re-boarded the QM2. It was way cheaper than Cunard, but we stored for 2 months.

You could probably find self storage in Brooklyn by googling, but the Cunard convenience factor is significant. One's time is valuable.

If time is no concern whatsoever, you could rent a storage locker. One company, Public Storage, offers some storage lockers for $1 for the first month, even if you only rent it for one month.