White Star Luggage Review

[Cruise NH]

I've noticed that there are frequently questions about the White Star baggage service so I thought I would write about our recent experience for anyone interested in the subject.

 

We went on the Queen Victoria 48 day cruise out of LA (part of this year's World Cruise). We live in the Northeast US, so the bags were shipped within the country, I don't have any experience with international shipping.

 

I started the process by emailing Cunard at whitestarluggage@cunard.com. I gave them my voyage number, world club status, the number of bags I wanted to ship and a wild guess on the estimated weight. I got a prompt reply and they gave me the cost for all weights and a number to call if I was interested in getting the service. I had to call so many days in advance of leaving, I don't remember for sure but I think it was a month before the trip.

 

I called and they couldn't have been more helpful. You're actually talking to Princess' offices in California but it's all the same company as we know. The guy I spoke with went over the process, telling me what to expect. I really didn't know how much my bags would weigh but you only have to get within a range, such as 31-50 pounds and it's the same price. He said if my bags weighed more than I estimated, I would be charged accordingly, but he indicated a pound or two over wasn't going to be a problem.

 

You aren't supposed to pack liquids, electronics, medicine or of course any valuables. You cannot lock your bags because they may need to get into them if anything unusual shows up on x-ray. I used zip ties on mine, not because I thought they would keep anyone out, I just wanted to know if anyone opened them. The cost of shipping includes $2000 insurance for the contents of your luggage but does NOT include the bags themselves.

A week or more before the pickup you get a package from FedEx. It includes the waybills to be attached to your bags. This is a big plastic envelope that's attached to your bag with zip ties (they provide). They also include a copy for inside your luggage in case the tag is ripped off. I think there was a third copy for me as well, but I might of made my own, can't remember now but if not you should make a copy so you have the tracking numbers.

 

The bags were scheduled for pickup on Monday between 12-3. The Friday before I got a call from White Star, FedEx had requested an extension to the pickup time, until 5PM, it seems we were expecting a snow storm. Oh yea we were. It lasted two solid days but right in the middle of it, at 4PM on Monday, FedEx picked up our bags. Great service we thought.

 

I followed the bags on the FedEx website and they were delivered to Carson, CA just a day or two later, they had gone by air. Now on the way back we arranged for White Star while on the ship. They quoted me the same price but I noticed on tracking that it was going by ground. We didn't care about the time of course, but thought we shouldn't be charged as much and we weren't! The charge to our credit card was about $40 less than going out.

 

The White Star coordinator on the QV wasn't quite sure what the process would be once we were off the ship. We received the same waybills for the bags and we also had to put our normal luggage tags as well. They are left outside your door the night before with your other luggage. The coordinator thought we would have to pick up all our bags in the luggage hall, take them through customs and then give our bags to the White Star person on the other side. Instead, there really wasn't any customs and all the White Star bags had been separated and were ready for shipping by the time we got out there. Very easy for us. I think this was because we had already gone through customs in Hawaii.

 

Would we use White Star again...absolutely. We were very happy with the service and when you look at the cost as a % of your total vacation, it really wasn't too bad. It certainly saved us a lot or work. I'm sure people want to know the cost, we are platinum world club members and get a discount, but the cost for us was $306 going east to west coast, less coming back.

 

Hope this helps anyone considering White Star.

Edited April 14, 2015 by Cruise NH

[Bigmike911]

I have used White Star for International as well, and will again for my crossing in September. Its a bit more expensive and there are customs forms to complete as well, but its more than worth the money and the time. The bags arrive at the ship and come directly to the room. When disembarking in NYC, the bags will have the tags attached. They are sent as part of the package. The bags are collected from the luggage area at the proper time, go through customs (be sure to get a Porter to assist) and the bags are dropped at the White Star point in the terminal in Brooklyn. They will next be seen when Fedex delivers them to your door a couple of days later. If your in Europe, DHL will be used to pickup and deliver.

[jimmybean]

Thank you for the excellent postings and for sharing your experiences, Cruise NH and Bigmike911.

[flag fan]

I also used the White Star luggage service for a transatlantic from Southampton to New York (I did not want to lug my luggage around during a pre-cruise trip to Paris). I was worried about setting sail without the luggage but it was delivered to the ship--no problem. They picked up the luggage in my apartment building a few days before I left and the next time I saw the bag it was on the ship. I also had it shipped from New York to Washington after the cruise and that was no problem, either. After going through customs I had to take it to an area where someone collected it (there were prominent signs).

 

I plan to use the service next year for a New York to Southampton Transatlantic. I am doing a post-cruise trip to Scotland and plan to have my largest suitcase shipped back home from Southampton so I don't have to cart it all over Great Britain.

[new2crooz]

Sadly, I have had a very different experience this weekend with White Star Luggage Service. There was no White Star Luggage cage, basket or representative (before, in or after Customs) when we returned to Southampton so had to leave bag with a baggage reclaim hall official. She soon turned her back on it, which was quickly apparent as I took a photo of where I left it as wasn't at all happy with the fact there was no collection point or any arrangements for such bags.

 

40 hours or so later, the DHL tracking is still showing nothing, and I am extremely worried now that my bag has been lost or stolen. This experience has totally ruined my memories of the cruise.

 

White Star and DHL don't have any operational phone lines at the weekend, and when I phoned Cunard customer services, they weren't able to contact anyone either. Cannot express just how disappointed I am with Cunard at the moment, especially as noone appears able or available to help me.

[MarkBearSF]

I caution people against using zip ties without doing research in advance.

 

We went on a vacation in 2008 where we met the QE2 in Civitivecchia after we had spent a week in Spain. We used a different service to ship our bags to our hotel in Rome, where we were spending 2 nights before boarding. We got a cryptic message that there was an issue with our luggage. While the luggage service was as helpful on the phone as they could be, there was very little information aside from that it had been held by Italian Customs and an address

...Which turned out to be behind a gate manned by non-english speaking guards with very big guns on a side road near the secondary Rome airport. (There was much additional stuff in my story with a Spanish SIM chip out of minutes, language issues, Italians being Italians, and a kind woman named Paola who offered me a broken chair in a bedraggled trailer next to the road...)

 

In any event, after much drama and confusion, I was given a ride back to the terminal on a DHL truck after I cut through the zip ties on my luggage. Evidently, Italian inspectors were forbidden from cutting through the zip ties and couldn't clear the bag.

 

Moral - watch out for zip ties.

 

Later, I checked our instructions and there was mention to leave the luggage unsecured, which I had interpreted as "not locked" - evidently my interpretation was not universal.

 

By the way, I think we used Cunard's service (different partners at the time) for shipping from NY to our home. And we've had wonderful experience with similar services on vacations since.

Edited November 9, 2015 by MarkBearSF