Postcards in foreign ports

[Loyal Buckeye]

We are getting ready to go on a Carnival Journey's cruise which will be 14 days long. Since we will be gone for an extended period of time I want to send my granddaughter some postcards. We will be in the Eastern Caribbean. Should I just put a US stamp on the postcard? If not, how do I know how much to put on it and where would I get the stamps? Does the ship have anywhere that collects mail so that I can mail them onboard? Thank you for any information on how to do something that at home is a simple process. I am just not sure how to handle it in a foreign port when I have no access to a car to go to the post office.

 

 

 

[hancock]

Except for San Juan, St. Thomas and 'St, Croix, US stamps won't work. Suggest ypu wait until you get back to mail any postcards.  Mail from the islands is notoriously slow.

[txflood33]

2 minutes ago, hancock said:

Except for San Juan, St. Thomas and 'St, Croix, US stamps won't work. Suggest ypu wait until you get back to mail any postcards.  Mail from the islands is notoriously slow.

 

agree with this....took 2 months to get a postcard to TX from St Lucia

[paul929207]

You must have correct postage for the country where you are mailing the cards. If you have postage from another country on the card, it will be discarded. 

 

You will probably have to find a post office. Buy stamp(s), possibly using local currency. Then mail the cards before reboarding the ship.

[txflood33]

If you're stopping at Grand Cayman, there is a post office right at 'hell' (a tourist attraction). You can get the correct postage and get it mailed there...but will still be slow

[Capt_BJ]

I've often found that places that have a big display of postcards, sell stamps if you ask (or may be able to direct you to a place that does) .... if you mail on the ship with US postage they hold til next US port IME

[OCruisers]

29 minutes ago, txflood33 said:

If you're stopping at Grand Cayman, there is a post office right at 'hell' (a tourist attraction). You can get the correct postage and get it mailed there...but will still be slow

 

Very true ... but it will have the "Hell" postmark.  

[Zach1213]

Definitely don't bother with US stamps. Try putting a St Lucia Post stamp on a letter and mail it from your post office in Ohio...won't work. Same goes the other way too.

[Loyal Buckeye]

Thank you to everyone for the information. I guess sending postcards will not be a good idea. I appreciate the input.

Edited December 20, 2018 by Loyal Buckeye
misspelling

[LHT28]

usually you can get stamps  where you buy the post card

but  as noted you will be home long before the cards arrive

[whogo]

1 hour ago, Loyal Buckeye said:

Thank you to everyone for the information. I guess sending postcards will not be a good idea. I appreciate the input.

Don't give up so easily, your granddaughter would enjoy receiving postcards from you from the Caribbean. As Capt_BJ and LHT28 said, places that sell postcards frequently sell stamps. If not, ask at the ship's front desk if they will mail the postcards for you from foreign ports. Holland America mailed a few cards for me from the Pacific recently, I had to pay the postage, of course.

[gooch47]

We bought postcards at the Curacao Liqueur factory.  The salesclerk graciously volunteered to buy us postage and mail them for us.  She just needed the money for the postage.

 

You guessed it.  They never arrived home.

[ldubs]

5 hours ago, Capt_BJ said:

I've often found that places that have a big display of postcards, sell stamps if you ask (or may be able to direct you to a place that does) .... if you mail on the ship with US postage they hold til next US port IME

 

X2.  I've seen this a lot, and even posted once.  

[ldubs]

5 hours ago, Zach1213 said:

Definitely don't bother with US stamps. Try putting a St Lucia Post stamp on a letter and mail it from your post office in Ohio...won't work. Same goes the other way too.

 

I'm not so sure.  After all, we are talking about the USPS. . . . 

[jagsfan]

If you ever sail among the Hawaiian Islands, look for decorated coconuts. I bought one and mentioned it was for my granddaughters. 

The clerk said she could mail  it for me.  

She gave me a magic marker so I could write their address. She slapped some stamps on it and told me to give it a week or so. 

My daughter said my granddaughters were playing in the front yard when the mail carrier got out and handed the older one the coconut. 

Said “go show this to your mom”.

My daughter said the girls were over the moon.

i never ever would have thought of mailing a coconut.  

 

Edited December 21, 2018 by jagsfan

[Shmoo here]

42 minutes ago, jagsfan said:

If you ever sail among the Hawaiian Islands, look for decorated coconuts. I bought one and mentioned it was for my granddaughters. 

The clerk said she could mail  it for me.  

She gave me a magic marker so I could write their address. She slapped some stamps on it and told me to give it a week or so. 

My daughter said my granddaughters were playing in the front yard when the mail carrier got out and handed the older one the coconut. 

Said “go show this to your mom”.

My daughter said the girls were over the moon.

i never ever would have thought of mailing a coconut.  

 

My husband did just that years ago.  It's sitting on our bookshelf.  The address is quite faded, but still readable.  Now, his coconut was one he picked up on a beach somewhere, not a fancy, decorated one.

 

 

[gooch47]

19 hours ago, jagsfan said:

If you ever sail among the Hawaiian Islands, look for decorated coconuts. I bought one and mentioned it was for my granddaughters. 

The clerk said she could mail  it for me.  

She gave me a magic marker so I could write their address. She slapped some stamps on it and told me to give it a week or so. 

My daughter said my granddaughters were playing in the front yard when the mail carrier got out and handed the older one the coconut. 

Said “go show this to your mom”.

My daughter said the girls were over the moon.

i never ever would have thought of mailing a coconut.  

 

I'm a little surprised this is allowed considering the worry about introducing pests from other places.

[angie7911922]

On 12/20/2018 at 2:21 PM, txflood33 said:

If you're stopping at Grand Cayman, there is a post office right at 'hell' (a tourist attraction). You can get the correct postage and get it mailed there...but will still be slow

We did this. It was fantastic. My brother still tells his friends about the time he got a postcard from "hell". 

 

But others in this thread are right. It is extremely slow to mail from various ports. It takes a good month or so to get the postcards. That being said - it is fun for the person that gets them, so in my opinion - still worth it. If you decide to do this, you will have to get stamps at each port. Most ports have them available, as they are used to us tourists wanting to mail things. Just ask at each port when you get there and they will direct you to where you need to go!

[SRF]

On 12/21/2018 at 4:37 PM, jagsfan said:

If you ever sail among the Hawaiian Islands, look for decorated coconuts. I bought one and mentioned it was for my granddaughters. 

The clerk said she could mail  it for me.  

She gave me a magic marker so I could write their address. She slapped some stamps on it and told me to give it a week or so. 

My daughter said my granddaughters were playing in the front yard when the mail carrier got out and handed the older one the coconut. 

Said “go show this to your mom”.

My daughter said the girls were over the moon.

i never ever would have thought of mailing a coconut.  

 

 

You do realize that Hawaii is a STATE.  And you are dealing with DOMESTIC mail, and the US Postal Service?

 

And the thread has been about mailing postcards from OTHER COUNTRIES, and INTERNATIONAL surface mail (almost all US first class mail goes by air, in the old days we had regular mail and air mail).

 

Just checking. 😄

 

 

[jagsfan]

1 hour ago, SRF said:

 

You do realize that Hawaii is a STATE.  And you are dealing with DOMESTIC mail, and the US Postal Service?

 

And the thread has been about mailing postcards from OTHER COUNTRIES, and INTERNATIONAL surface mail (almost all US first class mail goes by air, in the old days we had regular mail and air mail).

 

Just checking. 😄

 

 

I only threw that in about Hawaii because most people probably wouldn’t realize you can mail a coconut. Coconuts grow in foreign countries, too, and could possibly be mailed from there, also. 

Cruise Critic is mostly made up of friendly people who enjoy communicating with other cruisers. 

Of course, there are a percentage of members who enjoy criticizing others. 

Have a Merry Christmas. 

[SRF]

I was teasing you.

 

And yes, you can have things mailed from other countries, not just post cards.  But they will cost more in postage, and will take a lot longer than your coconut from Hawaii.

 

Many vendors in tourist areas will ship your purchases home.  Heck, when I was in India, a guy on a tour bought an inlaid marble table top.  It was probably 8 feet long by 3+ feet wide.  Yes, it was shipping back to the US.

 

The point people were making was, if you send a postcard from another country, you will be home for weeks, if not months, when it finally arrives.

[chengkp75]

I remember the story of the guy building a house in Alaska.  He found out that buying concrete blocks in the lower 48, and mailing them USPS (they are just under the size/weight limit) by wiring a shipping tag to each, was cheaper than buying them locally or having them shipped up in bulk.

[Philob]

On 12/20/2018 at 12:21 PM, txflood33 said:

If you're stopping at Grand Cayman, there is a post office right at 'hell' (a tourist attraction). You can get the correct postage and get it mailed there...but will still be slow

I mailed 6 from that post office, only one made it out.

[SRF]

21 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

I remember the story of the guy building a house in Alaska.  He found out that buying concrete blocks in the lower 48, and mailing them USPS (they are just under the size/weight limit) by wiring a shipping tag to each, was cheaper than buying them locally or having them shipped up in bulk.

 

I remember that story.

 

USPS had to charter a barge to deliver them.