shipping luggage

[lido1]

Any suggestions /  experience with shipping luggage from California to Barcelona ?

[tfred]

FedEx handles SSea indirectly. The issue is getting it on/to the ship if you do it on your own

 

There may be a valet system available from Crystal

 

 

[Keith1010]

I have used Luggage Free several times and next time we will use Luggage Forward as Crystal on board concierges work with them.  Both are very good.  I send it earlier than is required just in case there are delays.Both have good websites with Q&A's and the ability to price it.

 

I would not do it on your own for several reasons including if there are issues with luggage held up in Customs in Europe.

 

Keith

[Whipsnade]

Luggage Forward well worth the cost. Very responsive when an issue arises. 

[Jinn]

I used Luggage Forward to ship bag home from the ship and will use them in September to ship bag both ways.  Julia

[dimundsR]

I'm using LuggageForward.com to and from my cruises and am very pleased.  My luggage was picked up at my home on the 11th and is already at the port (on the 16th)! You can track it through your account.  No more baggage claim or customs to contend with. I now can breeze through the airport with my little rolling personal bag . . . . period!

[travelberlin]

I was looking at those companies mentioned here like LuggageForward. I have never used them but it looks convenient. How far in advance do you have to send the luggage? What happens if there are flight cancellations? Could it happen that your luggage does not arrive at the port in time for your embarkation? Do you have it delivered to you at the ship or where?

Ivi

[Keith1010]

9 minutes ago, travelberlin said:

I was looking at those companies mentioned here like LuggageForward. I have never used them but it looks convenient. How far in advance do you have to send the luggage? What happens if there are flight cancellations? Could it happen that your luggage does not arrive at the port in time for your embarkation? Do you have it delivered to you at the ship or where?

Ivi

Ivi,

 

It is best to check with them and it will vary based on where you are shipping it from or to.

 

I always pad it so if they tell me two weeks I send it three weeks or earlier because stuff happens such as holdups in customs.

 

I've only had one problem with one of four pieces but was glad I had the pad.

 

I would put numbers on each piece because in our case when we had the problem with the one item we knew what was inside.  We also had put paperwork inside which was a big help to them. In this case, evidently Canadian customs took out the paperwork from the pouch outside the luggage and forgot to put it back inside.  And we had our names listed on the outside of the luggage and inside.

 

We have always had it delivered to the ship but I know several people who send it to the hotel they are staying at.  When ours gets there early they store it in a secure locker.  Sometimes it's even the port agent who is involved with the delivery.

 

I've also had a problem one other time on the return again due to customs.

 

There is never any guarantees and no different than when you check in pieces and they go somewhere else.

 

When we have too much luggage for the two of us to deal with we have appreciated the service.Another benefit when we shipped home was we got home and the luggage a few days later and that was great as we didn't feel the pressure to do laundry right away.  😀

 

Keith

 

[lido1]

Thank you for all the advice.  I plan on shipping my luggage home after the cruise from the ship.

Will use Luggage Forward since they work directly with the Crystal concierge.

 

[PaulMCO]

4 hours ago, travelberlin said:

I was looking at those companies mentioned here like LuggageForward. I have never used them but it looks convenient. How far in advance do you have to send the luggage? What happens if there are flight cancellations? Could it happen that your luggage does not arrive at the port in time for your embarkation? Do you have it delivered to you at the ship or where?

Ivi

 

Ivi --

 

Luggage forward uses a courier in most cases it is DHL.  This means it goes on there own planes.  Luggage free uses Fed Ex.

 

The amount of ahead time depends on the country and customs clearance time and whether you choose rush or normal.

 

Our most recent cruise we shipped two 25kg suitcases to Japan.  We had the choice of Normal or rush shipping.  Normal for a delivery date of 12 March was 29 February.  The luggage arrive at our pre cruise hotel on 5 March.

[Observer]

14 hours ago, PaulMCO said:

Luggage forward uses a courier in most cases it is DHL.  This means it goes on there own planes.  Luggage free uses Fed Ex.

 

 

I was a long time user and supporter of Luggage Forward and posted enthusiastic messages about them on this board.  I have quit using them and turned to another provider after a very, very disappointing encounter with them.  Some/much of the blame doubtless lay with DHL.  But the customer service and follow up from Luggage Forward was pathetic.  

[Whipsnade]

I had a bad experience recently in Mumbai. I think it was Indian Customs but DHL was involved and they confiscated items like all our labeled meds, shaving brush, hair brushes, heating pad. DHL has offered compensation which I find strange if Customs was the culprit. 
any thoughts?

[PaulMCO]

43 minutes ago, Whipsnade said:

I had a bad experience recently in Mumbai. I think it was Indian Customs but DHL was involved and they confiscated items like all our labeled meds, shaving brush, hair brushes, heating pad. DHL has offered compensation which I find strange if Customs was the culprit. 
any thoughts?

Meds of any kinds are NEVER allowed by any forwarding service. Same with electrical items.

[Whipsnade]

And ankle weights? Foam knee pillow?  Tooth brushes?  Shaving brush? Complete toiletries kit?  Suitcases arrived looking like badgers had been living in there. 
I may have to go back to airlines. 

[Keith1010]

13 hours ago, PaulMCO said:

Meds of any kinds are NEVER allowed by any forwarding service. Same with electrical items.

I find that the companies have pretty good information on their websites about what can't be shipped. For example from Luggage Forward:

 

 

And from Luggage Free.

 

A

 

 

[Keith1010]

I would just add that things happen and there are no guarantees no matter whether you check in your luggage or ship it.

 

As I mentioned when we've had a lot of luggage we've shipped it to and from the ship and started doing it after a few world cruises because it was too challenging to deal with all the luggage.  Another nice thing about shipping it is when you return from a trip if you can just manage with carry on luggage you don't have to spend time waiting for it to shop up and if customs is involved that entire process.

 

But things happen. 

 

When we had the issue with Canada immigrations and called Luggage Free I was surprised that after hours their ability to deal with issues was very weak at the time.  Basically you got an after hours answering service that was not of much help. I did followup up with them and they said they would change this but not sure if they did or not.

 

When we used Luggage Concierge I remember we had an issue too and when the office was closed it was a challenge to get an issue addressed.  

 

When we have the need to ship luggage again for a Crystal Cruises  I plan to give Luggage Forward a try.  I had wanted to try them anyway based on some capabilities they offered at the time I called them back in 2020 that Luggage Free didn't have. This might have changed so I will need to do the research again.

 

But the biggest reason is that this is who the ships concierges now deal with. This is why I used Luggage Concierge when shipping luggage home versus Luggage Free. I felt that if they didn't show up when we debarked I would look to the ship to deal with the issue including if necessary taking the luggage to the next port.  I was more open to using Luggage Free after a few years of using Luggage Concierge to ship luggage to the ship.

 

Never perfect solutions. When we fly this is another reason why we arrive to our port of embarkation a few days early if we are checking in luggage for a flight and another reason when we have to change flights we allow a lot of time between flights.  Thankfully the apps that many airlines have at least tell you if your luggage is on the flight and we also use the Apple AirTags. Twice the app said the luggage was not on the flight. Once I noticed something was wrong before we boarded and learned the luggage without us went on an earlier flight. Another time I didn't pay attention and when we landed realized the luggage wasn't on the flight and learned that it also arrived on an earlier flight.  That second time I was not at all pleased to learn that the luggage was just sitting by the baggage claim for a few hours rather than having been put in a secure area for us to pick up.

 

And let us not forget when you hand your luggage over at the port before your cruise things can happen too.  Some you would never dream of but they do happen.  

 

Keith

[lido1]

FYI   Luggage Concierge is no longer in business.  Just tried calling them.

 

[Whipsnade]

All of these companies use either DHL or FedEx to do their pickups and deliveries. Any comments on how these two are similar or different?  Preferences?

[Keith1010]

1 hour ago, lido1 said:

FYI   Luggage Concierge is no longer in business.  Just tried calling them.

 

That's correct. They've been gone for a long time. They seemed to be mainly focused on old Crystal and when they went under that was likely the catalyst to Luggage Concierge ceasing operations.

Keith

[Keith1010]

2 hours ago, Whipsnade said:

All of these companies use either DHL or FedEx to do their pickups and deliveries. Any comments on how these two are similar or different?  Preferences?

I’ve also had UPS on occasion. 
 

Keith

[Observer]

On 4/20/2024 at 10:56 AM, Whipsnade said:

All of these companies use either DHL or FedEx to do their pickups and deliveries. Any comments on how these two are similar or different?  Preferences?

 

I had a very unfortunate situation with DHL. DHL was clearly responsible for the situation, but Luggage Forward compounded the problem by not following up and then standing up for its "partner."

 

I have had no such problems when shipping via FedEx. 

[Keith1010]

38 minutes ago, Observer said:

 

I had a very unfortunate situation with DHL. DHL was clearly responsible for the situation, but Luggage Forward compounded the problem by not following up and then standing up for its "partner."

 

I have had no such problems when shipping via FedEx. 

I am not being argumentative but I've had problems with both DHL and FedEx.

 

And when it comes to FedEx for non luggage but just deliveries I have several examples where they messed up.

 

Nothing is going to be 00% perfect all the time.

 

When you ship luggage or check in luggage there is some risk IMHO.  But if we want to travel we don't have a choice.

 

Keith

[travelberlin]

4 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

 

 

When you ship luggage or check in luggage there is some risk IMHO.  But if we want to travel we don't have a choice.

 

Keith

I am trying hard to find a choice 😃. I have bought packing cubes and watched tutorials on how to travel just with a carry on. I will put it into practice for my next trip. 
 

Ivi

[PaulMCO]

3 hours ago, travelberlin said:

I am trying hard to find a choice 😃. I have bought packing cubes and watched tutorials on how to travel just with a carry on. I will put it into practice for my next trip. 
 

Ivi

Excellent  - but that can be a challenge when you fly Euro airlines (like LH) where they weigh everything. 

 

I have been doing carry-ons for 20+ years on my quarterly trips to either Vienna or Karlsruhe.   Can manage 10 days worth of cloths, including 2 suits in a carry-on.  I keep telling my DW, just remember, the ship does have laundry.

 

@Keith1010  Is Crystal partnering with a company?  I know Regent is doing Luggage Forward and it makes it more secure knowing the cruise line is working with the company to make sure your bags are picked up and get home.

[FlyerTalker]

1 hour ago, PaulMCO said:

it makes it more secure knowing the cruise line is working with the company to make sure your bags are picked up and get home.

 

And just how does the involvement of a cruiseline make a difference with a separate supplier picking up and delivering bags?

 

Cruiselines sell airline tickets.  Doesn't do a thing to make sure your flight is on time.

 

I'm firmly against shipping luggage.  If a problem arises, I'm right there to be involved in the situation, at baggage claim.  Directly with the company that will correct the situation.  Remember that all of these luggage companies are merely freight forwarders - they aren't the people actually moving your bags from A to B.  So one more layer in the process.

 

And if you don't want to handle the bags yourself, there are plenty of porters at airports and hotels and cruiseports.

 

For those arguing "peace of mind" -- I just check my airline app and see that the bags have been scanned onto my flight.