Have you shipped your luggage luggage?

[riversights]

Looking forward to our summer sail on Nautica under Northern skies.  Wondering about shipping our luggage to Stockholm.  Have you ever shipped luggage?  Do you have wisdom or enlightenment on the subject?  Tell us what we should consider.  Thank you for responding!

[1985rz1]

7 minutes ago, riversights said:

Looking forward to our summer sail on Nautica under Northern skies.  Wondering about shipping our luggage to Stockholm.  Have you ever shipped luggage?  Do you have wisdom or enlightenment on the subject?  Tell us what we should consider.  Thank you for responding!

Do a search of this forum for "Luggage AND Forward" and scroll down.  You will find a number of thread on this topic.

[riversights]

Thank you for the referral.  We'll definitely check out the thread.  

[clo]

I recently read that one company charged $950. I hope there are plenty that cost WAY less than that.

 

[ronrick1943]

It's a nice service, but costly.  Also you have to ship it early before you leave.  I personally I prefer to take it with me (specially with a non-stop).

[riversights]

The discussion is enlightening, lots to ponder here.  The excessive cost dampens sheer enthusiasm for the service, but we had to investigate the possibility to understand it.  Thanks again for contributing your comments.

[mauibabes]

We have used the service a couple times but only for shipments to Anchorage and Miami. When you go overseas, be prepared as the costs get quite significant, especially if several bags are concerned. DW had to keep an inventory of the items she sent weeks ahead and brought a hand carry bag with the rest of her needed clothing and “stuff”.
Once we dodged the $$Bullet by shipping our bags with friends bags using the service and they just put our bags under their bed until we arrived for our cruise segment. As airlines jack up baggage charges, that shipped bag is not always a bad deal, you just need to make an informed decision. 
Mauibabes

[A Knitter]

We have used Luggage Forward for years and we don’t miss hauling our luggage to and from the airport.   It is pricey but our luggage arrives usually at the cruise port on time every time.  I put an air tag in to follow the progress.  Never had a problem and I have sent my luggage across the globe.  We figure the price in the travel cost.  

[vlthom]

We had luggage shipping included in our fare for an O cruise last Fall.  The downside was that the outgoing bags had to leave about 10 days ahead of us and they were only being shipped from Northern CA to Southern CA.  There are restrictions on what you can put inside the bags -- basically no toiletries or anything with batteries.  But if only clothing and shoes are what you want to ship, you're good to go.  Our bags were also shipped for our return home from Sydney.  They arrived at home more quickly than the outgoing bags that traveled just a short distance.  Luggage Forward was great at providing tracking info so we were able to keep an eye on our bags' progress.  Additionally, we had air tags inside the bags to also track them that way.  It was great not having to lug so much around when traveling to/from home and because our trip was lengthy, we had more luggage than usual.  So, the service was quite helpful in our situation.  If it were not included in our cruise fare, I might have thought twice about using it as it is quite expensive, though.  

[riversights]

Wow, these replies are insightful and wise! We are grateful for experienced members of the sailing elite.  Thank you for giving consideration.

[asnaleah]

I didn’t think you could use air tags with Luggage Forward. We are using them for our return flight from Reykjavik, but checking a bag going there.

[clo]

On 5/31/2024 at 4:30 PM, A Knitter said:

but our luggage arrives usually at the cruise port on time every time.

"Usually" or "every time"?

[vlthom]

18 hours ago, asnaleah said:

I didn’t think you could use air tags with Luggage Forward. We are using them for our return flight from Reykjavik, but checking a bag going there.

We did -- and had no problem doing so.  I do not recall seeing anything in the information that they provided us ahead of time that we could not use them.  

[A Knitter]

On 6/1/2024 at 8:10 PM, clo said:

"Usually" or "every time"?

Every time. I said usually because our bag ended up at the port but to the wrong cabin which was not Luggage Forwards fault. The air tag led me to the wrong cabin. 

[mauibabes]

As I recall when looking at Luggage Free and Luggage Forward, one of them did not allow Air Tags but that was over 18 months ago. I think we used Luggage Free and did include Air Tags in the bags. Definitely worth reading the Restrictions before selecting the carrier. 
I have no idea why they would not allow the Tags and did not ask, just moved on to Luggage Free.  Also we could not pack any wine in bags when using either company. It’s not so much their rules but laws on transporting alcohol into foreign countries. 
Mauibabes

[cayman09]

We use them for when we have pre and post cruise stays. We went to Sydney & the Blue Mountains for 5 days prior to cruising and our bag went to the ship. We took small carry on bags with us. Sure beat mugging that big one around.

[Lane412000]

We have used Luggage Forward and Luggage Free with no issues.  On a Baltic cruise out of Oslo we decided to try SendMyBag as the price was less than the other two.  A word of caution ---- NEVER USE SendMyBag!!!!!  We were in Oslo for four days before the ship's departure and our luggage was stuck in customs due to SendMyBag not completing the shipping information correctly. I could not get any help from the company and finally went down to the customs area in Oslo on the afternoon of departure and was able to get our two bags.  Again, NEVER USE SendMyBag!!!!!