Mailing Postcards

[sandrac213]

If I want to send postcards home from each of the ports, how would I go about doing that? Do I need to search out each post office at the ports or do I just mail them on the ship? I was hoping to have the postmark be from the port that we are currently at as well. I'm sorry if this has been asked before but I couldn't find it anywhere. Thanks for any assistance.

 

Sandy

[dfb]

I suppose it may depend upon the cruise line and the port agents they use, but in the past when I have wanted to mail cards, I just took them to the reception desk and signed for the postage charge. The ship turns the mail over to the port agent and they handle the mailing. As long as you have your cards to the desk before the port agent has left for the day, I would think that your cards would indeed be posted from that port. That has been my experience, but when I got to the desk too late, they were posted from the next port. Sometimes they had actual local postage stamps and other times they had metered postage. Again, that has been my experience, but I suppose different lines and ships may handle things differently. You should ask at the reception desk after you board the ship.

[paul929207]

On Princess, the Purser's desk usuually has stamps for each port. There is a mailbox there, too. I think outgoing mail must be deposited at least an hour before sailing, but I am not sure.

[Keith1010]

On most cruise lines you can mail them through the ship. Or you could seek out a post office. Either way, you will likely arrive home before the postcards.

 

Keith

[sandrac213]

Thank you very much. your help is greatly appreciated. Happy Sailing.

 

Sandy

[oceanbums]

On our Mexican Riviera cruise, I sent a postcard to my friends at work. The card arrived 2 weeks later when I was back to work. I don't know if this is the norm or if it always takes that long, but it was kind of funny.

[mandzakm]

Wasn't on a cruise, but I sent postcards to a bunch of my coworkers from India last Christmas. Some came in 3 weeks, some came in 6 weeks and several never arrived at all. So having heard about the Mexican postal system, 2 weeks doesn't seem too out of whack

[richkinkade]

You can usually drop postcards at the purser's desk and pay for stamps and they mail them at the next port. In Grand Cayman, you can buy postcards in the Hell gift shop and mail them in the adjoining post office.

 

http://cruises.about.com/od/caribbeancruises/ig/Grand-Cayman-Island/grandcayman003-jpg.htm

 

In the post office, you are confronted with one of the world's most bored and passively hostile civil servants.

[anniecat]

I've mailed lots of postcards from many ports/cruises. Due to the short port times, excursions etc....I always have the ship do the mailing. On most excursions there's little time to purchase postcards, but some ships that frequent certain itinerarys seem to stock "local" postcards on board. The on board mail costs are very high compared to what you'd pay at a post office, but personally I don't want to waste my time in a post office...if I want local color I' d rather try to buy bandaids:rolleyes: Mail times vary...but I always beat postcards home.......but still fun to get (and yes I mail them to myself also). Some come with stamps, some mailed a port or two from where I expected, some never come (well not yet anyway). But worth a buck (typical postage cost on board). Letters seem to be quicker and more consistently delivered. Check your onboard room service book for paper and envelopes, and I bring envelopes and use 'found paper' for letters to friends and relatives. The stamps I usually get at the ship front desk (again I'm not wasting time in a postoffice).....such fun to mail an empty envelope with stamps to a stamp collector...or budding one;)

[kat89447]

We do the same thing, mailing from ports of call. We always beat the mail home, but it is great for a scrapbook. Yes, you can mail directly from the ship. Alot of times there is a post office close to the major tourist areas or ask a crew member that is more familiar with the port. The best post card we sent to ourselves and other family members took a month to get, we mailed it from Castaway Cay (DCL private island) and it was island mail. They wait till the bag gets full, stamp it and it goes out on the next boat. They also had their own stamps. Very cool for the kids.

[Essiesmom]

On board Millennium in the Baltic, I mailed a card every day...at the purser's desk. They all came with the same postmark, and stamps...the last port. And they always take several weeks. EM

[Azure Moon]

I bought stamps and mailed postcards at a mail booth in the port building you pass through from the docked ship area to get into town.

For people that don't want to mail their letters and cards on the ship, this booth is a convenient alternative.

[airlink diva]

Like the others stated, I mainly use the purser desk on the ship for mailing my postcards. The stamps do vary. Sometimes there's a post office near the port area and I will mail it from there.

I have several friends that live in very rural areas. There's one in particular who live deep in the woods of Arkansas (when it rains, it's next to impossible to even reach her house) in a very small town. I love to send her post cards from each port. Even though they arrive after my return, she's the talk of her area because of her postcards.

Happy sailing!!

[Krazy Kruizers]

On HAL -- they have stamps for postcards and letters at the front desk.

 

You need to have whatever you want mailed at the front desk one hour before sailing.

[jlp20]

On our Mexican Riviera cruise, I sent a postcard to my friends at work. The card arrived 2 weeks later when I was back to work. I don't know if this is the norm or if it always takes that long, but it was kind of funny.

 

 

Yours was quick, 5 postcards put into ship's mail box, delivered 2-3 months AFTER the cruise

[PurpleCow]

My grandkids love the postcards, and if they arrive after we get home it doesn't make much of a difference because I probably won't have seen the kids yet anyway. One thing I do is print out address labels before we leave. That makes it easy to get the cards out and I can make sure that each child gets the same number of cards. I love going to their bedrooms and find postcards that I sent several years ago front and center on their bulletin boards. The last time we were away I decided that the youngest, then 3, was old enough for postcards of his own. I understand he was so excited that Grandmas knew he was a "big boy" now.

[scrappinannie]

We do the same thing, mailing from ports of call. We always beat the mail home, but it is great for a scrapbook. Yes, you can mail directly from the ship. Alot of times there is a post office close to the major tourist areas or ask a crew member that is more familiar with the port. The best post card we sent to ourselves and other family members took a month to get, we mailed it from Castaway Cay (DCL private island) and it was island mail. They wait till the bag gets full, stamp it and it goes out on the next boat. They also had their own stamps. Very cool for the kids.

Hey, now this is a clever idea! Never thought about mailing post cards to MYSELF, but you're right. Including those post cards in a scrapbook is a great souvenir. You could jot down what you did in that port or your favorite part of the day and use it on your scrapbook pages. Love it! Thanks for sharing. :)