Shipping Luggage, New Zealand to Sydney

[MonocacyCruiser]

Anyone have any ideas how to handle this luggage problem?

 

My wife and I will be vacationing in New Zealand before our "Rhapsody of the Seas" cruise that starts in Sydney. We are allowed 100 pounds of luggage on Air New Zealand between Los Angeles and Auckland. Between Auckland and Sydney we are only allowed one suitcase that weighs 44 pounds.

 

How can I ship the two extra suitcases? I could ship them weeks in advance if necessary.

 

Can the suitcases be shipped to me, c/o Royal Caribbean, "Rhapsody of the Seas" for pickup at the port?

 

I called RC's Crown and Anchor office today and the representative never heard of shipping luggage to the ship.

 

Roger

[celle]

Anyone have any ideas how to handle this luggage problem?

 

My wife and I will be vacationing in New Zealand before our "Rhapsody of the Seas" cruise that starts in Sydney. We are allowed 100 pounds of luggage on Air New Zealand between Los Angeles and Auckland. Between Auckland and Sydney we are only allowed one suitcase that weighs 44 pounds.

 

How can I ship the two extra suitcases? I could ship them weeks in advance if necessary.

 

Can the suitcases be shipped to me, c/o Royal Caribbean, "Rhapsody of the Seas" for pickup at the port?

 

I called RC's Crown and Anchor office today and the representative never heard of shipping luggage to the ship.

 

Roger

 

It all seems like an awful lot of bother! Here's a novel solution - try travelling with just one suitcase each, weight 44 pounds (20 Kgs). You will find it much easier to get around from A to B with just one case each, and it is much easier to keep track of a smaller amount of "stuff".

 

Those of us who live "downunder" are used to this, as our Economy class baggage allowance - except when going via the US - is always restricted to 20 -22 Kg.

 

It can be done! We have recently returned from extended travel for 10 weeks, including a long cruise and stays in both the northern and the southern hemispheres, and we kept within the 20Kg baggage allowance for teh entire journey. And we took clothes for formal nights.

[happycruiser3]

Anyone have any ideas how to handle this luggage problem?

 

My wife and I will be vacationing in New Zealand before our "Rhapsody of the Seas" cruise that starts in Sydney. We are allowed 100 pounds of luggage on Air New Zealand between Los Angeles and Auckland. Between Auckland and Sydney we are only allowed one suitcase that weighs 44 pounds.

 

How can I ship the two extra suitcases? I could ship them weeks in advance if necessary.

 

Can the suitcases be shipped to me, c/o Royal Caribbean, "Rhapsody of the Seas" for pickup at the port?

 

I called RC's Crown and Anchor office today and the representative never heard of shipping luggage to the ship.

 

Roger

 

You are allowed to have one case each weighing 44 lbs on the Auckland/Sydney flight. That is the normal economy allowance on flights.

 

If you remember the golden rule of travelling, put the clothes on the bed and take half, you should be okay.

 

Mix and match is the way to go. Remember to bring a warm jacket as depending on the month you are coming it could be chilly.

 

We often travel for six weeks at a time and with careful planning can manage to travel within the allowance even doing in some cases a thirty night cruise.

 

Hope you have a wonderful trip.

 

Best wishes. :)

[MonocacyCruiser]

Thanks for the posts, perhaps I should clarify my situation:

The "Rhapsody of the Seas" cruise is a multi-segment cruise and we will be staying in Hawaii before returning back to the East Coast of the US.

 

I'm all for traveling light but I'd still like to be able to take two suitcases each since we'll be on the ship or Hawaii for over 60 days. (We will be in New Zealand for three months.) We will only be staying in two places, so moving the luggage won't be such a big problem.

 

So, does anyone know how to handle the logistics of getting two suitcases from Auckland to the ship in Sydney?

[The_Big_M]

If money's not such an issue, you can pay excess luggage and take them with you on the flights from New Zealand.

[rdowney]

You could try checking with a company such as this: http://www.xsbaggage.com/ They seem to specialize in shipping excess baggage worldwide and have an office in Auckland. I haven't used them so this is a suggestion and not a recommendation. But it might be more useful than a lecture on the virtues of packing light. A Google search with the right keywords will turn up other possibilities.

[MonocacyCruiser]

Dear Big M and RDowney,

Thanks for the posts!

Money is a big, big issue. I would love to pay for an extra suitcase if the cost is similar to the cost for extra bags on US flights (that is, $25, $50, or even $75).

 

I checked http://www.xsbaggage.com and they quoted me a price of NZ$501 for two bags. That's more than I care to spend. I sent them an email asking for the cost of shipping by sea.

 

Roger

[celle]

Dear Big M and RDowney,

Thanks for the posts!

Money is a big, big issue. I would love to pay for an extra suitcase if the cost is similar to the cost for extra bags on US flights (that is, $25, $50, or even $75).

 

I checked www.xsbaggage.com and they quoted me a price of NZ$501 for two bags. That's more than I care to spend. I sent them an email asking for the cost of shipping by sea.

 

Roger

 

Seems to me that you have 3 choices:

1. Resign yourself to packing light.

2. Upgrade your flight to Business Class, when you would get an increased baggage allowance.

3. Pay a lot of money or go to a lot of time-consuming effort to get your baggage shipped separately.

 

Your choice!

 

Charges for accompanied excess baggage by air are expensive downunder.

Air freight from NZ to OZ is expensive.

Freight by sea is slow and may not fit your schedule.

[The_Big_M]

Dear Big M and RDowney,

Thanks for the posts!

Money is a big, big issue. I would love to pay for an extra suitcase if the cost is similar to the cost for extra bags on US flights (that is, $25, $50, or even $75).

 

They're unlikely to be that cheap, although the distance is international rather than domestic. Air NZ charge 10NZD per kilo on flights to Australia (probably around USD3/lb). It sounds like it's still cheaper than that shipping company quote that you got though.