Newbies have booked for AK in June 2010--question about luggage forwarding

[pamfj]

Thanks to all for great responses to my previous post. I will definitely try the remedies recommended for sea sickness.

 

It's official, we are booked on the Silver Shadow from Seward to Vancouver June 10-18. First cruise ever for both of us.

 

We decided to do the land portion of the trip on our own--starting in Fairbanks and traveling by train to Seward by way of Denali and Anchorage.

 

I would like to draw on your experiences using luggage forwarding services. We want to avoid carrying baggage we only need on the curise during the first part of the trip. No formal nights in Denali :) Can you compare Silversea's service vs. independent vendors?

 

Thanks!

[WinWin]

We are firm believers in sending luggage on ahead! We used the Silversea luggage shipping service for a cruise this past November and were able to track it's progress. It arrived at our international embarkation port before we even left home, and was waiting for us in our suite! I know that there are other luggage shipping venue's, but we were extremely satisfied with the service Silversea provided. All we had to do was add a copy of our passport and sign - everything was filled out and ready to go - they even included a few zip ties to secure the zippers. Frank in the FLL office was extremely helpful, and the whole process was painless.

[PebmarshPete]

We are firm believers in sending luggage on ahead! We used the Silversea luggage shipping service for a cruise this past November and were able to track it's progress. It arrived at our international embarkation port before we even left home, and was waiting for us in our suite! I know that there are other luggage shipping venue's, but we were extremely satisfied with the service Silversea provided. All we had to do was add a copy of our passport and sign - everything was filled out and ready to go - they even included a few zip ties to secure the zippers. Frank in the FLL office was extremely helpful, and the whole process was painless.

 

I would be very interested to know what sort of costs were involved please. We've just had a quote from Silversea which was double the price of FirstLuggage.com. I suspect this was because we are not based in the USA.

Thanks for any info on this.

[WinWin]

We live on the US West Coast, and had our luggage shipped to Barbados - the cost structure was based on the weight of the bags, and if the bag was under 50lbs, it was around $250 per bag. I do not know if there are differences in charges if you live outside the US. We felt it was well worth the cost for our bags to end up in an international destination with the luggage shipper Silversea used and was familiar with. Not only did we not have to lug the bags, but to have them waiting in the suite was a boon. With early embarkation, we were unpacked before most guests came aboard. There are several threads on this site that have extensive info on various luggage shipping costs - following are a couple of them.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=746606&highlight=luggage+shipping

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=228118&highlight=luggage+shipping

[MarcelG]

Use firstluggage.com - very reliable

[pamfj]

I ended up booking one way through Silversea. (ATL to Seward AK), they offered unlimited weight for one bag for less than Firstluggage charges at their site for 30 pounds). I plan to pack an extra duffle in the bag I ship to that I can lighten that bag up if needed to meet airline restrictions on the way home. Sending the same bag home from Vancouver was much more expensive than paying the airline's fees. The reason I am shipping ahead at all is that we are doing a land trip on our own first and can't take the extra suitcase on the bus through Denali out to Kantishna. (And don't want to deal with it on the train anyway.)

[flag fan]

I think I would like to have my luggage sent ahead using the Silversea luggage service but I can't find any reference to it on the cruise website. Where is information about this (or is it only in their brochures)?

[PebmarshPete]

I think I would like to have my luggage sent ahead using the Silversea luggage service but I can't find any reference to it on the cruise website. Where is information about this (or is it only in their brochures)?

A search of CC found this page http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=464 - not sure how up to date the info is, though. suggest you try your TA or contact SS themselves. Our TA got us a quote from SS but it was way too much compared to firstluggage.com - perhaps they were going to collect the bags from UK then send to Italy via the USA - certainly priced that way! ;)