Trials and tribulations of getting artwork on the plane.

[bluedevil72]

I know those of you who are veterans at this will probably see a lot of things we could have done differently, but we were newbies at this so we were groping in the dark. Here's what happened; We were on the NCL Star last week and my wife purchased a piece of Thomas Kincaid artwork. The art "expert" said we would have no trouble getting the package on the plane as there is a closet in the front of the cabin where such things can be placed. Now I know people will tell you anything to get you to do what they want, but we HAVE seen people walking around the terminal with artwork on our previous cruises, so we figured no problem. When we checked our baggage at SeaTac I asked the agent about the artwork and she said it would be too big to go on the plane and that we probably couldn't get it by security anyway. (The package was 30" X 42".) She said something about tagging it and putting it in the baggage hold but that didn't sound too good, so we asked her about a place in the airport where we could ship it home. We went to this place which offered UPS shipping. The fee was $32 plus another $50 because the size exceeded whatever their allowance is. We told them to be sure and put "Photograph--Do Not Bend" on the package. When we got the package home did it have that on the package? Of course not. UPS had also at some point folded it up like a wallet, plus it even had a footprint on it. We are in the process of having someone from UPS come look at it, but it's ruined no matter how they settle it, if they even do anything. If I had it to do over again I would probably ask some of the other people on board how they got theirs home, but you would think paying $82 for something that probably weighed less than two pounds would have done the trick. This is probably really just to let me vent a little bit, but for those of you who might do this in the future it's a little food for thought. (The cruise was terrific by the way)

[SRUTKO1226]

Vent away.... I will protect you ..although I have never done this...people I have cruised with got their stuff sent thru the cruiseline. It took a very long time but it arrived in one piece.

 

Did they offer this to you?

[bluedevil72]

This particular piece of artwork was a take-off only. They couldn't ship it. The ones that are shipped are shipped directly from the gallery. The ones that are TO's, take-offs, have to be taken off the ship by the passenger.

[Cosmopolitan]

Bluedevil72:

 

Thank you for the "warning" on these purchases.

 

I also love Kincaid....I've always carried them home. We do live and learn.

 

Glad you enjoyed your cruise:)