How do you manage your house, pets, etc. while on such a lengthy cruise?

[Smokeyham]

Another option for dealing with mail is St Brendan's Isle Mail Service.  Many people who are on the move because they live full time in their recreational vehicle or on board a boat use them and they have good reviews.

[Go-Bucks!]

6 hours ago, Smokeyham said:

Another option for dealing with mail is St Brendan's Isle Mail Service.  Many people who are on the move because they live full time in their recreational vehicle or on board a boat use them and they have good reviews.

 

I just went to the USPS website and got my mail forwarded to my daughter's house for the 6 months I'll be on the world cruise. Totally free (well, cost $1 so they could verify my address with the one on my credit card) and she will just keep all my mail in a box for me when I return.  And she will throw away any junk...nice service!  😉

[The Other Tom]

21 hours ago, Go-Bucks! said:

 

I just went to the USPS website and got my mail forwarded to my daughter's house for the 6 months I'll be on the world cruise. Totally free (well, cost $1 so they could verify my address with the one on my credit card) and she will just keep all my mail in a box for me when I return.  And she will throw away any junk...nice service!  😉

I thought they forward first class mail only, ie, not junk mail.  Is that your understanding?

[BarbaraM]

We forwarded to our daughter's house for 6 months 3 years ago -- it is not a "perfect" service, so be aware of some problems.

I had a long talk with our local PO administrator a few days ago --  this time I was just going to forward to a local PO box temporarily, hoping this would be a better fix -- but it's no different than sending it to her.  He explained that some companies pay for a service that when there is a change in address, it is returned to sender and there is nothing the local PO can do about it. I missed a few important bills last time because of this, as there was quite a delay and some wasn't received at all. I decided not to forward at this time.   It was quite inconvenient last time to sort things out when I got home, which included a credit card racking up months of charges and being cancelled, late fees applied to other accounts.  It was just a couple of services, not everything.  Although I have put almost every bill I pay to be paperless or have an online account -- I still decided not to forward this time.  But YMMV, good luck.

 Go-Bucks, they won't forward the junk mail for a while,  I think there might be some info on how long they will do this. 

[Go-Bucks!]

14 hours ago, BarbaraM said:

We forwarded to our daughter's house for 6 months 3 years ago -- it is not a "perfect" service, so be aware of some problems.

I had a long talk with our local PO administrator a few days ago --  this time I was just going to forward to a local PO box temporarily, hoping this would be a better fix -- but it's no different than sending it to her.  He explained that some companies pay for a service that when there is a change in address, it is returned to sender and there is nothing the local PO can do about it. I missed a few important bills last time because of this, as there was quite a delay and some wasn't received at all. I decided not to forward at this time.   It was quite inconvenient last time to sort things out when I got home, which included a credit card racking up months of charges and being cancelled, late fees applied to other accounts.  It was just a couple of services, not everything.  Although I have put almost every bill I pay to be paperless or have an online account -- I still decided not to forward this time.  But YMMV, good luck.

 Go-Bucks, they won't forward the junk mail for a while,  I think there might be some info on how long they will do this. 

 

The postal service website doesn't say anything about what they do or don't forward....simply asks for a forwarding address.  I chose the "temporary address", which basically makes them think that I'm living at the other address....they don't know that I'm on a cruise.

 

All my bills are on auto-pay so no bills come in the mail, plus I don't use my credit card.  All doctors will be paid before I go, I have electronic banking with all my accounts including retirement accounts, and all these accounts are linked.  I can't think of why anything would go wrong with having my mail sent to my daughter's house.  I only get a few magazines, but if they're not forwarded it's no big deal.

[Go-Bucks!]

Our embarkation date on the world cruise is in 6 weeks (there are 2 other embarkation points before we get on in LA).  Others had been contacted by the Luggage Forward delivery service, but we had not.  I called them today and they forgot about us!  Plus, they had incorrect email addresses for both my friend and me.  They seem very disorganized....the woman who arranges this service for Oceania told me 3 different dates for my luggage pickup, then finally decided on one of them.  I kept asking her, "are you sure about this?".  After assuring me that she had it right, she sent me a confirmation email with the WRONG date on it!  I had to call her back a 3rd time before she sent a confirmation with the (supposedly) correct pickup date.  I'm rather skeptical about whether I'll actually see my luggage in LA or not.  I'm planning to pack non-crucial items/clothing in them and take more important things in the luggage I'll take on the plane.  Last year Oceania used Luggage Free...not sure why they changed, but I'm not convinced that it was a wise move. 

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Yowza!  I will pay attention to this when the time comes.  Not sure what company Regent uses, but given they are sister companies...

[xrvlcruiser]

Wendy,

Regent switched to Luggage Forward last Spring.

The only time this matters is on a World Cruise and on Grand Voyages when transporting a specific number of suitcases to/from the ship is a perk for Full Trippers.

If you do not have the perk, you can use any service you prefer.

Peggy

PS: I have used Luggage Free for many years and have found them very easy to work with.

Edited December 19, 2018 by xrvlcruiser

[travelwell]

Wow, I will be keeping an eye on this too. Luggage Forward is only a great perk if they are reliable. I would hope Regent would  switch companies by 2021 if enough luggage problems. 

[HotRoot]

On ‎12‎/‎17‎/‎2018 at 11:18 PM, Go-Bucks! said:

Our embarkation date on the world cruise is in 6 weeks (there are 2 other embarkation points before we get on in LA).  Others had been contacted by the Luggage Forward delivery service, but we had not.  I called them today and they forgot about us!  Plus, they had incorrect email addresses for both my friend and me.  They seem very disorganized....the woman who arranges this service for Oceania told me 3 different dates for my luggage pickup, then finally decided on one of them.  I kept asking her, "are you sure about this?".  After assuring me that she had it right, she sent me a confirmation email with the WRONG date on it!  I had to call her back a 3rd time before she sent a confirmation with the (supposedly) correct pickup date.  I'm rather skeptical about whether I'll actually see my luggage in LA or not.  I'm planning to pack non-crucial items/clothing in them and take more important things in the luggage I'll take on the plane.  Last year Oceania used Luggage Free...not sure why they changed, but I'm not convinced that it was a wise move. 

We have no previous experience with shipping luggage other than this trip.  Luggage Forward contacted us via telephone over two months ago.  They gave us a date for pickup.  A few days later we received a confirmation email with a different date.  Prior to that date we received an email with the same date saying our luggage tags were in the mail.  The luggage tags also had that date so we are sure the telephone call had an incorrect date but all written correspondence had the same date.  Yesterday we received yet another email reminding us our bags will be picked up today.  Maybe the telephone call was operator error but, for us, everything has worked smoothly since.  We have no concerns about Luggage Forward.

[Go-Bucks!]

6 hours ago, HotRoot said:

We have no previous experience with shipping luggage other than this trip.  Luggage Forward contacted us via telephone over two months ago.  They gave us a date for pickup.  A few days later we received a confirmation email with a different date.  Prior to that date we received an email with the same date saying our luggage tags were in the mail.  The luggage tags also had that date so we are sure the telephone call had an incorrect date but all written correspondence had the same date.  Yesterday we received yet another email reminding us our bags will be picked up today.  Maybe the telephone call was operator error but, for us, everything has worked smoothly since.  We have no concerns about Luggage Forward.

 

I hope it goes smoothly for you and me!  We'll know soon enough.   😉

[HotRoot]

2 hours ago, Go-Bucks! said:

 

I hope it goes smoothly for you and me!  We'll know soon enough.   😉

 

Bags just picked up by a FedEx van.  No problems.

[Go-Bucks!]

3 hours ago, HotRoot said:

 

Bags just picked up by a FedEx van.  No problems.

 

If you're boarding Jan. 11, that's 23 days from now.

 

We board Jan. 30, but they won't pick ours up until just 13 days before embarkation.  I'm sure that's enough time to get it out there, but with all the other disorganization we've experienced, it makes me a bit concerned.  Oh well, I'm leaving it in God's hands.  😇

[HotRoot]

10 hours ago, Go-Bucks! said:

 

If you're boarding Jan. 11, that's 23 days from now.

 

We board Jan. 30, but they won't pick ours up until just 13 days before embarkation.  I'm sure that's enough time to get it out there, but with all the other disorganization we've experienced, it makes me a bit concerned.  Oh well, I'm leaving it in God's hands.  😇

We are on Regent.  We board January 4 in Los Angeles.  Received an email today from Luggage Forward with a tracking link.  Our bags are in Memphis.

[xrvlcruiser]

HotRoot,

Mine were in Easton PA 24+ hours ago - no update so far  today.

Peggy

[Wendy The Wanderer]

So tell me, maybe this is obvious, but when luggage forwarding is included in a long cruise, like a world cruise, do they also ship it home for you afterwards? 

[xrvlcruiser]

Wendy,

 

Yes, the shipping for the 2 bags - 50lbs - is to/from the ship. This relates to Regent, I assume any other lines which offer this perk do the same thing.

Peggy

[Go-Bucks!]

6 hours ago, xrvlcruiser said:

Wendy,

 

Yes, the shipping for the 2 bags - 50lbs - is to/from the ship. This relates to Regent, I assume any other lines which offer this perk do the same thing.

Peggy

 

Same on Oceania. We all get this perk (I'm assuming all of you do too), but I've read that on some cruiseline's world cruises only certain stateroom categories get luggage delivery included.  Don't remember which line, though.

[xrvlcruiser]

All Full World Cruisers.

[Go-Bucks!]

7 minutes ago, xrvlcruiser said:

All Full World Cruisers.

 

I meant all world cruisers since this thread is about world cruising. I read that some cruiselines don't provide luggage delivery for all world cruisers...just those in certain cabin categories. 

[xrvlcruiser]

Go-Bucks!

Sorry . .

Peggy

 

[GUT2407]

Started planning 32 years ago. You know when my daughter was born

[Heidi13]

Viking provides included luggage forwarding to the ship, but not post cruise.

 

I don't believe many, if any of the mega ship mainstream lines provide this service. On our last WC with Princess, it was not included for balcony cabins.

[Go-Bucks!]

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

Viking provides included luggage forwarding to the ship, but not post cruise.

 

I don't believe many, if any of the mega ship mainstream lines provide this service. On our last WC with Princess, it was not included for balcony cabins.

 

I'm very happy that Oceania includes this service for everyone (no matter what cabin category you're in) and that it's for to and from the ship....value is $500pp.  But the new company they're using this year is quite inept....I just made my 6th phone call to them this week to get the pickup and delivery dates straightened out.  I think they're confused by the fact that our world cruise has 3 embarkation dates and locations...1/11 in NYC, 1/14 in MIA and 1/30 in LA. 

[Scrapnana]

On ‎12‎/‎20‎/‎2018 at 9:01 PM, Go-Bucks! said:

 

Same on Oceania. We all get this perk (I'm assuming all of you do too), but I've read that on some cruiseline's world cruises only certain stateroom categories get luggage delivery included.  Don't remember which line, though.

On Holland America it is based on cabin categories and when you book (usually at least six months in advance to qualify).  If you don't qualify, you can still pay for luggage delivery which, for me, is worth the cost not having to schlep luggage to and from the airport, to and from the hotel, and to and from the ship.